The “Z” stories voting undergoes bursts of activity and — since this is the last of the stories — I figure I would do a bit more reminding and prodding. You know, to maybe have this last block smash the previous voting records.

And you, yes, YOU, can be a part of it and help us reach that goal! I don’t mean just reading and voting for the stories, but also pushing them onto friends and family (presuming you have friends and family who like to read). I mean, it’s not that much of a commitment (for them or you) since this is the last group of stories. Still, I get people may be busy hiding or hunting eggs and stuff, so do if you can, but don’t feel bad if you can’t (or, don’t want to).

Just know that if you’ve been a loyal reader of our offerings and someone who votes, you have the writer’s unending gratitude.

The links to this last trio of stories and the poll for voting for “Alphabet Challenge Z-Stories” are HERE(link). Votes will be accepted until  Noon (Central Time) on Thursday, April 8th, 2021. That means you have less than five days left.

Yellowstone NP is (so far) our favorite National Park. I mean, there may be parks out there we’ve not seen and that would supplant Yellowstone’s lofty position, but they have a lot to live up to. 

I mean, Yellowstone has the views, the animals, the mountains, and valleys . . . and then there are the geothermal features.

The sheer variety of the features is what enthralls me. Take, for instance, this aerial view of the islands formed by the supervolcano dozing under the park, captured while guest-flying an SR-71 Blackbird . . .

OK, OK, I was standing about forty feet away from one of the thermal pools. But, they kind of looked like islands, and that’s why I shot the photo . . .

And, mud pools. Not just mud pools; percolating mud pools!

Catching a bubble in the process of bursting was a treat for me.

Other mud pools are in full boil . . .

Now, here’s the thing . . . these features change from one day to the next. Well, OK, not one day, but definitively in the course of a year. The photos above are from our second visit there. During following visits, I sought to add to those photos . . . and things had changed.

Even this next feature — from one of my favorite places near Yellowstone Lake — was dried-up and unattractive by our third visit.

The large thermal pools seem more stable and are approximately the same from one visit to another. Pools like the one in the first photo and in this next photo. Although, the surrounding area can change significantly.

The water in many of those pools is scalding-hot, and some periodically erupt (geysers, they’re called, but not faithfully regular).

You can click on each of those and get a larger view.

The original-size photos are in this SmugMug Gallery — LINK — but be aware these are all D100 6MP photos and thus not as large as those from modern DSLR cameras.

And, here’s the gallery of the above . . .

That’s it. This post has ended . . . except for the stuff below.

<><o><><><><><><><o><>

Note: if you are not reading this blog post at DisperserTracks.com, know that it’s copied without permission, and likely is being used by someone with nefarious intentions, like attracting you to a malware-infested website. Could be they also torture small mammals.

Note 2: it’s perfectly OK to share a link that points back here.

<><o><><><><><><><o><>

If you’re new to this blog, it might be a good idea to read the FAQ page. If you’re considering subscribing to this blog, it’s definitively a good idea to read both the About page and the FAQ page.