1 00:00:02,000 --> 00:00:07,000 Downloaded from YTS.BZ 2 00:00:08,000 --> 00:00:13,000 Official YIFY movies site: YTS.BZ 3 00:00:28,228 --> 00:00:36,436 Narrator: In this extraordinary place, a new idea was born... 4 00:00:36,469 --> 00:00:43,676 on March 1, 1872 President Ulysses S. Grant signed into 5 00:00:43,710 --> 00:00:47,380 existence the world's first national park, 6 00:00:47,414 --> 00:00:52,786 Yellowstone National Park. 7 00:00:52,819 --> 00:00:57,157 The 2.2 million acres of wilderness was "Set apart as a 8 00:00:57,190 --> 00:01:01,261 public park or pleasuring ground for the benefit 9 00:01:01,294 --> 00:01:05,899 and enjoyment of the people." 10 00:01:05,932 --> 00:01:10,537 This glorious park contains over one-half of the world's 11 00:01:10,570 --> 00:01:15,075 hydrothermal features... 12 00:01:15,108 --> 00:01:19,312 indeed, the largest and most varied collection of natural hot 13 00:01:19,345 --> 00:01:25,251 water phenomena on Earth... 14 00:01:25,285 --> 00:01:29,289 including over 300 geysers. 15 00:01:31,791 --> 00:01:36,796 [montage] 16 00:02:44,998 --> 00:02:46,366 (Jennifer) Yellowstone is a caldera; 17 00:02:46,399 --> 00:02:50,537 it's had several very large eruptions and a caldera is 18 00:02:50,570 --> 00:02:54,507 basically where the earth has had gas and magma pressure from 19 00:02:54,541 --> 00:02:56,809 underneath stretching the earth's crust. 20 00:02:56,843 --> 00:03:02,182 Eventually cracks and fissures form around that bulge and hot 21 00:03:02,215 --> 00:03:07,887 ash and lava spew out the side of the volcano and then the top 22 00:03:07,921 --> 00:03:11,925 part of it, that stretched earth collapses in on itself forming a 23 00:03:11,958 --> 00:03:15,628 big crater caldera and since our last eruption, 24 00:03:15,662 --> 00:03:18,298 which was about 640,000 years ago, 25 00:03:18,331 --> 00:03:22,302 we've had subsequent lava flows that have filled it in so it's 26 00:03:22,335 --> 00:03:25,438 really difficult to tell there's a huge caldera inside of 27 00:03:25,471 --> 00:03:29,876 Yellowstone, but there's some evidence of the edges of the 28 00:03:29,909 --> 00:03:33,813 caldera but you can defiantly tell there's a hot active 29 00:03:33,846 --> 00:03:35,648 volcano in Yellowstone. 30 00:03:35,682 --> 00:03:38,718 (Mike) I start each presentation that I give throughout this 31 00:03:38,751 --> 00:03:41,754 region by saying Yellowstone. 32 00:03:41,788 --> 00:03:44,257 Just that word has something sacred to it, 33 00:03:44,290 --> 00:03:45,858 something sacred in it's meaning. 34 00:03:45,892 --> 00:03:49,696 I'm a firm believer that Yellowstone is in many ways a 35 00:03:49,729 --> 00:03:51,397 holy place for those whose temples are 36 00:03:51,431 --> 00:03:53,266 the mountains and the wilderness. 37 00:03:53,299 --> 00:03:56,970 It's a place unlike any other that I've had the opportunity to 38 00:03:57,003 --> 00:04:01,307 experience and I think the wildness that exists here in 39 00:04:01,341 --> 00:04:05,712 Yellowstone, the dynamic nature of this region from a geological 40 00:04:05,745 --> 00:04:07,880 standpoint an ecological standpoint, 41 00:04:07,914 --> 00:04:12,685 the water sheds, the rivers, the wild life, 42 00:04:12,719 --> 00:04:16,756 it's just such a unique place and it's a place that brings 43 00:04:16,789 --> 00:04:18,358 people from all over the world. 44 00:04:18,391 --> 00:04:21,894 You look at the arch and it's truly a place of pilgrimage, 45 00:04:21,928 --> 00:04:24,998 it's a land that brings people from all over the world to 46 00:04:25,031 --> 00:04:31,070 experience something wild, something primeval. 47 00:04:31,104 --> 00:04:34,240 Narrator: It's a unique place in the world... 48 00:04:34,274 --> 00:04:39,379 the only complete temperate mid-latitude ecosystem left on 49 00:04:39,412 --> 00:04:45,251 the planet, that's big enough to contain 50 00:04:45,285 --> 00:04:49,889 the entire range of large mammals... 51 00:04:49,922 --> 00:04:52,091 the large predators - 52 00:04:52,125 --> 00:04:54,594 bear... 53 00:04:54,627 --> 00:04:58,231 wolves... 54 00:04:58,264 --> 00:05:01,567 coyotes... 55 00:05:01,601 --> 00:05:05,071 fox... 56 00:05:05,104 --> 00:05:09,242 osprey... 57 00:05:09,275 --> 00:05:13,446 owls... 58 00:05:13,479 --> 00:05:19,118 and eagles. 59 00:05:19,152 --> 00:05:23,222 And big enough to contain their prey... 60 00:05:23,256 --> 00:05:26,793 elk... 61 00:05:26,826 --> 00:05:30,630 deer... 62 00:05:30,663 --> 00:05:34,367 moose... 63 00:05:34,400 --> 00:05:39,539 big horn sheep... 64 00:05:39,572 --> 00:05:43,343 pronghorn... 65 00:05:43,376 --> 00:05:50,817 and of course, the ancient American Bison. 66 00:05:50,850 --> 00:05:53,820 Yellowstone country is the American equivalent 67 00:05:53,853 --> 00:05:57,357 of the African plains. 68 00:05:57,390 --> 00:05:59,292 (Mike) People travel from all over the globe to visit the 69 00:05:59,325 --> 00:06:03,363 Serengeti of Africa and I think this is the closest thing we 70 00:06:03,396 --> 00:06:08,901 have to that in North America and yet when you add the spirit 71 00:06:08,935 --> 00:06:11,971 of the geysers you add the fact that we have over 10,000 72 00:06:12,004 --> 00:06:13,773 thermal features in this region. 