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We had a weekend to explore Yellowstone, not nearly enough time but we were determined to make the most of it. Yellowstone, the first national park in the country, indeed the world, was created on March 1, 1872 when President Ulysses S. Grant signed The Act of Dedication. Primarily located in Wyoming, but also spilling over into Idaho and Montana, the heart of the 3,468-square-mile park lies atop the Yellowstone Caldera. The geysers, hot springs, fumaroles, and mud pots that have made Yellowstone famous are found inside the massive 34-mile by 45-mile caldera, a depression formed after a volcano erupts and collapses in on itself.

Considered by geologists to still be active the Yellowstone Supervolcano is fueled by a rare example of a continental hotspot in the Earth’s mantle. The crust over this pool of intensely hot magma is less than three miles thick compared to an average thickness of twenty-five miles elsewhere on land. Called the Snake River Plain-Yellowstone Hotspot this pool of magma has a history of eruptive events spanning 17 million years. Not all of the eruptions occurred in the Yellowstone area as the North American plate was, and still is, on the move, slowly gliding to the southwest. One of the oldest eruptions related to this hotspot is on the border of Nevada and Oregon and someday in the future the famous geothermal activity of Yellowstone could potentially be in Canada. But that is a very long time from now.

The only thing we have to remotely worry about is that the Yellowstone Supervolcano has previously erupted on a cycle of roughly 600,000 years with the last supereruption occurring just over 640,000 years ago. But don’t worry, geologists and volcanologists have labeled the area as “high threat” and they are monitoring the situation… Until then, Yellowstone remains the place to see the most geothermal features and geysers in the world (over 10,000 and 300 respectively). It was this concentration of features that confounded the first white explorers in the area.

In 1806, John Colter, a member of the Lewis and Clark expedition, requested and received an early, honorable discharge so that he could explore the Yellowstone region. Though the Corps of Discovery crossed far north of the caldera, local tribes had told them unimaginable things about the area. Setting off in October of 1807 Colter traveled extensively through northern Wyoming—crossing the Teton and Wind River Ranges, exploring the valleys, and traipsing the shores of Jackson Lake (in today’s Grand Teton National Park) and Yellowstone Lake. When Colter returned to civilization in spring 1808 no one believed his tales of fanciful geothermal features. Many thought him deluded and one area where he experienced “fire and brimstone” near Cody, Wyoming soon became known as “Colter’s Hell.”

For the next several decades mountain men and trappers returned from the remote region with similar stories, yet those too were dismissed as tall tales. Colter’s reports remained unsubstantiated until 1869 when the Folsom Expedition was organized to explore the area. A year later another expedition also ventured forth. The reports from the two trips cataloged steaming rivers, boiling mud, huge geysers, an immense petrified forest, hills of glass, and cliffs of yellow stone. Touted as an amazing area yet not a livable one, the push was on to set the land aside for the good of the public.

Three short years after the first expedition set out, the park was established and Nathaniel P. Langford became superintendent. The Park’s name had been derived from the Minnetaree who referred to the area as Rock Yellow River, which French trappers translated as “Roche Jaune” or Rock Yellow which was then Americanized to its present form. Unfortunately, the concept was ill-conceived—Langford and Yellowstone National Park were merely names—since the government had neglected to fund either of them. Poaching, squatting, and theft of and damage to resources continued unchecked. On a trip in 1874 George Bird Grinnell saw first hand the wanton destruction, and the public outcry cost Langford his unpaid “job.” However the government continued to neglect the park until 1886 when the U.S. Army finally took command.

Thirty years later the National Park Service was created and management of Yellowstone was handed over in 1918. Since then the infrastructure of the park has grown to include 1,000 miles of hiking trails, 310 miles of paved roads, five entrance stations, ten visitor centers and museums, over 2,000 historic structures and buildings, close to 2,000 campsites and well over 2,000 rooms or cabins for rent. Even with all these facilities and places to stay both in the park and in nearby communities Yellowstone still fills up in summer months. It’s no surprise since the park has over two million visitors every year—this year we were two of them!

Our weekend in Yellowstone started off with a bang. As we ascended up to the high Yellowstone Plateau we spotted a large, dark shape in a marshy area near the highway. Turning around, our hopes were confirmed: our first Moose of the summer! As we watched the massive female munching on grass, standing knee deep in water, two Trumpeter Swans floated into view. I managed to squeeze off a few shots with the camera before they headed back into the reeds. Later we came across a sign that identified the small body of water as Swan Lake, a nesting place for Trumpeters.

