For four, fun-filled days, a portion of the graduate students went to Yellowstone National Park to front country camp and explore for one of our weeks in the Advanced Elements of Field Ecology Course Design class (AEFECD). This was a great opportunity to 1.) get out of the classroom and off Kelly Campus 2.) explore and gain a deeper understanding for this wonderful place we are living in (the GYE or the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem) and the easy access we have to these places, and 3.) get ideas for where we can take our students during our Summer Teaching Capstone.
You Know It's Tourist Season When...
Everyone & Their Mom is Using an iPad to Record Old Faithful's Eruption!
During this trip, we were able to explore and share ideas and places with each other that would get our students and of course, ourselves super-hyped about the FIRST National Park! I know, for someone who loves Yellowstone, I completely forgot that Yellowstone was the first national park! Crazy! Of course, we visited Old Faithful in Upper Geyser Basin. She sure is faithful to her consisted eruptions from the cone geyser every 90 minutes give or take 10 minutes.
It was also interesting, to say the least, of what types of people that are attracted to these attractions and how people enjoy them. Sure, I am completely for documenting your adventures and highlights through cameras or video, but to see people constantly on their iPhone or iPAD, recording...and not even looking up away from the screen to embrace what is LIVE and right in front of you is...kinda scary. Not going to lie. It just makes me wonder how times have changed and how our society views or portrays different ways of embracing life with not just open arms, but a iPhone screen. Weird.
Looking back, I can say (maybe with embarrassment?) I definitely used to be like that and would get made fun or ridiculed by others for constantly recording my life away through photos on my iPhone. By being here in this place, I have definitely seen the light, and have learned, some memories should be embraced in the moment, and some can be taken and recorded for reminiscing (in moderation, of course).
Anyways, soapbox over. I did record moments from our adventure and here are some photos taken through the four-day adventure through good 'ol YNP!
Old Faithful! Always a great sight to see this geyser go off!
I do not think I could ever get tired of it!
Something incredibly spectacular that we got to experience was Bee Hive Geyser. Bee Hive Geyser, also located in Upper Geyser Basin with Old Faithful, is a 4-foot geyser that sticks up from the silicious ground resembling a beehive. The really interesting fact about this geyser, is that it will erupt on an inconsistent sequence: from remaining dormant for a few years to erupting every 10-20 hours. The one great feature that Beehive Geyser has is an small, indicator that looks like a small, jagged cone-type geyser several feet from Beehive, itself. When the indicator starts spewing water, we know that Beehive will erupt soon after. The eruption will last for 5-long, awesome minutes and the eruptions are expelled more than 200-feet in the air! It was so cool!
Special Feature That Day: Bee Hive Geyser!!!
It Rarely Goes Off!
& Enjoy the Video Below!
The next stop after Upper Geyser Basin was Midway Geyser Basin. This, I believe is my most favorite place in the park, besides Mud Volcano Area. Though small, this basin has two of my favorite geothermal features: Excelsior Geyser and Grand Prismatic Spring.
Excelsior Geyser
Excelsior Geyser pours more than 4,000 gallons of water per minute into the Firehole River. During the 19th century, it was an active geyser that frequently erupted with eruptions that flew 100-300 feet into the air. Scientists state that those eruptions were so powerful that it damaged the internal plumbing system of the geyser, so to this day will only boil as a productive hot spring. But then in 1985, it became active away and for only 46-hours in September for several days, producing only 30-foot eruptions. Currently, Excelsior will boil to 5-10 feet high for only a few seconds. Even though the activity is not an extravagant anymore, this geyser is so fascinating in that they too, like humans, go through a life cycle.
Note I do not have a Grand Prismatic photo: trying to get a photo of this magnificent hot spring is incredibly difficult when you are in the actual basin, due to lots of steam. Plus it was really rainy and cloudy when we visited. One day: it will happen!
Turquoise Pool
For night one, we stayed at the Madison Campground. This campground was nice, lots of forested campgrounds.
The next day, we stopped at Gibbon Falls - this place was awesome! It is right on the cusp of the Yellowstone Caldera Boundary! Did you know that Yellowstone is above a hotspot?! A hotspot similar to ones we see over Hawaii, but over lots of land and continental crust. A caldera is a volcanic feature formed by the collapse of a volcano into itself, creating a large special form of a volcanic crater. A caldera collapse is triggered by the emptying of the magma chamber beneath the volcano, as a result of a large, volcanic eruption.
