“We will face a delay near Roaring Mountain due to road maintenance,” our tour guide informed us. “A portion of the asphalt has melted because of increased geothermal activity.”
We were lucky because such geothermal activity usually leads to complete road closures. “This is normal. After all, the park we are in is actually a supervolcano,” she said nonchalantly while adjusting the volume of her mouthpiece. “Don’t worry! The last eruption was 640,000 years ago. So if it happens now, we will be the lucky ones witnessing it.”
This is the Yellowstone National Park, the world’s first national park established in 1872. The bulk of its 8,983 square-kilometre area is in the American state of Wyoming but it also spreads into the states of Montana and Idaho.
In April, geologists from the University of Utah discovered a reservoir of magma underneath the park. The magma is so huge that it can fill the Grand Canyon 11 times over. Volcanic activity triggers 2,000 to 3,000 small earthquakes every year, most hardly noticed by tourists such as us. If this supervolcano erupts, the force will be a few thousand times greater than the one produced by the Mount St Helen’s eruption in the 1980s.
Yellowstone has been on our bucket list for a long time. A picture of Roaring Mountain I saw as a child also contributed to this decision. The park is famed for its unmatched geothermal features such as its diverse collection of over 10,000 geysers (approximately two-thirds of all known geysers on earth), brilliantly coloured hot springs, travertine terraces, steaming fumaroles and bubbling mud pots.
We started our tour from West Yellowstone, a small town developed in Montana in 1908. Located a few minutes away from the west entrance of the park along the Madison River, the town’s sole purpose is to serve the park visitors. In the 1880s, the Oregon Short Line Railroad connected the country to the park but now there is an airport at West Yellowstone.
It took us 21 hours — excluding two layovers in Atlanta and Salt Lake City — to reach Yellowstone Airport from Dubai. My wife and I were pleasantly surprised by the warm welcome of the airport staff. We were lucky to be on the season’s first flight because the airport only operates commercially from June to September. Everything in the vicinity of Yellowstone National Park has a history. The Three Bear Lodge, where we gave our jet-lagged bodies a much-needed rest, was established in 1932. A fire destroyed it in 2008 but it was rebuilt using salvaged materials and wood for decor and room furniture.
We started our park “safari” through the west entrance. Our first stop was Fountain Paint Pot area in the Lower Geyser Basin. Here you can see almost every thermal feature. There are a few hundred of them in the Lower Geyser Basin. Stepping on the boardwalk, we noticed the Bacteria Mats, a vibrant area created by heat-resistant microbes such as cyanobacteria. They appear in shades of orange, rust or brown, according to the temperature. Bacteria and algae are mainly responsible for brightly coloured run-off channels.
The Fountain Paint Pot is an area of bubbling, colourful mud created by acidity in the steam dissolving the surface rock. The tinting of the mud in colours of pink and grey is derived from the original rock. The bubbling is a result of escaping steam and gases — carbon dioxide and hydrogen sulphide. The thickness of the mud depends on the water level — thicker bubbling mud creates unusual shapes and formations. You can hear the hiss and roar of a fumarole coming from the steam — a mix of carbon dioxide and a hydrogen sulphide — rushing from the ground through a vent. The vent system reaches down into the hot rock mass.
Another interesting spot is the Red Spouter, a feature created after the 1959 Hebgen Lake earthquake which measured 7.1 on the Richter scale. It shows the behaviour of all four thermal features.
Our next stop was the Old Faithful, the world’s most famous geyser in the Upper Geyser Basin. The average time between Old Faithful’s eruptions is around 90 minutes. Eruptions last a maximum of five minutes, with 14,000-32,000 litres of boiling water being ejected at a height of 100-190 feet. For its punctual and consistent performance, the Washburn expedition team named the geyser Old Faithful in 1870. Watching this nature’s wonder from the boardwalk felt like standing in front of a natural pressure cooker. Even better was viewing the eruptions from the Old Faithful Inn, the world’s largest log structure hotel built in 1904.
It was now time to visit Roaring Mountain that had captivated me the moment I saw it in an Ansel Adams’s picture as a child. It is a barren hill slope dotted with fumaroles and is called Roaring Mountain because of the sound created by these fumaroles. It was once loud enough to be heard several kilometres away but, today, there are fewer fumaroles and there is more hissing than roaring. Yet it is enough to remind you that the magma is just 2-3 kilometres below the surface in this part of the park.
Another unique geothermal attraction is the Mammoth Hot Spring where hot water ascends through the limestone rocks, creating travertine terraces. The water spills over these colourfully striped terraces to create the appearance of a gentle waterfall. Sometimes it will give you the feeling of a frozen fountain.
Yellowstone is also known for its abundant wildlife and breathtaking landscape. The park has numerous waterfalls, including the 94-metre-tall Lower Falls of the Yellowstone River. It’s the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone National Park. For over thousands of years, the water from the hot springs and steam has been venting in the canyon walls thus altering the chemistry of the volcanic rock and changing its colour to a magnificent yellow, red, white and pink. From an artist’s point of view, the view of the falls and canyon are mind-blowing. This is the second most popular spot in the park after Old Faithful.
Another attraction is the 339-square-kilometre Yellowstone Lake, which at some points is more than 122-metre deep. It is the largest high altitude lake in North America.
For wildlife, the best place in the park is Lamar Valley, where animals were reintroduced in the park in 1995. Many call it America’s Serengeti. It is home to bears, wolves, elk, bison, pronghorn, eagles and bighorn sheep. Bison are the largest land mammals in North America. You can find them almost everywhere in the park but the best place is the Lamar or Hayden valleys. Lamar Valley is also the place for wolf watching. Grizzly and black bears are often seen in this area. Don’t be disheartened if you don’t see wolves or bears. You can visit the wildlife park and educational facility Grizzly & Wolf Discovery Centre in West Yellowstone for an enriching experience.
Hissing geysers, vibrant mud pots, breathtaking waterfalls, snow-covered peaks in mid-summer, lush valleys and mist on the horizon, the world’s first national park is truly a landscape of extremes.
