First, some old business.
I forgot to add in a previous post that we were lucky enough to catch a rock on the windshield on our way to St. George. A construction truck was the guilty one. It sounded like a gunshot! It's pretty mushy but hasn't decided to spread yet. I'm really glad the rock didn't break the glass all the way through, as it would have hit me! You may remember we've already had one windshield replaced on this rig!
We stayed at Yellowstone Grizzly RV Park in West Yellowstone, MT. It's a lovely big rig park and just on the edge of the west entrance of Yellowstone National Park.
Yellowstone National Park is a phenomonal place. Did you know that most of the park sits on top of a volcano? It supposedly erupted 2 million years ago, then 1.3 millions years ago and again 640,000 years ago! How do they know this stuff? The magmatic heat that powered those eruptions still powers the parks geysers, hot springs, mudpots and hydrothermal vents. The huge park has very diverse terrain. You see evidence of many forest fires with different stages of re-growth. The last REALLY big fire was in 1988.
Yellowstone National Park is a phenomonal place. Did you know that most of the park sits on top of a volcano? It supposedly erupted 2 million years ago, then 1.3 millions years ago and again 640,000 years ago! How do they know this stuff? The magmatic heat that powered those eruptions still powers the parks geysers, hot springs, mudpots and hydrothermal vents. The huge park has very diverse terrain. You see evidence of many forest fires with different stages of re-growth. The last REALLY big fire was in 1988.
There are five locations in the world that have concentrations of hydrothermal features: here at Yellowstone, Russia, Chile, New Zealand and Iceland. The Upper Geyser Basin in Yellowstone, where Old Faithful is, is the largest concentration of geysers in the world!
These pictures are of scenery, wildlife, geysers, hydrothermal vents, waterfalls, and mudpots. I should add that JB was at the park when he was about 10 and again when he was 21. He did recognize a few things but his perspective of size has changed.
The first critters we saw were elk.
A biker lady with a skunk hat!
Here we are at Old Faithful, the world's best known geyser. It was named in 1870 for it's consistent performance. It's eruption is averaging every 93 minutes, give or take 10 minutes. Although the average interval has lengthened, they say it is as specular now as it was a century ago.
Prior to the eruption.
Sat next to some people from Kasson, MN, a few miles from where we lived in MN.
The back end of the first buffalo we saw.
Then a little further down the road a lone buffalo stopped traffic and crossed the road.
There was even hot steam coming out of a grate in a parking lot.
The first critters we saw were elk.
A biker lady with a skunk hat!
Here we are at Old Faithful, the world's best known geyser. It was named in 1870 for it's consistent performance. It's eruption is averaging every 93 minutes, give or take 10 minutes. Although the average interval has lengthened, they say it is as specular now as it was a century ago.
Prior to the eruption.
Sat next to some people from Kasson, MN, a few miles from where we lived in MN.
The back end of the first buffalo we saw.
Then a little further down the road a lone buffalo stopped traffic and crossed the road.
There was even hot steam coming out of a grate in a parking lot.
A mudpot- bubbling mud! Really cool! No it was really hot!
This was the dragon slayers something or other. The activity was through this cave and there were growling sounds with the puffs of steam.
There were several areas where the hydrothermal activity had ended.
The buffalo were concentrated on the east side of the park that had more meadows and open range.
Looking south from Fishing Bridge. JB remembers being here.
Looking north at Fishing Bridge.
Wonder what the geese are finding to eat on this crusty stuff!
Hydrothermal under water.
This is the Fishing Cone that is on the edge of Yellowstone Lake. It got is it's because mountain men told of a geyser along a lake where they could catch a trout, swing the pole around, dip it into the boiling pool and cook the fish without taking it off the line. This activity was first described in 1870. (Seems like everything happened in 1870!) They no longer allow fishing boats close to this area. It does go under water when the lake water rises. Yellowstone Lake is North America's largest mountain lake. It's 20 miles long, 14 miles wide and 430 feet at it's deepest part.
This was the dragon slayers something or other. The activity was through this cave and there were growling sounds with the puffs of steam.
There were several areas where the hydrothermal activity had ended.
The buffalo were concentrated on the east side of the park that had more meadows and open range.
Looking south from Fishing Bridge. JB remembers being here.
Looking north at Fishing Bridge.
Wonder what the geese are finding to eat on this crusty stuff!
Hydrothermal under water.
This is the Fishing Cone that is on the edge of Yellowstone Lake. It got is it's because mountain men told of a geyser along a lake where they could catch a trout, swing the pole around, dip it into the boiling pool and cook the fish without taking it off the line. This activity was first described in 1870. (Seems like everything happened in 1870!) They no longer allow fishing boats close to this area. It does go under water when the lake water rises. Yellowstone Lake is North America's largest mountain lake. It's 20 miles long, 14 miles wide and 430 feet at it's deepest part.
I have many more pictures but I think this is enough to bore you with. It was a great stop and a must see for everyone.
When JB was here before, he was tenting it. I much rather be in our 40 foot coach. Hope you enjoyed the tour through the park.
PS We saved $25 by using our senior pass!
Love the pictures. I told John that next year Yellowstone has to be one of our vacations
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