Continuing the whirlwind tour of Utah/Wyoming with Laura, Stephanie, Bonnie, and Tray, we left Jackson Hole and headed for Yellowstone National Park. Given that we only had one day there, we obviously didn't have a chance to DO much in the Park, but we did get to see a good bit of the southern and western portions of the park. This included Geyser Basin, where we (of course) got to watch (the strangely named) Old Faithful and hang around all the thermal vents, bubbling mud pits, sinkholes, and geysers. If you've never been here, it truly does defy description -- it's easily one of the oddest places I've ever visited, and it's easy to see why early pioneers thought they had (literally) found Hell. There have been no shortage of people who have died here in the past, as some of these pits and geysers have a temperature of over 200 degrees (and the ground looks solid, but can give way very easily -- so stay on the walkways!) Still, for all it's heat and steam and acid and sulphur, it's quite beautiful and undeniably fascinating. Some of the pools have these amazing colors, which are the result of bacteria that thrive in the superheated water -- the "layers" are due to the differing temperatures, which fosters different types of bacteria (fascinating!). Most of our time was spent driving around the Grand Loop of the park, so we got to see a lot of scenery, but not really experience much of the Park. Still, we did see a bit of wildlife and some gorgeous areas, and just being in the world's first National Park is an experience all its own. I definitely want to go back and explore, but you really have to take weeks to do so properly.
We left via the west entrance, and stayed in the town of West Yellowstone, Montana for the night -- a really cool, very frontier-ish town that would be a fun place to visit all its own.
Educational Moment: The geothermal areas of Yellowstone include several geyser basins as well as other geothermal features such as hot springs, mud pots, and fumaroles. The number of thermal features in Yellowstone is estimated at 10,000 and 200 to 250 geysers erupt in Yellowstone each year, making it the place with the highest concentration of active geysers in the world, thanks to its location in an ancient caldera (a cauldron-like volcanic feature usually formed by the collapse of land following a volcanic eruption).
The various geyser basins are located where rainwater and snowmelt can percolate into the ground, get indirectly superheated by the underlying yellowstone volcano, and then erupt at the surface as geysers, hot springs, and fumaroles. Due to the Yellowstone Plateau's high elevation the average boiling temperature at Yellowstone's geyser basins is 199 °F. When properly confined and close to the surface it can periodically release some of the built-up pressure in eruptions of hot water and steam that can reach up to 390 feet into the air. Water erupting from Yellowstone's geysers is superheated to an average of 204 °F as it leaves the vent. The water cools significantly while airborne and is no longer scalding hot by the time it strikes the ground, nearby boardwalks, or even spectators. Because of the high temperatures of the water in the features it is important that spectators remain on the boardwalks and designated trails. Several deaths have occurred in the park as a result of falls into hot springs.
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