Category Archives: Exploring

Exploring

August 17, 2015 Capitol Reef N.P. Utah

As beautiful as the area is, we were glad to leave Moab and head to Torrey where we would visit Capitol Reef National Park (NP). Torrey is at a higher elevation than Moab, making it at least 10 to 15 degrees cooler. We arrived at our campground in Torrey, a short drive from the park. We settled under some trees which still allowed us satellite reception and we immediately noticed the cool refreshing breezes. Quite a relief from our last campground with no shade. Only complaint was no Verizon and the WiFi provided by the campground was spotty and unreliable. At night we were able to sleep with the windows open and needed a light blanket!
Capitol Reef NP gets its name from the large sandstone domes that have eroded and resemble the U.S. Capitol building. A one hundred mile long wrinkle in the earth’s crust created 65 million years ago is filled with cliffs, gorges, canyons, arches and domes and is called the Waterpocket Fold. This fold forms a reef like barrier limiting access in the park. There are many dome like sandstone features in the park but one has been given the name Capitol Dome.

Capitol Dome

Castle

One of the prominently named landmarks in the park is The Castle.

There is an eight mile one way scenic drive that takes you down into the canyon where the temperature climbed to over 100 degrees. Along this road are several dirt or gravel spur road that take you to overlooks or access to hiking trails.

This is the first national park which has its own fruit orchards of apple, peach, cherry, pear and apricot trees left over from the days of the late 1800’s Mormon settlement called Fruita. Historic and heirloom fruit is grown here like the pioneer days. In season you can enter designated orchards and eat for free as much fruit as you can hold. Any you pick and take out of the orchard is $1.00 a pound. While we were there apples were available for picking. In the park are several historic pioneer settlements, still maintained as they were for 100 years, including farmhouse, barn, smokehouse and schoolhouse.

We walked the Grand Wash Trail which was a delightful flat trail with shady spots where the canyon walls shielded us from the sun. We hiked to “The Narrows”, a really neat spot where the canyon walls closed in on us, making for some fun echoes. After the hot steep trails in the other two parks, this trail was a welcome surprise with breathtaking canyon wall views.

August 15, 2015 Canyonlands N. P. & Dead Horse Point S.P. Utah

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Our last day in Moab we set out very early to try to beat the heat. The red rock walls surrounding our campsite were beautiful in the early morning light and at sunset as the sun lit up the walls to a bright red. We had early morning guests to greet us as we were getting in the car.

These Buttes are named after the Civil War ironclad ships

Canyonlands National Park and Dead Horse Point State Park were both about 45 minutes from Moab in the same direction so we decided to visit both in one day.

Canyonlands National Park, established in 1964 by President Lyndon Johnson, has canyons, mesas and buttes carved by the Colorado and Green Rivers and their tributaries. There are four areas of the park with “Island In The Sky” being the most accessible, hike-able and favorite of tourists. Island in the Sky sits atop a massive 1,500 foot mesa with beautiful views and a twenty mile scenic drive, making it truly feel like an island in the sky.

Once again we used Gypsy Guide as our tour guide as we drove the scenic drive through the park. We were able to get in two hikes before the heat became unbearable by starting early. First we did a short hike to Mesa Arch.

A much longer hike took us to the Grand View Point Overlook with amazing views. We had to climb at times over “slickrock” which is the name the early settlers gave the rock because their horses’ metal shoes couldn’t grip the rocks’ surface.

The trail is well marked with three square blocks

Zoomed in view of Green River, the Colorado River was not view-able from the trail

Here is a video of the view: https://youtu.be/smzHZQlX49s

A jeep trail that leads to the Colorado River

On the way home we stopped by Dead Horse Point State Park. The overlook, 2,000 feet above the Colorado River, provides breathtaking views of Canyonlands National Park in the distance. From the viewpoint we could look across the canyon and see the cliff where Thelma and Louise drove their car off the edge at the end of their movie. Legend says that around the turn of the century cowboys herded wild mustangs roaming the mesa top, surrounded by sheer cliffs on all sides, across the narrow neck of land only 40 yards wide and onto the point. The neck was then fenced off with branches and brush to make a corral. However one time, for some unknown reason the horses were left corralled on the water-less point where they died of thirst with the Colorado River within view below them.

