Thank You, Theodore Roosevelt: Day Seven

 Day Seven

Mother Nature Is Coming and Boy, Does She Sound Pissed

Since the most recent giant (caldera-forming) eruption 631,000 years ago, approximately 80 relatively nonexplosive eruptions have occurred. Of these eruptions, at least 27 were rhyolite lava flows in the caldera, 13 were rhyolite lava flows outside the caldera, and 40 were basalt vents outside the caldera. The most recent volcanic eruption at Yellowstone, a lava flow on the Pitchstone Plateau, occurred 70,000 years ago. (source: United States Geologic Service).  Also according to the USGS:

Yellowstone is not overdue for an eruption. Volcanoes do not work in predictable ways and their eruptions do not follow predictable schedules. Even so, the math doesn’t work out for the volcano to be “overdue” for an eruption. In terms of large explosions, Yellowstone has experienced three at 2.08, 1.3, and 0.631 million years ago. This comes out to an average of about 725,000 years between eruptions. That being the case, there is still about 100,000 years to go, but this is based on the average of just two time intervals between the eruptions, which is meaningless.

Most volcanic systems that have a supereruption do not have them multiple times. When supereruptions do occur more than once in a volcanic system, they are not evenly spaced in time.

Walking around the Norris Geyser Basin and the Artists Paint Pots, all I can saw is ya coulda fooled me.  There was more blowing off steam, burbling, gurgling, spitting from geysers, fumaroles and steam vents than Shakespeare's three witches in Macbeth said when making their stew.

The landscape around some of the geysers is otherwordly

While walking through the area, the accompanying sound is Mother Nature growling, in her own uniquely beautiful way, I felt, relaying a warning that she could blow at any second.  Quite amazing.

We made one final stop at the Yellowstone River, so I could dip my toes in the water. Our dinner that evening was in Grant Village, a part of the Park we hadn't explored.  Once again we were treated to a wild animal sighting, this time another elk.

I developed a tiny, very tiny, itch while we were in Yellowstone, not dissimilar to the one I developed when we visited Yosemite in 2017.  Then, after hiking, and seeing campers head out to the backcountry, I thought, "Maybe I'd like to do that.  Just once and for only one or two nights, but maybe..."  Here I found myself thinking, "Maybe I'd like to come back in the winter and cross country ski, sit in the warm lodge and marvel at the snow covered landscape.  Again, maybe for only one or two nights, but maybe..."

Yellowstone, thank you.  You have no idea how much being invited in to respect the land and the wildlife and the serenity has brought to my spirit.