Old Faithful

Today's plan was to take in the large southern circle of Yellowstone National Park. This route would take us through the Geyser Basins and around the edge of Yellowstone Lake, by Fishing Bridge and then north along the Yellowstone River before we'd return on a part of the route we'd already taken in our northern loop excursion a few days prior.

Because we have furkids (and BJ is a big furkid) we took separate cars. We also packed lunches. It's great to be with friends -- even if you don't ride together!

Marcella, Landon and BJ

Another lone bison bull. 
He is the fifth we've seen -- the first  today.

We pulled into the Yellowstone Information Station at Madison so the dogs could take a walk and Landon could get his National Park book stamped. We ran upon one of these great old tour buses.

The driver and the passengers were patient as we posed.

BJ wasn't allowed to go down into this area so Landon and Wayne went while Marcella and I waited with the furkids.

The Nez Perce War

I don't ever remember reading anything in school about the Nez Perce War of 1877.  The name of Chief Joseph was just vaguely familiar. We stopped along the road for a short "refresher" lesson of the event. It goes like this: In August 1877 (after the civil war) some 600 Indian men, women and children camped in this area. They were making their way to Canada from their Oregon homeland which had been taken by the US Government (sounds familiar). US Soldiers were close behind.  The US government had declared a "non-treaty" against the Nez Perce and pursued them to be forceably placed on a reservation. This elderly group of Nez Perce, led by Chief Joseph and several others traveled 1,170 miles and were just 40 miles short of reaching the Canadian border when they were captured. 

Marcella, Landon (aka Curtis) and the Wayner. 

This western part of the circle takes us through the Geyser Basins and inside the Caldera Boundary. I've learned more about how the Caldera effect works and it's reminiscent of baking a cake.  If the cake rises but is taken from the oven too soon, it will "fall" and leave marks on the surface. Same principle with the Caldera.

Approaching the Geyser region, we saw the first signs of coming attractions:

We stopped at the Lower Geyser Basin's Fountain Paint Pots for these pictures:

Boiling mud  makes a "smacking" sound.

I'm holding Lexie pretty close right now.

We stopped for lunch at a picnic area and found yet another lone bison bull grazing. 

Fearless women.

After lunch we made one more stop -- this one at Midway Geyser Basin where Wayne announced that he was "all geysered out" and opted not to take the lengthy walk to see more boiling water.   I took the walk while he and Lexie stayed in the car.

This is Excelsior. It's most recent eruption was in 1985 when she roared back to life for forty-seven hours!
Impossible to know when it will happen again.  I'm outta here.

These geyser basins are not small areas. They cover large spaces as seen here.

Wait!  I know these people!
It's Marcella and Landon.  BJ waits patiently in the car ... again.

Colorful mud and mineral deposits.

Okay.  We're off again!

Next Stop:  Old Faithful

Gift Shop, Ice Cream, Bathrooms and Old Faithful.  Our activities included all of these in addition to being with good friends. BJ stayed in the car, but Miss Lexie rode in her Outward Hound to see the eruption of Old Faithful.  

Shopping for souvenirs, we missed one eruption of Old Faithful and shopped another hour until near time for the next one -- they occur every 92 minutes.  

Marcella and Landon have just missed the eruption of Old Faithful (in the background)

Landon waiting for Old Faithful (no I not referring to Marcella)

We ran upon a very nice ranger, I forgot his name. 
He let Marcella wear his Ranger Hat so she can be a "Junior Ranger" today!

Pop and Lexie wait while Mom shops.

The Old Faithful Lodge

Thar She Blows!

Because it was so late in the day, we all decided to just backtrack to West Yellowstone instead of trying to complete the remaining  half of the southern circle drive through the park. 

We stopped at the park sign to snap a photo of ourselves as we left.

Marcella, Landon, Wayne and me.
Protection provided by BJ the "wonder beagle" (sitting in front)

The next day, Landon told me he heard on the news that someone had been killed by a bear in the park the day we were there.  It happened near where we were.  