Colorado River

Colorado River

Movies filmed in Dead Horse State Park include “The Lone Ranger (2013), Mission Impossible II, Thelma and Louise”.
Here is a video of the view: https://youtu.be/cdQ6LFRX88w

Colorado River Trivia:

The Colorado River supplies water to the states of Utah, Colorado, Arizona, California, Nevada and New Mexico. It starts as a small trickle of snowmelt high in the Colorado Rocky Mountains and begins a 1,450 mile journey through mountain canyons and three deserts.
More water is exported from the Colorado River’s 250,000 square mile basin than any other river basin in the world.
Seventy percent or more of its water is siphoned off to irrigate 3.5 million acres of crops.
At one time every drop of water was pumped or diverted to cities and farms in the U.S. and Mexico before it had a chance to reach the end of its 1,450 mile journey to the ocean.
Today that has been changed due to federal laws, court decisions, contracts and regulatory guidelines, including agreements between the U.S. and Mexico which allows Mexico to store water in U.S. reservoirs.

August 14, 2015 Arches National Park, Utah

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We left Salt Lake City and headed to Moab, Utah. We originally planned on staying in Salina, Utah overnight because of the long distance to Moab. But when we stopped for lunch Bill felt we were making good time and decided he would like to continue the rest of the way to Moab. We passed through some interesting scenery along the way.

We arrived in Moab with temperatures in the upper 90’s to 105 everyday. We had looked at the weather forecast and were worried about the heat spell for the next week. We knew from looking at the campground online that there was no shade. With all that in mind we reduced our reservation from 7 to 4 days when we arrived. Just as expected we were directed to a nice site which had no shade. Even with two rooftop air conditioners it is impossible to keep up with the heat.

Moab, population 5,046, overlooks the Colorado River and is located in a valley surrounded by red cliffs and the La Sal Mountains. It was a visited by Butch Cassidy and his Wild Bunch as well as author Zane Grey who used the town and surrounding area as the locale for many of his western novels. There is a brochure devoted just to all the sites in Utah used in films starting in 1939 with “Stagecoach” starring John Wayne followed by “Wagon Master” in 1949 and “Rio Grande” in 1950 starring John Wayne and Maureen O’Hara. In the Moab/Arches National Park area we have movies such as “The Hulk”, “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade”, “Lone Ranger” (2013), “Star Trek” (2009), “Thelma and Louise”, “Transformers Age of Extinction”, “Mission Impossible 3” and many more!

In the 1950’s Moab was changed from a quiet agricultural town into a bustling mining and prospecting area with the discovery of uranium. Today tourism is the main industry.

We had two reasons for coming to Moab. One was to see Arches National Park and the other was to visit Canyonlands National Park. We got up early the next morning hoping to beat the heat. Our destination this day was Arches National Park located three miles from our campground. We usually stop by the Visitors Center first but we were anxious to get started on our outdoor activities before it got too hot. When we were in Hawaii we purchased several reasonably priced smartphone audio tours of each island from “Gypsy Guide”. We felt they did an excellent job and it was like having a personal tour guide in the car. So we were thrilled to discover Gypsy Guide had tours for both Arches and Canyonlands National Parks. Bill hooked it up to the car’s Bluetooth so it could be played with the radio. The tour automatically advances based on your GPS location.

Three Gossips

Sheep Rock

Arches National Park contains the largest number of natural stone arches in the country with over 2,000. The park also has beautiful red rock canyons, spires and balanced rocks. Water and ice, extreme temperatures and underground salt movement over 100 million years are responsible for the beautiful sculptured sandstone rock. The arches were formed by the weathering of openings in the vertical slabs of sandstone. Park Rangers consider any opening extending at least three feet in any one direction to be an arch.