73 00:06:13,806 --> 00:06:17,143 You add the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone with the 308-foot 74 00:06:17,176 --> 00:06:20,246 plunge hole; I think that's one of the most remarkable 75 00:06:20,279 --> 00:06:23,616 landscapes certainly in the west. 76 00:06:23,649 --> 00:06:26,586 To me it's the most inspiring landscape we have in the 77 00:06:26,619 --> 00:06:30,490 northern Rockies, to stand at Artist Point where Thomas Moran 78 00:06:30,523 --> 00:06:34,427 stood in 1871 and created his famous water colors that helped 79 00:06:34,460 --> 00:06:37,697 to inspire the establishment of Yellowstone National Park which 80 00:06:37,730 --> 00:06:40,900 has subsequently become so important to people from all 81 00:06:40,933 --> 00:06:42,435 over the globe. 82 00:06:42,468 --> 00:06:46,105 It's a place that's humbling, it's inspiring and it's moving. 83 00:06:46,139 --> 00:06:48,975 (Jennifer) My favorite thing about Yellowstone is that I'll 84 00:06:49,008 --> 00:06:51,811 never know it all there's always something new to learn and so it 85 00:06:51,844 --> 00:06:56,315 helps me become curious to learn about it and there's a special 86 00:06:56,349 --> 00:07:01,354 magic to Yellowstone that just taking a hike through the park 87 00:07:01,387 --> 00:07:05,525 you can experience and one of my fondest memories of Yellowstone 88 00:07:05,558 --> 00:07:09,295 is hiking with a friend to Artist Paint Pots early in the 89 00:07:09,328 --> 00:07:13,299 morning and we walked through the forest to get to the mud 90 00:07:13,332 --> 00:07:16,402 pots and on our way back all of a sudden the sun was glistening 91 00:07:16,436 --> 00:07:20,606 on all these spider webs in the trees that we had passed earlier 92 00:07:20,640 --> 00:07:22,909 in the morning that we didn't even notice. 93 00:07:22,942 --> 00:07:25,211 It was like, just like a magic spell. 94 00:07:25,244 --> 00:07:29,749 All those things had appeared just out of the blue in a short 95 00:07:29,782 --> 00:07:32,885 amount of time, so there's always something new to see and 96 00:07:32,919 --> 00:07:37,490 to discover and we'll never see it all. 97 00:07:37,523 --> 00:07:41,694 Narrator: The Yellowstone ecosystem - Yellowstone country 98 00:07:41,727 --> 00:07:46,632 - is more than just one park. 99 00:07:46,666 --> 00:07:52,672 It's thousands of acres of national forests... 100 00:07:52,705 --> 00:08:00,279 national forests encompassing mountain ranges. 101 00:08:00,313 --> 00:08:03,716 And there is the most spectacular mountain park in the 102 00:08:03,749 --> 00:08:09,856 country: Grand Teton National Park... 103 00:08:09,889 --> 00:08:16,128 a park containing breathtaking mountain peaks, 104 00:08:16,162 --> 00:08:21,634 glacial lakes, 105 00:08:21,667 --> 00:08:25,037 wetlands 106 00:08:25,071 --> 00:08:30,042 and gravelly moraines. 107 00:08:30,076 --> 00:08:35,014 The forces that shaped this land... 108 00:08:35,047 --> 00:08:40,152 the great thermal features... 109 00:08:40,186 --> 00:08:44,223 the jagged mountain peaks... 110 00:08:44,257 --> 00:08:49,228 and the forces that created the greater Yellowstone Country are 111 00:08:49,262 --> 00:08:50,930 the most powerful and violent 112 00:08:50,963 --> 00:08:55,468 geological forces on the planet... 113 00:08:55,501 --> 00:09:02,875 volcanoes and glaciers. 114 00:09:02,909 --> 00:09:05,444 It all waits for you... 115 00:09:05,478 --> 00:09:11,350 waits for you to experience. 116 00:09:11,384 --> 00:09:15,388 It's simply called: Yellowstone. 117 00:09:38,210 --> 00:09:41,380 Narrator: There is only one way to fully grasp the vastness and 118 00:09:41,414 --> 00:09:45,585 beauty of Yellowstone country... 119 00:09:45,618 --> 00:09:48,621 by air. 120 00:09:48,654 --> 00:09:53,092 The journey departs from Jackson Hole, Wyoming... 121 00:09:53,125 --> 00:09:57,163 the southern gateway to Yellowstone. 122 00:09:57,196 --> 00:10:03,202 Immediately below is the Snake River. 123 00:10:03,235 --> 00:10:07,506 Originating in Yellowstone Park to the north and flowing south, 124 00:10:07,540 --> 00:10:11,143 the Snake, which eventually joins the Colombia, 125 00:10:11,177 --> 00:10:17,650 is over 1,365 miles long, the largest North American river 126 00:10:17,683 --> 00:10:23,189 that empties into the Pacific Ocean. 127 00:10:23,222 --> 00:10:27,893 You are now over Grand Teton National Park. 128 00:10:27,927 --> 00:10:31,764 Between the river and the Teton mountain range are numerous 129 00:10:31,797 --> 00:10:39,939 mountain glacial features - moraines and kettle lakes. 130 00:10:39,972 --> 00:10:43,309 Suddenly, looming almost out of nowhere 131 00:10:43,342 --> 00:10:47,647 are the Grand Tetons themselves... 132 00:10:47,680 --> 00:10:51,117 Matterhorn peaks... 133 00:10:51,150 --> 00:10:55,021 glacial valleys... 134 00:10:55,054 --> 00:10:59,058 and stunning ice fields. 135 00:12:00,586 --> 00:12:03,656 While Yellowstone's journey to becoming a park was swift and 136 00:12:03,689 --> 00:12:07,259 easy, Grand Teton National Park's journey, 137 00:12:07,293 --> 00:12:13,733 on the other hand, was long and arduous. 138 00:12:13,766 --> 00:12:20,606 In 1897, Congress set aside Teton Forest Reserve. 139 00:12:20,639 --> 00:12:25,945 Thirty-two years later, the central peaks seen here were 140 00:12:25,978 --> 00:12:31,450 given National Park status. 141 00:12:31,484 --> 00:12:35,287 However, in order to preserve the views and the territory's 142 00:12:35,321 --> 00:12:40,126 complete ecosystem, the post-glacial features to the 143 00:12:40,159 --> 00:12:47,166 east of the Tetons also needed to be protected. 144 00:12:47,199 --> 00:12:49,769 One of America's great philanthropists, 145 00:12:49,802 --> 00:12:57,042 John D. Rockefeller Jr. came to the rescue. 146 00:12:57,076 --> 00:13:02,481 He bought over 35,000 acres of farm and ranch land in Wyoming's 147 00:13:02,515 --> 00:13:06,152 Jackson Valley along the Snake River 148 00:13:06,185 --> 00:13:12,057 and donated it to the Federal Government. 