October 16 -- Beautiful Day in Yellowstone

I had a chance to spend the day in Yellowstone National Park -- a favorite of mine. I think Yellowstone offers a great variety of nature from mountains, geothermal activity (more geysers than anywhere in the world), rivers and waterfalls (including the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone), and wildlife like bison, elk, wolves, and bear. It is the FIRST national park of this country, founded in 1872. It's beautiful, and if you ever have a chance to enjoy Yellowstone, you really should.

So my friend, Jane Clapp (pictured above), and I spent a day. I've been in the park many times, so I tried to take Jane to some of the most memorable spots -- which is hard to do in one day.

We came into the park through the north gate in Gardiner, MT which comes almost directly into Mammoth Hot Springs. Although these springs lie outside the caldera boundary of the park, their energy is attributed to the same magma system that fuel the other Yellowstone geothermal areas. In fact, the water comes down a fault from the Norris Geyser Basin (hottest area of Yellowstone) and runs through limestone on the way to Mammoth. The water cools somewhat (to maybe 170 degrees) and comes to the surface at Mammoth. Deposits of calcium carbonate are left, and form amazing layers of travertine which are colored by algae in shades of brown, green, red, orange, and yellow.

The travertine deposits grow quickly, and cover trees and even sometimes the boardwalks built by the park. It can sometimes cover the opening of the spring, which causes new springs to open in other parts of Mammoth. The travertine creates terraces with raised edges, and the water flows from a flat area and then down a steep ridge, creating a colorful hillside palette of brown, green, and orange (the colors due to the heat-tolerant bacteria). This effect is much the same as an artist would achieve by allowing wet paint to run down a vertical surface.

Enjoy some pictures:
































These are several shots from Canary Springs, named for the yellow color, which is attributable to a sulfur dependent filamentous bacteria. The creamy white sections are the travertine and these pictures show a "hot spring waterfall".











From Mammoth, we drove through the park to the Yellowstone Canyon, which they consider to be the Grand Canyon of the park. Two of the largest and most beautiful waterfalls are found in the canyon -- the Upper Falls (at 109 ft.) and the Lower Falls (at 308 ft.). On the north side of the canyon are several places where you can be on the "brink" of either falls -- right at the edge. It's amazing the amount and strength of the water that goes over the falls (the picture of Jane above is taken at another lookout point below the lower falls). If visiting, you must hit at least one of them.

Red Rock Point is another area below the lower falls. It's the tall pinnacle which gets it's red color from iron oxide. The park has put a great boardwalk from the top down to the pinnacle with a fabulous view of the Lower Falls.

However, the most popular and maybe most beautiful spot to view the canyon and the Lower Falls is from Artist Point. You can easy drive and park with just a short walk to the overlook of the canyon. Or there is a great hike down the South Rim Trail that is 2 miles from the road entrance to Artist Point. It goes along the river, through some beautiful forests and then climbs to the top of the canyon. Wonderful views -- of course, don't forget you'll be hiking back 2 miles unless you have someone pick you up.

The view from Artist Point is truly inspirational. I've taken so many pictures from the point towards the Lower Falls, and you cannot take a bad picture unless you can't focus the camera. Here is one from that day:

(Yellowstone Grand Canyon – Artist Point)

This whole canyon area is made of rhyolite lava, where today steam rises from vents in the canyon, and the multi-hued rocks of the canyon walls are also evidence of hydrothermally altered rhyolite. Over hundreds of thousands of years, blocked rivers and streams overflowed and cut through the various hard and soft rhyolites, creating the canyon. Later the canyon was blocked three different times by glaciers. Each time these glaciers formed lakes, which filled with sand and gravel. Floods from the melting glaciers at the end of each glacial period recarved the canyon, deepened it, and removed most of the sand and gravel.

The present appearance of the canyon dates from about 10,000 years ago when the last glaciers melted. Since that time, erosional forces (water, wind, earthquakes, and other natural forces) have continued to sculpt the canyon.

And what trip to Yellowstone would be complete without seeing some of the estimated 10,000 geothermal features of the park. The most famous being "Old Faithful". Old Faithful is one of the 6 "grand geysers" in the park which erupt over heights of 100 ft and with some regularity. Old Faithful erupts about every 90 minutes, so it is a crowd favorite. It is located in the Upper Geyser Basin which houses almost 1/4 of all the geysers in the world. There is a great paved and boardwalk trail that goes around the basin where you can see many large and small geothermal features. Some include Giant Geyser (150-200 ft), Grand Geyser (140-200 ft), Castle Geyser (resembles ruins of a castle, 60-90 ft.), and Grotto Geyser (not so large, but has encased several trees).

(Grotto Geyser)





(Old Faithful)