Moral:  Yellowstone can be dangerous.

August 17, 1959: Earthquake!

On August 17, 1959, a beautiful moonlit night in Gallatin National Forest was interrupted by one of the most powerful earthquakes recorded on the North American continent. It was in the Madison Canyon, Montana area. The epicenter of the quake was at what's known as the Duck Creek "Y".

I would have been a child then but oddly enough I have never even heard about this deadly earthquake. 

The 7.5 Richter scale quake triggered a massive landslide that sent 80 million tons of rock crashing down the Madison River Canyon in Montana.  High velocity winds and a gigantic wall of water swept through the area. The Madison River was blocked -- water backed up behind the rocks.

In a matter of seconds, the earth's crust dropped 19 feet. The land under nearby Hebgen Lake tilted upward. There were cabins on the north shore -- they were all consumed by the water.  Meanwhile, the south shore lay high and dry.  Water sloshed -- waves crashed. Waves crested over nearby Hebgen Dam. The earthen dam cracked but did not break.

Three sections of US Highway 287 fell apart, Hundreds of vacationers were trapped. Twenty-eight lives were lost. A new lake was formed.  Fittingly, it became Quake Lake. The lake itself filled in three weeks. It is 190 feet deep and 6 miles long.

Our campground at Island Park, Idaho is less than 20 miles from this specatcular natural disaster. We learned about the occurance from a tourist brochure in the campground office. 

Surprisingly, from my group, nobody wanted to see Quake Lake except me so I didn't see it.

From:  www.smate.wwu.edu

From: www.serc.carleton.edu

Visiting With Friends

On the fourth day at Island Park, Idaho, our friends from Yuma, Landon and Marcella, along with their beagle, BJ rolled in to join us. We've not seen them since last March but Marcella and I stay in touch regularly. 

Keepin' the coach clean.  Marcella (ladder) and Landon (watching) drove nearly 700 miles in 2.5 days to see us.
They were exhausted -- but not enough to leave those bugs on that windshield!

Wash woman.

Just before they arrived.  They parked beside us here at Red Rock RV

Our nearest neighbors

Landon

The Northern Circle of Yellowstone National Park

Established in 1872, Yellowstone National Park is America's first national park. Situated in the northwest corner of Wyoming, with some of Montana and Idaho included it is home to a large variety of wildlife including grizzly bears, wolves, bison, and elk. Preserved within Yellowstone National Park are Old Faithful and a collection of the world's most extraordinary geysers and hot springs, and the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone.

My first impressions of Yellowstone were not really favorable.  I didn't know if it's because it is different than I expected or that Yosemite, Mount St. Helens and the Canadian Rockies had just been so spectacular.  The first sites at Yellowstone just didn't seem to move me -- whatever the reason.

Anyone who knows me knows that I'm on a mission these days to see a moose and I'd really like to see a grizzly bear too.  My eyes are constantly scouring the roadside for wildlife.  Within the first half-hour of our entry into Yellowstone National Park, we ran upon a small group of elk.  They aren't moose, but they'll do for now.  They're far away so I had to zoom in to even get them in the photo.  Oh well, the day is still young.

The landscape is nice and really wide open.

Driving on past the elk, still early in the day, we saw a group of cars stopped ahead of us.  We know this is an indication of wildlife close by.  Closing in on the congestion, we saw people with cameras already out of their cars.

This photo contains a group of crazy people and a single bull buffalo who seems to enjoy the limelight.
No, I didn't get this close.  I zoomed again.

Early this summer (2011) a man was killed and his wife seriously injured by a grizzly bear here in Yellowstone.  They were hiking in the back country and were not novice hikers.  The couple reportedly walked, accidentally, upon a mother grizzly and her cub.  I thought about the incident when we came upon this sign near a trail head no longer being used. 

No need to tell me twice.  I even took the picture some 50 feet back.
Lexie did not get out of the car.

