USA - O Come All Old Faithful

July 21-23

Hello everyone!

I’m going to a lot of places that aren’t particularly well-known outside of the USA. You’ve probably heard about - or seen - this one, though…

A geyser eruption in Yellowstone

Mammoth Hot Springs

That magical marvel is called Old Faithful, and she is found in the world’s first national park. Welcome to Yellowstone!

Yellowstone became a national park in March 1872

Yellowstone is also home to part of the Continental Divide -
depending on what side it's on, the water will go west to
the Pacific or east to the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico

As I alluded to last time, Yellowstone National Park is close to my previous stop near Grand Teton. The drive between the northern exit of Grand Teton and the southern entrance of Yellowstone takes about 10 minutes.

It is 2.2 million acres in size

It’s in 3 states but 96% of the park is in Wyoming

Not that you’d be close to Old Faithful at that point. Plenty more to see around it during the two days we spent exploring Yellowstone. Get ready for a visual feast - and that’s even with us having to miss some spots, like the Grand Prismatic Spring and the Morning Glory Pool.

One of over 10,000 thermal features in Yellowstone

These trees have absorbed some calcium carbonate, which
will eventually kill them but hold them solid in the rock

Coming in from the south, our first stop was a geyser basin called West Thumb. It gives a glimpse of what’s to come: bubbling hot springs and gassy fumaroles striking a wild contrast to the vibrant colours of the rocks.

Due to elevation, water here boils at a slightly lower temperature 

It's actually very difficult to judge the depth of the pools

Going chronologically, we went to Old Faithful next. This is a geyser. Americans - well, it turns out most people - pronounce is GUY-zuh, rather than GEE-zuh like me. It’s not the largest geyser in the world…or even in Yellowstone. That honour belongs to Steamboat Geyser. But what Old Faithful is? Predictable.

Each eruption lasts between 1 and 5 minutes

How a geyser works

Scarily predictable. Times are written down in the visitor’s centre and online almost immediately after an eruption to say, plus or minus 10 minutes, when the next one will happen. Unlike many other geysers, it doesn't share its heat or water source with nearby features, allowing it to build and release pressure on a more consistent schedule. Hence the name. Steamboat can be hours…or days…or weeks…or months…or even years between eruptions.

This one erupted a few minutes early

Crowds gather for the eruption, then immediately disperse
as they know nothing will happen for a while afterwards

So we went to Old Faithful and didn’t go to Steamboat. We knew when it would blow. Also, it may not be the largest water spewer in the world, but it’s still mighty impressive.

Between 3,700 and 8,400 gallons of water shoots out each time

Having seen the first, we checked the visitor's centre, where they already knew the next time and had written it on a board. This was faster, with only a 60 minute gap. This gave a friend and I the opportunity to explore nearby geological features before heading up a trail.

Boardwalks take you to nearby hot pools

Notice how close grass and forest are to...well, this...

This trail gave us a view above Old Faithful. It may not have had the accompanying roar, but was arguably even more incredible to witness. A natural water show.

In the evergreens to watch the evergreen geyser

Old Faithful can reach over 180 feet, or 55 metres

From there, we briefly stopped at a place called Paint Pot. It’s not paint you want to use, unless your art is particularly muddy. Apparently there are microbes - known as ‘thermophiles’ - that live in this harsh, acidic environment. Through chemical processes, they create clay, which mixes with the hot water to create bubbling mud. Very cool.

That sign must be there for a reason...

Depending on rainfall, some thermal features can change

The following day we headed around the northern loop of Yellowstone, firstly taking in another of the park’s big draws: Mammoth Hot Springs. Unlike most parts of Yellowstone, the hot water in this area of the park contains calcium carbonate. When the water cools down, the mineral comes out and hardens, making step-like shapes called terraces. 

The terraces are made of travertine, a form of limestone

There are quite a few different terraces

They are visually stunning, looking like they are frozen in time.

You can see the steam at the top

They look like icicles!

What we also saw here for the first time were elk. The ‘gang’ of elk (it’s no ‘dazzle of zebra’) were on the nearby grass, until one female decided to show off and walk around on the calcite floor.

Within the park, it's estimated there are 1,000 to 20,000 elk

Males will rut against one another in
the autumn to attract this lovely lady

Yellowstone is known for being a great opportunity to see American wildlife. We spied our first bison soon after. You may know them as buffalo. You shouldn’t - there are no wild buffalo in the Americas. They are massive, wieghing almost a ton and slightly taller than me. They are also called fluffy cows. Don’t let that fool you - they can kill. Particularly when they hit their top speed of 30 mph...

The popluation was decimated in the 19th century, dropping
from an estimated 65 million to a number in the hundreds

The orange bit of fluff is a calf -
it hopefully will live to age 20

So can bears, of course. Part 2 of ‘We’re Going on a Bear Hunt’ was also unsuccessful. It’s claimed that we drove past one towards the end of our Yellowstone adventure. I was on the wrong side of the bus, so had to content myself with following the directions of the tour leader and taking a photo to look at later. He said I took a picture of the wrong trees. Oh well.

It's to the right. Off screen. Sorry.

I did find this adorable red squirrel!

You may wonder at this point why there are trunks on the floor; why they aren’t cleaning up their park. The answer is actually fairly obvious when you realise. These become habitats for other creatures, and help to renourish the forest floor. In a similar vein, forest fires are generally allowed to run their course at Yellowstone, with one justification being that it helps with pollination. A fire in 1988 burnt through nearly 40% of the whole park.

Some parks areas are still regenerating

Butterflies are a species that can benefit from new habitat creation

You may also wonder why all of this stuff is here. A lot of the geological features are connected to the fact that there is a supervolcano lurking beneath the surface. The Yellowstone Caldera last erupted 640,000 years ago. Ashfall reached southern California, Texas and parts of Mexico. To say that another eruption would disrupt the entire planet is probably an understatement.

The lake water is actually quite cold, and will freeze in the winter

The loss of life could be unprecedented

Other features, like those shown in other national parks, have been made by river erosion. That’s not the only thing that created the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone, but it certainly helped.

See the yellowish hue?

Lower Falls in Grand Canyon of Yellowstone

This is arguably the most stunning scene in the park. Look one way and you see the Lower Falls, which drop almost 100 metres into a steep, sheer canyon. Look the other way and you see a variety of oranges, red and yellows in the rocks. The latter gave the park its name.

This is one of over 300 waterfalls in the park

The canyon is approximately 20 miles (32 km) long

The name ‘Yellowstone’ evokes images of stunning natural beauty and otherworldly wonders. Those images helped to persuade the US government to protect this land. In doing so, they created the world’s first national park, preserving the beauty (if not all the animal populations, but that’s a different story) and majesty of this part of the country for all to see. It’s an eruption of the senses that, just like Old Faithful, is predictable yet still magical to experience. 

Boom

In othe important news, this was where I found plate 50 -
I've now found a plate on a working vehicle from each state since arriving

The colour matches my top!

Love you all,

Matt