The hotspot has been followed through previous calderas in geologic history of the Wyoming-Idaho region. As the plate moves over the hotspot, the super-volcano that lies beneath slowly builds up heat and pressure until a huge eruption occurs to release that pressure build up. Following the calderas that result from the large eruptions are seen my researchers to be traveling in the same direction as the plate movement - southwest. Most recent found in the Yellowstone area, following the souther border in an arc through Idaho and extending west of Idaho. These previous calderas have been dated to be more than 15.1 Million Years Old. Woah!!!
Gibbon Falls - Yellowstone Caldera Bounday
Next stop - more geothermal features at Norris Geyser Basin. Although, the rain and SNOW, did not stop, it was really awesome to see this part of the park in not ideal summer weather. Learning more about the differences in geysers, hot springs, steam vents, and mud pots was really cool. And seeing what you were learning was great!
Norris Geyser Basin
Snowy Day at the Geothermal Features at Norris Geyser Basin
Steamboat Geyser
Steamboat Geyser was really interesting to learn about: it is the world's tallest currently-active geyser, having eruptions fly more than 300-feet into the air. Eruptions will last from 3-40 minutes that have powerful jets of steam expelling from the geyser, however, these eruptions are very erratic and unpredictable. The last eruption was on July 31, 2013 and the previous 9 current eruptions are incredbly sporadic from one in 2005, several in 2003, two in 2002, and one in 2000 and 1991. So random. The other really cool characteristic about Steamboat Geyser is that Cistern Spring, located near the geyser is part of its internal plumbing. The spring will completely drain during a major eruption of Steamboat and will take several days to refill.
The Entrance to Yellowstone National Park from Gardener, Montana.
Later that day, we traveled out of the park to Gardener, Montana to visit the Heritage & Research Center.
Hitching Post
Wednesday was an incredibly long day for all of us. This included waking up at 5:30 am MST and hitting the road in search of something amazing - wolves. Although our early efforts, did not land us a successful morning of seeing the wolves. We were greeted by Rick McIntrye, a biological technician, that has been very invested and a part of the Yellowstone Wolf Project and Reintroduction. Let me tell you, this man is beyond words: knowledgeable about wolves in general, knowledgeable about the reintroduction, and incredibly knowledgeable and passionate about the history of the wolves of Yellowstone. Such an excellent storyteller too! So if you ever go to Yellowstone, be on the look out for him and get him to tell you the history of the wolves of Yellowstone. He will blow your mind!
Understanding the Family History of the Wolves of Yellowstone From Rick's 'True Life' Story
Grizzly Bear On Our Way to Rose Creek Pen
The faculty decided to take us on a great hike to Rose Creek Pen - one of the holding pens for the wolves before they are released into the park. It was a really moving experience to be in a pen where wolves would roam with their pups before heading into the park. It also had an eery feel to it - similar to that eeriness that you get from watching the people explore in Jurassic Park...definitely felt as if a T-rex or Velociraptor would pop up somewhere while we were in the pen. Enjoy some of the photos of the pen & the geology:
Full Elk Skull and Rack on Our Way to Rose Creek Pen
I wanted to keep it!
Don't worry, I didn't!
Straight Silica!
Felsic Pluton!
After Rose Creek Pen and Lunch, we traveled to Specimen Ridge in the Lamar Valley and were given a special treat. A visit to a wolf den! It was such an experience! Not to mention seeing the living and eating quarters for the wolves. Very cool!
Wolf Den Near Specimen Ridge
Remnants From a Dining Area of the Wolf Den
That night, we traveled back to Hitching Post to make dinner. As many of us were getting dinner ready, Aaron, one of our faculty went alongside the river to set up scopes and check out the lay of the land. Before dinner was even done, he came running back in a frantic and excited manner - he spotted two of the wolves that Rick McIntrye was telling us about in the story. Grabbing our binoculars, we went to the scopes and low and behold, Male #925 Great Gray and Female Partner #926 Big Black were feasting on an elk carcass that they had hunted the day before.
Great Gray, Male #925
You Can Barely See Her...But Big Black is There
Female #925
Our final morning, it was a visit to the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. This was incredibly beautiful. Talking about Thomas Moran, a phenomenal artist who was the first artist to capture and paint Yellowstone's features, before the area even became a park (1871-ish).
The Gran Canyon of Yellowstone
Jellystone Grad Group!
Clearly, this trip was awesome! A wide variety of geology, history, wildlife, and adventure. Yellowstone will forever and always be my favorite national park...so much to explore myself, but so excited to share what I have already seen and what lies ahead with this park with students this summer!
The Grand Canyon of Yellowstone!
Look Mom!!
Yellowstone will always be my favorite national park!
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