149 00:13:12,091 --> 00:13:17,763 Then in 1943 Franklin Delano Roosevelt issued a presidential 150 00:13:17,797 --> 00:13:25,538 proclamation creating Jackson Hole National Monument... 151 00:13:25,571 --> 00:13:31,577 a 221,000 acre Jackson Valley track of land 152 00:13:31,610 --> 00:13:36,849 including Rockefeller's donation. 153 00:13:36,882 --> 00:13:41,587 By 1950, the National Monument and the original Park were 154 00:13:41,620 --> 00:13:49,428 joined into today's spectacular Grand Teton National Park. 155 00:13:49,461 --> 00:13:53,299 In the northern reaches of Grand Teton National Park is the 156 00:13:53,332 --> 00:13:58,170 breathtaking Jackson Lake. 157 00:13:58,204 --> 00:14:02,842 The lake was created during the last ice age when a massive ice 158 00:14:02,875 --> 00:14:08,047 field gouged and cut its deep reservoir. 159 00:14:08,080 --> 00:14:11,717 It is still fed by runoff from small glaciers 160 00:14:11,750 --> 00:14:14,753 in the Teton Mountains. 161 00:14:14,787 --> 00:14:21,794 The main source of water, however, is the Snake River. 162 00:14:21,827 --> 00:14:28,500 At an elevation of 6,772 feet above sea level, 163 00:14:28,534 --> 00:14:31,303 Jackson Lake is one of the largest 164 00:14:31,337 --> 00:14:35,140 high altitude lakes in the U.S. 165 00:14:35,174 --> 00:14:44,984 - 15 miles long, 7 miles wide and 400 feet deep. 166 00:14:45,017 --> 00:14:49,555 As the plane leaves the Jackson Valley and enters Yellowstone 167 00:14:49,588 --> 00:14:54,326 Park striking changes take place. 168 00:14:54,360 --> 00:14:58,430 The land rises dramatically into Yellowstone's youngest lava 169 00:14:58,464 --> 00:15:06,872 flow, the 70,000-year-old Pitchstone Plateau... 170 00:15:06,906 --> 00:15:11,543 the Pitchstone Plateau is one of 9 named plateaus 171 00:15:11,577 --> 00:15:16,448 in Yellowstone National Park. 172 00:15:16,482 --> 00:15:21,987 These plateaus make up the greater Yellowstone Plateau. 173 00:15:22,021 --> 00:15:25,591 Even in the summer the pitchstone 174 00:15:25,624 --> 00:15:28,961 remains covered in snow... 175 00:15:28,994 --> 00:15:34,500 snows that average over 50 feet per year. 176 00:15:34,533 --> 00:15:38,904 Below the snow is a vast area of unwooded lava, 177 00:15:38,938 --> 00:15:42,608 resembling, as more than one writer has described it, 178 00:15:42,641 --> 00:15:47,479 a moonscape. 179 00:15:47,513 --> 00:15:51,350 Contained within the Pitchstone plateau are two of Yellowstone's 180 00:15:51,383 --> 00:15:58,590 treasures: Lewis Lake and Shoshone Lake, 181 00:15:58,624 --> 00:16:01,961 the second largest lake in the park and one that can only be 182 00:16:01,994 --> 00:16:08,300 reached by backpacking or canoe. 183 00:16:08,334 --> 00:16:12,004 The overall Yellowstone Plateau was created through three 184 00:16:12,037 --> 00:16:19,478 volcanic cycles spanning over two million years... 185 00:16:19,511 --> 00:16:22,948 volcanic cycles that produced some of the world's largest and 186 00:16:22,982 --> 00:16:28,687 most violent volcanic eruptions. 187 00:16:28,721 --> 00:16:34,126 Traveling further north is the 200,000 acre wilderness area 188 00:16:34,159 --> 00:16:41,133 known as Yellowstone's Central Plateau. 189 00:16:41,166 --> 00:16:44,770 Surrounded by the Park's lower loop road system, the Central 190 00:16:44,803 --> 00:16:52,444 Plateau Wilderness consists of a vast Lodgepole Pine forest. 191 00:16:52,478 --> 00:16:54,213 (Jennifer) Yellowstone is covered mostly 192 00:16:54,246 --> 00:16:56,081 by lodgepole pine forest. 193 00:16:56,115 --> 00:16:59,918 lodgepoles are a tree that is very well adapted to growing in 194 00:16:59,952 --> 00:17:04,690 area were the soil might not be as rich as in other areas, 195 00:17:04,723 --> 00:17:08,594 so it's very volcanic, a pretty young volcanic area and 196 00:17:08,627 --> 00:17:11,063 lodgepoles grow very well here. 197 00:17:11,096 --> 00:17:15,901 The lodgepole is a tall thin pine tree and if you drive 198 00:17:15,934 --> 00:17:18,370 around Yellowstone you'll see thing that look almost like 199 00:17:18,404 --> 00:17:20,839 telephone poles with a Christmas tree on top. 200 00:17:20,873 --> 00:17:24,176 Those are the lodgepole pine, they cover about 80% of the 201 00:17:24,209 --> 00:17:28,614 park, they are very well adapted to fire, 202 00:17:28,647 --> 00:17:32,584 some of the pine cones are covered in a waxy resin so when 203 00:17:32,618 --> 00:17:37,823 fire runs through the forest the wax from the resin protects 204 00:17:37,856 --> 00:17:41,460 those pine cones and the heat melts the resin off and the pine 205 00:17:41,493 --> 00:17:43,862 cones kind of pop open and scatter their seeds 206 00:17:43,896 --> 00:17:46,432 on the newly opened forest floor. 207 00:17:46,465 --> 00:17:49,435 Because the canopy has been burnt by fire, 208 00:17:49,468 --> 00:17:53,138 the sunlight, water and nutrients can reach the forest 209 00:17:53,172 --> 00:17:56,942 floor and those lodgepole pines grow best 210 00:17:56,975 --> 00:18:01,914 where they get a lot of sunlight. 211 00:18:01,947 --> 00:18:05,150 Narrator: In Yellowstone, there are vast areas where fire has 212 00:18:05,184 --> 00:18:11,090 raced through the lodgepole pine forest and the grand scale of 213 00:18:11,123 --> 00:18:20,799 the fires can be seen from the air. 214 00:18:20,833 --> 00:18:24,870 The central plateau, while devoid of high peaks, 215 00:18:24,903 --> 00:18:33,846 abounds in meadows, wildlife, thermal features and rivers. 