Old Faithful Is ‘Just A Tiny Fraction’ of Yellowstone

Above, Old Faithful Geyser in eruption. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

People are beginning to flock to Yellowstone National Park.

Many think that Yellowstone is just known as the home of Old Faithful Geyser. There are many more geysers and features to enjoy in the park.

USA Today has posted a story on Yellowstone as part of a yearlong series.

They started with:

Most people already know a thing or two about Yellowstone National Park. It’s the world’s first national park and home to Old Faithful. 

“Probably 95% of people that come to Yellowstone visit Old Faithful, but Old Faithful is just a tiny fraction of what Yellowstone National Park is all about,” said Richard Jehle, an interpretive specialist at Yellowstone. “There are so many places in Yellowstone that if they were by themselves, they would be their own national park. Yellowstone Lake, the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, Mammoth Hot Springs, other geyser basins like Norris Geyser Basin are all just spectacular resources in their own setting.”

Here’s what else travelers should know about Yellowstone, the latest national park in USA TODAY’s yearlong series.

To read more, go here. 

10 Wonders of Yellowstone National Park

Above, the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Have you ever been to Yellowstone National Park? 

If not, that is one place that should be on everyone's bucket list. There are many things to see in the park. 

To get a good idea what is there to see, TheCollector posted a list of 10 wonders of Yellowstone with photographs. 

They begin with:

Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming, Idaho and Montana is the oldest National Park in the entire world, giving it a special significance in geological history. It was also one of the first World Heritage sites in the United States, and became a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1978. Many of its most celebrated natural wonders have been there untouched for hundreds of years, making them all the more fascinating and in need of care, preservation and respect. We look through the 10 greatest wonders of Yellowstone National Park that attract millions of tourists from far and wide every year. 

 To read more, go here.

Yellowstone Laundry In The Late 1800s

A friend on Facebook just passed this on.

I never heard of this before. But one cannot be too surprised, can we?

Navigating Yellowstone National Park This Summer Update

Above, one of many geothermal attractions within Yellowstone. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Labor Day is only days away and that essentially marks the end of the summer vacation season.

Yellowstone National Park, if one is still planning to go there before the end of the month, had a disastrous start of the season with the floods of June and National Parks Traveler has posted an update to navigating the park.

They start it with:

Visitors to Yellowstone National Park should check the park's website in advance of their travels to learn what's accessible and what isn't. For instance, as of September 8 you'll no longer need to obtain a day-use ticket to drive the 6-mile road corridor between Tower Junction and Slough Creek.

The park piloted the day-use program Aug. 3 to expand access to this impacted area in the northern part of Yellowstone following the historic flood event in June. After closely monitoring use in the area, the park found the corridor could safely maintain an increase in day-use capacity.  

That said, the road corridor is essentially a dead-end, and people driving large vehicles (buses, long towing units etc.) are asked to be aware that turnaround areas along the Slough Creek Campground Road are limited.  

The only section of the Northeast Entrance Road open is from Tower Junction to Slough Creek. The remainder of the Northeast Entrance Road (Lamar Valley east to the barrier near Warm Creek) is closed to all traffic due to significant flood damage. The North (Gardiner, Montana) and Northeast (Cooke City/Silver Gate, Montana) entrances are closed with limited access (see below) due to significant flood damage. Visitors wanting to drive the Tower Junction to Slough Creek road corridor will need to enter the park through the West, South, or East entrances. 

To read the full update, go here. 

Woman Falls Into Yellowstone Thermal Feature

Above, Old Faithful in the beginning stages of an eruption. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

A woman had to be airlifted out of Yellowstone National Park after falling into a thermal feature at Old Faithful.

According to NBC Montana:

MISSOULA, Mont. — A woman was life-flighted after illegally entering Yellowstone National Park and falling into a thermal feature. 

Yellowstone National Park officials confirmed a woman illegally entered the park Tuesday morning and fell into a thermal feature at Old Faithful. 

The park told NBC Montana that they do not know which thermal feature she fell in, but added she was backing up to take photos. 

Officials say she suffered burns.

To read more, go here. 

Old Faithful: Drinking and Geysers Don't Mix

Above, Old Faithful geyser erupting. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

There's been a spate of reports of yo-yos walking up to Old Faithful Geyser at Yellowstone National Park lately. The latest is about a guy who had been drinking and fell into thermal water at the geyser.

According to NBC News:

A 48-year-old man suffered severe burns at Yellowstone National Park after falling into a hot spring at the Old Faithful geyser. 

Rangers were called to the Old Faithful Inn on Sunday after Cade Edmond Siemers, a U.S. citizen who resides in India, suffered severe burns to a significant portion of his body, the park service said. Siemers told rangers that he went for a walk without a flashlight and tripped and fell into the thermal water. 