Our Gypsy Guide gave us a running commentary on the geology and history of the area as we drove the 36 mile round trip scenic road through the park. We stopped at many overlooks and hiked to Balanced Rock and several arches, including Delicate Arch. At Delicate Arch we had a choice of three hikes to see this famous arch. There was a really short easy walk with a far away view, a moderate hike up a rather steep path over rock steps built into the pathway with a somewhat closer view, and a three mile strenuous hike for a close up view. We chose the moderate hike and still had a view a long way from the arch. I must say the appearance of the arch was rather anticlimatic since Delicate Arch is the unofficial symbol of Utah and seen on many of their license plates. Whew it was hot!

Normal View of Delicate Arch

Zoomed view of Delicate Arch

Turret Arch

We stopped at a neat group of arches called the Windows area. Bill asked a lady to take our picture. We struck up a conversation with her and the others in her group. It is always interesting to hear how extensively people from other countries have toured our country and how well they know English. This group was from Italy. She told us she was working at the NIH in Baltimore during the 9/11 attack and how badly she felt for our country. Currently she is a professor at the University of Bologna, the oldest university in the world. We love chance meetings with interesting people in our travels!

Sunny Side of North Window

South Window

North and South Windows Together

The next day we stayed home and had a “hot day”, our equivalent of a snow day. Both days the temperature reached 106 outside by late afternoon. Too hot to go outside plus we wanted to let our bodies recover from the previous day’s hikes since we were hoping to do some hiking the next day at nearby Canyonlands National Park which will be the topic of our next blog.

Trivia:

In 1952 Charles Steen, a young geologist, discovered uranium deposits in the Moab area. This resulted in a rush of miners to Moab increasing the population by five-fold. By 1955 there were approximately 800 mines producing high grade ore and Moab was nicknamed “The Uranium Capital of the World”. However by the mid 1970’s foreign competition and federal regulations put an end to domestic uranium mining. Sixteen tons of uranium remnants formed a massive pile three miles outside of Moab. Today trains transport these remnants in covered cars to a permanent disposal site 30 miles north of Moab. We could see in the distance the long line of train cars waited to be loaded.
In 1964 one of the large rock towers in Arches National Park was used in a Chevrolet television commercial featuring a car and a Hollywood model. The car and nervous model were placed atop the tower by helicopter. After filming, heavy wind prevented the helicopter from landing to take them back down. The frightened model had to spend hours stranded in the car waiting for the wind to die down.
Airplanes are not allowed to fly over Arches National Park because of concern the sound may damage or break the delicate features. Breaking the sound barrier in and around Moab is forbidden.
Arches became a national monument in 1929 and was then designated a national park in 1971. It is 76,519 acres or 119 square miles.

August 9, 2015 Antelope Island State Park, Utah

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One of our RVing friends suggested we visit Antelope Island while we were in the Salt Lake City area. It was about a 45 minute drive from our campground so we decided to dedicate one of our days to visit the island.
Antelope Island is the largest island in the Great Salt Lake. The Great Salt Lake is the largest natural lake west of the Mississippi River. The lake is a remnant of prehistoric Lake Bonneville which covered more than 20,000 square miles of land during the Ice Ages. Water flows into the lake from four rivers, carrying 2.2 million tons of minerals into the lake each year. Great Salt Lake has no outlet so water leaves only through evaporation, leaving high concentrations of minerals behind. The salinity of the water is too high to support fish and other aquatic life, however brine shrimp, brine flies and algae thrive in the lake. Because of the brine shrimp and flies, there are millions of migrating birds feeding off this food source. Nearly 80% of Utah’s wetlands surround Great Salt Lake, making its ecosystem one of the most important resources for migratory and nesting birds in North America. The area has over 250 bird species with six to nine million birds migrating through each year.

