Mammoth - The Terraces

Our friend Paul drove from Helena MT to visit with us for 2 days. He chose 2 perfect days for getting into the park to see it still in snow.

The first afternoon, Paul and Bob drove in to see the park. I decided to stay behind and catch up on computer work when they left. (Yes, hours in the truck gazing out the windows does get tiring!)




They happened upon a group with scopes looking on both sides of the road. I have circled a wolf they saw up on the ridge on one side, howling.

And there were two more wolves on the other side of the street casing out a herd of bison. They are also circled. After reading this narrative, click on the top picture and you will see each picture full screen. Instead of pin size, they will be a little bigger. I've cropped both pictures to bring the wolves into better focus. They weren't told which pack these are from.

The next day, we 3 drove to Mammoth to walk the Terraces steps. I haven't counted them but they are many. It's a good work out. The Terraces are the hot springs, like if you fall in you will die, hot. Truly! A 20 something man walked up to a hot springs off the boardwalk (illegally) closer to Old Faithful area last year and he not only couldn't be rescued, there was no trace of his body due to the high acidic liquid. His sister and others watched him fall in. Sad, not recommended!

Here are the two friends since age 5. 











Most of the steps were shoveled half way but there were stretches where we were walking on a 6" snow pack.

These are called the Terraces due to the descending levels of limestone. The 'smoke' that shows up is the steam from the burning liquid coming from the springs.









It's hard to reconcile the foot of snow next to a burning river of water.










The water flow moves a few inches each year as the ground shifts so trees that started to grow are burned from the roots but frozen in place.

Terrace Mountain at Mammoth Hot Springs is the largest known carbonate-depositing spring in the world. (Taken from Wikipedia)






This is the view from the top. Bob is taking the picture while Paul and I start back down.

The mountains in the far background are where our cabins are located. It's about 10 miles away.

The small group of buildings in the middle is part of Mammoth.




The sky is falling...wait...the ground is shifting...well at least the tree is stable. (Kidding!)









Bob took some beautiful pictures of the water flowing over all the different algae that grow.

"Algae living in the warm pools have tinted the travertine shades of brown, orange, red, and green." (Taken from Wikipedia)

This is looking straight down into the water. You can see the 'canals' that have formed over time. We've never seen this much water flowing and felt it also contains snow melt.

Hot vs. cold. I wish everyone could have the experience of seeing Yellowstone and the different features!