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Monday, August 25, 2008

Yellowstone III





To steal a line from Cindy, the geezers did the geysers. This part of Yellowstone is very different from the northern tier. Here, we are sitting on top of a volcano. The hot magma which forms the core of the planet is close to the surface. When the snow melt finds its way down through the fissures in the rock, it reaches a source of heat. Sometimes the resulting steam issues forth from a fissure as steam. Sometimes it bubbles up through mud and spreads out as the typical hot springs. On other occasions it is constrained by some sort of restriction, builds up pressure and eventually breaks loose and spews into the atmosphere. Old Faithful is unique in that the constriction releases every 97 +/- 2 minutes. It is not the most colorful, but it is dramatic.


Driving through an animal park is traversing perhaps a hundred acres with lots of fences. Yellowstone is a million acres with NO fences. We have spent 16 hours in the Jeep and haven't scratched the surface.


Internet access has been tentative. It is not the fault of the campground which has a good WiFi setup. And the dog walk service has been outstanding. We have been making reservations along our revised schedule. Andy, we now plan to hit the Roamer's Roost on Saturday and leave on Monday. There are two packages on the way. Sunday should be a relaxed visit.

2 comments:

Heather said...

Love the last picture!

Dan Taylor said...

Looks like the weather is cooperating for some great touring. Looks like you were at the Mammoth Hot Springs early in the morning. Thanks for sharing, have been enjoying your posts with my morning coffee.