Yellowstone part 1
The Restless Giant
This is how Yellowstone park is called, and it has everything to do with the active volcano located beneath the park. The National Park Service brochure states the following about Yellowstone:
At the heart of Yellowstones is a super volcano. Huge volcanic eruptions occurred here, the last about 631,000 years ago. The center of what is now the park collapsed, forming a large 30-mile by 35-mile bowl-shaped crater. The heat that drove these eruptions still fuels the park's geysers, hot springs, fumaroles (openings in the earth's crust) and mud pots.
The park's ecosystems range from near desert vegetation at the northern entrance to subalpine meadows and forests on Mount Washburn. They support a variety of habitats for wildlife such as bison (buffalo), elk, grizzly and black bears, wolves, trumpeter swans and Yellowstone cutthroat trout.
Unique nature
One of the things we love about America is the enormous variety of nature. In Europe you go, for example, to Sweden for the forests and lakes, to Norway for the fjords, to Scotland for the highlands, to France for the sea and forests, to Ireland for the geysers, etc. In America you have all this! What they don't have is the good food and culture of Italy....
After the Powwow festival in Browning and our stay in Glacier NP, we drove toward Yellowstone. We visited this park for several days during the peak season in 2010. This time we entered the park through the, for us unknown, north entrance. What a special and narrow road and nature!
The road appeared to be completely new. We later read this about it:
In June 2022, a natural disaster struck this part of Yellowstone: a total of 19-24 cm of rain and melted snow water fell in a single day in the northern part of the park - more than twice the normal amount for the entire month of June. The subsequent flooding significantly damaged the park's infrastructure. Large sections of the northern and northeastern access roads were destroyed, bridges were damaged, the wastewater system was damaged, and some staff housing was wiped out. More than 10,000 visitors had to be evacuated. All park entrances were closed for several days. Fortunately, thanks to proactive action by park staff, no one was injured or killed.
Yellowstone is so huge
Yellowstone covers an area of nearly 9,000 square km and there is so much to see. There are more than 10,000 hot springs, 200 geysers, countless lakes, unusual rock formations and, of course, the many wild animals.
During this visit it is also high season again. We have reserved, last minute, a total of four campsites. As the map shows, the distances in the park are great. We set out early and then there is no sign of the high season.
Mammoth Hot Springs – Canary springs
Once you arrive in Mammoth hot springs you drive up to a beautiful white "mountain." A landscaped wooden path allows you to hike to the limestone terraces and hot springs. We have not seen this before, it looks very beautiful. You can smell the scent of sulfur everywhere in Yellowstone.
The information on these springs reads this: A network of fractures and fissures forms the piping system that allows hot water from the ground to reach the surface at Mammoth Hot Springs. Small earthquakes can keep the "pipes" open. The water comes from rain and snow falling on surrounding mountains and seeps deep into the earth where it is heated. The volcanic heat source for Mammoth Hot Springs remains somewhat of a mystery. Scientists have two suggestions for supplying the heat: the large magma chamber beneath the Yellowstone Caldera or a smaller heat source closer to Mammoth.
For hundreds of years, Shoshone and Bannock people collected minerals from the Mammoth Hot Springs terraces for white paint.
Travertine terraces are formed from limestone (calcium carbonate). Water rises through the limestone and carries ?large amounts of dissolved calcium carbonate. At the surface, carbon dioxide is released and calcium carbonate deposits, forming travertine and thus the terraces' lime-white rock. Because of the speed of deposition, these characteristics are constantly and rapidly changing.
Bison (x100)
After Mammoth Hot Springs we spot the first bison. What big animals they are! We drive on again and suddenly find ourselves in a fresh green valley with hundreds of bison. The bisons cross the road and also stand in the middle of the road.
Park rangers come and try to chase the bisons off the road with some kind of rattle. This succeeds only partially, it is the bisons' home and they just go their own way. Wonderful to see!
Bridge bay campground
It is nice to have an overnight spot in the park. After all, it is not allowed to spend the night elsewhere in the park and the distances to drive back outside the park are enormous.
The sites at this campground are nothing special, there are toilets, but no showers and no hot water. We don't care, we have everything in our own house on wheels. The campground is home to beautiful red deer, which is a gift to see.
