Yowee Yellowstone

Just when I had thought Yosemite beat everything, I saw the Grand Tetons and now Yellowstone.  Each is so spectacular in different ways.

Yellowstone Park is basically a huge caldera from an ancient volcano (640,000 years ago) and my campsite was near the western rim of the caldera. The whole park is still an active “Hotspot” as evidenced by all the geysers, hot springs, fumaroles, mud pots and travertine terraces.  There are lush green valleys with winding streams, waterfalls, and some raging rivers full of spring runoff. The 1988 forest fire devastated great swaths of the park, but after 24 years the trees have reforested themselves and are standing 20-30 feet already.

In one area there were some local earth quakes. The trees withstood the earth quake but then the ground heated up so much that the trees died from the ground temps. As you drive along you can see things steaming or blurping or hissing or rumbling. Some of the features have wonderful colors as certain algae thrive in the fuming waters, so the palette of colors is amazing. Mammoth Hot Springs, with its travertine terraces, was the only bummer as the day I was there only 2 little streams were running and all the other terraces and features were dry.

I have seen bison everywhere and when they get on the road, major traffic jams occur as the animals don’t seem to mind cars. I also saw a coyote trotting next to the road. One bison crossed a wide trout stream and scared some fishermen and then decided to chomp on grass in the mid strip in a parking lot. A Bull Moose created a huge traffic jam as a bus even stopped for photo ops. I have also seen the aftermath of two major car accidents and this is only June. I cannot imagine how crazy the place must be in summer.

I carry my canister of bear spray, which is only good for one shot. The first day in the park I hiked out 5 miles to a remote geyser. It erupted right on schedule and I was very privileged to have been there for the eruption. They say there are over 10,000 hotspot features and I think I did a good job of covering many! Spent several days hiking at every spot marked on the maps.

The rules about the bears are crazy. These bears do not know what coolers are or break into cars to get to coolers. So instructions are to keep all food, coolers, cooking utensils, stoves, water, and personal care products in your car. We had rain and thunderstorms on and off all week and then snow yesterday. What are you supposed to do about cooking if it is raining and they don’t provide shelters? They also would not let you pour any dish water on the ground. You had to wash dishes in a community sink with cold water.

The park now does a good job of providing boardwalks and paths to keep tourists off the sometimes thin crust surrounding some of the features. My mother’s brother was killed at Yellowstone as a young boy by falling into something. My mother was born in 1910 and both her brothers were younger than she. One was blind and hit by a car and died and the other one was killed at Yellowstone. In the old pictures on display, you can see people standing up close to things erupting. Gerald Ford was also a park ranger there in the 30’s.

The drive over the Bighorn Mountains on my way to S Dakota was very interesting. The Bighorn Forest Service has posted signs describing the age and names of the strata through which I was traveling.  The foothills were really old stuff but very interesting to look at. Finally out of the Rockies I was back to beef and irrigated fields and that is when I put a CD in! I hope to make Devils Tower and Mt Rushmore tomorrow and then on to Wall and the Badlands.