The island is home to free roaming herds of bison, mule deer, pronghorn antelope and bighorn sheep as well as coyotes, bobcats, badgers and birds of prey. While on the island we saw plenty of bison, one antelope, two mule deer, a hungry looking coyote and a ton of birds. Antelope Island has more than 40 major freshwater springs that produce 36 million gallons of water each year which supports the wildlife and vegetation. Twelve bison were brought to the island in 1893. Today there is a herd of between 500 to 700. In the fall some of the bison are rounded up and sold to national and state parks and ranches. The pronghorn antelope are native to Utah and the island. They are the fastest animals in North America and can reach speeds of up to 70 miles per hour.

Antelope Island comprises 28,022 acres and is 15 miles long and 4.5 miles across at its widest. The oldest rocks on Antelope Island are some of the oldest anywhere in Utah. Canyon rocks on the island are 1.7 billion years old which are the same age as rocks found at the bottom of the Grand Canyon.

Artifacts tell us that prehistoric people inhabited the island more than 6,000 years ago. John Fremont and Kit Carson explored the island in 1845 and named the island after observing several pronghorn antelope grazing. The first permanent residence on the island was established in 1848 and is Utah’s oldest Anglo built structure still standing on its existing foundation.

The beauty and wildlife of Antelope Island was beyond our expectations and it took us much of the day to see it all. We even found two geocaches there!

August 8, 2015 Salt Lake City, Utah

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Salt Lake City

We made the short drive to a private campground located in North Salt Lake City, about six miles from downtown Salt Lake City which we could see in the distance. What a difference these private campgrounds are from the state, national and forest campgrounds. We had to get used to the narrow campsites with close proximity to neighbors that are found in most private campgrounds as well as traffic noise from the nearby freeway.

We settled in and then drove to the nearby Honda dealership to have maintenance done on the Honda. We were very impressed with the people there. Even though we were not local, just passing through the area and only having required maintenance done, we could not have been treated nicer.

Our first evening in the area we had a terrible storm with heavy rain and high wind. Even though the forecast also called for severe lightning and hail, we didn’t experience any of that to our relief.

Family History Library

We drove into downtown Salt Lake City on two separate days so Bill could do some research at the Family History Library. The library was founded in 1894 and is one of the world’s largest genealogical libraries. The collection mainly focuses on the United States, Canada, the British Isles and Europe, including Scandinavia, however there are genealogy records from other areas of the world. While we were there many people of different nationalities walked through the door seeking information. All Family History Library original records are kept at the Granite Records Vault in the mountains near Little Cottonwood Canyon. Fortunately today many of the records are computerized. Anyone is welcome to use the library and it is all free! The library is 145,000 square feet and has more than 300 computers. They have birth and death certificates, marriage licenses, census returns, property, probate and cemetery records. HOWEVER, the Library’s collection focuses on people who lived before 1930 so you will need some older information on your family to begin. I noticed they also have helpers throughout the library who speak other languages to help non-English speaking guests.

When we arrived we were given a first timer name tag and saw a four minute orientation movie (also available in many languages) about the five story library. We were then ushered into a room full of computers where we were each given our own personal helper to get us logged in and to show us the ropes. Create your account at familysearch.org then you can do about 99% of the research from the comfort of your home. There are over 4,500 branches of the library located around the world if you want assistance and/or if you want to use their equipment. After about an hour of family research I had had enough and I went back to the lobby to work on our blog and read. “… genealogy is the second most popular hobby in the U.S. after gardening, according to ABC News …”. Genealogy is really more Bill’s passion than mine.

On May 15, 1829, Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery went into the woods

When he finished for the day we explored the downtown area some. Salt Lake City was founded by the Mormons in 1847 and lies at the foot of the Wasatch Mountains. It is a beautiful setting. The Great Salt Lake lies to the northwest and the Great Salt Lake Desert to the west. By the way, the name of the religion is The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Mormon is just a nickname. Joseph Smith, Jr. said an angel entrusted him with golden plates inscribed with symbols which Smith translated into the Book of Mormon. Smith advocated polygamy. Although no more than 4% of the Mormons practiced polygamy, advocacy of it led to problems with non-Mormons wherever they tried to settle. In search of a place where they could practice their religion without prosecution, they tried settling in Missouri and Illinois. Smith was arrested, jailed and eventually shot to death.

