Do You Do That at Home?

If you are just now tuning in, please visit the previous post, Yellowstone National Park, Part I, for the first half of the journey.

After resting at Mammoth Hot Springs our next stop is Obsidian Cliff.  This is interesting because obsidian was one of the materials Native Americans used to make projectile points.  It is clear and as hard as sharp as glass.

Now we are starting to get to the really interesting stuff, the geysers (pronounced guy-zers NOT gee-zers.  If you tell me about all the geezers you’ve seen, I think you’ve been hanging out at the Irma.)  Norris Geyser Basin has some amazing sights:

The colours are produced by micro-bacteria which lives in the warm water.  Unfortunately, these sights also inspire warnings:

It seems like it would be self evident, but people think they should go traipsing around in the thermal areas and they get badly burned.  Stay on the path!

Come on, come on.  Get back in the car.  Things only get better.  We can stop at Gibbons Falls and cool off from the hot springs.

The Fountain Paint Pots are next.

Just when you think things couldn’t get more spectacular, we get to Midway Geyser Basin:

Grand Prismatic Spring (left) and Excelsior Geyser (Top).  Grand Prismatic Spring displays a stunning rainbow of colors created by species of thermophilac (heat-loving) bacteria that thrive in narrow temperature ranges.  The blue water in the center is too hot to support any bacterial life, while the outer orange rings are the coolest water.  Grand Prismatic Spring is the largest spring in the United States and the third-largest in the world. 

 

Hurry!  Old Faithful is about to errupt and we don’t want to wait another 91 minutes to see it!  That’s right.  Old Faithful Geyser errupts every 91 minutes.  You can set your watch by it.

If you are exhausted, we can stop at the Old Faithful Inn for some refreshments.

Old Faithful Inn opened in 1904 and today it reigns as the largest log hotel in the world.   It was designated as a National Historic Landmark in 1987.  One year later it was nearly destroyed in the forest fires that rampaged through the park.

Our last stop is the Lone Star Geyser.

This also requires something of a hike so I’ve never seen it.

This concludes the scenery portion of the guided tour.  I know you’ve been asking, “But what about the ANIMALS?”  Hold your horses.  Part III of the tour is all about the animals of Yellowstone National Park.

A while ago someone asked why we get so many summer visitors.  I gave the brief answer of Yellowstone National Park.  I will now elaborate with stolen Google pictures and research found on:   

 

HISTORY 

Yellowstone National Park (YNP) is the United State’s first national park.  It was established on March 1, 1872 and is located in the northwest corner of Wyoming.  More than 90 percent of YNP’s 3,468 square miles (8,980 km⁾ is in Wyoming with smaller parts in Montana and Idaho. 

 

In 1807, John Coulter, a member of the Lewis & Clark Expedition, passed through an area that later became part of YNP.  He described a place of “fire and brimstone”, but his story was dismissed as delirium since he was found wandering naked and wounded from a battle with local Indian tribes. The area, which includes land around the town of Cody, was nicknamed ”Coulter’s Hell”.  

 GUIDED TOUR 

The visitors we see are going in or coming out of YNP via the East Entrance. 

Visitors are given a stack of pamphlets at every entrance to YNP.  Most of them are warnings about staying away from the animals: 

  

Visitors are also given a map of the park and our guided tour will start at the East Entrance since it’s the only one worth mentioning. 

 

  

Yellowstone Lake is one of the largest high-altitude lakes in North America and is centered over the Yellowstone Caldera, the largest super-volcano on the continent. The caldera is considered an active volcano; it has erupted with tremendous force several times in the last two million years.  Rumour has it, if it decides to blow, we’re all dead.  

 

 

  

Fishing Bridge, built in 1902, it was once Yellowstone’s most popular fishing location.  I remember my grandpa taking me here as a kid and I had to fight for a small space on the bridge to fish.  

Fishing is now limited to catch and release so hardly anyone stops. 

Turning left after Fishing Bridge, you will find Natural Bridge.  This bridge is a 2 1/2 mile hike from the road so since I’m lazy and don’t want to be eaten by a grizzly, I’ve never seen it.  But here’s a picture. 

If you turn right at Fishing Bridge (which is my recommendation since there isn’t much between Fishing Bridge and West Thumb except Natural Bridge and a possible grizzly attack) you will find the Mud Volcanos.  They are less “volcanos” and more “oozing pits of hot, muddy slop”, but that doesn’t look good on a brochure.  They also stink like rotten eggs. 

  

 

 Continuing on, you will find The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone.  This is probably the most photographed and painted sight in all of YNP.

 

  

  

  

The next stop is Tower Falls by Tower Junction.  I think this is a more impressive waterfall, maybe because it is less photographed. 

 

 

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

A nice resting place is Mammoth Hot Springs.  Lodging is available and it is well worth spending an extra day or two at the hot springs to see the splendor. 

 

  

  

  

  

  

  

 

 

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

 

This is also a nice place for this post to stop and rest since it is HUGE.  Part II will cover the area from Mammoth to the South Entrance.