216 00:18:33,879 --> 00:18:37,015 (Jennifer) Yellowstone has some great rivers that offer people 217 00:18:37,049 --> 00:18:39,284 great chances to view wildlife 218 00:18:39,318 --> 00:18:42,754 and to fish and that sort of thing. 219 00:18:42,788 --> 00:18:46,758 We have the Yellowstone River that starts actually outside of 220 00:18:46,792 --> 00:18:50,262 the park and flows into the Yellowstone Lake and then flows 221 00:18:50,295 --> 00:18:53,866 out of Yellowstone Lake and flows in a north fashion. 222 00:18:53,899 --> 00:18:58,470 Gibbon Madison and Firehole meet at Madison Junction and they 223 00:18:58,504 --> 00:19:03,442 flow out of the park and those are also spectacular places for 224 00:19:03,475 --> 00:19:06,712 watching wildlife and fishing. 225 00:19:06,745 --> 00:19:09,348 So, we do have a number of rivers, 226 00:19:09,381 --> 00:19:12,784 they flow based on where they are on the Continental Divide. 227 00:19:12,818 --> 00:19:14,653 The Continental Divide is kind of like the crest of the 228 00:19:14,686 --> 00:19:20,125 continent and as the water hits either side of that Continental 229 00:19:20,159 --> 00:19:23,595 Divide it determines which path these rivers take and so the 230 00:19:23,629 --> 00:19:27,699 ones that flow on the west side of the continental divide will 231 00:19:27,733 --> 00:19:30,202 eventually flow into the Pacific Ocean, 232 00:19:30,235 --> 00:19:33,438 the ones on the east side of the Continental Divide will 233 00:19:33,472 --> 00:19:35,941 eventually flow into the Mississippi 234 00:19:35,974 --> 00:19:39,411 and down the Gulf of Mexico. 235 00:19:39,444 --> 00:19:44,316 Narrator: Here is a map of the greater Yellowstone area... 236 00:19:44,349 --> 00:19:49,588 the Continental divide runs through it like this... 237 00:19:49,621 --> 00:19:53,025 here is the famous lower Loop Road... 238 00:19:53,058 --> 00:19:57,696 and here is The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone... 239 00:19:57,729 --> 00:20:04,169 a canyon that is a primary geologic feature of the park. 240 00:20:04,203 --> 00:20:10,609 It is roughly 20 miles long, and contains a place where the 241 00:20:10,642 --> 00:20:12,644 Yellowstone River drops a distance 242 00:20:12,678 --> 00:20:16,248 greater than Niagara Falls... 243 00:20:16,281 --> 00:20:22,588 almost 400 feet. 244 00:20:22,621 --> 00:20:29,061 However, the reason the park was set aside in the first place 245 00:20:29,094 --> 00:20:33,699 lies in its magnificent thermal features - 246 00:20:33,732 --> 00:20:39,238 its geysers and hot springs. 247 00:20:39,271 --> 00:20:42,574 From the air the hot springs appear as shimmering blue pools 248 00:20:42,608 --> 00:20:44,810 of water surrounded by 249 00:20:44,843 --> 00:20:49,748 light-colored, barren landscapes. 250 00:20:49,781 --> 00:20:55,787 These are called thermal basins. 251 00:20:55,821 --> 00:20:59,258 What's exclusive to Yellowstone is its concentration 252 00:20:59,291 --> 00:21:03,895 of over 300 geysers... 253 00:21:03,929 --> 00:21:06,031 thermal areas where super heated water 254 00:21:06,064 --> 00:21:11,103 periodically erupts into the air. 255 00:21:11,136 --> 00:21:18,844 The most famous is, of course, Old Faithful... 256 00:21:18,877 --> 00:21:26,151 a spectacular geyser that erupts like clockwork 257 00:21:26,184 --> 00:21:32,090 - every 65 minutes if an eruption lasts less than 258 00:21:32,124 --> 00:21:36,528 2.5 minutes, or 91 minutes if the eruption 259 00:21:36,561 --> 00:21:41,733 lasts more than 2.5 minutes. 260 00:21:41,767 --> 00:21:44,236 (Jennifer) It's very unusual for geysers to be predictable; 261 00:21:44,269 --> 00:21:46,872 the fact that we can predict about five or six different 262 00:21:46,905 --> 00:21:50,876 geysers in Yellowstone is quite unusual. 263 00:21:50,909 --> 00:21:54,012 Old Faithful has been really reliable and really predictable 264 00:21:54,046 --> 00:21:55,847 over the history of the park. 265 00:21:55,881 --> 00:21:58,550 It's how it got its name; it's very faithful 266 00:21:58,583 --> 00:22:00,652 and erupted regularly. 267 00:22:00,686 --> 00:22:04,489 Over the years a lot of observers of Old Faithful have 268 00:22:04,523 --> 00:22:10,295 been timing it and recording the times of eruptions and noticing 269 00:22:10,329 --> 00:22:12,864 very distinct patterns, 270 00:22:12,898 --> 00:22:15,567 and that's how we predict Old Faithful. 271 00:22:15,600 --> 00:22:20,505 Plumbing systems for a geyser have chambers that have to fill 272 00:22:20,539 --> 00:22:23,675 up between eruptions, so after an eruption those chambers have 273 00:22:23,709 --> 00:22:26,244 been emptied and there's a certain amount of time they have 274 00:22:26,278 --> 00:22:28,146 to fill up again. 275 00:22:28,180 --> 00:22:32,117 The Old Faithful has kind of a regular set pattern, 276 00:22:32,150 --> 00:22:36,788 the longer the eruption the more water erupts out of it the more 277 00:22:36,822 --> 00:22:40,525 water that has to fill in, so we time Old Faithful with basically 278 00:22:40,559 --> 00:22:45,864 a stopwatch and the longer the eruption the longer the interval 279 00:22:45,897 --> 00:22:53,038 to the next one. 280 00:22:53,071 --> 00:22:59,010 Narrator: The highlight of any aerial trip is a thermal feature 281 00:22:59,044 --> 00:23:04,516 that can only be fully appreciated from the air... 282 00:23:04,549 --> 00:23:10,922 a Thermal feature known as the Grand Prismatic. 283 00:23:10,956 --> 00:23:13,725 The Grand Prismatic is the largest hot spring 284 00:23:13,759 --> 00:23:17,996 in the United States. 