Monday, August 06, 2018

Mammoth Hot Springs Wyoming and Back to GNP

We made it to Wyoming! Bucket check list marked.
Conveniently, There is an entrance to Yellowstone right on the border and Mammoth Hot Springs is just 5 miles down the road. 

The Hot Springs have been growing for thousands of years. The hot water from the spring cools and leaves behind calcium carbonate. Those deposits build up over time (a lot of time) and created the mounds and terraces that make up Mammoth.
The colors in those deposits range from pristine white to pink and red hues. The trees in the picture above are able to grow because dirt has collected after this particular spring stopped flowing.

This mound has been dormant for several years, 
but you can see some of the calcified trees still standing in the travertine. 
When the calcium carbonate flooded the trees it hardened in their "veins",
leaving the rock solid trees standing for years.

Mound Terrace
I caught a bit of the wooden walk way that winds the hot springs. That path is much safer than being out on the ground with the hot minerals.


Minerva Terrace is the most active at this site. 
The terraces are pretty with the different colors. Algae in the spring causes the coloring.
The terrace can grow new layers at a rate of about 8.5 inches per year.

Cleopatra Terrace

Liberty Cap is a very old geyser that was named for its resemblance to the caps worn by the colonial patriots during the Revolutionary War.

Just like the terraces, hot water forced its way to the surface and deposited dense layers of travertine around the spout. No one knows when it stopped flowing.

All of these terraces and hot springs are above Fort Yellowstone, which is actually built on an old terrace formation called Hotel Terrace. There were concerns about the cavity below the terrace, and there are sinkholes in the parade ground, but everything has been otherwise stable.
Yellowstone National Park was designated in 1872, but the Interior Department had trouble managing the park. So,in 1891, they put in the Army fort to deal with the poachers, vandalism, and other destructive projects that were popping up. It is now used as Yellowstone National Park Headquarters.

Heading back to the car we saw some more Elk.
We didn't see much wildlife on the whole trip, but lots of Elk.

Emigrant Peak
In 1863 three emigrants came to the region searching for gold. They must have made an impression because the got a town and a peak named after them.
Fan note: Much of the "A River Runs Through It" and "The Horse Whisperer" were filmed in this area. Info from Wikipedia.

More Montana Rocks

I know they are just rocks.


The variety of formations that exist on this six hour road trip is amazing.


How the different formations were created is another story.



This was interesting to investigate. 
Why are they baling hay between those hedgerows?
We saw quite a few plots set up like this.
It is called "Alley Cropping". 
According to the information I dug up, alley cropping is intended to cut down on nitrogen loss. Compared to the nitrogen leaching from corn and soybean rotation, the loss from fruit or fodder trees  is much less and better for the environment. 
So, it isn't baling hay between hedgerows, it is removing the hay from the tree alleys. 

Normal, or not so normal, hay baling process.
The bales look so normal in a simple picture with nothing to compare them against.

Then you see a stack of them next to a hay wagon and realize that they are Huge! 

That's all for this post.
Hot Springs
Rocks
Grass
Turns out this trip was a good idea.
It was cold and snowed in Glacier while we were enjoying the sun in Wyoming.
Next up is our adventures in Glacier National Park.

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