After a great few nights at Canyon Campground in the middle of Yellowstone National Park and exploring nearby areas, we set off for Grant Village in the southern part of the park. It was a brisk and windy day, but the sun was shining, so we were ready for new adventures.
Our first stop was on the side of the road to admire a bison herd far below. The powerful creatures were gently grazing in the prairie grasses, enjoying the open land and fresh air. Bison were sacred to the Crow and Cheyenne tribe. These majestic animals were revered and respected. When hunted, the Crow and Cheyenne people strove to use every part of the animal. Clothing and teepees were made from bison hides and fur, meat was eaten for nourishment, and tools and weapons were made from bones. As observers, we respected the bisons’ space and snapped a few pictures from more than 100 yards away and continued on down the road.
We then stopped at Sulphur Caldron, with greenish gray pools bubbling and vents steaming out hot air from the super volcano below. The nearby trees are coated white from the minerals released through the gases floating upward. The whole area is remarkable, minus the rotten egg smell. Sulphur Caldron certainly smells like sulphur! According to interpretive signage, the area is ten time more acidic than lemon juice. It is one of the most volcanically active areas of the park! Despite its hot temperatures and high pH levels, microorganisms called thermoacidophile still grow in this environment. They work to break the pools’ hydrogen sulfide gas into sulfuric acid with changes the soil and rock into mud!
From this area you can look beyond to see the caldera, which is the earth behind the caldron that is rising due to magma moving and pushing underground! Geologists mark and measure the area to track its growth. Some day they predict the super volcano under Yellowstone National Park will erupt again.
When done here, we walked over to the nearby Mud Volcano area to see more boiling pools, sizzling rivers, and of course, Mud Volcano! This feature erupted in 1870 covering everything nearby with layers of think, gray mud. It spewed mud mud so hard, that two years later is was simply a pool of bubbling muddy water because it had blown itself apart. This land is constantly changing! Can’t wait to come back in a few years and see what is different.
Our next move was to continue down the road to Grant Village, but we were disappointed to see that the road ahead was still closed from a massive gas spill earlier in the week. We later learned that in order to properly clean the area and ensure the Yellowstone River hadn’t been contaminated, crews had to dig a whole 100 feet wide by 100 feet long and 10 feet deep to remove all the dirt that soak up the gas. What a mess! So far, the Yellowstone River is reported to be fine. So, we weren’t getting through that way. We turned around and drove the long way to Grant Village, through Madison Junction, past Old Faithful, and beyond West Thumb.
It was a long drive, but we stopped along the way to enjoy the Fountain Paint Pots. Crystal clear steaming pools of electric blue water, smoking pink-brown vents, spouting geysers, and neon orange bacteria mats delighted our eyes. You could see markers of how the lang has changed through dead trees standing and laying across the barren gray land in between.
Eventually we arrived at Grant Village, checked in, and set up for dinner. Later that evening we walked down to the shores of Yellowstone Lake, just out the back of the campground, to enjoy the beauty of the highest elevation lake in the lower 48 states of the United States of America. A relaxing way to end a day that required some flexibility.
Tonelli's Travels 