After Smith’s death the church split into two groups with the group opposed to polygamy forming a “Reorganized Church” and returning to Missouri. A larger group followed Brigham Young, the second president of the Mormon Church to Utah in 1847, establishing Salt Lake City. By 1869 more than 60,000 Mormons had immigrated to Utah by covered wagon or handcart. Also in 1869 the transcontinental railroad was completed linking Utah to both coasts. They applied for statehood in 1849 but their request was not granted until 1896 after the church abolished polygamy. By the 1900’s there were over 400 cities in Utah.

The streets downtown are laid out in a grid pattern fanning out from Temple Square, the spiritual and historical headquarters of the Mormon Church. The streets were designed to be “wide enough for a team of four oxen and a covered wagon to turn around”. The streets are named for their directional distance from the Temple, such as West Temple, North Temple, South Temple and then Main Street. So one street south of South Temple is 100 South, next street is 200 South, etc.

Utah State Capitol Building

With a population of 186,440, Salt Lake City is the state capital of Utah. We stopped by the beautiful capitol building which sits high on a hill overlooking the city below. The Corinthian style building was completed in 1915 and resembles the National Capitol.

Temple Square is advertised as the number one tourist attraction in Utah. Three of the buildings on the square were built by pioneers; the six-spired granite Salt Lake Temple which took 40 years to complete, the domed Tabernacle which is home to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and organ, and the Assembly Hall. Only church members may enter the Temple. The Mormon Tabernacle Choir began with a small Choir in 1847, twenty-nine days after the first Latter-day Saint pioneers entered the Salt Lake Valley. Today the choir has 360 members. The Choir’s first radio broadcast took place in 1929. Today their broadcast is the longest running continual network broadcast in the world.

Mormon Assembly Hall

Domed Tabernacle Choir Building

We also drove by a small park wedged between two apartment buildings where we found the Mormon Pioneer Memorial park where Brigham Young and several members of his family are buried. We were surprised to find Young’s grave in such a plain, isolated park not far from the capitol building. Young died in 1877.

Eagle Gate

On the way to the capitol we passed under the 4,000 pound bronze eagle with a wingspan of 20 feet atop Eagle Gate. The structure was erected in 1859 and at one time marked the entrance to Brigham Young’s farm.

Unfortunately Salt Lake City has the worst panhandling problem we have seen in our travels. There are a large number of tourists in the Temple Square area and they are targets of the panhandlers. While I was waiting for Bill in the lobby of the Family History Library, a lady came in complaining about a panhandler. Security was called and from what I overheard, it is an ongoing problem with security called almost daily. Bill and I were approached twice, once when leaving the library and in the parking lot two blocks from the library. Too bad Salt Lake City cannot solve this problem because it is such a turn-off for tourists in an otherwise beautiful city.

Like many cities, Salt Lake City does not have enough parking downtown and what they do have is pretty expensive. One of the volunteers at the library gave us directions to a parking lot just a couple blocks from the library where the parking was only $1.00 an hour. We were really glad to find that jewel!

Utah facts:

Seven national parks, 45 state parks, 6 national monuments, 8 national forests, 14 ski resorts
Population of 2,942,902
Symbol is the beehive representing thrift and industry
Origin of name is from the Native American Indian Tribe, the Utes

August 6, 2015 Willard Bay State Park, Willard UT

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On our way to Salt Lake City we stopped for two nights at Willard Bay State Park. There really is not much to do here except enjoy the views of the water, but we needed a stopover point to break up the drive from Idaho to Salt Lake City.

Willard Bay State Park has nice long sites with full hookup ups, but it is unfortunately very close to the freeway and therefore has lots of traffic noise. The positive with that is it is very easy access on and off the freeway.