After entering the park at West Yellowstone we didn’t get far before we were stopped by our first of many animal traffic jams of the weekend. In a field near the Madison River was a herd of Elk, right next to the road! Not only were there several cow elks with this year’s babies at their sides, but there was a handsome bull elk guarding them. It was the beginning of mating season and he was especially possessive of his harem. At one point he rounded them up and forced them to cross the river, though we still are not sure why. We assume he felt there was a nearby threat but the only thing we could see was a massive male bison in the distance. We’re pretty certain they weren’t bothered by all the people gawking at them as they actually moved closer to the road, not farther away from it.

After watching the elk for a half hour or so we continued on our way to our first geothermal area, Artists Paintpots. The temperature and chemical composition of the water in the different pools dictate which kind of thermophiles—heat-loving microorganisms—can survive there. Amazingly there are creatures that thrive in environments where the temperatures soar close to 200 degrees! Some of the pools are even loaded with toxic levels of sulfur, arsenic, hydrogen sulfide, and carbon dioxide yet they are still inhabited. These creatures come in an incredible array of colors: emerald green, milky blue, rust red, black, and bright yellow.

From there we were on to another active spot, Norris Basin. It was actually quite mellow as there were very few people on the trails and the geysers of Back Basin were not “performing.” In nature the only constant is change and changes are constantly occurring in the underground plumbing of Yellowstone’s geothermal areas. Many previously active pools and geysers have gone dormant while new ones have sprung up. The Park had to reroute a portion of the boardwalk trail in 2004 after the ground under the trail became superheated and toasted the boards. Unfortunately for us, famous Steamboat Geyser, the world’s tallest, which ejects water some 300’ in the air is infrequent and completely unpredictable. It has been several years since visitors last saw that explosive event.

The main roads through Yellowstone are in the shape of a figure-eight. Since we had two days we decided to tackle one loop each day. As we left Norris Basin we headed north through the sagebrush flats toward Mammoth Hot Springs where we were treated to the sight of a herd of elk that had taken over the well-watered grassy lawn at historic Fort Yellowstone (near the barracks built by the Army). The bull elk was extremely agitated and thrashed the ground repeatedly with his huge antlers. I would not want to be on the receiving end of that! Especially since elk are the second largest in the deer family (behind moose) and the bulls can get up to 700 pounds! There were Park Rangers stationed around the lawn enforcing safe viewing distances.

Yellowstone has multiple incidents every year where curious onlookers get too close to wildlife and end up getting attacked. We witnessed people encroaching upon animals on several occasions, though thankfully no one was injured. In an effort to scare people into obeying the rules the Park has posted several videos on their website that show people and cars being attacked by elk and even gored by bison. Somewhere I read that four times as many people are injured by bison as by bears in the park. A statistic that I find easy to believe since bison are so much more plentiful.

Leaving the Mammoth area we were in the land of the only Native American tribe that lived year-round in Yellowstone, a Shoshone group called Tukuaduka. The name means “the sheep eaters”, garnered from the tribe’s reliance on Bighorn Sheep. The Sheep Eaters were one of the few tribes in that area that did not adopt the horse into their culture. More than likely it is because the horse would have proved worthless in the mountainous terrain where the tribe lived. Appropriately enough we saw three Bighorns as we drove through.

Up, up, and up the road climbed. Our next stop was to view the remains of something long since dead: a petrified tree. I did not know that on top of having amazing geothermal areas Yellowstone also claims one of the world’s largest petrified forests! What I found oddest is that some of the trees were still standing–very cool. By now our day was winding down; as we finished our loop and returned to West Yellowstone there was one more surprise for us: a male moose. What a sight he was, with his huge, palmate antlers!

We began our second day in Yellowstone by driving up through Grand Teton National Park. Since our time in the area was so limited we looked at our visit as a way to get the lay of the land certainly not an in-depth tour. Of course you see the reason for the creation of the park long before you actually enter it. Grand Teton, the tallest peak in the Teton Range at 13,770’, towers above the plain. In fact the entire range dwarfs the surrounding countryside as there are no foothills, just tall, jagged mountains. The name Teton was given to the peaks by French trappers; it means teats or nipples, which makes me think they must have been quite lonely.

