The Ordinary Beauty of Yellowstone National Park
Yellowstone is anything but ordinary. Diverse may be a better one-word description of this iconic park. Huge is another good contender.
At 3,472 square miles, Yellowstone is more than two times larger than the entire state of Rhode Island. Even the massive volcanic caldera that gives rise to its signature hot springs and geysers still only represents about 40% of the park. The rest is covered by seemingly endless miles of natural beauty that is more typical of what we’ve come to expect from our national parks.
The Colors of Yellowstone National Park
Amazingly vibrant color, more than any other single thing, is what puts Yellowstone in a league all by itself. For some unknown reason, though, the park’s collection of frequently erupting geysers gets most of the attention. Old Faithful, it seems, is as much a national landmark as the overexposed giant heads of Mount Rushmore. But seeing a column of water burst from the ground like an ordinary city fountain is every bit as exciting as it sounds. Having to wait 90 minutes or more to actually see one makes it decidedly less so.
The Otherworldliness of Yellowstone National Park
Ignorance truly is bliss.
To say that we were ignorant about what we’d find at Yellowstone National Park is a bit of an understatement. We knew the park contained a geyser called Old Faithful but not much beyond that. We assumed, given its close proximity to the adjoining Teton Range, we’d mostly find more of the same at Yellowstone: alpine lakes, mountains, and rugged natural beauty. What we found, instead, was like nothing we’d ever seen before.