Yellowstone (Part 6) - Soaring Yellowstone

The key to Yellowstone as a national park, was an 1871 exploration under the direction of the government geologist Ferdinand Hayden. Hayden (Hayden Valley) brought along William Jackson, a pioneering photographer, and Thomas Moran, a brilliant landscape artist, to make a visual record of the expedition. Their images provided the first visual proof of Yellowstone’s wonders and caught the attention of the U.S. Congress. The Yellowstone Act of 1872 set a precedent and popularized the idea of preserving sections of the public domain for use as public parks. President Ulysses S. Grant signed the bill creating the nation’s first national park at Yellowstone.  Also the first National Park in the world. Congress went on to designate dozens of other national parks, and the idea spread to other nations around the world.

This is the Golden Gate, Yellowstone style. Having lived many years in the San Francisco Bay Area, I can sincerely say that both Golden Gates infuse you with awe. Here in Yellowstone the highway travels through  a massive, high, solid rock mountain passage.  Here you see how it winds briefly. See how it really does look like a gateway.  We traveled through at sunset, and you can just see the color reflecting with aura off the rocky mountainsides with a golden hue.

The famous, and thrilling, Artist's Point. This is part of the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. At 24 miles long, it may not be as big as the Grand Canyonn in Arizona, but it is breathtaking. The Lower Falls is 308 feet high and is one of the most photographed features in all of Yellowstone. Thomas Moran on the original expedition and a 19th centruy painter said "its beautiful tints were beyond the reach of human art."
This canyon is the result of erosion, not glaciation. Remember, Yellowstone is the place of volcanic activity. The caldera erupted about 600,000 years ago and covered the area with a series of lava flows. So this erosion proceeded at an accelerated rate. Glaciers then followed the volcanic activity and then those eroded away.

Mineral stains mark the locatons of underground hot springs and steam vents in the canyon walls, turning the rocks yellow, red, white, orange, mauve, pink and so on. Most of the yellows are the result of iron present in the rock, not sulfur. The rocks are essentially rusting, and doing so with great beauty.

This area is filled with incredible hiking trails.

The pinnacle showcases the 440 foot grand waterfalls

What we saw along the Grand Canyon was deer, and a lot of birds including featured osprey as we hiked along the rim. Signs were posted warning of bears.

Gaily singing robin pictured here stretching his wings.

Also delightful finding the smaller falls around Yellowstone in the spring time. High up in these rocky ledges we saw through the telescope rocky Mountain Goats.

Can you just see the white mountain goat lying at rest, surveilling all from his moutain high, rocky bed? I love my camera, but I needed just a little more zoom for this one!

Breathtaking sights around every bend.

Pretty song bird, one of many that serenaded us everywhere.

Cliff swallows nest in colonies. They build nests collecting moouthfuls of mud from edges of puddles and streams. They weatherproof it by linine with feathers and soft grass. So agile in flight, it has no predators to fear in the air. Also adapatable birds as we saw, these nests were part of a colony of about 10 nests that were all on the side of an outhouse.

They're coloring is beautiful, and they truly are darters in flight. They're fast and unpredictable. So fun to see a long line of them peeking out of their nests, seemingly gossiping amongst each other.

Yellowstone (Part 5) Where the Elk and the Antelope Play

Prickly pear cactus in Yellowstone.  It was a surprise to me.  In late June these plants have pretty, yellow flowers.

The elusive coyote. Great excitement to see the coyote walking along the meadow. Alert to every sound, I could see this coyote's ears moving forward and back, and saw him tilting his head to focus on particular sounds. As he got discovered by more people along the meadow, he picked up his loping pace and I was astounded at how quickly he ran, and darted out into the overgrown sage and disappeared from sight.

This elk herd were grazing in front of Devil's Slide, which is just outside the Yellowstone boundaries. Church Universal and Triumphant (CUT) has settled nearby and wished to rename this distinct mountainside Angel's Arc, but somehow the new name never stuck.

Elk in the sage, just watching.

A proud member of the herd, sniffing the air to check for possible danger. If there's something suspicious this elk will alert the rest of the herd.

Elk numbers in Yellowstone are estimated around 15,000. They were heading toward overrunning the Park when the wolves were exterminated. With the return of the wolves has also come a return of many plants to the ecosystem that the elk were eating to extinction. This includes the beautiful aspen trees. Since these trees are recently reintroduced, some of these and other endangered plants are surrounded by exclosure fencing. This is fencing meant to keep the animals out in order to protect the trees, the other growth, and the ecology.

An elk losing his winter coat and enjoying the spring grasses.

A pair of elk who felt we spectators were worth a curious glance, but not a full out alert to the herd.

Here's the famous Roosevelt arch, near Gardiner, Montana.  It was dedicated by President Theodore Roosevelt in April, 1903. One of the entries to the world's first National Park. The legislation declaring this National Park stated it was land set aside for the benefit and enjoyment of the people. I hope now we all realize this Park is the home to the animals - their home. And we are very fortunate to be visitors in their home.

Pronghorn antelope are so beautiful in the wild. Interesting to know, they are near sighted. They also don't like deep snow, their hooves are don't move well in it.  They will come way down in elevation during the winter in order to avoid that snow.

I found that pronghorn antelope herds move very fast and very erratically. Pictures of them truly on the move are mostly a blur. This herd that you see starting to graze had suddenly come running down a hill nearby in our direction. Running incredibly fast, they absolutely glide when they run. There's no bouncing, the entire running motion is completely smooth. The only animal that runs slightly faster is the cheetah. Pronghorn Antelope can run about 60 mph.

Pronghorn Antelope are very wary for their newborns, which are a favorite target of the coyote.  Otherwise, coyote focus on squirrels and other rodents, birds, and insects. Now coyotes are learning how to survive around wolves, often feeding on the remains of wolf kills while staying out of the wolves' way. With the wolves' return, more pronghorn fawns are surviving, helping these beautiful herds grow in number.