Yellowstone is old. As a National Park, Yellowstone was born on March 1, 1872, making it the world's first national park. But Yellowstone's 2 million acres of mountain wilderness is so much older. First, there is the extraordinary collection of hot springs, mudpots, fumaroles, travertine terraces and -- of course -- geysers. In fact, Yellowstone contains more than half of the world's hydrothermal features. Then there is the physical landscape. Yellowstone is the home of one of the world’s largest active volcanoes. The first major eruption of the Yellowstone volcano occurred 2.1 million years ago and covered more than 5,790 square miles with ash. That's among the largest volcanic eruptions known. When it last erupted 631,000 years ago, the explosion left a hole 30 miles by 45 miles wide forming a basin or "caldera" in what is today the middle of the park. To walk through this area is to witness a planet that is still cooling. You can actually feel and see the heat from the Earth's core escaping. It is way cool. I have to share 11 seconds of this experience:
Then of course, there is the wildlife - an estimated 300 species of birds, 16 types of fish and 67 species of mammals -- the largest number of mammal species in the contiguous United States. And some of these will eat you if you aren't paying attention!
From Big Sky, Montana, we drove south on Highway 191, and within about 20 miles passed a sign announcing we were in Yellowstone. It was another 30 miles to the entrance at West Yellowstone, following the river and winding in and out of Montana and Wyoming. Most of Yellowstone is in Wyoming, but parts are in Montana and Idaho. Yea, its that big.
Ron and I decided to start with Old Faithful, and once inside the park headed south.
The weather was interesting. It wasn't supposed to snow, but once again, Mother Nature laughed. We had snow flurries almost the entire day. The biting cold air made the hikes around the geysers even more enjoyable, as we could warm up:
The bison were everywhere, and there were lots of "baby" bison in the herds. Fun fact: the big furry mammals with the long beards and horns that we American's call "buffalo" aren't buffalo. They are bison. Bummer!! "Home, Home on the Range" will never sound quite the same!!
It was great being in Yellowstone this time of year. Even though it looked and felt like winter (air temperature stayed between 36-38°), the park ranger at the Visitor's Center assured me that yes, we arrived in spring. The crowds were non existent. We had most of the park to ourselves, even Old Faithful by waiting about a minute after it erupted! The hiking trails were almost empty, and there was always room at the pull-outs to take photos. In fact, the only time we had to stop on the park road was to wait for bison to pass. In Yellowstone, the Bison were here first, and they have the right-of-way!
Car Talk
Distance 177 miles
Driving Time: 4 hours, 34 minutes
Mileage 35.1 mpg
Average speed: 38 mph
Trip total: 6,599.3
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