Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Yellowstone National Park -- notes




















Yellowstone Park is a true national treasure. We visited the Old Faithful site and watched the regular eruption three times, as well as viewing the thermal pools in the area. True to its name, the Old Faithful geyser performs for an audience hourly (plus or minus 10 minutes). The viewing area surrounds the geyser cone and tourists come early to wait for the event. After spending a day with Old Faithful and others in this basin, we traveled on to thermal pools in Norris. The bubbling waters spout steam and gurgle. My favorite was Celestial Spring because of its blue interior and orange surrounding area. The colors come from bacteria that grow in this extremely hot water. We learned that drug companies are using some of the bacteria to develop pharmaceutical products.


The Firehole River is famous for trout fishing. A short drive follows this river through the Firehole Canyon to a lovely falls. The streams and waterfalls are breath-taking due to the heavy winter snowfalls.







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