On Thursday we decided we'd explore two of the five “countries” of Yellowstone: Tower – Roosevelt and Mammoth Hot Springs to view wildlife in the Lamar Vally and to see historic Fort Yellowstone and the fantastic terraces of Mammoth Hot Springs. As we drove towards Tower Falls in the morning we passed through Yellowstone's northern mountain range where we saw clouds hanging low over the mountains, sometimes completely covering the tips and at other times filling in the valleys between peaks. It was very beautiful! This area shows signs of severe fire damage but even this was breathtaking to see with the mist and clouds all around the dead, burned trees. Once we arrived at Tower Falls we parked our truck and took the short pathway up the hill and around a corner to view the falls. They were lovely, but n
ot nearly as impressive as the upper and lower falls in the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone so after a few minutes we continued on our way to the Lamar Valley where we saw bison, big horn sheep and pronghorns galore before we backtracked and headed to the Mammoth Hot Springs area. First on our agenda was to stop at the visitor center at Mammoth which is located in the former single officers quarters for Fort Yellowstone. When Yellowstone was first declared a national park funding was not made available by congress to actually run the park so the Army was given the assignment. After five years of living in tents the army guys realized they were going to be in Yellowstone for the long haul so they got congress to approve funds to build Fort Yellowstone. Today most of the buildings constructed during the Army era are still standing and are being used by the National Park Service as park headquarters. We purchased the little fort history guide and took a walking tour of the exterior of the buildings and the well kept grounds. We were excited to see a large group of elk cows and lambs sleeping and hanging out right next to the buildings with hundreds of tourists all around them. The elk could not have cared less about the humans! There was one elk cow that was out cold, completely sprawled out on the lawn. I'm pretty sure I could hear her snoring! After we finished our exterior tour of the fort buildings we hea
ded over to the hot springs (just about 500 yards away). Words cannot really describe what we saw here. The hot springs create terraces of travertine which are like living sculptures that change constantly. Amazing and beautiful! This is something everyone should put on their life list to see in person! We spent some quality time viewing the hot springs and then we headed back towards camp. We did get a bit side tracked and ended up in the bar in the lodge at Canyon Village but we only had a drink each before we departed for camp where we enjoyed dinner and then retired early.
ot nearly as impressive as the upper and lower falls in the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone so after a few minutes we continued on our way to the Lamar Valley where we saw bison, big horn sheep and pronghorns galore before we backtracked and headed to the Mammoth Hot Springs area. First on our agenda was to stop at the visitor center at Mammoth which is located in the former single officers quarters for Fort Yellowstone. When Yellowstone was first declared a national park funding was not made available by congress to actually run the park so the Army was given the assignment. After five years of living in tents the army guys realized they were going to be in Yellowstone for the long haul so they got congress to approve funds to build Fort Yellowstone. Today most of the buildings constructed during the Army era are still standing and are being used by the National Park Service as park headquarters. We purchased the little fort history guide and took a walking tour of the exterior of the buildings and the well kept grounds. We were excited to see a large group of elk cows and lambs sleeping and hanging out right next to the buildings with hundreds of tourists all around them. The elk could not have cared less about the humans! There was one elk cow that was out cold, completely sprawled out on the lawn. I'm pretty sure I could hear her snoring! After we finished our exterior tour of the fort buildings we hea
ded over to the hot springs (just about 500 yards away). Words cannot really describe what we saw here. The hot springs create terraces of travertine which are like living sculptures that change constantly. Amazing and beautiful! This is something everyone should put on their life list to see in person! We spent some quality time viewing the hot springs and then we headed back towards camp. We did get a bit side tracked and ended up in the bar in the lodge at Canyon Village but we only had a drink each before we departed for camp where we enjoyed dinner and then retired early.
No comments:
Post a Comment