Still on the road to Yellowstone, I can’t resist photos of the landscape. Such a beautiful world! This photo shows a natural dam created by a deadly earthquake in 1959. The right part of this lake covers what was a campground at the time. It happened at night while campers were asleep along the river bank. The earth shook and rock and mud slides came down on the people, several of whom died and were never found. Others died from the flooding. It's now called Earthquake Lake. We chose a National Forest campground about 3 miles north of the town of West Yellowstone. There are about 70 sites on a first-come-first-served basis with enough daily turnover that we had no trouble getting a spot. Most campgrounds in the park are full. Here’s our site, and Chuck doing his ‘post-driving’ chore. (As usual, click on the photos for larger view.) Our site was about 50 yards from the Madison River (I told you to remember that name!) which is the same river we camped by the night before. See the RVs in the second photo. Much of the road into the Park follows the river as it meanders through the valley and many fly fishermen were fishing in it. Remember the statue of the fly fisherman in Ennis?? This is fly fishing country. This part of the Madison River is were trout come to spawn, while the lower part, where we were last night, is popular for fishing all year 'round. Our campground neighbor was a young man from Texas who comes here every summer to fish. We watched as he hooked a big trout that took him about 20 minutes to land. He estimated it about 20 inches, which is big for trout, and then let it go. Unfortunately, the picture of him holding the fish did not really show the fish at all. The town of West Yellowstone is the gateway to the Yellowstone National Park on the west side. It's in Montana, but the Wyoming border is crossed just after entering the park. During the 'season' it's a happening place, with lots of tourists and t-shirt shops, and lodging facilities. Lots of cute little cabins to rent. Yellowstone National Park is the first and largest of our national parks. We have to say that our parks are well run and cater to the enjoyment of visitors. Much of the park is covered by the Lodge Pole Pine tree. These trees are straight and tall, so named I think because they were used by Indians to construct their lodge buildings. I'm sure they are great for log cabins as well. A fire in 1980 burned a large part of the forest, and the dead trees are still standing or laying like 'pick-up sticks', scattered over the landscape. I'm told they are left there to replenish habitat, but the trees would take over 100 years to rot to compost. I think it is unsightly and wasteful, but what do I know?? They say the cones of these pines must be burned in fire to produce seedlings, so in the areas of the fire, little trees are too thick to walk through. The taller ones will thrive while the little ones will wither, probably in another generation. Rivers run through much of the park, and where there are rivers and mountains, there must be waterfalls. Wildlife is plentiful in the park. We were bear 'hunting' the whole time, but never did see one. You always know when you come upon an animal sighting. There were a couple of moose (is the plural 'meese'?), a lone buffalo every now and then, and elk. Here is the prize!! Yellowstone was formed by volcanic activity and today there are over 10,000 'thermal features' where steam and hot water bubble to the surface, sometimes offering various colors according to mineral content. The photo below is of the 'Artist's Paintpot'. Here is a bubbling 'mud pit'. The center of the pit pulsated like something from a horror movie, and every now and then would spit little mud balls about 6 feet into the air. The area below is called the 'Porcelain Basin'. The white material is travertine, a form of limestone, deposited by the water coming up from the steam vents. There is an area called Mammoth Terraces where large amounts of travertine has been deposited over a hillside in a series of terraces. Here is the top. And here is the side view. And the best part! And what is a visit to Yellowstone without Old Faithful. This is the famous geyser that has been erupting regularly for who knows how long. The first people to see and report this activity were not believed, as they were mountain men known to be tellers of tall tales. It used to go off at hourly intervals, but this time has gradually lengthened to about 1 hour and twenty minutes. There were probably 1000 people there when we were. An eruption begins with a series of small bursts of water and steam about 6 feet in the air. Then, 'Thar she blows'! Steam and water go about 60 feet in the air with a slight pulsation, and lasts about 30-45 seconds. (people have been waiting up to an hour for this!) After this climactic event, we were ready to relax back at the camp. We sat out by the river and watched our young friend catch his fish. We made our plans for the next day, which included heading further south, heading for the great parks of eastern Utah. And it looks like we are headed back to hot weather. Stay tuned.
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Who are We?Chuck and Mary Lou have been traveling Trip Reports
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