Park of fire and water; and perhaps the origin of the end of the world - Yellowstone National Park 28
What and Why
The fact that I have to do a Part II of this UNESCO WHS shows how much is there to offer from this Park.
The Yellowstone volcano is the largest volcanic system in North America and is termed as a 'supervolcano' because the caldera was formed by exceptionally large explosive eruptions and is one of the seven in the world. The magma chamber that lies under Yellowstone is estimated to be a single tiny connected chamber, about 60 km long, 30 km wide and 5 to 12 km deep. The current volcanic zone was created by a cataclysmic eruption that occurred, relatively recently in geological terms, 640,000 years ago. It is often predicted that, through detection of recent geothermal activities around the area, that it is time for the volcano to erupt at a destructive scale any time soon, as depicted in the recent apocalyptic movie 2012.
See
From the Canyon Village, one will take a very scenic but cliff-hanging and thrilling drive along the Dunraven Pass to Tower-Roosevelt where we stayed. We took this road almost everyday and at one time after midnight, which was a heart-out-of-your-mouth experience. The road is a narrow unlit two-way drive, but at any point one side of it is a 100-m fall... Imagine the drive without any streetlights during the night.
Tower-Roosevelt
The upper loop usually features much more wildlife compared to the lower loop, If lucky, which we were, we did encounter grizzly bears, llamas, moose, bisons, wolves, etc.. The Tower Fall is where you will observe antelopes along the cliff and the lava tubes. Most of the wild animals appear near the Lamar Valley at Northeast entrance, which is less disturbed by human.
Bisons everywhere.
We were extremely fortunate to witness a grizzly feeding on a beaver.. Quite a gruesome scene observed by large number of spectators!
We also took a horse ride and stroll around the Northern rim. The cowboy who led the horse ride said only 3% of the Yellowstone was explored. The other 97% of the wilderness can only be accessed by horse or foot.
Mammoth Hot Springs
Mammoth Hot Springs is a large complex of hotsprings on a hill near the North entrance. It was created over thousands of years as hot water from the spring cooled and deposited calcium carbonate, forming a whitish hill of mushrooms and poxes like Pamukkale of Turkey （Turkish: Türkiye). My wife thinks this is the most beautiful sceneries in the park.
The cone of Mammoth.
Roaring Mountain
Roaring Mountain was named for the numerous fumaroles that erupted together on the western slope of the peak which during the early 1900s CE were loud enough to be heard for several miles.
Norris
Norris is the largest geyser area in the Park. One of the areas is called One Hundred Springs Plain and one can imagine the number springs and geysers around. The most important geyser of all is the Steamboat Geyser, which is the world's largest and tallest geyser. Eruptions have been measured to reach 91 m of height, but have a very irregular eruption schedule. However in 2018 CE, this geyser seems to have resurrected and has erupted more than 40 times, while prior to that the last time it erupted was 1911 CE! During our visit, it was not erupting but it did erupt a few months before our visit and unfortunately resulted in one fatality.
Norris basin.
It also contains the artist paintpots, where colourful springs. The colour comes from different bacteria of the spring systems.
Buy and Do
Horse-riding
As mentioned above, I highly recommend doing the horse-riding (American English: horse-back riding, which makes me wonder where else can I ride on a horse) to explore some of the less travelled areas in Yellowstone. As mentioned less than 3% of Yellowstone is for general public visit and the rest can only be done with a horse, and this two-hour tour can take one to many unexplored areas. Many of these staples and ranches are located in the Northern loop.
Eat and Drink
Bison meat
The Mammoth Hot Springs area is much closer to the exit and it is a 30-minute drive from there to Gardiner, which is a small town with all sorts of restaurants and laundry services. There are better restaurants at West Yellowstone but the drive from the exit is much further. The local dish is bison meat or steak, which is a relatively tough steak. Perhaps it is just poor culinary skills... I just hope the bisons are not coming from Yellowstone itself.
Stay
We were extremely fortunate to be able to book a cabin inside the Park at the Roosevelt Lodge. Staying inside the park is highly recommended as it saves us at least an hour everyday commuting in and out of the Park, although getting a room in any lodge inside the Park is very very difficult. You are talking about a six-month waiting list easily. The hut is well maintained and good for purpose. The problem is that it does not come with an in-house toilet / bathroom. The communal toilet is around 50 m away and you can imagine the trouble and embarassment during a midnight pee. Otherwise all good.
Getting There and Around
Drive, as in previous blog.
As in other national parks in America, the entry fee is USD $25 per vehicle per week, and you go in and out as many times as you want. For Yellowstone, I recommend visitors to stay at least a full week to appreciate the park, nature and the lack of cellular signals.
UNESCO Inscription
The vast natural forest of Yellowstone National Park covers nearly 9,000 km2 ; 96% of the park lies in Wyoming, 3% in Montana and 1% in Idaho. Yellowstone contains half of all the world's known geothermal features, with more than 10,000 examples. It also has the world's largest concentration of geysers (more than 300 geyers, or two thirds of all those on the planet). Established in 1872, Yellowstone is equally known for its wildlife, such as grizzly bears, wolves, bison and wapitis.
References
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