Rangers found evidence that Siemers may have been drinking alcohol at the time, according to the National Park Service. 

When they went back to the scene Monday, authorities found Siemers' shoe, hat, and a beer can along with footprints leading to and from the geyser.

This guy got off lucky. A tourist was killed about three years ago when he fell into a hot spring and the heat and chemical composition of the water dissolved him.

To read more, go here. 

More Stupidity At Yellowstone National Park

Above, Old Faithful Geyser. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Stupidity at Yellowstone National Park continues. Two men were seen walking too close to Old Faithful Geyser this week. 

KRTV reported:

BOZEMAN — Two men were caught on camera walking dangerously close to the iconic Old Faithful Geyser in Yellowstone National Park this week. 

Park officials confirmed to MTN News that the incident happened on Tuesday. 

Kimberly Guilliams shared photos of the incident on a Facebook page called Yellowstone National Park: Invasion of The Idiots!. 

Guilliams wrote: "So this happened this past Tuesday at Old Faithfull. They even leaned more over the opening but just didnt get a photo. They were caught, reports were filed and I submitted photos to the Park Ranger. We were in total disbelief and the complete stupidity of these guys."

To read more, go here. 

Thrillist's "Ultimate Yellowstone National Park Travel Guide"

Above, Clepsydra Geyser. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

If there's anyone out there who has never visited Yellowstone National Park, they should put it on their bucket list and go.

Yellowstone is the definitive national park and it is so large and diverse, one only scratches the surface of what it has to offer even if they stay there a week. I've been there twice and still haven't seen everything.

Above, two Yellowstone mountain goats. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Thrillist has posted their "ultimate" Yellowstone National Park travel guide and it is well worth a read and bookmarked.

It begins with:

There is no surviving piece of the American West more iconic than Yellowstone. Early Native Americans lived in the region for more than 10,000 years before white explorers designated it the world’s first national park in 1872. Our National Park Service was created here in the Mammoth area in 1916, when the U.S. Army was protecting the park from poachers and developers who looked at Yellowstone’s vast resources the way Sylvester looks at Tweety. Two years later the Army moved out, and the NPS has been a custodian of this land ever since (that’s why the park rangers wear Army hats). 

Even by national park standards (which is to say pretty high), the ecological diversity contained within Yellowstone National Park is absolutely astounding. On your visit expect to see bison, elk, mule deer, pronghorn antelope, and birds -- many, many birds. The especially lucky will spot wolves, moose, bighorn sheep, black bears, or grizzly bears. 

But the animals are the least of it. Geologically, the Yellowstone region -- carved by glaciers and sitting atop one of the world’s largest active volcanoes -- is in a class of its own. It contains the largest concentration of thermal features anywhere in the world, like bubbling hot mud pots and steaming, hissing thermal pools that seem too colorful and alien to exist naturally. It also contains more than half of the world’s geysers, period.

Above, a mom and one of her cubs. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

To read more, go here. 

Yellowstone's Geysers: Miracles of Survival

Above, an eruption of Old Faithful Geyser. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

What if there no rules to be followed by visitors to our national parks, what would happen?

Strangely enough, at one time were were few rules governing visitation to our national parks, particularly Yellowstone National Park. The park's wonders actually were abused during those times.

Mountain Journal recounts those times and the consequences that followed.

They begin with:

Is it not absurdly ironic: one of the greatest rustic hotels in the world is built nearly literally on top of the world’s most famous, fragile and, so far, predictable erupting geyser? Along with the Old Faithful Inn, a marvel, is a massive, stadium-sized parking lot and, more recently, a multi-million-dollar visitor center.   

The human footprint dwarfs the natural feature it honors. 

Some might liken this to moths being drawn to the bright flame or, as the late Yellowstone Park Supt. Bob Barbee once said, putting your dirty hand onto the surface of Mona Lisa's painted face. If the mavens of development could have designed the infrastructure differently, in light of us being smarter today, they would have, he said. 

To put this in perspective, imagine hypothetically how a tramline running from Jenny Lake to the Grand Teton might affect the way we think about the mystique of the largest summit in the Teton Range?  Or maybe an escalator running to the bottom of the Grand Canyon? Or tourist trollies motoring down the sidewalk in front of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. 

That America still has the world's largest assemblage of still-functioning geothermal phenomena in Yellowstone National Park is nothing short of a miracle.

Above, Old Faithful Inn. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

To read more, go here. 

Old Faithful Geyser's Mechanics

Above, Old Faithful Geyser in full eruption. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Ever wondered how Old Faithful Geyser (or other geysers) at Yellowstone National Park erupt?

