National Park #2 - Yellowstone

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The "Eye" of Yellowstone

October 6, 2009

One down…thirty-nine to go. Inspired by the Trek to Denali, Terry and I head out to visit Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks. It’s been 38 years since I have visited Yellowstone and the park has changed quite a bit. The most noticeable difference is the forest. Decimated by fire in 1988, over 40% of the park had burned and what was once a tall and majestic forest is now in its infancy. The Park is blanketed with mostly stands of Lodge Pole pines which will reach 75 feet when mature. Now much of the burn zone is home of “infant and teen aged “ trees varying in height from about 5 feet upward to 20.

Nestled between the new growth on the forest floor, you will find the scar tissue of the fire where thousands of fallen trees offer a visual reminder of the havoc fire can inflict upon an area. However, on a positive note, the naturalists here in Yellowstone all agree that the fire has created a rebirth of the area and is only a natural progression in the life cycle of any forest. Needless to say, I was stunned by the sight of the areas burned some twenty plus years ago.

We reach the park’s West Entrance on a cold and blustery morning. The temperature outside is 22°. Quite a bit cooler than what us Phoenicians are used too! Snow is in the forecast for the next couple of days. A far cry different than the 100° + temperatures we’ve experienced for the past 4 months.

Our first stop - Geysers! It is incredible to stand amongst the geothermal features in the Upper and Lower Geyser Basins at Yellowstone. The earth spews steam heavy with a pungent sulfur smell. The mudpots are bubbling muck that lack enough water to flush out the sediments so they percolate up a rotten egg smelling mess as their acidic vapor bubbles burst. The Hot Springs display a wide range of color from a deep blue to mustard yellow-orange. The color attributed to algae – the darker the algae, the cooler the water …albeit, bathing in one of these caldrons…no matter how dark the algae… would definitely make one’s blood boil!

Periodically, a geyser relieves itself of the pressures built up beneath the earth’s surface and majestically imitates a whale surfacing from the depths of the ocean. The most famous Geyser of them all, Old Faithful, blows its stack about every 75 to 80 minutes. It used to erupt on the hour; however, a large earthquake a few years back altered its plumbing. Old Faceful (as I’ve called it ever since I first saw it in 1972) is one of the most reliable of Geysers…however, not the biggest of them. The Big Daddy of Geysers goes to Grand Geyser which is the world’s largest predictable Geyser spouting upward to 180 feet or more when it erupts. Unfortunately, Terry and I were hiking the back country when Grand Geyser spouted off. We did see its vapor plume from a distance but arrived too late to see it in action.

Essentially, when one walks the grounds in the Geyser Basin at Yellowstone, you are actually standing on top of the world’s most active volcanic caldera. (Ironic note…I met Terry when I was working with Caldera Spas!) A caldera is a huge crater created by a collapsed volcanic cone. The volcanoes in Yellowstone haven’t erupted in the past 600,000 years; however, its subsurface presence has provided us with a colorful display of geothermal activity. Like Mt St Helens, Yellowstone is still volcanically active and could once again erupt in the future!

Old Faithful Inn - On my “Bucket List” there is an inventory of sixteen “Great Lodges of the National Parks” which I intend to visit. To date, we’ve stayed at three of them. One such lodge sits about 200 yards from the Old Faithful Geyser – The Old Faithful Inn. The Inn was first open to the public in 1904 and the “Old House” offered 140 rooms featuring rustic log décor and communal bathrooms. Now the communal bathing aspect of the Old House did not appeal to Terry, so when we arrived, we were fortunate to have been assigned to the East Wing – room 3021. I was a tad disappointed that we were unable to stay in the original digs…however, sharing a shitter with other guests didn’t hold much appeal with me either!

The “Old House”, as the original structure is referred to, was designed by a young San Diego Architect by the name of Robert Reamer. It was his first major project of this scale and untraditional for the era. Most of the “lodges” being built during this time period were grandiose structures with a Victorian “Queen Ann” architectural feel appealing to the wealthy Eastern Traveler…not rustic log structures resembling a big top tent!

