The Yellowstone National Park Part 22

CHAPTER XVIII.

A TOUR OF THE PARK.

_The Yellowstone Lake to Grand Canon of the Yellowstone._

Distance seventeen miles. The road follows the Yellowstone River along the west bank all the way.

Just after the tourist leaves the Lake Hotel, he will see on the right of the roadway a small monument. It was placed there, in 1893, by the United States Corps of Engineers to mark a position accurately determined from astronomical observations by the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey in 1892. It is of value as a point of reference in surveys and other similar work.[BL]

[BL] Lat.i.tude, 44 33' 16.1" north.

Longitude, 110 23' 43.1" west.

Magnetic variation about 19 east.

_Mud Volcano_ (7.5 miles) is a weird, uncanny object, but, nevertheless, a very fascinating feature and one which the tourist should stop and examine. It is an immense funnel-shaped crater in the side of a considerable hill on the west bank of the river. The mud rises some distance above a large steam vent in the side of the crater next the hill, and chokes the vent until the steam has acc.u.mulated in sufficient force to lift the superinc.u.mbent ma.s.s. As the imprisoned steam bursts forth, it hurls the mud with great violence against the opposite side of the crater, making a heavy thud which is audible for half a mile. These outbursts take place every few seconds.

[Ill.u.s.tration:

_Terry Engr. Co._ _Haynes, Photo., St. Paul._

Yellowstone River, between Lake and Falls.]

A striking example of the strange commingling of dissimilar features in the hot springs districts is found in the _Grotto_, a spring of perfectly clear water, not far from the Mud Volcano. It is acted upon by the steam in a manner precisely similar to that of the Mud Volcano, but its waters issue directly from the rock, and are entirely clear.

_Mud Geyser_, now rarely seen in action, was an important geyser twenty years ago. As it became infrequent in its eruptions, and tourists rarely saw them, the name was unconsciously, but mistakenly, transferred to the Mud Volcano, which has none of the characteristics of a geyser.

The locality where these objects are found has considerable historic interest. The ford just below the Mud Volcano was long used by the hunters and trappers who pa.s.sed up and down the river. Folsom crossed it in 1869, and the Washburn party in 1870. The Nez Perces encamped here two days, in 1877, and here transpired a part of the episode elsewhere related. Hither came General Howard, in pursuit of the Indians, although he did not cross the river at this point.

_Trout Creek_ (9.5 miles) has a most peculiar feature, where the tourist route crosses it, in the form of an extraordinary doubling of the channel upon itself. It was this stream which Mr. Hedges, in 1870, called "a lazy creek coiled up like a monster serpent under a sand bluff."

_Sulphur Mountain_ (11.5 miles) is half a mile back from the main route. At its base is a remarkable _Sulphur Spring_, always in a state of violent ebullition, although discharging only a small amount of water. This is highly impregnated with sulphur, and leaves a yellow border along the rivulet which carries it away. The best time to visit Sulphur Mountain is on a clear sharp morning. The myriad little steam vents which cover the surface of the hill are then very noticeable.

_Hayden Valley_ is a broad gra.s.sy expanse extending several miles along the river and far back from it on the west side. It was once a vast arm of the lake. It comprises some fifty square miles, and is an important winter range for the Park buffalo and elk.

[Ill.u.s.tration:

_Terry Engr. Co._ _Gandy._

Rapids Above Falls.]

[Ill.u.s.tration:

_Terry Engr. Co._ _U. S. Geological Survey of the Territories._

Upper Fall of the Yellowstone.

Distant view.]

The river along the lower portion of this valley is the most tranquil and lovely stream imaginable--broad, deep, transparent, flowing peacefully around its graceful curves, disturbed only by the splashing trout which inhabit it. There is little here to suggest the mad turmoil into which it is soon to plunge. At a point fifteen miles below the lake, the river and road are forced by the narrowing valley close together. The stream becomes suddenly broken into turbulent cascades as it dashes violently between precipitous banks and among ma.s.sive boulders.

The road also becomes decidedly picturesque. Hung up on the almost vertical cliff overlooking the rapids, it forms a short drive unsurpa.s.sed for interest anywhere else in the Park. At one point it crosses a deep ravine over the highest bridge on the road system. Just to the left of this bridge, in the bottom of the ravine, still stands the tree upon which some white man carved his initials away back in 1819.