While there we made the short drive to the Hill Aerospace Museum located at the Hill Air Force Base about five miles from Ogden, Utah. The museum has more than 90 aircraft, Missiles and aerospace vehicles from around the world and is home of the Utah Aviation Hall of Fame. Ployer Hill was an Army Air Corps’ test pilot for more than 60 aircraft. During his test of a Boeing experimental aircraft, which became the B-17 Flying Fortress of World War II, he died at age 41. In 1939 the Ogden airfield was named Hill Field and now Hill Air Force Base.

Four exhibits in the museum that are outstanding are the Willys Jeep, Link Pilot Trainer/Simulator, A-10 Thunderbolt/Warthog Aircraft, F-16 Fighting Falcon Aircraft and a Trinity Atomic Bomb Replica. Both aircraft are in service today.

We head next to Salt Lake City!

August 2, 2015 Arco, Idaho

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It was a long travel day from West Yellowstone to Arco, Idaho with a stop along the way at the Walmart in Idaho Falls to restock supplies. Arco is a tiny town with a population of 995 and was the first community in the world to be lit by electricity generated by nuclear power. This occurred on July 17, 1955. The area is nothing but sagebrush and open fields and the campground selection is very limited so we settled in at a KOA. The local high school paints their graduation year on the rocks above the city.

Our main reason for coming to this desolate area of Idaho was to visit the 750,000 acre Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve located eighteen miles southwest of Arco. In 1924 President Calvin Coolidge used the 1906 Antiquities Act to proclaim the Craters of the Moon National Monument. In 1923 geologist Harold T. Stearns described the area as “the surface of the moon as seen through a telescope…. where dark craters and the cold lava were nearly destitute of vegetation”.

While lava flows exist on the moon, astronauts confirmed that most lunar craters resulted from meteorite impacts, not from volcanoes. But the Craters of the Moon are definitely of volcanic origin. The vast amount of lava did not come from one volcano but from a series of deep fissures, known as the Great Rift, that cross the Snake River Plain. Beginning 15,000 years ago lava welled up from the Great Rift to produce this vast area of rock. The most recent eruption occurred 2,000 years ago and geologists believe future eruptions are likely.

Satellite view of the lava flows

Years ago the Northern Shoshone Indians passed through this area on their annual migration from the Snake River to the Camas Prairie. They left behind well worn trails and mysterious stone circles on top of the lava. Archeological evidence and oral traditions indicate the Shoshones most likely witnessed some volcanic eruptions.

Craters of the Moon can be seen by satellite and we noticed it shows up on the local TV weather maps when we watch the weather.

In the 1800’s European-Americans in search of gold and farmland avoided the lava fields. In the 1850s and 1860s pioneers followed the Goodale’s Cutoff of the Oregon Trail as an alternate route to avoid conflicts with the Shoshones and crossed through the northern edge of the lava fields. Idaho was part of the Oregon Territory then. In 1863 it became the Idaho Territory and a state in 1890.

In 1969 NASA Apollo astronauts learned about volcanic geology here in preparation for their moon missions.

Splatter cone

After stopping by the Visitors Center we drove the Craters of the Moon Loop Road, stopping at various places along the route. The final stop had a trail across the lava that led to several lava tubes or caves. Entering the caves required some tricky rock scrambling so I was happy to leave the cave exploring to Bill.

Indian Tunnel

Indian Tunnel

Indian Tunnel

Indian Tunnel

Boy Scout Cave looking deep

Entrance to Beauty Cave

Beauty Cave

Also while in Arco we drove to see the Experimental Breeder Reactor #1 (known as EBR-1) at the Idaho National Laboratory. On December 20, 1951 the reactor became the first nuclear reactor to generate a usable amount of electricity using atomic energy. From that day until the day it was decommissioned in 1964, EBR-1 generated enough electricity to supply all the power for its own building whenever the reactor operated.

We took a guided tour through the building which explained how atomic energy is used to make electricity. We had an excellent guide, a University of Idaho graduate student in psychology from the Ukraine. We were surprised she didn’t have a degree in nuclear engineering. There wasn’t a question asked she couldn’t answer in detail.