Reamer designed the Inn using materials native to the area. The Lodge Pole Pine is the dominant tree in Yellowstone and consequently, much of the Old House is built using these pines. At maturity, a Lodge Pole will reach 75 feet. Because Reamer wanted visitors to have the feel that they were amongst the pines…even when inside the Inn, he designed the entry Lobby so that a series of native Lodge Poles stretching up 85 feet support the massive gable roof.

In the center of the grand entry hall stands a substantial lava rock fireplace featuring four hearths, one on each side of the 16 foot square foundation. Only one of the hearths is in operation today as a few years back, an earthquake dislodged some of the lava rock which ended up clogging the three other flues.

The six story entry gave me the feeling that I was inside a gigantic tree house. A series of wooden stairs made of split logs with a gnarled Lodge Pole railing lead up to the Crow’s Nest now inaccessible to the present day guests. The Nest sits high above the entry floor and once provided a platform for musicians to play for the guests below.

Being in the lighting business, I was amazed to learn that the candle-like lighting fixtures were originals! They have changed a lamp or two since opening day but the incandescent lamp fixtures remain the same. The light output from these fixtures is very much like trying to illuminate a vast forest with a candle. The lighting is warm and very mellow.

"Not a chance Caveman!"

Hiking Mallard Lake – Whenever I visit our National Parks, I have this deep-seated need to stretch out my John Muir legs and hike away from the hoards of people who hang closely to that which is civilized. The Geysers and the other natural wonders found in the Upper and Lower Geyser Basin that attract tourists by the millions do fascinate me; however, I have this unrelenting need for strenuous solitude. So, I pull out the trail map and plot out a trek up to Mallard Lake, down Mallard Creek and back to the Inn. A distance of 12 miles on what is now a snow covered trail. Terry and I load our packs with water, apples, power bars, trail mix and some toilet paper for emergencies and begin searching for the trail head. It’s gently snowing as we begin the hike.

Ours are the only footprints on this trail as we begin our 1500 foot accent up to Mallard Lake. The first leg of the hike is 3.8 miles….all up hill. Knowing that I would soon leave her in the snowflakes, I have Terry lead the way. This is the wisest decision I can make even though it means we will proceed up the mountain at a glacial pace. Being that it has been snowing the past couple of days, I knew hiking would become somewhat of a challenge for us as we were not fully equipped to do any cross country skiing. Also, getting caught in a mountain snowstorm wasn’t in the plan so I kept a close eye on the weather as we made our accent.

The skies begin to clear as we approach the half way mark on our hike. The trail takes us through the young forest carpeted with thousands of fallen trees burned by the fire of ’88. How peaceful it is to be walking about without the sounds of the city. The only noises we hear are birds chirping and an occasional gust of wind chasing through the Lodge Poles. We’re in bear country which keeps our senses alive with anxious anticipation. It would be awesome to spy a Bear walking amongst the woods…at a distance mind you. But alas, we see no bear on this trek…only footprints on the snow covered trail that appear to be that of a Snowshoe Hare.

Hiking to a new destination always takes longer than it seems it should. And at Terry’s glacial pace, I’m beginning to believe that Mallard Lake only exists on the trail map. But lo and behold…we soon come across a “Y” in the trail and a sign telling us we have but two tenths of a mile to the Lake! Minutes later, we arrive at our destination and sure enough…there are Mallard Ducks cruising the shoreline! I thought these crazy birds flew south for the winter!

Reaching ones intended goal gives me a huge sense of accomplishment and satisfaction. We’ve just hiked uphill for almost 4 miles. Ok…it took us a half century to get here…however, she…er we made it! Nobody but us and a beautiful lake. And a beautiful woman. Hmmm. I’m beginning to think this would make a lovely place to…..to take a nap! I begin to scout out a suitable location for some high mountain snuggling. Even Terry seems to have that twinkle in her eye as she reminds me we have some rain gear that would substitute as a blanket!

