Yellowstone
soft owl
of Yellowstone National Park. As the road becomes level we round a corner
and come to a halt because animals in the park have the right of way and 3
deer are standing in the right hand lane for no apparent reason. Slowly
they leave the road and allow us to continue on. There was a time when bear
would have been on the road as well but feeding has been stopped and the
dumps once open for public viewing of the bears have been closed. All
garbage is now trucked out of the park to landfills far away.
We continue through lodgepole pine forest watching a young bull elk
with velvet covered antlers growing on his head. The antlers will grow
through at least part of August but then they will harden and get very
itchy. From September until about November the elk and deer will fight
bushes,other males and occasionally kill people. The velvet is shredded and
then completely rubbed off as the weapons are honed for fighting and the
hormones rage forcing the males into pitched battles. The bull elk will be
bugling and chasing the females into small herds to keep them for themselves
and drive off rivals but for now he is quiet and grazing like an old cow.
Looks are deceiving and more than one person has been killed by a deer or
elk's hooves so we stay far enough away to stay safe.
A little farther down the road a moose is grazing in a roadside pond
with his head under water. A headless moose? No, just a heedless moose.
Shortly he raises his head with his mouth full of plant material and begins
chewing. We wait until Allegra has gotten all the pictures she wants then
start the horses again with a flick of the rains and take the right fork in
the road.
We stop near what seems like a large pitcher's mound with steam coming
out of the center. Everyone needs to get out and stretch their legs so
everyone goes their way. Fmomoon goes into a small block building housing a
visitors center and notices a seismograph on the wall. The little needle is
dancing merrily over the graph paper but the earthquakes are too small too
feel by a human. There are almost constant earthquakes in Yellowstone but
only occasionally a large one causing a rock slide or other change.
Jackson gets bored and, seeing Cranky across the meadow, takes off over
the "pitcher's mound" to catch her. He doesn't understand why people are
yelling at him angrily. It's just hard packed earth. A few minutes later
the steam is replaced by a stream of water that gows higher and higher still
and we have experienced an eruption of Old Faithful. Soft Owl yawns knowing
that while this is famous it is tame compared to the rest of the park.
Cranky and Jackson are over by the river standing on a wooden walk watching
mother elk and their babies out on the grass. A chipmunk sits on the
rootball of an overturned tree watching them but Jackson, thinking he will
get yelled at if he gets off the path, behaves and remains on the boardwalk.
After a little while of being mesmerized by the wildlife they head off
down the path some of which is boardwalk and some just dry dirt. As they
come to the next section of boardwalk they notice a sign warning not to get
off the path because in some areas the ground has a fragile crust that you
can fall through and become severly burned. There is no safe way of telling
where the crust is weak and one might be parboiled. A little pool off to
the right has a small fountain blurping in the middle of multi-colored
water. Algae in the boiling water gives it some of the color and minerals
add to that. The water flowing from the pool down to the river not only has
many colors but in places strands of algae carpet the edges.
Some others in the group decide to go down to the Firehole River some
distance away where they see geysers erupting every few seconds and pools of
multi-colored boiling water. They passing some small holes emitting a steam
stinking of sulphur but in such small amounts it is soon forgotten. It
isn't something one wants to smell on a regular basis but it is soon
forgotten
They wander through almost constant action then walk on up the road a
few miles to watch a prarriedog colony before heading to the lodge for
something to eat. Luckily smelling salts are available in the small general
store nearby because after looking at the prices on the menu.
Another group has gone up too see the mud pots. They find pools of
liquid mud under earthen banks with them standing on the lower bank watching
blobs of mud splurt up and fall back into the pool again as spurts of steam
escape. No one understands why but the action seems mesmerizing much as
television is. Blurp, bloop, various colored mud gently oozes and burps.
--
Downy Hugs
Soft Owl
Fly softly and carry a big HUG.
Akovnat
>The road continues uphill for a while as we pass through the northeast gate
>of Yellowstone National Park. As the road becomes level we round a corner
>and come to a halt because animals in the park have the right of way and 3
>deer are standing in the right hand lane for no apparent reason. Slowly
>they leave the road and allow us to continue on. There was a time when bear
>would have been on the road as well but feeding has been stopped and the
>dumps once open for public viewing of the bears have been closed. All
>garbage is now trucked out of the park to landfills far away.