President Lyndon Johnson visited the site in 1966 during a ceremony dedicating EBR-1 as a registered National Historic Landmark.

Among many things our guide told us was that the nuclear waste materials from the Three Mile Island accident site was brought to Idaho to be stored. It was often brought across the country by train in darkness because of protests by people in states who did not want the waste passing through their states, with some states forbidding the passage.

Physicist Enrico Fermi was the genius behind the “breeder” concept, but Walter Zinn made it a reality.

The Idaho National Laboratory currently employs more than 8,000 people.

Who knew this desolate area of Idaho could hold such fascinating places!

July 31, 2015 Norris, Yellowstone N.P.

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Our last day in the park was spent at Norris which is named after Philetus Norris, the second superintendent of Yellowstone National Park from 1877-1882. He explored and recorded the area’s hydro-thermal features in detail which added greatly to the geographic knowledge of the park.

This entire geyser basin is the oldest, hottest and most dynamic geyser basin in the park and part of one of the world’s largest active volcanoes. Many of the hot springs and fumeroles here have temperatures above 200 degrees. Norris is near the intersection of three major faults which creates this dynamic geyser basin. Every year new hot springs and geysers appear while others become dormant.
Steamboat Geyser located in Norris is the world’s tallest active geyser. Steamboat Geyser’s eruptions are very unpredictable with the last eruption occurring in September, 2014. When it does erupt it can shoot water up to 300 feet in the air. On the day we were there it was spewing plenty of steam with an occasional spurt of water.

We enjoyed walking on the boardwalks seeing the various geysers and hot springs.

The Ranger told us the only predictable geyser here was Vixen Geyser. It erupts every twenty minutes or so and we only had to wait a few minutes before it put on quite a show for us. Bill captured some before and after eruption pictures.

Also located in Norris is the Museum of the National Park Ranger. We stopped by to visit this former Army outpost built in 1908.

While we are talking about geysers, mud pots, fumeroles and hot springs we will include a few pictures taken of Mud Volcano and Dragon’s Mouth we saw while exploring the Fishing Bridge area.

Our time in Yellowstone went by much too quickly. We look forward to returning again someday.

July 30, 2015 Mammoth Hot Springs, Yellowstone N.P.

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With only two days left in Yellowstone we still had the northwest section of the park to explore. one of those days we drove to Mammoth Hot Springs. The road to Mammoth was undergoing extensive road work with signs warning of up to 30 minute delays. We were lucky and only had about a fifteen minute delay going and no delay returning home.

Liberty Cap, named after the French tall cap

Mammoth Hot Springs has mineral laden hot water from deep within the Earth’s crust which finds its way to the surface and builds beautiful tiers of cascading, terraced stone. Hot water and gases ascend through limestone deposits, sculpting the rock. Once exposed to the air, calcium carbonate from the limestone is deposited as a rock called travertine. These hot springs do not erupt but instead build these spectacular terraces. The terrace sculpting has been going on for thousands of years as thousands of gallons of water well up and deposit large amounts of travertine, or limestone, daily and as quickly as three feet per year!

We walked along the Hot Springs Terraces Walk, a boardwalk which led us around the terraces and hot springs.

We then drove the Upper Terrace Drive, a road that gave us a perspective from atop the terraces.

Mammoth Hot Springs is where the Yellowstone park headquarters is located and it has a village of stores, gift shops, a Visitors Center and a couple restaurants. In the early days of Yellowstone National Park’s existence the park was protected by the U.S. Army from 1886 to 1918. From what you might wonder. From people damaging the geothermal areas and other land and hunting the wildlife. The original buildings of Fort Yellowstone such as the guardhouse, jail and soldiers’ barracks are preserved and still standing in Mammoth Springs today.

Fort Yellowstone is the red top buildings in the background

Here is a video showing the water flowing down the terrace:

While in the area we drove the short distance to the north entrance of the park where the Roosevelt Arch is located. The beautiful arch was constructed under the supervision of the U.S. Army at Fort Yellowstone. The cornerstone was laid by President Theodore Roosevelt in 1903. The top of the Arch is inscribed with a quote from the Organic Act of 1872, “For the Benefit and Enjoyment of the People”.

