Today was our first day our and about in Yellowstone National Park. Todays theme was Canyons and the Yellowstone Lake. Yellowstone is a literal supervolcano, the largest in north America. There is an incredible amount of geothermal activity in the way of geysers, hot basins filled with single cell organisms, mud volcanos, and geothermal vents sending hot, stinky steam into the air! It is a nearly perfect, intact ecosystem and was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site (Thank you Wikipedia!).
So with that being said, there is a lot to see along the way, in between the vast miles between major attractions of the park. Today we left Fishing Bridge and headed to the visitors center to get Frankie a Junior Ranger Book For those who do not know, the junior ranger program is available at all national parks and sites, usually for free. The child completes the requirements and is sworn in as a junior ranger of that park, and given a badge or patch. Frankie was excited about the challenge!
After that we headed up the Grand Loop toward Canyon Village to see the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. The pictures here cannot give you the full picture, but it was an amazing site! It was one of the first areas photographed within the park in the late 1800s and still captures the minds of all who visit!!
After a quick stop at Canyon Village, we headed back south to see the Mud Volcano. This is a big geothermal area with air coming up and heating the dirt to mud, and making it literally boil!
Along this drive was also a chance to see more wildlife and amazing natural beauty!
Finally we ended down at LeHardy Rapids where Frankie went to complete her hike for her Ranger Program. We walked a mile, round trip, to see some amazing rapids! We were on the lookout for trout, but were unable to find any. The rivers out here are running very fast and high due to the rain and snowmelt! (And yes there was still snow in the park in some areas! It can literally snow year round at the higher altitudes of the park!)
After the hike we returned back our "Home base" looking forward to our next day's adventure!
PS: Yesterday we drive down to the Fishing Bridge and walked along the back of the lake, looking for fish, but we were not successful:-( We did enjoy the views though!
No comments:
Post a Comment