The park was established in 1929 with serious difficulty. In 1897 it was suggested that Yellowstone National Park be extended southward to protect much of the Teton Range and the plains where Yellowstone’s elk herd migrated in the winter. Locals hated the idea as they felt it threatened their grazing rights and way of life. So the plan stalled. Meanwhile, John D. Rockefeller Jr. had been introduced to the area and fell in love with it.

Living up to his stated ideal—”I believe that every right implies a responsibility; every opportunity, an obligation; every possession, a duty”—Rockefeller formed the Snake River Land Company and began buying up acreage. Rockefeller acquired 35,000 acres with the intent on turning them over to the Park Service but the plan hit a major roadblock—it outraged the local citizenry. They felt they were being pushed around by rich people from the east and the government.

To a certain extent they were, but really, it wasn’t much of a place to try to make a living: the soil was poor, the growing season was short, and the winters were extremely harsh. The original Grand Teton National Park was quite small and there was a push to expand it. In 1943 President FDR bypassed the battle with Congress by creating Jackson Hole National Monument out of acreage the Federal government already owned. Of course, the locals were enraged and for several years they pushed to have the monument disbanded. Oddly enough, shortly after the end of World War II, as tourism increased, local animosity to the monument decreased.

In 1949 the Rockefeller land donation was finally accepted, the monument was incorporated into the park, and a large tract of land was preserved as the National Elk Refuge. The process was still a tricky one and as part of the negotiations, Grand Teton is the only National Park where sport hunting is allowed. The park also made concessions to allow individuals to retain private inholdings and cattle grazing rights. Not only that but the Federal government was forced to limit future presidents’ power to create national monuments in the state of Wyoming.

After getting oriented at the Visitor Center we drove north, stopping for a Pronghorn photo-op and to take in views of Jenny and Jackson Lakes along the way. As we came up on the turnoff for the Jackson Lake Lodge we encountered a huge traffic jam. We found a safe place to park and hopped out to see what the fuss was all about. In the willows down the bank from the road was a cow and baby moose. They were fairly oblivious to the throng of excited tourists above them as they moseyed into a small pond and began to eat underwater plants. That was our best moose sighting ever!

Soon we were back in Yellowstone. Our first stop was at West Thumb Geyser Basin on the shore of Yellowstone Lake, the largest high elevation body of water in North America. At 7,732’ above sea level the lake remains quite cold even with all the nearby geothermal activity. The West Thumb area offers great views and there are several small geysers in the shallows of the lake. Leaving the lake we stopped at another animal jam which had been cause by a male Mule Deer. The buck was exceptional in that he still had velvet on his antlers. We thought that odd since the other members of the deer family we had seen, elk and moose, did not have any velvet still on their antlers.

Later at the aptly named Mud Volcano area we came across boiling mud. Well, technically the sludge wasn’t bubbling and jumping from heat but from all the gases that were welling up underneath. As the pressure from the hydrogen sulfide and carbon dioxide increased it forced the mud up into the air and thus the gases were released. As you might guess the area reeked and the Park posted warnings that extensive breathing of the fumes might make you sick. Just the smell was enough to make us nauseous and yet, watching the muddy water dance was strangely mesmerizing. I guess that’s why lava lamps were so popular.

Of course, no visit to Yellowstone would be complete without Old Faithful. The famed spouter is by no means the largest geyser in the Park but it was the first named one and it remains the most popular. These days Old Faithful erupts on a 90 minute interval, more or less. We were so fortunate that afternoon, not only did we find a decent parking spot rather effortlessly (no mean feat) but we arrived shortly before an eruption. Though the boardwalk and seating area were packed we had a nice vantage point to appreciate the geyser’s power. Plus, the light was just right and we were dazzled as a rainbow appeared in the mist.

Old Faithful quieted down after about five minutes so we headed out on the trail around the Upper Geyser Basin. We synchronized our watches with the predicted time that the Visitor Center provided so that we’d make it back to Old Faithful in time for the next “show.” Though the next eruption lacked a rainbow it was just as majestic and impressive as our earlier one. And, that, my friends was the end of our time in Yellowstone.

Photos: View our photographs from Yellowstone National Park and Grand Teton National Park.

Dates: We visited Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Park on 09/12/08 and 09/13/08.