Yellowstone National Park
In Yellowstone National Park, the earth truly does appear alive.
Spanning nearly 9,000 square kilometres of forest, lakes, canyons and grassland, the park is home to hundreds of wildlife species and half of the world's geothermal features.
The park features eleven villages, each located for proximity to certain attractions. We camp near Canyon Village, which boasts an impressive new visitor centre, well-stocked shops, clean, modern toilets, and untimed hot showers.
Canyon's primary highlight is the 'Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone', which is on average 304 metres deep, 838 metres wide and spans 32 kilometres along the Yellowstone River.
We view the canyon from the Upper and Lower Falls trails, from which we also witness the river gush towards the respective 33 metre and 94 metre drops.
When we've explored enough of the Canyon area, we head to Old Faithful Village to see the geyser for which it is named.
Because Yellowstone National Park is centred on North America's largest supervolcano, it features numerous sulfurous hot springs and 300 active geysers, of which Old Faithful is best known. The geyser erupts once every 90 minutes or so, shooting up to 32,000 litres of boiling water 50 metres into the air.
We also visit Mammoth Village briefly, to admire the colourful Mammoth Hot Springs. I find the Palette Spring particularly beautiful, with shades of brown, orange, red and green created by algae living in the water.
We spend an unseasonably cold three nights in Yellowstone, during which time we spot elk, deer, gazelle, and mountain goats. We also come across one very lazy yellow-bellied marmot along the Lower Falls trail, and a young grizzly bear about 30 meters from the road between Canyon and Old Faithful.
As we head East to exit the park on Monday morning, I complain about not having seen any bison. Not five minutes later, we turn a corner to see entire herds of bison grazing on the grassland. The one-tonne beasts are spectacular.
Spanning nearly 9,000 square kilometres of forest, lakes, canyons and grassland, the park is home to hundreds of wildlife species and half of the world's geothermal features.
The park features eleven villages, each located for proximity to certain attractions. We camp near Canyon Village, which boasts an impressive new visitor centre, well-stocked shops, clean, modern toilets, and untimed hot showers.
Canyon's primary highlight is the 'Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone', which is on average 304 metres deep, 838 metres wide and spans 32 kilometres along the Yellowstone River.
We view the canyon from the Upper and Lower Falls trails, from which we also witness the river gush towards the respective 33 metre and 94 metre drops.
When we've explored enough of the Canyon area, we head to Old Faithful Village to see the geyser for which it is named.
Because Yellowstone National Park is centred on North America's largest supervolcano, it features numerous sulfurous hot springs and 300 active geysers, of which Old Faithful is best known. The geyser erupts once every 90 minutes or so, shooting up to 32,000 litres of boiling water 50 metres into the air.
We also visit Mammoth Village briefly, to admire the colourful Mammoth Hot Springs. I find the Palette Spring particularly beautiful, with shades of brown, orange, red and green created by algae living in the water.
We spend an unseasonably cold three nights in Yellowstone, during which time we spot elk, deer, gazelle, and mountain goats. We also come across one very lazy yellow-bellied marmot along the Lower Falls trail, and a young grizzly bear about 30 meters from the road between Canyon and Old Faithful.
As we head East to exit the park on Monday morning, I complain about not having seen any bison. Not five minutes later, we turn a corner to see entire herds of bison grazing on the grassland. The one-tonne beasts are spectacular.
Labels: nationalparks, yellowstone
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