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| The Old Faithful Inn (the buildings to the right of the geysers) is right in the center of the geyser basin at Yellowstone Park. All the buildings to the left of the geyser are all new since the Fire of 1988. The whole hillside behind the Inn was engulfed by the fire.
We decided (or was it just me) to travel up the "scenic overlook" to view an eruption of Old Faithful. I guess I failed to notice the distance of the hike and the elevation change. As a family walk , casually, uphill, we took almost 45 minutes to get the vantage point you see here. |
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| The lodgepole pines, the dominant tree in this area of the Park, needs a major fire to reproduce. The canopy fire or fires of 1988 raged through the Park and the heat melted the resin in the cones that fell. The forest is slowly growing back. The Park Service states that this happens on a 300 year cycle. When Eamon brings his children or grandchildren to the Park it will be close to what it was in the early Eighties. | |||||||||||
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| Since we walked 1.5 miles to the overlook, we decided to see the rest of the basin. If you follow the boardwalk, the total walk is over 12 miles. I think I figured that we did about 7 miles that morning. Remember to stay on the boardwalk. I am glad I read the book, "Death in Yellowstone" , after our visit, but I recommend it as an interesting read.
(The boardwalks are the determined area of safety. More people confuse the customer service of the Park System as modeled on Disney it is definitely not as safe.) |
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