My caveman instincts are now running very high! I find a flat location near the shoreline that would be ideal for a romantic mountain snuggle. But what to my wondering eyes should appear? Not friggin’ reindeer! That would be ok. Another hiker has made his way to Mallard Lake! Talk about buzz kill! Man, I’m all kind of excited til I see this character. He introduces himself. Tells us he’s from Montana. Started the hike up the Mallard Lake trail shortly after we did and would have turned back…except, he saw that our fresh tracks kept moving on toward the destination. We chat a few more minutes and he’s off back down the mountain. The mood has definitely changed. The wife now has absolutely no intention of getting naked with me up here! Crap! Why the heck did that guy have to show up?

Terry makes up some lunch as I readjust my hormones. I really did have more of an appetite for high country sex rather than crackers and cheese…but what the heck. After our snack, we too begin our trek back to the Lodge. The day is gorgeous. The skies are deep blue with giant puffy white cumulonimbus clouds casually drifting along.

Bison

“What are those big furry things over there?’ Terry asks. We’re too far away to be able to identify the beasts but from a distance it looks like a herd of cattle grazing just outside of the Old Faithful Lodge. Curiosity causes us to walk closer and we soon realize that it is a herd of bison grazing in the open range. Big bison! Many big bison! And one particular bison has his tail up in a curly queue. We learned from a local that when the male Bison’s tail is making that inverted “U” shape…he’s horny and looking for action! Not a real good time to get up close and personal with a 2000 pound sex crazed beast.

But that doesn’t stop Terry. She’s so excited to see Bison in the flesh that she approaches the herd as if she’s one of them! As she tells the story…she got to within about 10 feet from the critters. (The truth be told…it was more like 20 feet…but who’s counting?) I on the other hand, decided that it was prudent to put the telephoto lens on the camera and hide behind a large boulder while snapping pictures of the herd. For Gods sake lady…these are wild animals! And one’s looking for female companionship!

I’ve got to say that seeing a herd of wild Bison up close was definitely one of the highlights of our visit to Yellowstone. Especially when knowing that these creatures were almost slaughtered to extinction. Once numbering more than 65 million, by 1890 the American bison numbered fewer than 1000. And back in the day, there were many Paleface who favored the complete eradication of the plains Bison as this was the primary food source for the American Indian. Kill the Bison…neutralize the Indian. God knows that Paleface and Native Americans during that period in our illustrious history could find no peaceful coexistence. So wiping out the Bison became a national sport. And sadly…they were almost successful in eliminating these creatures from the face of the earth.

By the way…a Buffalo is either a city in New York or an animal native to Africa. What we have here in the States are Bison…not Buffalo. So in reality, the fellow who helped lead the charge to exterminate these majestic beasts should really have been called Bison Bill Cody!

Our other animal sightings at Yellowstone were limited to a plump coyote who casually strolled adjacent to the paths leading from the Lodge to the Geyser basin. He didn’t seem disturbed by humans as he trotted along side the path where Terry and I were hiking. We see coyotes frequently back home so Wylie didn’t do much to excite us.

We also came across a large Elk grazing about 20 yards off the main trailhead. A big sucker with a huge rack. My hunting buddies would have began foaming at the mouth if they saw this fellow!

The Bison were a treat. The elk was cool. But what we really wanted to see is Moose and Bear! The last time I was in Yellowstone…38 years ago…the bears were everywhere! In fact it almost seemed like the Rangers had let them out of their cages in areas where cars could pull over to observe them. And back then, we were lucky to catch a great look at a huge Bull Moose grazing in a mosquito infested marsh. Alas…no Bear and no Moose to be seen on this visit to Yellowstone!

I got this picture of one of the historic Yellow Buses parked in front of the Old Faithful Inn on the morning of our departure. It was gently snowing as one of the eight remaining White Motor Company model 706 touring vehicles still in service at the park pulled in front of the Lodge to load up passengers for the morning tour. In their heyday, there were 98 of these long, low strung passenger cruisers in service regularly touring visitors throughout the Park. We didn’t take a ride this time around; however, upon our return in the future, we will most definitely jump aboard one of these 13 passenger cruisers!

Next up…the Grand Tetons – Trek #3. Happy Trails friends.