Four Days In Yellowstone

Written by and Photography by Charla in Travel

This is the first in a five part series.

“Do you realize,” Charla said, “that we are standing on a &@%*! volcano?”

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We were surrounded by an expanse of pine forests, green meadows and mountains dotted with lakes and rivers, and yet we could not take our eyes off the otherworldly sight in front of us: the ground all around our feet was poked with holes in the earth. Endless puffs of steam poured out, steam so hot it could scald your skin to a third-degree burn.

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Nearby, pools of water had formed with the same scalding hot water. So much steam came off some of the pools that we could not see their depth. We could, however, see their colors. Life on Earth is endless in its richness and adaptability, and these boiling jacuzzis played host to an unlikely party of bacteria: Different kinds thrived in different temperatures of the water, and each kind turned the water a different color. Nature.

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So, the volcano. Deep below our feet, underground rivers and lakes of molten rock heat and reheat the water, pushing it to the surface in bursting geysers shooting hundreds of feet in the air or boiling pools on the surface of our busy planet. Yellowstone National Park, which straddles parts of Wyoming, Montana and Idaho, is centered on top of a giant active volcano that has not erupted for 70,000 years and is overdue. Feeling lucky? Then throw the kids in the car and expose them to this amazing experience in camping, summer fun, science and nature all at once.

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Just last week we felt lucky enough to travel to Yellowstone (minus the kids, just in case) in a whirlwind four-day trek through Yellowstone and nearby Grand Teton National Park. Over these four days we experienced deer, bison, geysers, all of nature’s beauty in the company of our good friends Carl and Jane. We were blessed with the happy and emotional adventure of Carl and Jane’s wedding. Just them – literally, like an elopement.

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Our series “Four Days in Yellowstone” takes us through images so rich and stunning that the photos just about take themselves. Read on upcoming installments of this series for tips about how to bring your family, your friends or just yourself to experience this remarkable slice of nature that has been preserved forever.

Elsewhere in this series, we will talk about the “Best Little Airport in the West” at Cody, Wyoming. We will offer useful tips on how to avoid hitting deer at night (this is a bad thing), what to do if you encounter a bear (we did not) and how best to take close-up photos of bison (we did).

Want to get married in Yellowstone? Stay tuned for tips on that as well. On our last installment of this series we celebrate our friends’ wedding, wipe tears of joy from our eyes and witness them get married by the local county clerk in the presence of the Grand Teton mountain range, about 10 million mosquitoes, and no one else. Love knows no bounds.

 

 

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