Yellowstone National Park..!!

Last week, we travelled to Yellowstone National Park, located mostly in Wyoming and extending to Montana and Idaho. Part of it, explains my absence from here. I think visiting a new place is one thing but after the trip coming back to your old routine is totally another. But ofcourse, this blog isn’t about my routine, maybe someday I will blog about it too, but right now lets not digress.

Yellowstone National Park is the largest and the oldest national park in US; came into being in 1872. New Zealand and Iceland are known for geysers, but nowhere are there as many as in Yellowstone. Interestingly, at the heart of Yellowstone’s past, present and future lies volcanism. History has it, that huge volcanic eruptions occurred here about 2 million years ago, then 1.3 million years ago and again 640,000 years ago. It is a fact that park’s present central portion collapsed, forming a 30 by 45 mile basin. The magmatic heat powering those eruptions still powers the park’s geysers, hot springs and mud pots. Rugged mountains flank the park’s volcanic plateau and the waterfalls highlight the boundaries of the lava flows and thermal areas.

If you are a nature person, then this is the place for you. It is serene and the air so pure. Luckily for us, the weather was equally good. They had predicted thunderstorms and heavy rains during the second day of our stay but a few showers here and there was all we experienced. Only thing missing during our trip was a convertible car. As if the weather, the rivers, the mountains, everything around was shouting to be as much a part of that awe inspiring beauty. Amidst all this, one memory that I will have close to my heart is the night we were actually driving towards the park. Picture a one lane road with less or no traffic at all. Complete darkness all around and mountains on the sides. So all you have is the light from the twinkling stars. It was a clear sky and all I saw in the sky was stars and in the car it felt like as if we were in a drive thru planetarium. It was a 3 hour drive and half of it, I spent staring out of my car window. Simply star gazing. As if that wasn’t enough, I ended up seeing two shooting stars as well. And maybe for the first time here in US. I remember seeing them in India but here I don't recall seeing them. Or maybe I never stared at the sky as much as I did that night.. :-) It was magical, indeed..!!

So here are some pics of the park in its full glory. I think what excited me the most was to see wildlife, which otherwise you don’t get to see here. But at the same time, I was disappointed that I couldn’t spot any grizzly bears. That’s one animal which has been difficult to spot, keeping aside the fact that we actually reside in the bear state, California.. :-)

The journey begins..

The camera definitely doesn't do justice to these pools which are there everywhere in Yellowstone. The colors aren't captured as they are. This one particularly was Opal Pool.

This one was my favorite - Sapphire Pool. It is one thing to click these pics and absolutely another to be a part of the whole experience while witnessing it with your eyes. I still feel the colors are not exactly as they are, seeing them in person.

This is the most sought after spot for pics. It is called the Old Faithful Geyser. Faithful because it erupts approximately every 90 minutes or so. People who come here, just sit and wait for it to erupt so that they could capture those moments. It is exhilarating.

This is the Yellowstone Lake, one of the largest high altitude lakes in North America. It is centered over the Yellowstone Caldera, the largest super volcano on continent.

And that's a bison. A very lazy one, infact. The first day we saw this bison sitting here as soon as we entered the park and i was all excited to sight it. And the next day, guess what. Same place, sitting almost in similar fashion. Now that's commendable..!! And I thought I have no competition in that department.. :-)

This is the beautiful Lamar valley. God's creation at its best.

Finally, we saw herds of bisons here.

Even though Grand Canyon is in Arizona, this is the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. Some historians believe that the name yellowstone was coined because of the colors here in the canyon.

These are the lower falls, the biggest waterfall (308 ft tall) in the park. After Old Faithful geyser, it is the most photographed. Visible from the Artist Point, from where you see the canyon as well.

Can you sight a bunch of pronghorns? Though at a distance.

And this is a coyote and quite a sight to spot this on the road itself. Criss-crossing and cars coming to a halt to take a few pics. For quite sometime, kept walking along side the road. As if searching for something.

This spot is Mammoth Hot Springs. It is a large hill of travertine that has been created over thousand of years as hot water from the springs cooled and deposited calcium carbonate.

I like this pic more so for its name. It is called the roaring mountain. Lot of thermal activity at one spot. How cool is that..

This elk was sighted actually walking on the road. But by the time we could take a look, it had entered the forest. And so did we. Just to atleast have the pic.

This is a mud pot.

Check out the clouds. They have their own say. As if they wanted their own symmetry in the sky.

Don't these two hills look like a mirror reflection?

This was another one of my favorite spots. Grand Prismatic Spring. It is the largest hot spring in US and third largest in the world. The colors here were so beautiful. Absolute treat for the eyes.

And as if the park wasn't exciting enough, God had some more plans for us while we left that place. When we started our journey back, the weather was clear and slowly it became cloudy and then it started raining heavily. It didn't stop there actually, what followed was hail and then snow. Voila. We enjoyed the drive and for some time all the colors were invisible and all we saw was white snow. Quite a sight, it was. Made our journey even more memorable.

The only thing I miss is the time. Though 3 days is enough to scan every nook and corner of the park but it really isn't enough to spend time there and do nothing. Like i saw an old couple sitting by a river with feet in the water and coffee mugs in their hands. Or another couple, sitting on a hill. Husband is busy looking through the binoculars and wife is busy sketching. Or those bunch of people we saw on the top of a small rock waiting for the perfect moment to take a pic. More importantly, waiting for a grizzly bear.

Unfortunately, we didn't have time for any of these. We were literally rushing from one spot to another. Taking pics and hoping we don't miss something as were unsure of our next trip here. More importantly, were unsure of the weather as well. Didn't want to take any chances.

Phew..!! I am so ready for another trip now.. :-)

ps: All pics are mine but there is some info from wikipedia as well.. !!