It wasn't long until we came upon bison #2.  Another solitary bull, resting in the grass. We're making a counter clockwise circle of the northernmost loop of the park.  The sites are still somewhat unimpressive to me but the day is enjoyable.

Second buffalo. Another lone bull...resting.
Far from the maddening crowd of tourists.

We drove past Roaring Mountain and on through the Norris community of Yellowstone at an elevation of 7,526 feet. A few miles farther and we entered the Caldera overlooking Yellowstone's Central Plateau.  I didn't know what a Caldera was and still have only a vague idea but it has something to do with an enormous volcanic eruption some 600,000 years ago (are they sure of that timeline?) that blew parts of the mountains all the way to Texas!  The plateau beyond the caldera continue to bulge and brew their mysterious magma fires that will eventually lead to the next eruption. Wayne says repeatedly that we're touring a power keg that could "blow" anytime.  I'm a little uneasy about this.

View at the rim of the Caldera
Aka: Sitting atop the power keg.

Another view of the Central Plateau.

Our drive takes us to Canyon Village and some really nice views of the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone.  The scenery has become much more striking and taking photographs of the canyon has become a thrill.

I wonder if the yellow colored rock faced canyon has anything to do with the name "Yellowstone" 

The orderly vertical columns along the canyon wall are volcanic. A gazillion years ago, the lava welled up and then flowed as a flood of fire. Upon cooling, the lava remains contracted producing hexagonal columns of basalt.  All this, mind you, took place 1.3 million years ago according to the information in the brochure.  How do they know this stuff?

Lexie and Mom. Most photographed dog in America.

This huge cylindrical stone juts straight up from the floor of the canyon.

At Washburn Hot Springs Overlook, I took a walkway that led to beautiful scenes of Yellowstone's Grand Canyon. Wayne and Lexie waited in the car while I walked and took pictures.

Waiting for Mom to return.

We passed Mount Washburn at 10,243 feet and drove northward to Tower-Roosevelt where we picked up a quick snack for supper and took a look at the nearby Petrified Tree which was most unimpressive. Just a column shaped rock standing straight up 20-30 feet. 

Petrified tree

At the Forces of the Northern Ridge, we saw a group of riders on horseback.  It was a hot afternoon and I wondered if they were enjoying themselves.

Barely visible in the picture, riders on horseback.

This area is known as Forces of the Northern Range and it looks different from the other parts of Yellowstone we've seen today.  The 5,200 - 7,000 foot elevation is less than any other part of the park. Rainfall, at 15" annually, makes it the driest part of the park too.  The winter winds and sun amounts make this the best grazing part of the park and reduces snow depths.

Floating Island Lake, I think.

Mammoth Hot Springs at the Albright Visitor Center near the North Entrance of Yellowstone was next and this stop certainly did not disappoint.  This is where the Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel, Historic Fort Yellowstone and Park Headquarters are located.  Additionally, elk frequent the yards and flower beds, which are draped in chicken wire to save the blooms. 

Homes in Yellowstone.

Please do not feed the elk.

Just down the road we came upon the Hot Springs themselves.  Oh, they are terrific!

The original "cone head" at the entrance to Mammoth Hot Springs 

The surface looks like glass with water running across it.
Lexie stayed in the car. She wants nothing to do with hot water, thank you very much.

Water continually flows across these formations, which look man-made.
The colors are beautiful.

Did I mention... yes, the water is hot.

As the afternoon was slipping away, we made better time after Mammoth Hot Springs, stopping just once or twice more. We did catch some beautiful sites though...

Wayne read that the original road through here dates back to the 1930's.

A herd of elk -- from a great distance, of course.

Bison #3

Bison #4 is coming up the road to greet us.

As a matter of fact, he does own the road.
He did not get off the asphalt.
We just changed lanes...

I don't remember the name of the place we stopped last.  It might have been Steamboat at Norris Geyser Basin. We were tired by then and Lexie walked a long time before she took care of business.

It was almost dark when we got back to the campground and we were three tired dogs!