285 00:23:18,029 --> 00:23:23,668 The deep blue spring extends over an area approximately 250 286 00:23:23,702 --> 00:23:31,977 by 300 feet and is 160 feet deep. 287 00:23:32,010 --> 00:23:38,283 The spring discharges an estimated 560 gallons of 160 288 00:23:38,316 --> 00:23:44,589 degree water per minute into the surrounding landscape. 289 00:23:44,623 --> 00:23:48,527 Surely this is one of the most unearthly 290 00:23:48,560 --> 00:23:52,130 beautiful sites on the planet... 291 00:23:52,164 --> 00:23:59,938 it is a sight worth savoring and remembering for a lifetime. 292 00:23:59,971 --> 00:24:03,708 The Grand Prismatic is just one of countless thermal features 293 00:24:03,742 --> 00:24:06,011 that are derived from Yellowstone 294 00:24:06,044 --> 00:24:10,048 country's matchless geology. 295 00:24:27,098 --> 00:24:29,668 Narrator: The geology of Yellowstone country begins with 296 00:24:29,701 --> 00:24:31,970 the rising up of the Rocky Mountains 297 00:24:32,003 --> 00:24:39,778 about 55-80 million years ago. 298 00:24:39,811 --> 00:24:44,015 The Rockies are a spectacular mountain system that stretches 299 00:24:44,049 --> 00:24:51,022 from Canada to central New Mexico. 300 00:24:51,056 --> 00:24:54,226 The Rockies were once massive and tall... 301 00:24:54,259 --> 00:25:00,565 nearly 4 miles above sea level. 302 00:25:00,599 --> 00:25:05,170 Today, while still splendid, erosion has reduced them to 303 00:25:05,203 --> 00:25:11,543 nearly half their former glory. 304 00:25:11,576 --> 00:25:15,881 However, one range, the Grand Teton Range, 305 00:25:15,914 --> 00:25:21,753 recaptures a bit of that ancient stature. 306 00:25:21,786 --> 00:25:25,891 Without any foothills the Grand Teton Range seems to spring up 307 00:25:25,924 --> 00:25:30,795 directly out of the earth... 308 00:25:30,829 --> 00:25:36,968 it's Cathedral group of peaks energizes and delights the eye. 309 00:25:37,002 --> 00:25:40,071 Each perspective... 310 00:25:40,105 --> 00:25:44,276 Each season... 311 00:25:44,309 --> 00:25:51,116 Each passing hour brings a new sense of awe. 312 00:25:51,149 --> 00:25:54,019 Rising up only 10 million years ago, 313 00:25:54,052 --> 00:25:58,757 the range is the youngest in the Rockies. 314 00:25:58,790 --> 00:26:04,563 However, it was the ice ages over the last 1.8 million years 315 00:26:04,596 --> 00:26:11,503 that carved the Tetons into their rugged pose. 316 00:26:11,536 --> 00:26:18,276 A pose accented by its present day mountain glaciers. 317 00:26:18,310 --> 00:26:20,645 (John) The requirement for a mountain glacier, 318 00:26:20,679 --> 00:26:25,884 or any glacier for that matter is that the snow that has fallen 319 00:26:25,917 --> 00:26:29,654 the previous winter doesn't melt the following summer and so we 320 00:26:29,688 --> 00:26:32,157 have to have a continual buildup of the ice, 321 00:26:32,190 --> 00:26:37,329 and clearly the place where the snow has the best chance of 322 00:26:37,362 --> 00:26:42,400 remaining through the annual cycle through the next summer is 323 00:26:42,434 --> 00:26:44,402 at the highest altitudes where the temperatures are the 324 00:26:44,436 --> 00:26:48,673 coldest, so when the snow falls in the mountains over the 325 00:26:48,707 --> 00:26:53,845 wintertime, obviously it's above the snowline and it's going to 326 00:26:53,878 --> 00:26:55,814 be at the highest elevations. 327 00:26:55,847 --> 00:26:58,650 When the snow accumulates and doesn't melt the following 328 00:26:58,683 --> 00:27:05,390 summer then we start to build up the mountain glaciers. 329 00:27:05,423 --> 00:27:09,995 Glaciers at all times are going to be flowing, 330 00:27:10,028 --> 00:27:16,267 the ice deforms plastically or ductaly and the ice is always 331 00:27:16,301 --> 00:27:22,207 flowing and it's drawn down hill by gravity and so if we're 332 00:27:22,240 --> 00:27:26,144 constructing glaciers at the highest peaks of the mountains, 333 00:27:26,177 --> 00:27:29,347 gravity is drawing that ice downward and as that ice moves 334 00:27:29,381 --> 00:27:31,850 downward it starts to erode the rock 335 00:27:31,883 --> 00:27:34,586 over which it's been laid down. 336 00:27:34,619 --> 00:27:38,923 As the rock begins to erode there's preferential areas that 337 00:27:38,957 --> 00:27:41,726 the glaciers are going to flow just like preferential river 338 00:27:41,760 --> 00:27:45,463 valleys that rivers will flow, and so when we look at the 339 00:27:45,497 --> 00:27:49,834 highest mountain peaks the glaciers will start to sculpt 340 00:27:49,868 --> 00:27:53,538 certain sides of the mountains and they generally do this in a 341 00:27:53,571 --> 00:27:58,143 more or less triangular fashion so that there are faceted 342 00:27:58,176 --> 00:28:02,847 slopes, or faceted scalloped slopes on 343 00:28:02,881 --> 00:28:07,419 three or more sides of the mountain. 344 00:28:07,452 --> 00:28:10,755 It's those faceted areas or scalloped areas that are called 345 00:28:10,789 --> 00:28:16,327 cirques and the cirques are separate from one another by a 346 00:28:16,361 --> 00:28:20,198 knife point edge generally that called an arête, 347 00:28:20,231 --> 00:28:25,870 so it goes cirque, cirque and in between is the arête. 348 00:28:25,904 --> 00:28:31,743 Those cirques are really the birthplace of the glacier and 349 00:28:31,776 --> 00:28:36,347 when you're in the high mountain areas that's where the 350 00:28:36,381 --> 00:28:39,584 continuation of snow is really going to feed the glaciers, 351 00:28:39,617 --> 00:28:42,087 as they tend to move down the valley 352 00:28:42,120 --> 00:28:48,693 and continually carve out those cirques. 