The Artist Paint Pot Area Seen From the Upper Terrace - September 1, 2010
As most recent days in West Yellowstone have started out today started out with nasty, cold, rainy weather. This led to a late start but still provided enough time to explore the Artist Paint Pots area along with the Norris Geyser Basin. Along the road in from West Yellowstone there was some wildlife along the road but not enough to cause a traffic jam or pull over to photograph. Elk and bison were scattered along the road and in the meadows but didn’t seem to be that close to the road. Bad weather shortened the available time to see other sights so there were no wildlife stops along the way.
Bubbling Mud At the Atrist Paint Pots In Yellowstone National Park - September 1, 2010
The Artist Paint Pot area was a cool area but not a must see. There were some bubbling and spitting mud pots along the path at the top, a few steaming and bubbling areas along the way and brightly colored streams of water running down through the area up to the Artist Paint Pots. The round trip trail is about a mile with a little but of vertical change but nothing to strenuous. Parts of the trail are on a boardwalk and others are simply a cleared dirt path.
One of Many Birds Walking Aroung the Yellowstone Artist Paint Pot Area - September 1, 2010
Today the only wildlife seen along the way were a few odd birds walking around on the ground, completely at ease with humans within a few feet of them. The Artist Paint Pots area of Yellowstone National Park is an interesting area to see but if your time is limited, the Old Faithful Geyser Basin, West Thumb Geyser Basin and the Porcelain Basin Trail in the Norris Geyser Basin are much better places to see more and varied hydrothermal features at Yellowstone.
A Scenic View Along Road In Yellowstone National Park - September 1, 2010
The next stop along the way was a meadow area for a few quick photographs. There was no wildlife but it looked like a nice place to hop off the road and take some photos. A stream ran right along the parking pull off area. During the stop the sun was out and made for some nice lighting effects along the stream and the trees that lined the banks.
Emerald Spring At Norris Geyser Basin In Yellowstone National Park - September 1, 2010
The next and final stop of the day was a long one at the Norris Geyser Basin a little bit north of the intersection of the West Yellowstone entrance road and the Yellowstone Grand Loop road that goes around the whole park. The Norris Geyser Basin doesn’t seem to get much attention, does not have much in the way of a visitor center but does have some nice features along with some areas not worth seeing if you are short on time.
Steamboat Geyser At Norris Geyser Basin In Yellowstone National Park - September 1, 2010
The Back Basin Loop Trail cover a mile and a half and goes past a few geysers that seem to rarely if ever erupt anymore. One geyser along the way is the Steamboat Geyser which produces the highest geyser eruptions in the world. Unfortunately the Steamboat Geyser only goes off once every blue moon and the last eruption was back in 2005. It may very well be due for another eruption but don’t hold your breath waiting around for it to erupt.
Pearl Geyser At Norris Geyser Basin In Yellowstone National Park - September 1, 2010
Most of the geothermal sights along the Back Basin Loop trail were rather dull. There were a few pools with some color, some of hissing steam vents and lots of steam in general coming up from the pools and geysers. None of these individual features were very impressive but photographs of the whole are with a nice partly cloudy sky in the background made for some nice photographs. If you are visiting Yellowstone on a tight schedule the Back Basin Loop trail is one you can safely skip in favor of the Old Faithful and West Thumb Basins or the Porcelain Basin Trail (which was the next hike of the day).
The Porcelain Springs At the Norris Geyser Basin In Yellowstone National Park - September 1, 2010
The next area within the Norris Basin to be explored today was the Porcelain Basin Trail. While the Porcelain Basin Trail is shorter and foes not have as many marked or named geothermal features it is stunning compared to the Norris Geyser Basin Back Basin Loop Trail. Steam comes up from everywhere, hot water bubbles up in many places and the colors in some of the areas along the Porcelain Trail are absolutely stunning!
The Porcelain Springs At the Norris Geyser Basin In Yellowstone National Park - September 1, 2010
The Porcelain Basin Trail at the Norris area in Yellowstone only covers about a half mile. Parts of it are a wooden boardwalk and wooden steps and some areas are just dirt with logs on either side to mark the trail. It is an easy hike but a long one when the sun is out, the geothermal colors are bright and the camera just won’t stop taking pictures along the way!
A Cloud Formation Along the Porcelain Basin Trail In the Norris Basin Geyser Area of Yellowstone National Park - September 1, 2010
After hiking all round the trails at the Norris Geyser Basin the sun was starting to set, there was still supposed to be some construction along the way to delay the return back to West Yellowstone and the road back there was supposed to close at 10pm. On the way back a fair number of cars were pulled off to the side. Usually this means there is some kind of wildlife along the side of the road or else one car pulled off and then a bunch more pulled off to see why the first one pulled off. 
Burned Trees Along The Porcelain Basin Trail At Yellowstone National Park - September 1, 2010
There were a bunch of elk off in the distance and a couple bull elk with HUGE antler racks. Unfortunately they were to far off in the distance to see or photograph well and it was getting to dark to see much more than their general body movements off in the distance. After trying to take a few photos and not getting much and looking through another guys telescope like thing that brought the elk into perfect view it was time to finish the journey back to West Yellowstone. The construction road block seemed to be gone and it was a smooth shot all the way back to the Madison Hotel where the hostel was located.
