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Yellowstone national park is definitely one of the most interesting and beautiful places in the US I’ve seen so far. It covers an area of 3,468 square miles (8,983 km²), which which would cover almost half of Slovenia (7,827 sq mi/20,273 km²). The highest point in the park is Eagle Peak (11,358 ft/3,462 m) and the lowest is Reese Creek (5,282 ft/1,610 m). It was established in 1872 as America's first national park. The amazing thing about it is the fact that a large area of it (30 x 45 miles or 55 x 72 km) is actualy a crater of a still active volcano and …one of the so called hot spots, which means that the earh’s crust here is only 1 to 3 miles deep comparing to the 25 to 30 miles elsewhere. |
It has five entrances. The original entrance to the park was the North Entrance which is the only one opened all year around and welcomes you with a stone archway which was dedicated by President Theodore Roosevelt “for the benefit and enjoyment of the people”. |
A couple of miles south of the North entrance are located the Mammoth Hot Springs. where travertine forms spectacular terraces, which are so white that it looks like they would be covered by snow. It is here that you can see some of the oldest rocks (2.7 billion years) and some of the latest deposits of travertine (over two tons each day). |
Yellowstone has more than 300 Geysers and over 10,000 other thermal features that include hot springs, fumaroles, (steam vents), and mudpots. |
Dragons Mouth Spring (B/W below) was my favorite geothermal feature in the park – there were: steam, loud roaring and waves of muddy water coming out of the hole located on the side of the mountain. |
Steamboat Geyser (left) is the world's tallest geyser. It is very unpredictable but when it erupts, the water may be thrown more than 300 feet (90 m) into the air. The most famous geyser in the park is Old Faithful (below) which you can count on to “perform” for you about every 90 minutes or so and from 90 to 184 feet high. Mudpots were fun to watch too – although it is not the mud that is boiling but gasses from the underground that make it bubble. |
There are also numerous bacteria and other thermophiles (heat-loving), with unpronounceable names like Candidatus chloracidobacterium thermophilum, living in the hot waters of various geothermal features. By the color of the bacteria in the spring you are able to determine the relative temperature of it. |
Yellowstone River starts in the Yellowstone Lake and continues its way through the park, forming this incredible canyon (up to 1,000 feet (304 m) deep)) which yellow rocks gave the park its name. |
One of the most famous vistas in Yellowstone, the Lower Falls, are 308 feet (94 m) high, or almost twice as high as Niagara. |
One of the park’s main attractions are also its animals. We have seen hoards of wild bison, numerous elks, seven bighorn sheep, two coyotes and two swans, a wolf, several pronghorns and a couple of chipmunks. |
We were driving around in hopes to see a grizzly bear but no luck this time. The regulations concerning the animals in the park are very strict: You can observe but not disturb, you can’t feed, approach, follow, or surround them. Several people die every year because they are not careful enough. At the time of our visit the bison attacked several parked cars and all the rangers did was watch them. You are definitely a guest in their world and animals have “the right of way”. |
As we were leaving the park one day we happened to run into a group of sheep (which we first though were the goats) and could not believe that they can navigate such steep terrain. One of the popular things to do in the park seems to be fly fishing and there are also several picnic areas which we took advantage of but made sure that we were not even close to the areas inhabited by the bears (although they can be anywhere they do seem to prefer certain areas of the park). |
AND HERE IS MY YELLOWSTONE VIDEO: |