NPR (National Public Radio) has posted a transcript of a discussion of the mechanics of Old Faithful Geyser. A new study on the geyser has yielded some interesting findings.

Above, the sign at the information desk in the Old Faithful Inn tells
visitors when Old Faithful Geyser will erupt. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

The post begins with:

The Old Faithful Geyser in Yellowstone National Park blows water approximately every 90 minutes. The the mechanics behind this beautiful mystery have been revealed this week in a new study.

To read the transcript, go here. 

Yellowstone Earthquakes Revive Eruption Fears

Above, the Clepsydra Geyser. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Yellowstone National Park has been experiencing a "swarm" of earthquakes in the northwest areas of the park this past week.

According to the Daily Star (U.K.):

A 4.5 magnitude shaker struck Yellowstone Magnitude Park on Thursday, according to data from the US Geological Survey. 

Earthquakes in the area are not rare – with 1,500 to 2,000 hitting the area every year – but the latest incident was the only one this year reported by USGS. 

Scientists say Thursday’s earthquake was part of the swarm hitting the area since Monday. 

Yellowstone volcano, located in the US state of Wyoming, is one of the most feared on the planet and described as a “ticking time bomb” – with various scientists claiming its eruption could be catastrophic. 

Experts have long claimed the so-called “super volcano” could wipe out the entire planet.

To read more, go here.

And, according to the Bozeman Daily Chronicle:

The small earthquake that struck Yellowstone National Park on Thursday night was part of a swarm that has been hitting the area since Monday, scientists say. 

The quake was centered near West Yellowstone, but was also felt by people in Gardiner and Bozeman. 

“As of 10 a.m. this morning we had located a total of 235 earthquakes in the area,” said Jamie Farrell, University of Utah research professor of seismology. 

Yellowstone gets about 1,500 to 2,000 earthquakes every year. About half of those come in earthquake swarms — lots of earthquakes in a small area in a short amount of time.

To read more, go here. 

Yellowstone: America's Crown Jewel

Above, a car passes a wall of obsidian. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Summer is just about here. For those who are considering a road trip to Yellowstone National Park, USA Today has an article on the park along with a three-minute video.

Above, a herd of bison. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

They begin with:

Old Faithful. Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone. Wolves. Bears. Bison. 

For a first-time visitor, Yellowstone National Park seems to simply have too much to see and appreciate. Just for starters, it’s home to the world’s greatest concentration of thermal features, from boiling rivers and bubbling mud pots to the geysers, headlined by Old Faithful. Never mind the free-roaming herds of bison, or the wolves, or the towering waterfall. 

At more than 3,400 square miles, this national park is bigger than Delaware and Rhode Island combined, although with far fewer people and roads. Exploring every inch would take years. But that’s the beauty of this park: Every visit can be totally different. Maybe it’s geysers and the rivers this year, bison and bears the next. An entire trip could be built around an early-morning adventure to see wild wolf pups playing in the sun.

Above, a geyser in-between eruptions. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

To read more, go here. 

What Makes Yellowstone's Geysers Erupt?

Above, Old Faithful Geyer in eruption. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

An interesting broadcast was posted at WBUR on "What makes Yellowstone National Park's geysers erupt?" of the Here & Now program.

The main thing to remember, despite the park's beauty, it is a super volcano.

The post states:

Memorial Day weekend kicks off the summer travel season, and visitors will flock to Yellowstone National Park to see the geysers. 

The park has more geysers than any other place on Earth. Here & Now's Jeremy Hobson tours the geyser basin with Bob Smith, chief seismologist at the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory, and park ranger Rebecca Roland.

Above, a geyser erupting at one of Yellowstone's geyer basins. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

To hear it, go here.

"The Yellowstone Pledge"

Above, one of many Yellowstone geysers erupts. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Yellowstone National Park is a beautiful, yet dangerous place. Park visitors can and do get seriously injured or killed through their own stupidity and not following the rules.

The park and media are currently promoting "The Yellowstone Pledge" to make visitors aware of the park's rules.

According to KPAX:

YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK -Yellowstone National Park has rules about approaching animals and leaving established boardwalks. Yet last year a man lost his life at the Norris Geyser basin and a young bison was killed because people didn't follow those rules. 

Yellowstone is 2.2 million acres of photo opportunities but unfortunately, some who visit forget the animals are wild and the geysers are volcanically heated. 

Visitors are now being asked to take “The Yellowstone Pledge,” an online opportunity to review the rules of the park while also keeping themselves -- and those uniquely Yellowstone features -- safe.

To read more and to take "The Yellowstone Pledge", go here.