Yellowstone was wonderful. Incredibly huge too. It’s about 2.2 million square miles and over 1/25th the size of Wyoming. It took us hours to cross from one side of the park to the other. It wasn’t just the size of the park that took so long. The other problem being other cars that would stop in the middle of the road blocking traffic to look at a stupid elk. After just 1/2 a day in the park you realize that elk are the next numerous mammal lifeform after humans. So why is everyone blocking traffic? Jeez! Have some consideration and pull off the road.
Yellowstone was and still is a volcanic hotspot. A large part of Yellowstone Park is within a giant caldera (45miles x 35miles). The geysers and hot springs in the area also indicate volcanic activity. About 2/3 of the world’s geysers are in Yellowstone Park. Everywhere you looked there were geysers, hot springs, mudpots, and stinky spots called fumaroles.
We went on numerous hikes throughout the park. The park is divided into several different areas all very different from one another; Canyon, Lake, Ol’ Faithful, Mammoth, and Tower/Roosevelt. This was the other amazing part of Yellowstone. It’s like a whole country wrapped into a park. There are canyons, lakes, prairies, mountains, rivers, woods, volcanos, and geysers. Just spectacular. I took a lot of pictures of the hot springs and pools. They’re very colorful due to bacteria colonies in the water. Can you believe that there are bacteria out there that eat sulphur and survive in ultra-hot conditions?
Morning Glory Pool
Travertine Terraces at Mammoth Hot Springs
Riverside Geyser
Trees near Canary Pool/Mammoth Hot Springs
Ol’ Faithful
If you plan on staying in the park make sure to book a reservation early. Since this was a last minute trip we stayed just outside the park in West Yellowstone, Montana. There were numerous motels and seemed to have plenty of room during the week. Weekends are busier obviously.