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| Our last view of Yellowstone
River as we crossed the bridge heading east. |
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| One of Bubba's passengers is a
sucker for mama ducks and their ducklings. Guess who! |
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| Just before we exited the park,
we stopped for a late lunch, parking in a pullout overlooking Yellowstone Lake. It is a huge lake of 136 square
miles with
spots as deep as 390 feet. Each year the lake freezes over with up
to three feet of ice. The freeze usually occurs in December and the
thaw does not occur until May or early June. As you would expect,
Yellowstone Lake is the headwater source for Yellowstone river. |
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| We chose the northern loop
through the park and it has fewer hotspots. We did manage to snap a photo of one venting some steam. There are many places in the
park where steam vents and boiling water pots are spectacular. |
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| Back in 1988, a major fire swept
through Yellowstone. The park superintendent made the decision to contain the fire and let nature sort
of take its course. Naturally, buildings and some significant
monuments were protected but the end result was that this fire burned
about 790,000 acres or 36% of the park. Many areas are showing
significant recovery today. However, about 22,000 of the acres were
severely burned to the point of little regeneration. This is one
such area as 25 years later
the ground supports very little vegetation. |
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| There are two small lakes near the east
entrance to the park. This one is Sylvan lake. |
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| Now out of the park, headed to Cody,
Wyoming for a few days. Being devoted fans of western movies and tv
shows, we have to visit the Buffalo Bill Museum! The road between
Yellowstone and Cody drops 3,500 feet in elevation. As the elevation
dropped, the temperature rose from 73 to 90 degrees. |
