Today, Thursday, March 2, 2000, is How High the Geyser? Day!
Today, let's celebrate the birthday of Yellowstone National Park – which dates from the first of March, 1872.
There are so many different kinds of wonders in Yellowstone, you know. And they seem to exist in all directions – from forested mountains and valleys rich with wildlife, to mysterious rumblings that emanate from deep beneath the earth.
But this time, let's focus on its geysers. Just try to imagine what it must have been like to be an early mountain man, already knowing quite a bit about hills and valleys and game. . .and then to walk for the first time across land that shook, and smelled, and suddenly erupted before your very eyes.
Even knowing it's going to happen doesn't dim the excitement for today's visitors – it must have seemed truly incredible to people who came upon it without warning.
Of course, activity like this - from geysers, hot springs, fumaroles, and mudpots - happens in geothermal areas all over the world, not just in Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming. And of course, there really is lots more to see and do in Yellowstone besides watch geysers spouting. But you know, when Yellowstone became the first area set aside as a national park, it was largely because of what happened when forces beneath the surface of the earth made themselves known above it!
When you see very, very hot water suddenly shoot many feet into the air, hang there, do it again and maybe again, then recede – well, you know you've seen something truly spectacular! If the sun is just right for rainbows, that adds to the show, too.
Likewise impressive is the fact that, beneath the feet of entranced visitors, molten rock may be as close as a couple of miles. A couple of miles. Wow.
But back to the surface: Want to see a beautiful picture of a geyser in action? Here's blue sky, green trees, and white steam above white snow:
http://www.nps.gov/yell/tours/livecams/oldfaithful/archive3.htm
Come to think of it, some of the scenes that visitors to the inner regions of the park feast their eyes on today may not be all that different from what those first travelers saw. These are beauties:
http://www.wyellowstone.com/
Here, just look at the kind of cones those guys build up over time:
http://www.areaparks.com/yellowstone/
At this website, you'll find yourself invited to take part in one or more "video tours" of Yellowstone; and I think you won't want to miss them:
http://www.yellowstone.net/indexg2.htm
Can't leave today's subject without taking in "The Total Yellowstone Geyser Page" – which reminds us there's lots more there than just Old Faithful:
http://www.yellowstone-natl-park.com/geyser.htm