.......... (edited to save bandwidth)
>chewing
> Another group has gone up too see the mud pots. They find pools of
>liquid mud under earthen banks with them standing on the lower bank watching
>blobs of mud splurt up and fall back into the pool again as spurts of steam
>escape. No one understands why but the action seems mesmerizing much as
>television is. Blurp, bloop, various colored mud gently oozes and burps.
>--
>Downy Hugs
>Soft Owl
>Fly softly and carry a big HUG.
Dear SO:
I went to Yellowstone in late summer 1980, and will
always treasure the memories of seeing all those
geysers, geothermal vents, mud pots, fumaroles,
and wildlife. I hope I can make it back there some
day. Thanks for your reminder!
Rainy day hugs,
----Alex Kovnat, KiTA
Akovnat
TFT
Allegra Boverman
ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh boy. you folks are PATIENT! :)
just wait, i've already shot 3 rolls in two minutes. :)
i just love a drooling moose. :) so calm, too. :) isn't he just
COOL!?!?!?!
i thank you for stopping and enjoying him with me. :) and those elk,
amazing, i love photographing them too.
> We stop near what seems like a large pitcher's mound with steam coming
> out of the center. Everyone needs to get out and stretch their legs so
> everyone goes their way. Fmomoon goes into a small block building housing a
> visitors center and notices a seismograph on the wall. The little needle is
> dancing merrily over the graph paper but the earthquakes are too small too
> feel by a human. There are almost constant earthquakes in Yellowstone but
> only occasionally a large one causing a rock slide or other change.
> Jackson gets bored and, seeing Cranky across the meadow, takes off over
> the "pitcher's mound" to catch her. He doesn't understand why people are
> yelling at him angrily. It's just hard packed earth. A few minutes later
> the steam is replaced by a stream of water that gows higher and higher still
> and we have experienced an eruption of Old Faithful. Soft Owl yawns knowing
> that while this is famous it is tame compared to the rest of the park.
> Cranky and Jackson are over by the river standing on a wooden walk watching
> mother elk and their babies out on the grass. A chipmunk sits on the
> rootball of an overturned tree watching them but Jackson, thinking he will
> get yelled at if he gets off the path, behaves and remains on the boardwalk.
> After a little while of being mesmerized by the wildlife they head off
hm? (shaking myself) did you say something? i'm just hypnotized. :) i
love wildlife. leave me here and come get me when you're done. :) i'll
be just fine. :)
> down the path some of which is boardwalk and some just dry dirt. As they
> come to the next section of boardwalk they notice a sign warning not to get
> off the path because in some areas the ground has a fragile crust that you
> can fall through and become severly burned. There is no safe way of telling
> where the crust is weak and one might be parboiled. A little pool off to
> the right has a small fountain blurping in the middle of multi-colored
> water. Algae in the boiling water gives it some of the color and minerals
> add to that. The water flowing from the pool down to the river not only has
> many colors but in places strands of algae carpet the edges.
> Some others in the group decide to go down to the Firehole River some
> distance away where they see geysers erupting every few seconds and pools of
> multi-colored boiling water. They passing some small holes emitting a steam
> stinking of sulphur but in such small amounts it is soon forgotten. It
> isn't something one wants to smell on a regular basis but it is soon
> forgotten
> They wander through almost constant action then walk on up the road a
> few miles to watch a prarriedog colony before heading to the lodge for
> something to eat. Luckily smelling salts are available in the small general
> store nearby because after looking at the prices on the menu.
> Another group has gone up too see the mud pots. They find pools of
> liquid mud under earthen banks with them standing on the lower bank watching
> blobs of mud splurt up and fall back into the pool again as spurts of steam
> escape. No one understands why but the action seems mesmerizing much as
> television is. Blurp, bloop, various colored mud gently oozes and burps.
love that, too. what a great trip you're leading, owl! :)
wildlife and nature hugs to you! :)
allegra