353 00:28:48,727 --> 00:28:50,829 Narrator: There is perhaps no better place in the continental 354 00:28:50,862 --> 00:28:55,033 United States to view cirques and the pyramid-shaped peaks 355 00:28:55,066 --> 00:29:02,107 called glacial horns, than in the Grand Teton Range. 356 00:29:02,140 --> 00:29:07,879 Oddly, the Rockies disappear as one enters 357 00:29:07,912 --> 00:29:13,251 Yellowstone National Park. 358 00:29:13,284 --> 00:29:15,687 The reason is a bizarre geological feature 359 00:29:15,720 --> 00:29:20,091 known as a hotspot. 360 00:29:20,125 --> 00:29:25,330 American soil is home to three hotspots. 361 00:29:25,363 --> 00:29:30,468 One rests below Flagstaff Arizona and has been quiescent 362 00:29:30,502 --> 00:29:34,038 for thousands of years. 363 00:29:34,072 --> 00:29:39,377 The second created the Hawaiian Islands and is actively spewing 364 00:29:39,410 --> 00:29:42,680 lava on the largest of the islands: 365 00:29:42,714 --> 00:29:47,018 the big island of Hawaii. 366 00:29:47,051 --> 00:29:53,825 The third now sits below Yellowstone National Park. 367 00:29:53,858 --> 00:29:57,095 What is a hot spot? 368 00:29:57,128 --> 00:30:04,736 (Ted) A hotspot is a plume of molten magma from deep within 369 00:30:04,769 --> 00:30:13,144 the mantel, which is sort of like a candle that's flickering 370 00:30:13,178 --> 00:30:15,914 beneath the earth's crust. 371 00:30:15,947 --> 00:30:21,152 And it stays stationary, and the crust itself is moving 372 00:30:21,186 --> 00:30:23,655 over top of that feature. 373 00:30:23,688 --> 00:30:27,492 And from time to time over the last 20 million years, 374 00:30:27,525 --> 00:30:31,596 there have been these enormous eruptions that have occurred as 375 00:30:31,629 --> 00:30:36,367 a result of that mantel plume. 376 00:30:36,401 --> 00:30:38,236 The most recent of those events 377 00:30:38,269 --> 00:30:41,206 is beneath Yellowstone National Park. 378 00:30:41,239 --> 00:30:44,509 It happened only 600 thousand years ago. 379 00:30:44,542 --> 00:30:48,379 Narrator: The effects of what is now called the Yellowstone 380 00:30:48,413 --> 00:30:53,017 hotspot have been moving in a southwesterly direction at a 381 00:30:53,051 --> 00:30:57,722 rate of about 1 inch per year. 382 00:30:57,755 --> 00:31:01,159 Starting near the Oregon-Idaho border it has produced a 383 00:31:01,192 --> 00:31:07,365 dramatic trail of volcanic effects... 384 00:31:07,398 --> 00:31:12,070 wiping out everything in its path. 385 00:31:12,103 --> 00:31:16,507 15 to 20 massive eruptions have left behind a series of immense 386 00:31:16,541 --> 00:31:22,247 craters that dot the landscape from its origin... 387 00:31:22,280 --> 00:31:26,351 through Idaho's Snake River Basin... 388 00:31:26,384 --> 00:31:31,356 and on into Yellowstone National Park. 389 00:31:31,389 --> 00:31:34,792 A hotspot is clearly one of the most powerful 390 00:31:34,826 --> 00:31:38,730 forces in nature... 391 00:31:38,763 --> 00:31:41,499 powerful enough to swallow up a vast 392 00:31:41,532 --> 00:31:46,738 stretch of the Rocky Mountains. 393 00:31:46,771 --> 00:31:49,140 (Jennifer) There were a lot of mountains when Yellowstone, 394 00:31:49,173 --> 00:31:52,911 before there were the caldera eruptions, 395 00:31:52,944 --> 00:31:56,447 there were chains of mountains that ran through the whole park 396 00:31:56,481 --> 00:32:01,419 and as the caldera, after the caldera exploded and collapsed 397 00:32:01,452 --> 00:32:03,788 in on itself, it basically swallowed up part of those 398 00:32:03,821 --> 00:32:07,492 mountain systems and as the lava filled in it built up a high 399 00:32:07,525 --> 00:32:11,496 plateau, so you'll see different mountain ranges radiating out of 400 00:32:11,529 --> 00:32:15,967 Yellowstone but the middle part with out mountains has a built 401 00:32:16,000 --> 00:32:20,605 up plateau from those lava eruptions. 402 00:32:20,638 --> 00:32:25,543 Narrator: Lava that could erupt again at any time. 403 00:32:25,576 --> 00:32:30,515 Here on the map is the edge of the caldera... 404 00:32:30,548 --> 00:32:34,652 the edge of the Yellowstone Volcano. 405 00:32:34,686 --> 00:32:40,425 Multiple fault lines across the region make it earthquake prone. 406 00:32:40,458 --> 00:32:43,094 (Jennifer) Yellowstone is very geologically active, 407 00:32:43,127 --> 00:32:45,330 not just with volcanic activity but there's 408 00:32:45,363 --> 00:32:47,065 a lot of ground movement here. 409 00:32:47,098 --> 00:32:50,401 We get many earthquakes, about one thousand to three thousand 410 00:32:50,435 --> 00:32:55,940 earthquake tremors per year and most of those cannot be felt. 411 00:32:55,974 --> 00:33:00,979 Narrator: But it's the heat produced by the hotspot that is 412 00:33:01,012 --> 00:33:07,285 today generating Yellowstone's thousands of thermal features. 413 00:33:07,318 --> 00:33:09,187 (Jennifer) When people come to Yellowstone they see a great 414 00:33:09,220 --> 00:33:11,756 variety of hot springs and geysers. 415 00:33:11,789 --> 00:33:12,924 Yellowstone is home to more than 416 00:33:12,957 --> 00:33:15,259 ten thousand hydrothermal features. 417 00:33:15,293 --> 00:33:19,831 Hydrothermal means water and heat together and so we have hot 418 00:33:19,864 --> 00:33:23,134 springs, geysers, mud pots and fume roles. 419 00:33:23,167 --> 00:33:27,171 A fume role is a hot steam vent a hot spring is a hot pool of 420 00:33:27,205 --> 00:33:32,777 water and geysers are where the hot spring erupts out of the 421 00:33:32,810 --> 00:33:36,314 ground shooting water at various heights. 