Yellowstone National Park

I know I said I wasn't going to write any more past my retirement year, but this seems too good to pass up.  My sister and I took a bus tour from her (our) home in Billings, Montana to Yellowstone National Park.  We have both been there several times but never in the winter.  The town of West Yellowstone (population 1300) is an entrance to The Park that is about 235 miles from Billings and that's where we stayed over night.  Just so you can appreciate the snow levels in this country here are a couple of pictures.

Grizzly and Wolf Discovery Center

This facility removes the grizzlies and wolves from the wild when they become dangerous to people.  They are given 2-3 chances to make it before they are brought to this center where they will live out their lives.

Grizzly Bear looking for food buried in the snow.

Wolf looking at the people looking at him.

The Old Great Northern Railroad Station that is now a museum.

The vehicle capable of taking us through The Park at this time of year was this snowcoach.  It carried 28 people (all of us on the tour) and went no faster than 25 miles per hour.  Snowmobiles are also allowed if they meet certain requirements for sound and emissions.  The only other way is on skis.

Our trip through The Park allowed us to see the following animals:

 Bison - and lots of them.  There are about 4700 in The Park.  It is the largest free roaming herd in America and much bigger than The Park can support.  Authorities are trying to decide what to do to bring the herd down to a manageable level.  (And by the way, these animals are referred to as buffalo because at one point in time someone thought they resembled water buffalo, but their proper name is Bison.)

Trumpeter Swan - They mate for life.  They will be flying back to Canada in the next week or so.

Eagle's Nest

A pair of Bald Eagles

Lone Elk

We also saw Merganser and Mallard Ducks, a Blue Heron, Big Horn Sheep, and a coyote chasing some ducks but it was impossible to get pictures.  (By the way the ducks flapped their wings and went into the river to get away from the coyote, which they did, because I guess he didn't want to get wet.)


Yellowstone became the world's first National Park in 1872 by order of President U. S. Grant.  The Park falls in the states of Wyoming, Montana and Idaho, with by far the largest portion in Wyoming.  In 1872 none of those territories were states so there was a problem with who would administer The Park.  Initially it fell to the hotel owners who had facilities within the park but they did such a bad job that it was turned over to the U. S. Army, and finally to the U.S. Ranger system as it is now.

In 1908 stage coach tours were started so people could come to see this wonderland.  They could get to Gallatin Gateway by railroad, then by stagecoach (a distance of about 80 miles to The Park entrance).  Old Faithful Inn was the first facility providing a place for people to stay overnight.  It was finished in 1904.  It is still used today but has been refurbished throughout.  Today 3.5 million people visit Yellowstone every year.

Yellowstone actually sits on the biggest volcano in the world.  The geothermal structures are between 12,000 and 80,000 years old.  The frequent earthquakes (320 in 2010) cause the hot water pockets to change locations and in the process many trees drown.  Fifty percent of all geothermal structures in the world are in Yellowstone Park.

There are four different types of geothermal structures:  mud pots, hot springs, fumaroles, and geysers.

Bubbling Mud Pot - has acidic features with limited water supply.

Black Growler Steam Vent (fumarole)- hottest of all hydrothermal features.

Emerald Spring (hot springs) - Most common hydrothermal feature.

Geysers:  are hot springs that have a constriction in the underground "plumbing" that causes pressure to build until it "explodes."
      Rusty (top) goes off every 2-3 minutes at about 12 feet high
     Old Faithful (bottom) goes off around every 90 minutes (give or take 10 minutes)
        at about 130 feet high.  (When I was a child Old Faithful went off every hour
       on the hour, so the timing is changing.)

In the past park administration worked to put out any fires in the trees.  But in 1988 there was a major fire, burning 795,000 acres and no attempt was made to extinguish it.  Eighty eight percent of the trees are Lodge Pole Pines and fire is the means by which the cones open and drop seeds to produce future trees.  Everywhere you look in The Park today you can see the crop of trees that are the result of that fire that was thought to be so disastrous. 

Yellowstone Park is a "no fly" zone.  Aircraft are not allowed below 10,000 feet unless it is for doing animal counts or for an emergency.  Total park area is 3,468 square miles.

Just one more picture -

Soldiers Chapel is a non-denominational Christian memorial chapel in Big Sky, Montana (about 50 miles from The Park) dedicated in 1955 by the Nelson Story family in tribute to a fallen family member of the 163rd Infantry Regiment.  The regiment was part of the Montana National Guard during World War II.  The chapel is at an elevation of 6,017 feet.  (In the picture I took the mountain behind was not visible - so I just had to take this one off the internet.)