Yellowstone is a truly unique place, and after being there I am convinced, that everyone should visit it once in their life time. Simply the fact that Yellowstone is a supervolcano could be enough to wake one's interest in the park, but Yellowstone has much more to offer: beautiful landscapes, abundant wildlife and amazing geothermal features.

Yellowstone has one of the world’s largest calderas at 72 x 48 km and the park spans an area of 8,991 km², which is divided into 5 distinct regions: Mammoth Country, Roosevelt Country, Canyon Country, Lake Country and Geyser Country, each with their own entrance.

We had 3 days in the park, and each day was full of surprises and new experiences.

Just as we entered the park on our first day it started snowing, by the time we got to the calderas everything was covered in snow. It was very beautiful, we felt as if we were in a winter wonderland.

On the downside it was cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey. Therefore, we decided to start in Geyser country hoping that this thermal area there will generate some heat so we can keep our precious body parts.
Yellowstone contains more than 10,000 thermal features, including the world’s greatest concentration of geysers as well as hot springs, mudpots, and steam vents. Hot springs have magnificent coloration which is a result of the thermophilic bacteria that grow around the edges of this mineral-rich water. 

Our second day we spent on wildlife-spotting, which was incredibly easy, as animals in Yellowstone freely roaming the landscape and they can be seen everywhere.

Yellowstone has two types of bears; grizzly and black bear. We have seen black bears twice; first a female with a cub, then another female with two cubs. When bears are at sight soon a group of people gather together and enjoy this unique experience. Here is our group (the picture was taken by a park ranger).And here are the stars of the show; the bears.Some of the animals were not at all shy, they came quite close to people.This bison actually did not feel like getting off the road, so everyone needed to drive around it. As Samuel L. Jackson would say, he was a bad mother f*cker. :)The third day we started at Mammoth Country visiting the namesake hot spring. It was beautiful and very different from the pools and geysers we have seen on our first day. 

Our next stop was the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone, which is a breathtaking sight. There are different lookouts along the canyon, each of which has a different view of the Yellowstone River.

 I liked Artist Point the most because of the fantastic coloration of the rim there.

Then it turned out, that we left the best for the last; the Norris Geyser Basin, which is the hottest, oldest, and most dynamic of Yellowstone's thermal areas.

The most spectacular of Norris was the Porcelain Springs, the name of which comes from the milky color of the mineral deposited there.

I have always been fascinated by volcanos, but my visit to Yellowstone put things really into perspective. It was amazing to see and experience the forces of a volcano at first hand. The information boards in the park were great, I have learned a lot about the geothermal features from them. The only thing I did not like about Yellowstone was the fact that we needed to drive a lot each day (about 300 km), because the sights are spread around in the park and there is no free shuttle service. But it was a small issue compared to how much fun we had there. Fortunately we did not have problem with the crowds, because we visited the park off-season. I have heard though that people usually complain about that.

And for last here is a little surprise; our home video of a small geyser in Norris Geyser Basin.