Diary/Photo Journal
Week of August 03, 2003
Yellowstone! WOW! That should explain it. What an amazing place and rather historic.
Yellowstone was the first official National Park and was christened on March 01, 1872 "For the Benefit and Enjoyment of the People".
Yellowstone is an active volcano (again, we visit a volcano) and the Park is alive at every turn. Whether your viewing geysers, mud pots, fountains, waterfalls, rivers, meadows, wildlife, hot springs...life is everywhere. Also, you are humbled by the extraordinary range of the 1988 fire that at first glance, must have seemed to devastate the Park. As you drive for 20, 30, 50, 100 miles through the park, you are reminded of this phenomenal fire by thousands upon thousands of acres of 4' - 10' trees and lush green meadows among the burned out sticks of trunks left standing. Yes, Yellowstone has healed remarkably well and fire is actually a necessary part of the Parks restoration.
The Lodgepole Pine needs the fire to open up its seed pods and the Aspen trees have become somewhat immune to fire. The soils become more dense and hold water better after a fire. The population of many plants and trees has increased because the fire stimulated roots and left behind bare mineral soil that is a good environment for the growth of seeds.
Of course, we visited the Mammoth Springs and what would a trip to Yellowstone be without hanging with Old Faithful. It is hard to believe that Old Faithful (as well as many other geysers) erupt on regular intervals. This is because water seeps into small fissures underground and is superheated by the magma lurking 3-6 miles underneath. This water starts to create bubbles that jamb up the small water channels until enough pressure builds and Whoosh! Old Faithful reaches up to 100' in height.
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Louise at Gibbon Falls |
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Canary Springs brings beauty to Yellowstone |
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Louise at Canary Springs - look
closely at the mineral terraces or cascades That is not the color of the water, that is purely the mineral deposits |
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Old Faithful right on time - beginning, full strength, and finishing - don't be deceived by the photo, tourists have to stand 100' or so away and we had to stand further back to get the picture |
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Mammoth Springs the cascades and it's falls |
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Interesting contrast Left pictures shows where the spring was and left it's deposits - right shows that the spring is shifting and in many, many years, it will color the green area, white |
We took a few pictures of the landscape because it was so different at a turn of the road. We also spotted yet another fire located on the East side of Yellowstone Lake (fortunately, it was relatively small and well contained).
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Typical meadow and valley. Bridge over Yellowstone River |
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Yellowstone Lake and fire in the distant center |
As luck would have it, all the campgrounds in the Park were full; however, as our nature would have it, we did not believe the signs and straggled into Grant Village (on the West side of Yellowstone Lake) to make sure there were no spaces available. Lo and behold, one space was open for a vehicle 20' or less (Cindy is or less) and just a few trees from the lake. Needless to say, we lucked into a terrific spot for the night.