Yellowstone National Park Things to Do Tips by DEBBBEDB

More Geysers Geysers/hot springs Review

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Upper Geyser Basin Geysers/hot springs Review

With the aid of a website with pictures of the various thermal features, I have been able to identify some more thermal features that I saw on my first walk around the Old Faithful Inn

Website: http://www.photovolcanica.com/VolcanoInfo/Yellowstone/UpperGeyserBasin.html#Lion

Trail around Old Faithful Geysers/hot springs Review

At the end of the first day, I went out on the Upper Geyser Basin trail around the Old Faithful Inn and photographed thermal features until it got too dark an I got too cold. I saw many thermal pools, geysers and hot springs including Beauty Pool. Several hundred geysers are found within the basin, together with numerous hot pools.

Unfortunately at the time I did this, I didn't think to photograph the names of all the things I saw (except for Beauty Pool and Chromatic Pool), so now I don't know exactly what all of them are.

Kepler Cascades Waterfalls Review

After we checked into the hotel and had lunch, we drove down toward the Grand Teton National Park. We stopped at the Kepler Cascades and I went and took some photos while my grandmother waited in the car.

I actually got to see them twice because we stopped here again on the Circle of Fire tour. It is right by the road and there's a wooden overlook platform that sticks out over the river.

Directions: A 100ft cascade on the Firehole River dropping in several tiers just a 4.1-mile drive east from Old Faithful Village towards the West Thumb Geyser Basin.

Ring Of Fire Tour - Lower Geyser Basin Geysers/hot springs Review

We took the Ring of Fire tour, so I could see lots of thermal features and my grandmother wouldn't have to drive. We didn't get front seats on the bus, but I sat on one side and she sat on the other. We drove down Firehole Canyon drive and our last stop was Lower Geyser Basin. I went all around the Fountain Paint Pot trail with the guide and was able to see all four kinds of thermal features - mud pots, hot springs, fumaroles, and steam vents - and of course geysers. My grandmother sat and waited for us.

The other thing I did where I saw lots of thermal stuff was to take the trail from the Old Faithful Inn to Black Sand Basin, but I'll make that into another tip

Yellowstone's Grand Canyon Grand Canyon Review

It's not THE Grand Canyon, but the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone is the first large canyon on the Yellowstone River downstream from Yellowstone Falls. The canyon is up to 900 feet deep (275 m) and a half mile (0.8 km) in width. It is the result of erosion and was not caused by glaciers. The Yellowstone River begins south of the park, and travels more than 600 miles to North Dakota. It is the longest undammed river in the continental United States

The Upper Falls is 109 ft. high and can be seen from the Brink of the Upper Falls Trail and from Uncle Tom's Trail.

The Lower Falls is below upper falls, but it is taller than Upper Falls at 308 ft. high. It is taller than Niagra Falls. It can be seen from Lookout Point, Red Rock Point, Artist Point, Brink of the Lower Falls Trail, and from various points on the South Rim Trail. The volume of water flowing over the falls is the greatest in the spring when it can be as much as 63,500 gal/sec.

A third lesser known falls is Crystal Falls. It can be seen from the South Rim Trail just east of the Uncle Tom's area.

Unfortunately, you can't see both upper and lower falls at the same time.

Right Outside Old Faithful Review

Since we were staying right at the Old Faithful Inn, the geyser was right outside and easy to run out at the predicted time and photograph. It is perhaps the most studied and predicted geyser in the park if not in the world. Mathematicians, statisticians, and dedicated observers have analyzed it for many years. For example, a direct relationship exists between the duration of Old Faithful's eruption and the length of the following interval. During a short eruption, less water and heat are discharged; thus, they rebuild again in a short time. There were 'clocks' in the Old Faithful Inn which showed when the next eruption was predicted to be.

Interesting facts - it is a cone geyser and was named in 1870 during the Washburn-Langford-Doane Expedition. It was the first geyser in the park to receive a name. The reliability of Old Faithful can be attributed to the fact that it is not connected to any other thermal features of the Upper Geyser Basin.

Directions: Southwest area of the park

Phone: 307-545-2750

Website: http://www.nps.gov/yell/photosmultimedia/yellowstonelive.htm

Lions and Tigers and Bears? One of three isn't bad Wildlife Review

We saw both of the kinds of bears that are in the park, but even though the black bear was a commoner animal (500–650 in the park) it was more difficult to photograph (photo 3) because when we saw them they were always someplace in the middle of the trees. We got more pictures of the grizzlies which the park estimates there are 280–610

The Grizzly Bear is a powerful predator, capable of out sprinting a horse, and weighing as much as 350-600 pounds. Grizzlies are omnivorous, meaning they eat both meat and plants. In Yellowstone, grizzlies feed on elk, trout, bison carrion, pinenuts, grasses, roots, and berries.

The grizzly is larger, both in girth and weight than the black bear and their coat ranges from tawny cinnamon to light brown or even black. They also have a shoulder hump and a dish shaped face. Black bears are not all black; their coats can be cinnamon, blonde, brown or black but they are smaller and have a Roman nose rather than a dished face

The NPS has a pdf form for reporting bear sightings and it has outlines for identification of the bears.

Other Contact: (307)344-2537 emergency 1630-080

Phone: 307) 344-2162 report incidents

Website: http://www.nps.gov/yell/naturescience/upload/bearsightingform%288_05%29.pdf

Elk, Moose, Deer and Antelope Wildlife Review

We were very lucky to see a lot of animals while we were there. Moose particularly like to hide in willow thickets. They are really big and there are less than 500 of them.

The other rarer animal we saw was the pronghorn antelope (photo 3 and 5) which are really speedy, but the ones we saw looked pretty seedy as they must have been shedding their winter coats. The elk we saw (photo 4) was sleeker - it did have a white rump. The elk are one of the most common of the hoofed mammals.

The NPS has a checklist of Hoofed Mammals with Habitat and population. This includes (in order of population)

Elk (Wapiti) - meadows, forests - population 15,000–25,000
Mule Deer - forests, grasslands, shrub lands - population 2,300–2,500
Bison - meadows, grasslands - population over 3,500
Moose - riparian, forests - population less than 500
Bighorn Sheep - cliffs, mountain slopes - population 250–275
Pronghorn - sagebrush, grasslands - population 200–250
Mountain Goat -alpine meadows, rocky slopes - population 175–225
White-tailed Deer - forests, grasslands, shrub lands - only occasional visitors

Website: http://www.nps.gov/yell/naturescience/mammalscheck.htm

BIrds Wildlife Review

When I went with my grandmother, we didn't see quite as many different kinds of mammals* as my cousins but we did see some birds. We first stopped to take a picture of an eagles nest as we drove into the park. As we were taking pictures of it I heard a bird that sounded like he was squawking "Balk Balk" (which is what the spectators were shouting at the pitcher of the opposing team at my last baseball game). I took a picture of him - it was a raven. They are big black noisy birds.

I also took a picture of a blue bird (photo 5) and as we were leaving we saw a sign about a swan nesting area, and we saw a swan.

*There was a very stupid Australian guy playing trivia with us later on the cruise and he kept insisting that things like birds and fish were not ANIMALS. So I make the distinction - birds ARE animals. Don't overlook them.