Fun, Fishy, Furry Yellowstone Facts

I'm tired of fussing and fretting all over the internet, finding ways to increase my traffic flow, so today is "Fun, Fishy, Furry Yellowstone Facts."

Don't say this sentence out loud as you will spit on your computer, or in my case, the useless lap cat.

Fact 1.  Steamboat Geyser in Norris Geyser Basin, is as unpredictable as Spring in Ohio.  No one knows when it will erupt.  It could happen every day for a week and then not erupt again for 50 years.

It's also the largest geyser in the world.  Must be all that pent up energy.  If you only pass gas every 50 years, well you know... 

Who keeps track of this?  .

Guess there's no clothing allowance.








Fact 2.  Yellowstone Lake has an underwater geyser.  This one is predictable.  Every 25 minutes it erupts underneath the surface.

Kind of reminds me of putting the boys in the tub when they were little and those mysterious bubbles.  Fine!  No more gas jokes.

Even cooler than being an underwater geyser is that the cutthroat trout loves all the action.  They eat the crustaceans and aquatic insects that get stirred up.  Can't you see them with their little watches, tapping their little fins?

This one should have been paying more attention to that dark shadow lurking overhead.

Fact 3.  There were about 50,000 grizzly bears that roamed between the Pacific Ocean the Great Plains 200 years ago.

There are approximately 600 grizzly bears in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem.  Plus one when grizzly son arrives.

This picture is the closest I want to get to one.

I guess in the 40's, they thought these guys were cute.

"Come here, you adorable little bear you!"

Bear spray was probably invented shortly thereafter.

Fact 4.  The National Hotel at Mammoth was the first overnight stop for visitors arriving by stage from the north entrance train depot at Gardiner.

Construction began in 1883. 

It was impressive for its time with electricity, a barber shop, billiard tables, a Steinway piano and of course, a barroom.  If I had travelled by stage, I'd want a drink.

There were a few problems.  Of the 10,000 tourists who visited in 1883, many came in their own wagons and camped out. 

Hmmm.  How long were vacations back then?

"Hey, boss...Me and the family are taking a little trip to Yellowstone this summer.  Reckon we'll be back in six months."

Fact 5.  Not everyone was impressed with Yellowstone National Park.

When Rudyard Kipling visited in 1889 he said:  "...the ground rings hollow as a kerosene tin, and some day the Mammoth Hotel, guests and all, will sink into the caverns and be turned into a stalactite."

Whoa Rudy!  Somebody short sheet your bed?  Lighten up!


Well, class, that ends today's lesson.  I hope you all feel a little bit enlightened.  I know I do.