Today was a thermal experience. Apart from wildlife, Yellowstone is also renowned for its geothermal features of which “Old Faithful” is probably the best known.
I suppose if you were right into volcanoes and associated hydrothermal highlights it would be excellent but Helen and I found after 7or 8 stops it was just variations on a theme. Don’t get me wrong, it was interesting and we saw some fabulous and unusual sights.
We did get to see “Old Faithful” geyser erupt but weren’t tremendously impressed. There were hundreds of people in a huge semi-circular location around it and the “show” lasted for a few minutes. I suppose the most amazing thing about it is its regularity. The rangers are able to predict when the next eruption will occur, within plus or minus ten minutes.
The Yellowstone countryside is very different to the mountainous backdrop of Grand Teton NP.
Grand Teton consists of a majestic mountain range to the west, a river flat largely occupied by the Snake River and numerous lakes.
Yellowstone on the other hand is dominated by Lake Yellowstone. The surrounding country is a variety of hills, valleys, small mountains, the Yellowstone River and a number of smaller streams. Pine trees cover about 80% of the park interspersed with grassy meadows and clearings.
The dominant tree is the lodgepole pine. In stressful times it adapts by shedding its lower branches so that it resembles a pole with a Christmas tree on top. Other pine species consist of the Sub-Arctic Fir (a sharp, pointy shape) and spruce which have a more rounded top. Sage brush occupies the more open areas.
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On our journey today we were rewarded by sighting a wolf, off the road about 200m. Again the traffic jam of cars as drivers pulled over and parked willy-nilly, was the tip-off.
