One of the joys (or trials) of summer is relatives visiting on their holidays. For me, it’s been a great joy to see my sister, Cindy, who has been staying with me for about 10 days.
Bozeman, Mont. is perfect for touring with Yellowstone Park practically in our backyard and the Museum of the Rockies, with its focus on dinosaurs, less than two miles away. My daughter, Susan, has driven us around, so we were free to “ooh” and “aah,” pointing at all the scenery
If there’s only one day to visit the park, it pays to go with someone who knows all the pertinent sites or buy a book like “Yellowstone Expedition Guide” to help map out a route that includes the things you really want to see. It actually takes more than one day to see it all, so, if possible, book a room and stay in the park overnight. The Lake Hotel has been remodeled and is gorgeous (if a bit pricey), but the Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel near the northern entrance will do as well. Two other inns near Old Faithful (The Snow Lodge is least expensive) are convenient, if that’s where you plan to be.
Having my sister, who taught earth science for years, along was a gift. I knew where most of the interesting geology was but she knew what we were looking at and could explain how it got there and what particular rocks and formations are called.
For instance, books and maps list a place called Calcite Springs, but Cindy explained that when hot water erupts through limestone — which exists in many park locations — the steam evaporates and what settles is calcium carbonate (hence calcite), creating formations like the spectacular ones at Mammoth.
Since we had only one day, we took the northern loop road— which includes Mammoth Hot Springs, Swan Lake Flat, Sheepeater Cliff, Obsidian Cliff and Creek, Roaring Mountain, Grand Canyon (upper and lower falls), Dunraven Pass and Mt. Washburn— to Roosevelt Junction.
While fall is a great time to see all of this, one must remember that the park closes all the roads to wheeled traffic except the one through Lamar in winter — actually, anytime after the first week in October, depending on the weather.
At the junction, we decided to go across the intersection on the way to Lamar Valley. The road winds through Lamar Pass, marvelously lined with huge granite boulders. Since it was early afternoon, we saw no wolves in Lamar, for that one has to arrive early in the morning or maybe just before sunset to see them.
We turned around and headed back past the petrified tree, Hellroaring Overlook and the amazing remnants of the ice ages (glacial moraine), which deposited huge rocks as the glaciers receded. Called “nurse rocks,” they seem to protect the trees that grow from their bases.
For tourists more interested in wildlife than geology, the lower elevations of Hayden Valley and Lamar are the places where animals collect in fall and winter. Of course, bears will hibernate in caves during winter and should be avoided during fall when they enter a state called hyperplasia, which means they eat everything in sight to bulk up for the long winter’s nap. Never hike alone and always carry bear spray, which is now sold in almost all of the park’s visitor centers and area hardware stores.
Rock hounds may also enjoy a drive through Gallatin Canyon, which we did on Sunday so my granddaughter, Amy, could join us. Susan and I pointed out the fantastic rock cliffs and lava slides formed thousands of years ago during volcanic events. We still can’t quite fix the point where the Yellowstone eruption blew out 60 miles of the Gallatin Range, which should be visible from the park at Mammoth. Bill Bryson mentions this in his book, “A Short History of Nearly Everything.”
On a trip with Bryson, park geologist Paul Doss pointed to the gap. “For a long time, nobody could understand why that gap was there and then Bob Christiansen, U.S. Geological Survey geologist, realized that it had to be because the mountains were just blown away.” It took him six years to figure it out. It took longer than that and NASA photographs to identify the caldera, which is at least 40 miles wide and takes up most of the park.
On our drive through Gallatin Canyon we saw miles of scree (weathered lava rock) from that event.
By the time this column sees print, Cindy will be home in Malibu. It’s been a grand time for her to be here and we’ll miss her.