Mud Vulcano
The next day at 6:30 a.m. we hit the road. We want to drive towards the Lamar Valley, single trip distance 85 km. First we see the Mud Volcano. The sun is already shining brightly and there is no one there. In several places you can see the steam coming out of the earth and you can smell a very strong sulfur scent. Again we are surprised by all that is special here.
On the Yellowstone website we read this:
Early explorers of Yellowstone described these features as a "most repulsive and terrifying place." It is a volcanic cone, 9 by 9 meters high and wide, with mud erupting and covering tall trees. Probably a violent eruption blew away the side of the cone, creating the crater you see now. The water constantly interrupts the back wall and is rich in iron sulfides.
Mud pots and scent
Mud pots are acidic places with limited water supply. Some microorganisms use hydrogen sulfide, which rises deep from the earth, as a source of energy. They help convert the gas into sulfuric acid, which breaks down rocks into wet clay silt and creates the smell of the area. The pungent smell of rotten eggs is caused by the hydrogen sulfide gas. Various gases escape through the wet clay silt, causing it to bubble. The consistency and activity of the mud puddle varies with the seasons and precipitation.
Mud Volcano Region
Mud Volcano is near the largest up-and-down movement of the bottom of the Yellowstone Caldera. Many fractures converge here and earthquakes are common.
The areas around Mud Volcano and the other large opening at Old Faithful are called resurgent domes. Resurgent domes are active soil deformations, where the land moves up or down with the fluctuation of the magma chamber below. Scientists closely monitor these domes for information about ongoing volcanic activity.
Sulphar Caldron
When you drive 170 km through a national park in one day - where there is so much to see, you sometimes think: shall we continue or stop? We don't have the intention to have to see everything, which is impossible anyway. This was one of those places: drive through or stop? Ok, we'll stop! Sulphar Caldron is opposite the Mud Volcano where we had stopped in the morning.
As soon as you get out of the RV, whole scents meet you. The shapes and colors are also different again from the other springs in the park. Next to one of the largest springs, a large bison was resting comfortably. He sure didn't smell that stench! We wouldn't have wanted to miss it, stopping was a good choice.
You can read about these resources on the national parks website:
This is one of the most acidic hot springs in Yellowstone. The turbulent water of Sulphur Caldron has a pH of about 1-2, which is similar to the acid of a car battery or stomach acid. The name derives from the large amounts of free sulfur in the water.
Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone
Grand Canyon we thought? What will that be? After all, we have seen the Grand Canyon in Arizona a number of times and it is quite impressive.
Seeing this canyon and the waterfalls gave Robert goose bumps, so surprised and special are this canyon and waterfall. The canyon was formed about 160,000 years ago and has very beautiful white, pink and many other colors and changes, because of the lower falls still continuously of shape and color.
The bonus of this canyon is also the ability to see everything from different angles.
Lower and Upper falls
These are beautiful waterfalls that you can get very close to in order to "feel" the enormous power of the falls and take many pictures.
Lamar Valley
The last exit and road to Lamar valley is beautiful. We immediately spot a black bear. The bear is busy eating berries. On this road you drive continuously through a wide valley surrounded by mountains and views of the Lamar River. There are no large parking lots and turning can only be done by back-up a few times.
At a small parking lot we stop, make breakfast, turn on the Starlink and facetime with the home front. Mike, Carmen and (mother-in-law) recognize this place we visited in 2010. There was a big congestion of cars then because a Grizzly bear had been spotted. It is still early now, so fortunately there is no congestion yet.
Everywhere you see purple, yellow and white wildflowers and in the distance you can see the Lamar River where some bisons are bathing. During breakfast we are visited by some ground squirrels. Our daughter-in-law Sanne says that nature seems infinitely vast and we experience it that way there.
Starlink
In national parks and also at campgrounds in the parks, there is usually no coverage from a phone provider: No data, calling and no texting. That's why it's so nice that we chose Starlink. If we are in a beautiful place, it is nice to be able to share this live with the home front.
Impressive
It feels like we are here for the first time, so impressive is everything we see. The great valleys, the hundreds of bison, the smoke you see coming out of the ground everywhere and so much more. The distances are great and if you are not out early, there is no parking available anywhere. The next stop is Old Faithful.
Deel 2 en 3 van ons bezoek aan Yellowstone
In de lente van het volgende jaar hebben we Yellowstone ook bezocht: