Yellowstone National Park

On September 11 we headed for a 5 day stay in Montana to tour Yellowstone National Park.

On the way to Wyoming...

We stayed in West Yellowstone, MT.  It's a small very touristy town--plenty of restaurants, souvenir stores, hotels, motels, cabins, and RV parks.

Our RV park had 4x4 posts along the backside.  They told us to be sure to put away grills and food because bears had been spotted along the backside of the park.  I hope those posts keep bears out!

This welcome sign in town is in several languages.  Notice that the second language is Chinese.  We noticed many busses filled with Chinese tourists.  It seems that Yellowstone National Park is a popular destination for them.  Here's a link to an interesting article about all the Chinese tourists--

https://www.bozemandailychronicle.com/news/economy/yellowstone-a-magnet-for-fast-growing-ranks-of-chinese-tourists/article_7d1eda0c-b528-5de6-be44-ff4404e1e346.html

We decided to take narrated tours of the park--day 1 was the upper loop and day 2 was the lower loop.  We went back on our own on the third day to see the sights that the bus had to pass up because of size or time restrictions.  Here are the highlights of our visit to Yellowstone...

Yellowstone National Park is located in Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho.  Established in March 1872, it is the first national park in the United States.  The park is known for its wildlife and its many geothermal features, especially Old Faithful geyser.

In thermal areas the ground may be only a thin crust above boiling hot springs or scalding mud.  There is no way to guess a safe path.  New hazards can bubble up overnight, and some pools are acidic enough to burn through boots.  More than a dozen people have been scalded to death and hundreds badly burned and scarred.

Acid from volcanic gases and micro-organisms decompose the surrounding rock into clay and mud to create Fountain Paint Pot.

Closeup of Paint Pot

Beautiful colors created by minerals in the underground water

Mud Volcano is another mudpot but this one has a pungent sulphur smell similar to rotten eggs.

Closeup of Mud Volcano

The trail around the basin

Excelsior Geyser is a dormant geyser so it's now known as Excelsior Geyser Crater.  As a geyser it erupted frequently until 1901.  Most eruptions were about 100 feet high although some exceeded 300 feet high and wide!  It now boils as a hot spring most of the time.

Beautiful colors of Grand Prismatic Spring

The first geyser we saw was Steamboat Geyser.  It is the world's tallest active geyser.  It was dormant from 1911 to 1961 but now eruptions are every 7-9 days.  Our tour guide was very excited when he saw the steam rising above the trees. The geyser had erupted at 4 am that morning and we saw the last of the steam.

Old Faithful is probably the most well-known geyser in Yellowstone.  It has erupted every 44 to 125 minutes since 2000.  Eruptions shoot 3,700 to 8,400 gallons of boiling water to a height of 106 to 185 feet.

She's gonna blow!

Old Faithful

Old Faithful Inn has been opened since June 1, 1904

The lobby is filled with beautiful wood railings, posts, and stairs

We were also lucky to see nearby Beehive Geyser (200 yards from Old Faithful).  It has irregular eruptions but when active it erupts once or twice daily and lasts 4-5 minutes.  It shoots 22,000 gallons of water--way more than Old Faithful.

Closeup of Beehive Geyser

Churning Caldron is scalding hot but not boiling.  Heat and gas rise through vents created by earthquakes.  Gasses rumble and bubble to the surface, causing the water to roil.

Rumbling and bubbling

A bison walking right behind Churning Caldron

Travertine terraces are found at Mammoth Hot Springs, where water and limestone create chalk-white travertine.

Dragon's Mouth Spring

Brink of the Upper Falls on the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone River...

...with a rainbow!

Artist Point overlook on the edge of a cliff on the south rim of the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone River was absolutely beautiful...

Other rivers and creeks in the park...

Fly fishing is a popular sport in the park

Beautiful colors on a rock caused by minerals

Yellowstone Lake is one of the largest high-elevation lakes in North America and is the largest body of water in the park.  It is centered over the Yellowstone Caldera, the largest supervolcano on the continent.  The caldera is considered an active volcano.  It has erupted with tremendous force several times in the last two million years.  Half of the world's geysers and hydrothermal features are in Yellowstone, fueled by this ongoing volcanism.

Yellowstone Lake Hotel on the banks of the lake

The beautiful colors and landscape of Yellowstone...

Lodgepole pine trees have adapted to very shallow soil over hard lava rock with shallow, widely spreading root system.

In September 8-foot tall snow poles were already in the ground along the sides of the roads.  Private vehicles are not allowed in the park during the winter but tour companies with special fat tires on their busses are allowed to take tourists in for winter activities.  The poles alert the bus drivers of the edge of the roads to keep them from falling off the roads.

These were some of the interesting rock formations overlooking a steep drop off.

Some of the animals in Yellowstone...

Bison

Pronghorn Antelope

Elk

One of the many herds of bison in the park

Yes, I was afraid of this HUGE raven!

The park even had bear spray rentals.  Thank goodness we did not see any bears!

Yellowstone Park is a beautiful place to visit and we could have easily spent another week there but it's time to move on.  Next stop is Rapid City, SD to see the Badlands and Mount Rushmore.