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June 19, 2005
 The group woke up to another glorious day at Yellowstone Lake
Hotel, and enjoyed breakfast overlooking the lake. Then we set
off for a short hike on Pelican Creek Trail through the woods to the
shore of Yellowstone Lake. After a rousing song from the chorus
frogs in the woods we were greeted by white pelicans that were
observing us from an island in the lake. An expert lesson by Linda
Luques on white pelicans sparked us to look for the "potato
chip" on the bill of the male white pelican.
 Linda's lesson was followed
by the exciting discovery of grizzly tracks. Observers marked
the best tracks for casting, and great plaster casts were made
of both fore and hind foot impressions. While waiting for the
casts to dry, Linda Dow presented an informative expert lesson
on sagebrush. We saw mergansers, a bufflehead, American widgeons,
and a plethora of ladybugs, springtails, and scuds along the shoreline.
 After a brief stop at Fishing Bridge to view cutthroat trout,
we traveled to Pumice Point to look for pieces of pumice, created
from the explosion of gases out of lava during the eruption of
the volcano. We then motored to West Thumb Geyser Basin where
we observed a mixture of hot springs and geysers. It was observed
that the relative humidity in the steam was 65% as opposed to
35% outside of the affected area. In the lake we saw the dormant
geyser called Fishing Cone, in which locals were reputed to have
cooked fish in years past.
The Continental Divide provided a great photo-op at 8,262 feet,
after which we arrived at Old Faithful. Park Ranger Beth Taylor,
a former Wilmington native and NCSU alum, provided an exceptional
tour of the geysers and springs on the Old Faithful grounds, while
also delivering historical information. She mentioned that 60%
of the world's geysers are in Yellowstone and described the area
as "the greatest earth on show." Beth explained that
geysers are identified by the siliceous beads surrounding the
neck, while springs have scalloped edges. However, some springs
could have both features. Throughout the thermal area, we saw
clumpy winter bison scat, indicating that it is from last winter.
It is clumpy because their winter diet in less nutritious; it
is abundant because the hydrothermal basin is a warm place to
spend the bitterly cold Yellowstone winter.
 We were entertained by the eruptions and gurglings of many geysers
and springs, but the highlight was the eruption of Old Faithful,
which actually occurred much later than expected. As we finished
our after dinner meeting, Old Faithful graced us with a spectacular
sunset show.
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