When we hit the road this morning, I was the most tired I’ve been on the whole trip. I think I coked it up (Coke Zero, that is) a little too much last night as we pushed to Helena, so I didn’t sleep very well. That combined with the canoeing and hiking yesterday must’ve taken a toll (not to mention my butt bones are really sore from sitting in an aluminum canoe). Either that, or two weeks on the road is starting to add up.
We made it into Yellowstone, the first National Park, around 16:00. After a quick stop at the visitor center, we started checking out some of the geothermal phenomena of the park. Our first stop was a spot called Fountain Paint Pot. This was a half-mile trail on raised wooden planks through an area of steaming hot springs and bubbling mud pits. The stench of sulfur is thick in the air around these openings, which reach deep into the earth.
The next area we checked out was Midway Geyser Basin and Prismatic Spring. The interplay of colors in the pools is pretty impressive. The water is especially blue because of microscopic particles suspended in it, and the underlying ground is colored green and orange by different species of thermophilic bacteria.
On the way to our next stop, we saw a couple of elk. We stopped for a few pictures and they actually started walking toward us, until they were within about 5 yards. We had seen elk before at Redwoods; but this was a much closer encounter and we could really get an appreciation for the size of these animals.
We also got a distant look at a bison. Hopefully, we’ll get some closer looks at these before we leave. Speaking of bison, Agent Orange had it for dinner. I don’t understand why anyone would want to eat these majestic creatures, especially in a sanctuary dedicated to preserving them. It’s the same complaint I have about zoos and aquariums serving meat. Why is it when people look at animals, the next thing they want to do is eat them?
Our final stop for the day was at Old Faithful. We sat and watched for about 30 minutes before the geyser slowly started bubbling and then erupted in a powerful gush reaching probably close to eighty feet. It’s almost unsettling to think about the activity under our feet that can produce something like this (and certainly much more).
We’re staying tonight in the Old Faithful Inn, which is a National Historic Landmark. It’s basically a giant log cabin (and smells just like The Cabin), one of the largest wooden structures in the world. The rooms are pretty rugged, in a sweet way. We had dinner in the downstairs dining room, which was also pretty nice.
1 comment:
Thanks for sharing the sights and smells of Yellowstone. It's interesting to read how unsettling the geyser experience was - it's something I've always wondered about.
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