July 27, 2015 Canyon, Yellowstone N. P.

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Our last four days in Yellowstone were scheduled to be dry camping at two campgrounds in the park. But very unseasonably cold weather with nightly temperatures around 30 degrees and my being on medication for shingles convinced us we needed to look for some place else. The only full hookup campground in the park was booked solid. Bill found a national forest campground near the small town of West Yellowstone located right outside the west entrance of the park. The campground had a small number of nonreservable electric sites available on a first come basis. We got up really early and drove to the campground where we waited for someone to leave so we could grab an electric site. By 10:00 AM we were all set up in our new site.

When the doctor gave me the pills for shingles she was five pills short and neither of the other two clinics in the park had pills for me. She gave me a prescription so we headed into West Yellowstone to have the prescription filled. Not much to say about West Yellowstone except it has a very nice Visitors Center with friendly helpful volunteers, a couple food markets, a few gas stations, one pharmacy, a McDonalds and several hotels, restaurants and gift shops. Typical tourist town.

By the time we got back home a cold steady rain was falling and the temperatures were in the upper 40’s and falling. I made some chili and we stayed inside where we were warm and very very thankful to have heat and electricity. The next few nights the temperature dipped to near freezing. This campground made for a bit longer drive back into the park to do activities, but it was well worth the extra drive.

Yellowstone National Park has geysers and wild animals and gorgeous scenery. Would you believe on top of all that it also has a grand canyon? I kid you not. It is called The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone River and it is a beauty! The canyon is from a lava flow 484,000 years ago. It is mainly made of rhyolite rock. Past and current hydrothermal activity weakened and altered the rock, making it softer. The Yellowstone River eroded these weakened rocks to deepen and widen the canyon, a process continuing today. The canyon is 20 miles long, more than 1,000 feet deep, between 1,500 and 4,000 feet wide and has two beautiful waterfalls.

Lower Falls

Upper Falls

It took us several days of driving and walking quite a few trails to see the canyon and waterfalls. One end of the canyon begins at the 308 foot tall Lower Falls which may have formed because the river flows over volcanic rock more resistant to erosion than rocks downstream. The same is true for the 109 foot Upper Falls.

Brink of the Lower Falls

We walked trails that led us to the brink of both the Upper and Lower Falls. The Upper Falls trail was easy but the Lower Falls trail involved a steep drop with thirteen switchbacks. Going down was easy but coming back up was….well you can imagine. Luckily it was a cool day with a nice breeze and they had benches along the trail to rest. It was a great view and workout! There is a viewpoint on the South Rim called Artists Point with gorgeous views of the Lower Falls and the canyon. The weather was overcast while we were at Artist Point but Bill still got some great pictures.

The North Rim side of the canyon has a 1.2 mile drive with multiple stopping points along the way with amazing views of the canyon.

We took a longer hike on the South Rim Trail which led us along the canyon rim with views of the canyon and both falls. At one point we came to a great view of the Upper Falls. I love how there always seems to be a rainbow! We stood at the overlook and enjoyed the view while talking with a family from Holland who was spending their summer touring the West in their rented RV.

Every day there seems to be more and more to love about this wonderful park. What an amazing place!!

Through the Eyes of the Selphs

Bill and Diane's travel notes and pictures

Category Archives: Exploring

August 17, 2015 Capitol Reef N.P. Utah

August 15, 2015 Canyonlands N. P. & Dead Horse Point S.P. Utah

August 14, 2015 Arches National Park, Utah

August 9, 2015 Antelope Island State Park, Utah

August 8, 2015 Salt Lake City, Utah

August 6, 2015 Willard Bay State Park, Willard UT

August 2, 2015 Arco, Idaho

July 31, 2015 Norris, Yellowstone N.P.

July 30, 2015 Mammoth Hot Springs, Yellowstone N.P.

July 27, 2015 Canyon, Yellowstone N. P.