This last week has certainly lived up to every imaginable expectation. The Grand canyon of Yellowstone with the huge waterfalls cascading over 300 feet is breathtaking. There are over 14,000 thermal features in Yellowstone. The geysers are the most famous and draw everyone’s attention but the paint pots and the hot pools are no less interesting. The fumaroles are merely steaming holes and do not get much attention but they are the hottest of the thermal features. If waterfalls and spouting or erupting geysers are not sufficient to generate a sense of awe, the abundance of wildlife certainly will. This week provided us with an experience few ever see. A very rare buffalo drive took 300 bison past our visitor station. Although the bison migration occurs annually, this year hundreds of bison were interfering with cattle operations west of the park and “cowboys” on horseback were used to usher these 2000# behemoths eastward toward their summer grounds and breeding area. Seems the lighter than normal snow made living in the West Yellowstone area too comfortable for these beast to leave on their own.
A little urging from the horsemen and the migration began—up the Madison Valley and through the Firehole Canyon to the Nez Pierce River. Seeing 300+ bison amble slowly up the two lane road toward the Mary Mountain area was interesting but made me realize that this migration has been taking place for hundreds of years and these bison were not following our man-made road but in fact, the man-made road was actually engineered along the prehistoric bison trail.
The Firehole Canyon is one of my favorite fishing areas but it is seriously dwarfed by the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone.
The Yellowstone River has carved a magnificent canyon that Charles Cook, of the 1869 Folsom Yellowstone expedition, after stopping at the brink of the canyon near what is now Artist Point wrote, “I sat there in amazement, while my companions came up and after that it seemed to me that it was five minutes before anyone spoke.” Nearly 140 years later the first glimpse of this canyon and the waterfalls generates the same sense of awe and leaves viewers speechless.
Everyone knows of Old Faithful Geyser because of its very predictable eruption schedule. Other geysers are far less predictable but put on much more spectacular displays. Compared to Old Faithful’s 5-6 minute demonstration, my favorite (for now anyway) is Lone Star Geyser which erupts with considerable more fanfare shooting tall spouts of hot water and steam and emitting guttural groans for better that 20 minutes every 2.5 – 3 hours.
I took a few days to backpack along the Continental Divide Trail (CDT) and spent the night not far from the pristine upper reaches of the Firehole River. Wildlife sign was abundant but except for a Pine Martin that ran through camp and a Grey Jay that stopped to beg or scavenge for tid-bits, I saw little.
I left the campsite around 2PM and another group of campers arrived five hours later for a night out in the wilderness. When they arrived at the campsite “steaming fresh” bear scat, tracks, and other signs convinced them to cancel their plans and depart the wilderness.
Next week I will try to spend several days on the trail. I’m sure every rip will be exciting.
