Tuesday, March 07, 2006
Alphabet Soup
I say the word "geyser" and what do you think of? Why Yellowstone National Park, of course - and it is the "Y" stop on Alphabet Soup.Everybody knows the "Old Faithful" geyser - so much so that they say the average visitor goes there, watches the eruption and leaves. But it is one of hundreds, if not thousands of geysers. There is so much to see at Yellowstone - It's huge.
The highlights are the geo-thermal features in general, they come is all sorts of varieties for all kinds of tastes.These extraordinarily clear springs were truly amazing to me - they are chock full of dissolved solids, which usually clouds a solution, but in this case they actually improve the opitcal clarity and give them that wonderful color. You want to dive in (It would scald you, of course) but you want to because you think you can see to the very core of the earth
Mudpots lke this are also quite amazing, but in an ugly sort of way. They come in all sorts of colors and viscosoties. This one is reasonably fluid, but some are down right sludgy, which is great when they are boiling - they sort of spurt, its really cool.The engineer in me would really like to experiment with the stuff as a building material, and also try to figure out ways to move it - I mean it has the near consistentcy of cement. But I digress.
Of course, the wildlife is the other widely known feature of Yellowstone. Bison like this are everywhere. Other animals are somewhat harder to see - for example, a male moose - saw lots of females, but never a male. I also must comment that I think people make absolute idiots of themselves when the animals show. Sometimes city life is not a good thing.My one disappointment was, try as I might, I never could find Yogi Bear - or Boo-Boo for that matter.
And the rangers did not like it if you called them "Mr. Ranger."Depicted here is what I think is the most spectacular feature of the park and one most people miss altogether - its up on the north end and its called "The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone"
You can't really see it in this picture but at the upriver beginning of this magnificent gorge are two spectacular waterfalls. You can take a rather difficult hike to the top of the second falls and hang out over it - it is a real thrill.
As you can see, the colors of the gorge are what really make it, and of course, it is how the river got its name - see the yellow stone.
My only serious advise if you visit Yellowstone - give yourself several days and see as much as you can. You cannot do it justice in a day.
Related Tags: Yellowstone, Alphabet Soup, travel, photos, geysers, mudpots, hot springs
