The six of us entered the park through the West Entrance and went south to see Old Faithful erupt. The Old Faithful Inn has a clock letting you know their prediction of the next eruption, which is about 90 – 120 minutes apart (give or take 10 minutes). Thousands of tourists gather around to watch it erupt, and when the eruption starts, the geyser spits up for a while before going up about 100 feet in the air, strong sulfur (rotten egg) smell fills the atmosphere, and then everyone cheers. But not all geysers are that predictable – Steamboat Geyser is the world’s tallest but has not erupted since 2005. [Here’s how geysers work: the water for geysers comes from rain and snow that seeps into the ground. Then magma (hot molten rock) heats up the surrounding rocks which then boil the water that has seeped underground. When the water gets hot enough, it begins to rise back up towards the surface. Geysers need strong “pipes” or silica that form a plumbing system to withstand a violent eruption. Other thermal features in Yellowstone are hot springs (pools filled with hot water but do not erupt), mudpots (pools filled with hot bubbling mud), and steam vents that just let off steam with not much water.]
After dining at the Old Faithful Inn, we continued east to the Fishing Bridge RV park. (This was one of the few campgrounds at Yellowstone that you can reserve ahead of time, but it is the most expensive, crowded, and least attractive so don’t camp there.) The next morning, we hiked through the Pelican Valley which I highly recommend for wildlife viewing, but don’t hike alone – the trail was closed after three miles due to high bear activity (as in fresh carcasses). It is a beautiful open valley that stretches for miles and definitely requires binoculars, but Justin the eagle eye quickly spotted two gray wolves chasing a herd of bison. All I saw were little black and brown dots. Throughout the week, we caught a glimpse of other wildlife around the park: squirrels and chipmunks (woop-dee-doo), marmot, mule deer, osprey (the only type of eagle that dives into the water to eat fish), moose, bald eagle, coyote, and raven (which Justin could not resist taking a picture of with his middle finger to demonstrate a “F*ck you, Baltimore Ravens!” from a Steelers fan). We have yet to run into a grizzly (thank god), bighorn sheep, and mountain lion. [Here’s a little side note about wolves that we learned: wolves were taken out of the park for 70 years to protect the elk and deer and bison from the predator but were reintroduced back into the ecosystem in 1995. While the wolves thrive, bears also benefit – when a wolf pack makes a kill, bears would smell the carcass, make their way over and scare the wolves off to get a free meal! Must be nice to be at the top of the food chain. As for grizzlies, in the early 1900s, they used to have a lot of interaction with humans when humans used to leave food out in the trash bins for the bears to feed on and thousands of tourists would gather around these bins to have a bear viewing. But rangers realized how dangerous this was for both bears and humans (after a fatal attack in the 40s), so it took decades of reform to change the habits of bears and attitudes of humans. Now the saying is “A fed bear is a dead bear.” Everyone must take special precautions when hiking and camping in bear country – don’t leave any traces of food out. Bears quickly learn and associate humans with food and may become aggressive and violent. Countless bears have been taken out of Yellowstone and sent to zoos all over the world for that very reason.]
After our friends departed Yellowstone to move on to their next destination, it was back to the two of us so we moved our base camp to Norris, a more central part of the park and also a much nicer campground for half the price. We explored just about every part of Yellowstone by motorcycle which was a fantastic way to get around. By day, we packed enough food and water for hiking, boating, and exploring various hot springs. By dusk, I attended ranger talks on various subjects like grizzly bears and bison, while Justin attempted to fish. Luckily, the recent oil spill in the Yellowstone River in Montana has not affected the park.
With the wealth of information I learned, as you can tell, I am well on my way to becoming a Junior Ranger!
Next stop: Missoula, Montana. Over and out.
Here's what NOT to do - stepping on the hydrothermal areas like these idiot tourists - it could break easily and kill you with scalding water.
1 comment:
I just came back from yellowstone not long ago and it was so beautiful. I went to old faithful and ate at the inn as well. Good times! :D
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