Well, we didn’t see any lions or tigers – but we did see bears. In our past two trips to Yellowstone we saw one small black bear each time. This time we were fortunate to see 5 bears.
We saw two different black bears. We saw this black bear in the woods.
Then we saw this black bear feeding in some grass land among a herd of bison.
However, our real treat was the first bears we saw – a grizzly Mom with two cubs.
Everyone is always excited to see buffalo when they first arrive in Yellowstone. It’s usually the first animal seen.
However, people don’t see buffalo – they see bison.
The bison population fluctuates from 2300 to 4500 animals and 9 out of 100 bison die each winter. They are usually old and/or sick. Both grizzly bears and wolves will prey on bison.
Yellowstone is the only place in the United States where bison have lived continuously since prehistoric times. A number of Native American tribes especially revere Yellowstone’s bison as pure descendants of the vast herds that once roamed the grasslands of the United States. The largest bison population in the country on public land resides in Yellowstone. It is one of the few herds free of cattle genes.
The bison is the largest land mammal in North America. Males (bulls) weigh up to 2,000 pounds, females (cows) weigh up to 1,000 pounds. Reddish-brown calves are born in late April and May, after a gestation period of 9 to 9½ months. Calves can keep up with the herd 2 to 3 hours after birth and they are well protected by their mothers and other members of the herd. However, wolves and grizzly bears can kill bison calves.
And you can run into bison in the strangest places as you’ll see from this video.
Yellowstone sits on a constant surging magma below the earth’s crust. Besides the animals, the geysers, pools and vents are a major attraction.
The number one attraction of course is Old Faithful. It was the first geyser to get a name as it is the only predictable geyser in the park.
Over the years, the length of the interval has increased, which may be the result of earthquakes affecting subterranean water levels. These disruptions have made the earlier mathematical relationship inaccurate, but have in fact made Old Faithful more predictable. With a margin of error of 10 minutes, Old Faithful will erupt 65 minutes after an eruption lasting less than 2.5 minutes or 91 minutes after an eruption lasting more than 2.5 minutes. The reliability of Old Faithful can be attributed to the fact that it is not connected to any other thermal features of the Upper Geyser Basin.
Eruptions can shoot 3,700 to 8,400 US gallons (14,000 to 32,000 l) of boiling water to a height of 106 to 185 feet (32 to 56 m) lasting from 1.5 to 5 minutes. The average height of an eruption is 145 feet (44 m).[7] The highest recorded eruption was 185 feet (56 m) high.
There are other geysers, vents and pools throughout the park that are amazing. Here’s just a few recapped in this video.
We arrived at the Old Faithful Inn on Monday afternoon, May 23, 2011.
With its spectacular log and limb three story lobby and massive (500-ton, 85-foot) stone fireplace, the inn is a prime example of the "Golden Age" of rustic resort architecture, a style which is also known as National Park Service Rustic. It is also unique in that it is one of the few log hotels still standing in the United States.
Initial construction was carried out over the winter of 1903-1904, largely using locally-obtained materials including lodge pole pine (the bark was later removed in 1940) and rhyolite stone. When the Old Faithful Inn first opened in the spring of 1904, it boasted electric lights and steam heat.
The structure is the largest log hotel in the world; possibly even the largest log building in the world.
When the Inn first opened people toured the park in stagecoaches and later yellow Yellowstone open coaches.
Today most people view the park from their car while the younger and hardier walk or bike through the park.
Here’s a video overview of the Old Faithful Inn.
On late Monday afternoon, May 23, we entered Yellowstone National Park through the South Entrance.
It is believed that Yellowstone comes from an Indian name for the area which translated “yellow stone,” but no one is sure. The first white men who visited the area were fur trappers who came about 1797. No one believed their ‘wild’ stories about geysers and colorful, steaming basins.
Yellowstone is actually a giant caldera, the remains of giant volcanic explosions over millions of years. Geologists believe its heat source is a ‘hot spot’ in the magma that heats the core of the earth. A similar ‘hot spot’ can be found in the Hawaiian Islands.
President Ulysses S. Grant signed legislation on March 1, 1872 making Yellowstone America’s first National Park.
We expected snow when we got to Yellowstone, but we were surprised by the amount.
Next stop – Old Faithful Yellowstone Inn.
