Today’s journey took us around to several geyser basins. But our first encounter of interest occurred soon after we entered the park. We saw probably thirty cars all parked or pulling off to the side of the road near Mary Bay, and, as usual, where there are cars, there’s an animal. This animal happened to be a grizzly bear, out for a bath in the lake. We got to watch it enter the lake, rinse off, exit, and cross the road to the forest, followed by dozens of amateur camera lenses (such as mine) and some high-falutin’ camera lenses too. I thoroughly enjoyed watching it do its business, seemingly unaware of the frenzy it was creating.

The geysers weren’t as smelly as I expected; I thought they were lovely. Many of them were a beautiful turquoise blue, with rims of orange and yellow. They bubbled merrily, some sporadically and some constantly. A few truly erupted. Of course, no trip to Yellowston’s geysers would be complete without Old Faithful, so we patiently waited for it to erupt, and it did–right on schedule.

To round out my scientific experience in Yellowstone, we went to one of the visitor centers that explained all about why the land has so many hot springs, geysers, and earthquakes (800-something in 2005). Basically, Yellowstone is a mammoth volcano. It’s not just one mountain’s worth; it used to be (dates are up for discussion) a huge caldera that erupted, but it’s erupted several times since then, according to the geologists, creating not just one area of volcanic activity, but a huge area. The constant shift and flow of magma and the earth’s plates creates the hot springs and geysers, and the earthquakes actually help to keep the springs working. They get clogged up with the mineral deposits; earthquakes open new holes and shake the deposits away. However, because the volcanic activity is so volatile, the thermal areas may be very active or completely inactive within a matter of years.

See the gallery for pictures.