My visit to Yellow Stone National Park on June 8, 2013.

My visit to Yellow Stone National Park on June 8, 2013. 

Albert Einstein wrote"Look deep into nature and then you will understand everything better."

I read about Yellow Stone national Park for the first time when I was in class 7, in Geography lesson.  Even at that age the fact were fascinating.  In later years through National Geographic Magazine I learnt more about the wonders of nature displayed in the Park.  However the book knowledge culminated into experience only recently; thanks to my daughter Sudha and my Son-in-law, Nandu. 

Nandu has visited Yellow Stone more than three times. He had, therefore, personal knowledge and  information about the trails, wild life and other important features of the park. We along with my grand son Arjun (six years) and grand daughter Tanvi (2 years) started from Denver (Colorado) on June 8, 2013 by car. It was very interesting and lively experience. Arjun and Tanvi were delightful through out the trip. Arjun was drawing picture of what he was seeing in his Nabi (tablet) and saving them. 

On way to YNP we went to the Grant Teton National Park. This is a spectacular park, with breathtaking scenery, abundant flora and fauna, wild life, pristine lakes, and alpine terrain. The Snake River is exotic.

There is wide variety of entertainment; hiking, boating, floating in the Snake River. One could do horse riding, if he knows. Teton Range stands monument to the people who fought to protect it. These are mountains of the imagination; Mountains that led to the creation of Grand Teton National Park.

The Snake River winds like huge snake and empties in manmade Jackson Lake which gives impression of an ocean with waves hitting the shores. The average depth of this lake is around 480feet. surface area of the lake is 25540 acres.  There are also small lakes Jenny Lake and Leigh Lake. Every one of them is beautiful surrounded by mountains and trees.

All these wonders I tried to capture in my lens but the beauty eyes can see can never be caught in a 2D picture with a camera like LUMIX. But pictures will definitely speak.

We stayed overnight in a small place known as Riverton, in Hotel Hampton.

Next day we rolled towards YNP.  

Yellow Stone National Park:

This known as Elk, Bison and Bear country. we could see Elks, Wolf, black Bear, Bisons in thousand, Moose, Dears variety of birds.

The following is an exract from the National Geographic.

“Location: Wyoming, Idaho, and Montana

Established: March 1, 1872

Size: 2,221,766 acres (2.2 million acres)

Yellowstone is a geological smoking gun that illustrates how violent the Earth can be. One event overshadows all others: Some 640,000 years ago, an area many miles square at what is now the center of the park suddenly exploded. In minutes the landscape was devastated. Fast-moving ash flows covered thousands of square miles. At the center only a smoldering caldera remained, a collapsed crater 45 by 30 miles. At least two other cataclysmic events preceded this one. Boiling hot springs, fumaroles, mud spots, and geysers serve as reminders that another could occur.
Yellowstone, however, is much more than hot ground and gushing steam. Located astride the Continental Divide, most of the park occupies a high plateau surrounded by mountains and drained by several rivers. Park boundaries enclose craggy peaks, alpine lakes, deep canyons, and vast forests. In 1872, Yellowstone became the world's first national park, the result of great foresight on the part of many people about our eventual need for the solace and beauty of wild places.
In early years, what made Yellowstone stand out was the extravaganza of geysers and hot springs. The wild landscape and the bison, elk, and bears were nice but, after all, America was still a pioneer country filled with scenic beauty and animals.

As the West was settled, however, Yellowstone's importance as a wildlife sanctuary grew. The list of park animals is a compendium of Rocky Mountain fauna: elk, bison, mule deer, bighorn sheep, grizzly bears, black bears, wolves, moose, pronghorn, coyotes, mountain lions, beaver, trumpeter swans, eagles, ospreys, white pelicans, and more.

During the summer of 1988, fire touched many sections of the park, in some areas dramatically changing the appearance of the landscape. Yet not one major feature was destroyed. The geysers, waterfalls, and herds of wildlife are still here. Many places show no impact at all, while those that are regenerating benefit both vegetation and animal life. Side by side, burned areas and nonburned areas provide an intriguing study in the causes and effects of fire in wild places. Yellowstone has witnessed bigger natural events than this and may well again.
Of far greater concern to environmentalists than the fires are the impact of the increasing numbers of visitors, the threatened grizzly bear population, and, on nearby lands, the planned development of natural resource projects. Cooperative management between the park and the six forests that make up the greater Yellowstone ecosystem is essential if wildlife and thermal features are to survive.”

It will take about 7 to 10 days to cover the 142-mile Grand Loop Road that form a figure eight, with connecting spurs to the five entrances. We spent just two days and covered as much as we could. We could see many varieties of wild life and several geyser basins and Mammoth Hot Springs, Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, Hayden Valley, and Yellowstone Lake

I consider myself blessed to enjoy the serenity of the remarkable creation of nature. I remembered the great saint and teacher Sri Tirumoolar, who said  ”It is Ok if we do not see GOD; it is very easy to understand and feel HIS grace. In this wonderful place one can experience the grace of GOD (iravan arulai pooranamga unaralam).

எட்டுத்  திசையும் எறிகின்ற காற்றொடு

வட்டத்   திரையனல் மாநிலம் ஆகாயம்

ஒட்டி உயிர்நிலை என்னும்இக் காயப்பை

கட்டி அவிழ்ப்பான் கண்ணுதல் காணுமே  

(திருமந்திரம் 441)

இறைவனின் அருளால் அன்றோ உயிரானது ஒப்பற்ற ஆனந்தத்தை பெருகிறது.