11 October 2011

Yellowstone, Yellowstone and Yellowstone

At the high pass between the East Entrance and Yellowstone Lake
Yellowstone National Park has been our greatly anticipated destination since leaving the Keys in mid-March this year.  At last we arrived there in mid-September.  The pioneers got there faster than we did!  But, I doubt they enjoyed it more than us!  We decided to stay at a National Forest Service Campground in West Yellowstone MT.  Since we were coming in from Cody, WY about 50 miles east of Yellowstone our first contact with the park was taking the road from the east entrance to the west entrance.  West Yellowstone, MT is less than a mile outside the west entrance and has been a main entry point for many years.  Union Pacific for many years ran a train to West Yellowstone and had facilities there for tourist to use.  The train no longer runs, but they left an interesting museum in town.  The main industry is supporting Yellowstone tourist.  

I have been working on this blog entry for several weeks and keep restarting it.  Finally, I came to the realization that words are not adequate to describe Yellowstone, a unique and wondrous place that has no equal in the world according to many official studies.  There are places with any one or maybe two of the attributes of Yellowstone, but no place with all the numerous attributes of Yellowstone in one place as Yellowstone does!

The main road in Yellowstone is like two circles stacked on each other with a common road shared in the middle.  When we entered from the east heading west we went across the middle route east to west.  Each day after that we took different segment of the road.  We realized quickly that there was not enough time for us to do all we wanted to so our daily trips were just an exercise of prioritizing what we could see and do this trip and what would be saved for another one! 

On the premise  that a picture is worth a thousand words I am providing many thousands of words following.  However, pictures still do not do justice to the uniqueness of Yellowstone, let alone the majesty and beauty.  

                                                                                 
  
Our welcoming committee shortly after our arrival!
Gibbons Falls



The salts from Monmouth Springs in Yellowstone are lethal to plants!
Some of the many, many boiling springs in Yellowstone!
        

That is not snow - it is the salts from Monmouth Springs.  Taken from meadow below the springs!



Rooseveldt Arch at the northern entrance to Yellowstone
Chapel at the Monmouth Visitors Center
















Notice the clear water - how about a warm (hot) water dive!!

























How about a hot mud pack?
A colorful caldron
Waiting for Old Faithful

Old Faithful!        






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