422 00:33:36,347 --> 00:33:37,949 As you drive around Yellowstone 423 00:33:37,982 --> 00:33:40,118 you see a great variety of those. 424 00:33:40,151 --> 00:33:44,489 The difference between the hot springs and the geysers is that 425 00:33:44,522 --> 00:33:48,059 a hot spring is relatively calm, it might be bubbling a little 426 00:33:48,092 --> 00:33:52,163 bit from the heat or gas bubbles and a geyser has a different 427 00:33:52,196 --> 00:33:56,601 kind of plumbing system, it has a constriction under ground that 428 00:33:56,634 --> 00:34:01,472 acts as kind of a stopper as the pressure builds up underneath it 429 00:34:01,506 --> 00:34:07,412 and as the little bit of pressure is released the water 430 00:34:07,445 --> 00:34:10,248 and gas erupts out in an eruption, 431 00:34:10,281 --> 00:34:13,951 so the basic difference is the plumbing system between the two, 432 00:34:13,985 --> 00:34:16,521 although some hot springs are not hot enough 433 00:34:16,554 --> 00:34:19,857 to erupt as a geyser. 434 00:34:19,891 --> 00:34:24,395 Narrator: There are a dozen or so thermal basins that are 435 00:34:24,429 --> 00:34:28,433 readily accessible to the Yellowstone visitor. 436 00:34:43,514 --> 00:34:45,750 Narrator: Yellowstone National Park has over half of the 437 00:34:45,783 --> 00:34:49,554 world's geysers, and most of them are located 438 00:34:49,587 --> 00:34:54,792 in the Upper Geyser Basin. 439 00:34:54,826 --> 00:35:01,199 This remarkable one square mile area contains at least 150 of 440 00:35:01,232 --> 00:35:05,636 these hydrothermal wonders, making it the most densely 441 00:35:05,670 --> 00:35:10,942 concentrated geyser region in the world. 442 00:35:10,975 --> 00:35:15,713 Three major geysers - Grand... 443 00:35:15,746 --> 00:35:20,485 Castle... 444 00:35:20,518 --> 00:35:25,723 and Old Faithful are located here. 445 00:35:25,756 --> 00:35:28,693 Each day, during the high season, 446 00:35:28,726 --> 00:35:33,297 thousands of visitors walk from the parking lot to the circular 447 00:35:33,331 --> 00:35:35,500 boardwalk to experience an 448 00:35:35,533 --> 00:35:40,271 Old Faithful eruption for themselves. 449 00:35:40,304 --> 00:35:43,574 Their anticipation is palpable... 450 00:35:43,608 --> 00:35:46,410 as there are many false starts. 451 00:35:46,444 --> 00:35:47,812 (Jennifer) Old Faithful is rather predictable 452 00:35:47,845 --> 00:35:49,313 which is unusual. 453 00:35:49,347 --> 00:35:53,651 Possibly it's plumbing system is segregated from other acting 454 00:35:53,684 --> 00:35:57,955 features, a lot of underground plumbing the cracks and fissures 455 00:35:57,989 --> 00:36:02,126 that plump individual geysers are connected to each other, 456 00:36:02,160 --> 00:36:06,531 so if you have one that has no regular pattern it can affect 457 00:36:06,564 --> 00:36:10,501 the pattern of the other, and perhaps Old Faithful's plumbing 458 00:36:10,535 --> 00:36:14,906 system is segregated from other active features and that makes 459 00:36:14,939 --> 00:36:17,842 it very regular. 460 00:36:17,875 --> 00:36:22,847 Narrator: Located about a mile north of the Old Faithful area, 461 00:36:22,880 --> 00:36:27,084 is Black Sand Basin. 462 00:36:27,118 --> 00:36:30,488 Some of the most colorful hydrothermal features in the 463 00:36:30,521 --> 00:36:34,792 park abound here. 464 00:36:34,825 --> 00:36:39,630 Originally it was called the Emerald Group, because of the 465 00:36:39,664 --> 00:36:45,436 amazing jewel like hot springs on display here. 466 00:36:45,469 --> 00:36:49,574 But its name changed when tourists began calling it Black 467 00:36:49,607 --> 00:36:54,312 Sand Basin because of the small fragments of obsidian sand that 468 00:36:54,345 --> 00:36:58,549 covers portions of the basin. 469 00:36:58,583 --> 00:37:02,920 A beautifully placed network of boardwalks takes the visitors up 470 00:37:02,954 --> 00:37:05,323 close and personal with its plethora 471 00:37:05,356 --> 00:37:09,694 of hot springs and geysers. 472 00:37:09,727 --> 00:37:13,030 Emerald Pool is the most colorful and famous 473 00:37:13,064 --> 00:37:16,867 of Black Sand Basin's features. 474 00:37:16,901 --> 00:37:20,605 The clear water reflects the blues but absorbs the other hues 475 00:37:20,638 --> 00:37:25,443 of the color spectrum, and the combination produces its deep 476 00:37:25,476 --> 00:37:29,914 emerald green color. 477 00:37:29,947 --> 00:37:37,588 The stunning outer ring is a fringe of yellow and orange. 478 00:37:37,622 --> 00:37:43,127 Here its much lower temperature, 154.6 degrees Fahrenheit, 479 00:37:43,160 --> 00:37:47,765 has allowed yellow bacteria and algae 480 00:37:47,798 --> 00:37:52,403 to grow on the lining of the pool. 481 00:37:52,436 --> 00:37:57,575 Opalescent Pool is a cooler thermal pool. 482 00:37:57,608 --> 00:38:02,280 Early in its history Opalescent was a boiling spring, 483 00:38:02,313 --> 00:38:07,218 surrounded by smaller springs. 484 00:38:07,251 --> 00:38:13,758 However, by the early 1950s it was nearly a dry pool. 485 00:38:13,791 --> 00:38:17,795 Then Spouter Geyser began erupting, 486 00:38:17,828 --> 00:38:23,834 and its run-off brought Opalescent Pool back to life. 487 00:38:23,868 --> 00:38:28,572 Constantly bubbling, Cliff Geyser is named for its 488 00:38:28,606 --> 00:38:33,711 cliff-like wall of geyserite formed around the crater and for 489 00:38:33,744 --> 00:38:39,517 its location on the edge of Iron Spring Creek. 490 00:38:39,550 --> 00:38:42,153 This geyser, like most geysers in the park, 491 00:38:42,186 --> 00:38:48,125 is irregular in its eruptions. 