This blog is about the next chapter.... about love, about life and about adventure! It is for our family and friends to follow along... so they know where we are! Catch us if you can!
We set up
and went into West Yellowstone. We stopped at a Grizzley and Wolf center and
drove through the town…seems quite a bit touristy and a smaller version of
Wisconsin Dells with all the souvenir shops and restaurants.
Geyser Basin, Norris Basin, Artists Paint Pot
The West Yellowstone Visitor Center was very underwhelming! It's actually outside the park in the town of West Yellowstone. No displays. No gift shop.
You know we just have to do all the touristy things!
We went to a Grizzly and Wolf Discovery Center
I think Al would be in trouble here!
I found a buddy bear in the Grizzly Center
Did you ever see a log cabin McDonald's??? No, we didn't eat here. We just thought it was unique! We've seen the teal arches in Sedona. Apparently there is a McMansion in New York...I'm guessing the prices are McMansion prices too!
8.06.26 We drove through three states today,
Idaho, Montana and Wyoming!
We went into
Yellowstone Park and visited Fire Hole River and Falls, Geyser Basin, Grand
Prismatic loop, Norris Basin, Artists Paint Pot. I had enough walking and we
came back after seven and a half hours.
Yellowstone
National Park encompasses about 2.2 million acres and 3000 square miles of land
over 3 states, Montana, Idaho and Wyoming. There are 10,000 geothermal features
in the park and the park actually sits on the largest volcano on earth!
The Madison
River runs into Yellowstone and was named by Lewis & Clark.
The Fire
Hole River and Falls
Grand
Prismatic Spring in the Midway Geyser Basin---Used to be a tall geyser spewing about
300 feet but that caused the plumbing underneath to shake apart. It still pumps
4000 gallons of water per minute into the Fire Hole River via the Excelsior Geyser. Grand Prismatic is
about 370 feet in diameter and 121 feet deep. It is the largest in North America and the 3rd largest in the world.
Grand
Prismatic Spring and Excelsior Geyser Crater flows as thermal runoff directly
into the Firehole River within Yellowstone National Park's Midway Geyser Basin. This adds
about 5.8 million gallons of hot mineral-rich water to the river every single
day.
That's what is running into the river behind us.
The Grand Prismatic Spring
Approximately 200 feet across and 160 degrees F.
Deep beneath the surface, magma from an active volcano heats water that rises to the surface through fissures in the rocks. The result is a hot spring that pours almost 500 gallons of hot water each minute into the Firehole River.
Happy 14th Birthday Cashton!!! This photo is for you!!!
Opal Pool
Turquoise Pool
Walking Bridge across the Firehole River
Run off from Excelsior Geyser into the Firehole River
Firehole River
Artists' Paint Pots--Blood Geyser
Al hiked the Artists' Paint pots alone. I was done for the day.
Mud Pot
Seasons play a role in the consistency of a mud pot. In the spring, when there is plenty of water, they are soupy and splashy. As the summer progresses and there is less water, they become thicker and thicker like a bowl of stew.
Norris Geyser Basin holds the park record for the highest measured surface and subsurface temperatures. With a surface temperature reading of 280 degrees F. and a subsurface temperature of 464 degrees F. at 1086 feet deep.
Al went walking on the trail. I sat on a rock in the shade.
Norris
Geyser Basin-Steamboat Geyser usually
erupts every couple of days but sometimes up to years between eruptions! The trail for Steamboat was closed but Al got a little video you can see if you click the video link!
I got an early start and I'm glad I did, the elk were out grazing this morning!
This lone Bison was out for a stroll this morning too.
I decided to hike the South Rim Trail along the Yellowstone River.
A view of the upper falls.
A view of the lower falls.
They call this the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone for good reason. It actually reminded me of both the Grand Canyon because of the size and Bryce Canyon because of the colors and the hoodoos.
This was the view of the lower falls from Artists Point.
The only disappointment about the South Rim Trail is that there was supposed to be spots where you could get down close to the river at both of the falls but the trails were closed.
I almost left Yellowstone after the South Rim Trail hike but I called Colleen and told her about overlooks from the North Rim that I could see by the falls and she convinced me that I would probably regret not going there.
Of course Colleen was right, I would have regretted it, you can't get more up close and personal than this! The upper falls drops 109 feet.
This was the overlook at the lower falls, it was unreal how loud it was!
The lower falls drops an astounding 308 feet, no wonder it was so loud. The water cascading down to the lower level looked so cool!
Click the video link blow to walk along with Al on his South Rim of the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone Hike! You won't believe the waterfalls!
This was our second trip to Yellowstone and we saw all the things we missed the first time.
Earthquake
Lake (or Quake Lake) is a 5-mile-long lake in southwestern Montana, created on
August 17, 1959, when a massive magnitude 7.2 earthquake triggered a landslide
that blocked the Madison River. At 11:37 PM several faults in the Madison River
Area moved at the same time causing an earth quake that triggered a massive
landslide. Located in the Madison River Canyon, it sits roughly 27 miles
northwest of West Yellowstone along US Highway 287. Its stark, haunting
landscape serves as a reminder of one of the strongest earthquakes to ever
strike the Rocky Mountains. A staggering 80 million tons of rock crashed into
the canyon at 100 miles per hour, forming a 130-foot-high natural damand happened in less than one minute.
The rising waters rapidly flooded the canyon, drowning a pine forest and
leaving bleached, dead trees piercing the surface.
The Hebgen
Lake earthquake measured 7.5 on the Richter scale. Two faults moved
simultaneously…the Red Canyon Fault and the Hebgen Lake Fault. The north shore
of Hebgen Lake dropped 19 feet and cabins fell into the water. Hebgen Lake
sloshed back and forth. Huge waves called seiches crested over Hebgen Dam. This
earth-filled dam cracked in four places, but held. Three sections of Highway
287 fell into the lake. Hundreds of campers were trapped. 28 people lost their
lives as a result of the earthquake. Their names appear on a bronze plaque on
one of the massive dolomite boulders carried across the canyon by the slide.
The dolomite boulder serves a as a memorial.
No comments:
Post a Comment