Yellowstone Park 5
Posted: Fri Jul 08, 2011 12:59 pm
This is the west shore of Yellowstone Lake. It is the source of the Yellowstone river, which flows hundreds of miles to where it joins with the Missouri River, just over the border in North Dakota. I believe it is the largest, longest river left in the USA with no dams or rechanneling projects that's left to us. However, just last week, the oil refinery in Laurel, about 200 miles down river from here, managed to let a large load of oil into the River. How it will affect the River, I don't know. Among other things, there is a unique population of paddlefish in that area. It seems like we humans always find a way to make a mess.
As we drove along the shore of the Lake, we came upon Mr. Wapiti taking a lunch break. Whenever there is wildlife near the road like this, one must be careful, because a tremendous traffic jam will form. I stopped before hitting the guy's bumper ahead of me, while Gail jumped out with the camera to snap Mr Wapiti's smiling mug for us. Note that his antlers are still covered in velvet.
Continuing along the shore of Lake Yellowstone. The mountains you see in the distance are actually part of the volcanic rim, and Lake Yellowstone is but a small puddle in the crater of the Yellowstone super volcano crater, which is about 50 miles in diameter -- really! (That's why it's called a super volcano.)
