Unforgettable!
Yellowstone established as the world’s first national park by an act of Congress and signed into law on March 1, 1872, by President Ulysses S. Grant. Read more https://www.nps.gov/yell/index.htm. We learned about the restoration of wolves to the area in 1995 (https://www.nps.gov/yell/learn/nature/wolf-restoration.htm). What struck me most was the impact of the restoration had on the ecosystem. I read an article in USA Today about the fact that there are positive impacts but not complete ecosystem restoration https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.usatoday.com/amp/973658002
Yellowstone National Park sits on top of a super volcano; it’s easy to remember this when you witness the fumeroles, geysers and mud pots. We took a snow coach to the Old Faithful geyser. As luck would have it, the Beehive geyser erupted at the same time which doesn’t happen very often. The mud pots were especially fascinating because the toxic acid breaks down rock to clay https://www.nps.gov/yell/learn/nature/hydrothermal-systems.htm There is a species of fly that can only survive in the extreme heat of the geysers https://www.nps.gov/yell/learn/nature/life-in-extreme-heat.htm
As for animal migration, we learned that Trumpeter swans and bald eagles migrate to Yellowstone for the winter. Bald eagles take over the nests of ospreys. Elk leave Yellowstone and head to Jackson Hole where the elk refuge is located. Bison (not buffalo) stay but the grass isn’t really nutritious for them.
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