Half a mile below the head of the rapids, the river suddenly contracts its width to less than fifty feet, turns abruptly to the right, and disappears. It is the _Upper Fall_ of the Yellowstone. In some respects, this cataract differs from almost any other. Although the ledge over which it falls is apparently perpendicular, the velocity of flow at the crest of the fall is so great that the water pours over as if on the surface of a wheel. Visitors at Niagara have noticed the difference in this respect between the almost vertical sheet of water on the American side and the well-rounded flow at the apex of the Horseshoe Fall. The height of the Upper Fall of the Yellowstone is 112 feet.

From this point, the character of the scenery is wild and rugged. A ride of a few hundred yards brings the tourist to a sharp bend in the road, which at once unfolds to him the whole vista of the _Grand Canon of_ _the Yellowstone_. The sight is so impressive and absorbing that the chances are he will cross the ravine of _Cascade Creek_ without even noticing the lovely _Crystal Falls_ almost beneath his feet.

[Ill.u.s.tration:

_Terry Engr. Co._

Original Sketch.[BM]

[BM] See foot-note, page 168.]

[Ill.u.s.tration:

_Terry Engr. Co._ _U. S. Geological Survey of the Territories._

Grand Canon of the Yellowstone.

Looking down--probably from Lookout Point.]

[Ill.u.s.tration:

_Terry Engr. Co._ _Haynes, Photo., St. Paul._

Grand Canon of the Yellowstone.

From Inspiration Point--looking up stream. Lower Fall in the distance.]

The _Canon Hotel_ is half a mile beyond Cascade Creek, in an open park, a little way back from the brink of the Canon. From its porch, the crest of the Upper Fall can be seen, and the roar of both cataracts is distinctly audible. This hotel and that at the lake are the most desirable in the Park for a protracted stay.

The Grand Canon of the Yellowstone is acknowledged by all beholders to stand without parallel among the natural wonders of the globe. Other canons, the Yosemite, for example, have greater depths and more imposing walls; but there are none which, in the words of Captain Ludlow, "unite more potently the two requisites of majesty and beauty." The canon itself is vast. A cross-section in the largest part measures 2,000 feet at the top, 200 feet at the bottom, and is 1,200 feet deep, giving an area of over three acres. But such a gorge in any other part of the world would not be what it is here. Its sides would soon be clothed with vegetation, and it would be simply an immense valley, beautiful, no doubt, but not what it is in the Yellowstone National Park.

There are three distinct features which unite their peculiar glories to enhance the beauty of this canon. These are the canon itself, the water-fall at its head, and the river below.

It is the volcanic rock through which the river has cut its way that gives the Grand Canon its distinctive character. It is preeminently a canon of color. The hue has no existence which can not be found there.

"Hung up and let down and spread abroad are all the colors of the land, sea, and sky," says Talmage, without hyperbole. From the dark, forest-bordered brink, the sides descend for the most part with the natural slope of the loose rock, but frequently broken by vertical ledges and isolated pinnacles, which give a castellated and romantic air to the whole. Eagles build their nests here, and soar midway through the vast chasm, far below the beholder. The more prominent of the projecting ledges cause many turns in the general course of the canon, and give numerous vantage places for sight-seeing. _Lookout Point_ is one of these, half a mile below the Lower Falls.

_Inspiration Point_, some two miles farther down, is another. The gorgeous coloring of the canon walls does not extend through its entire length of twenty miles. In the lower portion, the forests have crept well down to the water's edge. Still, it is every-where an extremely beautiful and impressive sight. Along the bottom of the canon, numerous steam vents can be seen, one of which, it is said, exhibits geyseric action. In places, the canon walls almost shut out the light of day from the extreme bottom. Lieutenant Doane, who made the dangerous descent several miles below the Falls, records that "it was about three o'clock P. M., and stars could be distinctly seen, so much of the sunlight was cut off from entering the chasm."

The _Lower Fall_ of the Yellowstone must be placed in the front rank of similar phenomena. It carries not one-twentieth the water of Niagara, but Niagara is in no single part so beautiful. Its height is 310 feet. Its descent is very regular, slightly broken by a point of rock on the right bank. A third of the fall is hidden behind the vast cloud of spray which forever conceals the mad play of the waters beneath; but the mighty turmoil of that recess in the rocks may be judged from the deep-toned thunder which rises in ceaseless cadence and jars the air for miles around.

[Ill.u.s.tration:

_Terry Engr. Co._ _Haynes, Photo., St. Paul._

Lower Fall of the Yellowstone--from below.]