Fire and Fury
I'm currently reading a book about the early expeditions into Yellowstone. There were two expeditions in the 1870s. The Langford, Doane, Washburn expedition in 1870 followed by the Heyden expedition in 1872.
This past week I took myself on an expedition of the upper, middle, and lower geyser basins of Yellowstone.
The most famous, of course, is Old Faithful. There are two sides to Old Faithful. The side where hundreds or thousands of people crowd the boardwalks trying to get a seat on one of the benches to watch the eruptions.
This is also where you can get on the miles of boardwalks and trails in the upper geyser basin that lead to lots of other geysers and thermal features including the Firehole River.
Even though there are thousands of visitors at Old Faithful which is only a short distance away, there are times when you have the boardwalks or trails to yourself.
I was, however, lucky enough to look across the basin and catch an eruption of the Beehive Geyser. That was my treat for the day.
I wasn't the only one enjoying the meadows surrounding the basin. This big guy was enjoying lunch and I gave him plenty of space.
From there I drove to the Firehole Lake Drive. I was hoping to see the Great Fountain erupt, but it only goes off every 12-14 hours and I'm not a dedicated geyser gazer who will hours for an eruption. Above is the White Dome Geyser which also chose not to erupt for me.
I also visited the Mud Volcano area. Above is the Dragon Mouth Springs. What a great name for this feature. It seems alive with the rumbling, bubbling, steam, and groans that come out.
I also stopped by West Thumb. This thermal area is close to my old home at Grant Village. It has beautiful springs and sits on the banks of Yellowstone Lake.
Above is the famous fishing cone. Back in the early days fishermen would catch fish in Yellowstone Lake then dip it in this thermal feature to cook it. Luckily that practice was stopped many years ago to preserve the feature for future generations.
The pools are so beautiful that they make you want to dive in for a soak. At 165 degrees though you don't want to do that or even get close because the ground is very crusty.
A couple days ago I got to go on a tour with the head interpretive ranger in the park. He taught us all about the caldera and super volcano and passed on a lot of history about the park.
The tour ended at Madison Meadows which was the last stop for the Langford, Doane, Washburn expedition. It was at this spot at the foot of National Park Mountain in 1870 that these men sat around a campfire discussing what should become of the Yellowstone region. Building hotels and making it into a money making venture was suggested, but in the end they all agreed that the land should be set aside for the people.
They took their journals back to the East and told people about this majestic land. The problem was that no one believed them. In 1872 Congress gave the Heyden expedition $40,000 to go and survey Yellowstone. Heyden was incredibly smart and brought along an artist (Thomas Moran) and a photographer (William Jackson). They were able to document the unique features of Yellowstone and in 1872 Yellowstone became the world's first National Park.
I am in awe to retrace the footprints of these expeditions.
This past week I took myself on an expedition of the upper, middle, and lower geyser basins of Yellowstone.
The most famous, of course, is Old Faithful. There are two sides to Old Faithful. The side where hundreds or thousands of people crowd the boardwalks trying to get a seat on one of the benches to watch the eruptions.
What I like to do, however, is walk around to the "back" side of Old Faithful. From here you can get a front seat to the eruption with only a handful of other people. (Most visitors to Yellowstone are what I call "drive by" tourists. They don't want to venture very far from their cars and therefore they miss most of Yellowstone.)
This is also where you can get on the miles of boardwalks and trails in the upper geyser basin that lead to lots of other geysers and thermal features including the Firehole River.
I think it's beautiful how the geyser water runs into the river. This is one of the warmest rivers in Yellowstone because of all the hot spots along its route.
I love the boiling geyser pools.
These are the North Google geyser cones. Very appropriate name I think.
Even though there are thousands of visitors at Old Faithful which is only a short distance away, there are times when you have the boardwalks or trails to yourself.
One of my favorite geysers out here is Castle Geyser.
Last year I was lucky enough to catch an eruption of Castle, but it didn't happen this day.
I was, however, lucky enough to look across the basin and catch an eruption of the Beehive Geyser. That was my treat for the day.
I wasn't the only one enjoying the meadows surrounding the basin. This big guy was enjoying lunch and I gave him plenty of space.
From there I drove to the Firehole Lake Drive. I was hoping to see the Great Fountain erupt, but it only goes off every 12-14 hours and I'm not a dedicated geyser gazer who will hours for an eruption. Above is the White Dome Geyser which also chose not to erupt for me.
I also visited the Mud Volcano area. Above is the Dragon Mouth Springs. What a great name for this feature. It seems alive with the rumbling, bubbling, steam, and groans that come out.
Then there's the bubbling mud volcano.
I also stopped by West Thumb. This thermal area is close to my old home at Grant Village. It has beautiful springs and sits on the banks of Yellowstone Lake.
Above is the famous fishing cone. Back in the early days fishermen would catch fish in Yellowstone Lake then dip it in this thermal feature to cook it. Luckily that practice was stopped many years ago to preserve the feature for future generations.
The pools are so beautiful that they make you want to dive in for a soak. At 165 degrees though you don't want to do that or even get close because the ground is very crusty.
A couple days ago I got to go on a tour with the head interpretive ranger in the park. He taught us all about the caldera and super volcano and passed on a lot of history about the park.
The tour ended at Madison Meadows which was the last stop for the Langford, Doane, Washburn expedition. It was at this spot at the foot of National Park Mountain in 1870 that these men sat around a campfire discussing what should become of the Yellowstone region. Building hotels and making it into a money making venture was suggested, but in the end they all agreed that the land should be set aside for the people.
They took their journals back to the East and told people about this majestic land. The problem was that no one believed them. In 1872 Congress gave the Heyden expedition $40,000 to go and survey Yellowstone. Heyden was incredibly smart and brought along an artist (Thomas Moran) and a photographer (William Jackson). They were able to document the unique features of Yellowstone and in 1872 Yellowstone became the world's first National Park.
I am in awe to retrace the footprints of these expeditions.
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