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The world is our favourite teacher, because on each of our journeys it has a new school subject, another lesson in store for us. The schedule then includes not only classical subjects such as languages, geography and history, but also instructive lessons in understanding, acceptance and humility. And with every lesson, we see and understand a little bit more of all the wonderful things that surround us in this world, leaving us with wonder, fascination and the desire to want to preserve all this exactly like this forever.
Our favourite subject is undoubtedly natural sciences. There is always something unknown, undiscovered and unexplored to investigate. Even when nature shows us something seemingly familiar, we are only too happy to be inspired by surprising observations. And since, in our opinion, natural history is still best explored in nature itself, we go out. Out into nature. Out to explore one of the most diverse nature parks in the world. Out into Yellowstone National Park.
In Yellowstone, our almost week-long schedule is peppered with lessons about shaggy bison, bubbling geysers, hot springs, wild waterfalls, frozen lakes, deep canyons, vast grasslands and much much more. So then: First day. First lesson. An imposing male bison trudges towards us with ponderous but mighty steps. We park our car at the side of the road, leave the driver's side window ajar and watch the spectacle spellbound. Our breath catches as the colossus passes us right next to our car and, with a brief shake of his head, announces, "I'm the boss around here!“ While his head, which seems small compared to his shoulders, is covered with black, shaggy fur, his hump, front legs and back are covered with light brown, teddy-like fur. The partly knotted lumps now announce the animals' change of coat in May. Like his conspecifics, this male is on his own and will not join the herd of females until the mating season in summer. These can be seen throughout the park at this time of year with their young, still grazing close to their mothers with their slightly reddish coats. Bison roam almost all of Yellowstone in search of food. While the vast grasslands and glades provide ample food and shelter in the warm months, in the cold seasons bison seek out the areas of the park where bubbling springs and hot streams keep the ground largely free of snow and frost.
The hot landscapes of Yellowstone are the subject of the next two days. There is hardly a place in the protected area where it is not bubbling, spouting, spraying and hissing. Again and again, steaming vents and smoking columns break through the landscape. And where it steams, the air is naturally filled with the smell of rotten eggs. So: Let's go there! The hotspot, which feeds the volcanic elemental forces under the mantle of the national park, is also the source of spectacular and at the same time beautiful geysers. One of them is considered Yellowstone's landmark: Old Faithful. A relatively young geyser with 300 years of activity, it owes its name to its water fountain, which reliably shoots up every 60-90 minutes. But the Norris Geyser Basin also steams incessantly. The Steamboat Geyser, for example, lives up to its name: thick columns of mist rise at high pressure from a wide chimney, accompanied by excited splashes of water that mingle with the dense smoke. Not far from the geysers are always bubbling pots of mud, their grey-brown slush ponderously pushing thick bubbles to the surface. As much as one may wrinkle the nose here, there is no hiding how wonderfully rich these steaming plains are. Because especially the smallest creatures provide a breathtaking colour magic here. Various mineral-loving bacteria abound at and in the pots of hot springs. What means certain death for us humans is a natural habitat for these microscopic single-celled organisms. Thanks to them, the water of many hot springs in the national park shimmers in the most beautiful shades of red, orange, brown, blue and green. The most impressive of these colour pots is probably the Grand Prismatic Spring near the Yellowstone West Entrance. But the Artist Paintpots, the Norris Geyser Basin and the Mammoth Hot Springs near the North Entrance are also simply impressive in their variety of colours and shapes and can be admired from almost every angle thanks to the trails.
It goes without saying that the entire magic of the oldest national park in the USA can hardly be explored or captured in just one week. However, we cannot leave Yellowstone without visiting its namesake: the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone. The Yellowstone River fights its way through the canyon, which is up to 400 metres deep, with unrelenting force, eroding the geothermally discoloured iron deposits in the rock. From the vantage point at Artist Point, you have an impressive view of these tremendous masses of water, and of one of a total of three waterfalls in the canyon: the Lower Falls. At 93 metres high, they are almost twice as high as Niagara Falls and plunge with a thunderous sound into the depths of the canyon back down into the Yellowstone River. This enormous lifeline runs through the up to 1300 metre wide gorge of yellowish volcanic rock. Until today.
And although our lessons in Yellowstone National Park passed more quickly than we would have liked after almost a week, the fascination of its natural history continues to this day. And all the many impressions, observations and insights that this wonderful protected area gave us, we carry with us from now on. In our memories and in our hearts. And that is ultimately what the school of life teaches us: to preserve memories.
All words and photos by The Sturgheons.
