Sunday, September 1, 2013

Yellowstone

 

Pretty soon after entering the park you know you are inside a volcano, the caldera measure about 34 by 45 miles. The Yellowstone Supervolcano may be dormant but it sits on a massive magma field which is still very active. To put it into perspective, if it were to erupt it would likely wipe out all of us.

Inside the volcano wall

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Random piles of rocks at various points around the park

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There are also some critters around. Bison aren't the prettiest looking at act like they own the park

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Deer and elk don't seem too worried by the cars and people

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And then you head over to Mammoth Hot Springs which looks quite different from other areas. Remember the white stuff isn't snow, it is travertine formed by the hot springs

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Finally you get to Grand Canyon of Yellowstone with an amazing canyon and a couple of waterfalls. The canyon is quite amazing and again so different from other areas of the park. In the last one you can just start to see the sun setting

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The waterfalls are imaginatively called upper and lower falls. You can see upper falls reasonably well from paths near the road but lower requires a climb for the best views. Downhill about half a mile and then 328 metal steps to be precise.

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Fortunately no pictures to show me at the end but J says I turned an odd shade of purple

 

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