492 00:38:48,159 --> 00:38:50,961 Interestingly, when the geyser is active, 493 00:38:50,995 --> 00:38:56,300 there are usually one or two eruptions a day. 494 00:38:56,334 --> 00:38:58,936 But there are also periods of dormancy 495 00:38:58,969 --> 00:39:06,344 lasting weeks and even years. 496 00:39:06,377 --> 00:39:10,181 There are a couple of aptly named little geyser pools that 497 00:39:10,214 --> 00:39:17,288 constantly bubble and spew to the delight of visitors. 498 00:39:17,321 --> 00:39:23,194 The river running through this area is Iron Spring Creek. 499 00:39:23,227 --> 00:39:29,900 It is as colorful as the hot springs. 500 00:39:29,934 --> 00:39:33,704 Indeed like so many of the thermal areas the hot waters 501 00:39:33,738 --> 00:39:38,509 eventually end up in one of the rivers or creeks... 502 00:39:38,542 --> 00:39:46,484 Creating glorious mystical experiences. 503 00:39:46,517 --> 00:39:52,857 North of Black Sand Basin is Midway Geyser Basin... 504 00:39:52,890 --> 00:39:58,896 the basin that contains the Grand Prismatic Pool. 505 00:39:58,929 --> 00:40:02,233 English short story writer Rudyard Kipling, 506 00:40:02,266 --> 00:40:08,105 who visited Yellowstone in 1889, immortalized this basin by 507 00:40:08,139 --> 00:40:13,911 referring to it as "Hell's Half Acre." 508 00:40:13,944 --> 00:40:20,918 Even today it is still remembered by that name. 509 00:40:20,951 --> 00:40:24,922 Despite its small size, Midway possesses two of the largest 510 00:40:24,955 --> 00:40:29,193 hot springs in the world. 511 00:40:29,226 --> 00:40:35,633 Grand Prismatic Spring, nearly 370 feet in diameter, sits upon 512 00:40:35,666 --> 00:40:42,039 a large mound surrounded by small step-like terraces. 513 00:40:42,072 --> 00:40:44,542 (Jennifer) The hot springs when you come to Yellowstone, 514 00:40:44,575 --> 00:40:46,911 you'll notice that they are very colorful looking. 515 00:40:46,944 --> 00:40:50,948 You'll often see a blue beautiful hot spring and around 516 00:40:50,981 --> 00:40:54,585 the edges you'll start to get this variety of colors. 517 00:40:54,618 --> 00:40:59,123 For example Grand Prismatic is one of the biggest hot springs. 518 00:40:59,156 --> 00:41:03,461 It has a big beautiful blue pool and near the very edges is a 519 00:41:03,494 --> 00:41:06,897 light yellow and as the water flows away and cools you'll 520 00:41:06,931 --> 00:41:10,367 start to get some pail oranges, then the darker oranges, 521 00:41:10,401 --> 00:41:12,102 browns and greens. 522 00:41:12,136 --> 00:41:17,708 Those are little micro habitats for a micro organism so 523 00:41:17,741 --> 00:41:20,644 organisms that you wouldn't even be able to see with the naked 524 00:41:20,678 --> 00:41:25,549 eye you can see because there are so many of them inhabiting 525 00:41:25,583 --> 00:41:28,853 the different temperatures of water that are flowing 526 00:41:28,886 --> 00:41:30,521 out of the hot springs. 527 00:41:30,554 --> 00:41:33,891 Some of these microorganisms are able to 528 00:41:33,924 --> 00:41:36,427 withstand very hot temperatures. 529 00:41:36,460 --> 00:41:40,498 That pail yellow along the edge of Grand Prismatic Springs is 530 00:41:40,531 --> 00:41:46,504 probably about 165 to 180 degrees Fahrenheit and those 531 00:41:46,537 --> 00:41:50,708 organisms often that inhabit the hottest waters are often a pale 532 00:41:50,741 --> 00:41:55,246 yellow and feed on sulfur, so if you drive around Yellowstone and 533 00:41:55,279 --> 00:41:58,482 you smell that rotten egg smell it's sulfur coming out of the 534 00:41:58,516 --> 00:42:01,051 hot springs and geysers. 535 00:42:01,085 --> 00:42:04,655 It doesn't seem very appetizing to us but to those 536 00:42:04,688 --> 00:42:06,457 microorganisms it's food. 537 00:42:06,490 --> 00:42:10,094 As the water cools you start to get some of the photosynthetic 538 00:42:10,127 --> 00:42:13,998 organisms so the cyanobacteria. 539 00:42:14,031 --> 00:42:17,601 Those organisms are able to capture energy from the sun much 540 00:42:17,635 --> 00:42:22,673 like plants do and to create their own food, and in turn 541 00:42:22,706 --> 00:42:29,280 those microorganisms become part of a little miniature ecosystem. 542 00:42:29,313 --> 00:42:34,218 The photosynthetic bacteria might be grazed upon 543 00:42:34,251 --> 00:42:36,020 by ephedra flies. 544 00:42:36,053 --> 00:42:39,056 They're all little black flies you'd see maybe walking around 545 00:42:39,089 --> 00:42:41,358 the surface of the cooler parts of the water. 546 00:42:41,392 --> 00:42:45,529 Sometimes you'll even see the pinkish color of the egg mounds 547 00:42:45,563 --> 00:42:48,499 that are left behind by the ephedra flies right inside the 548 00:42:48,532 --> 00:42:53,571 hot spring waters, so they're grazing on cyanobacteria kind of 549 00:42:53,604 --> 00:42:58,475 like elk graze on grass, and there's predators that wonder in 550 00:42:58,509 --> 00:43:00,411 and out of those hot spring areas, 551 00:43:00,444 --> 00:43:03,013 like spiders will crawl across the water looking for the 552 00:43:03,047 --> 00:43:07,818 ephedra flies and a killdeer bird might go along and peck off 553 00:43:07,851 --> 00:43:13,324 the ephedra flies and the spiders. 554 00:43:13,357 --> 00:43:18,262 Narrator: Greeting the visitors arriving from Cody to the east 555 00:43:18,295 --> 00:43:22,633 is Black Dragon's Cauldron. 556 00:43:22,666 --> 00:43:29,006 This roiling cauldron is a relatively new feature... 557 00:43:29,039 --> 00:43:36,914 Exploding from its subterranean lair in 1948. 558 00:43:36,947 --> 00:43:45,189 The area is eerily intriguing. 559 00:43:45,222 --> 00:43:53,130 Nearby is the famous Dragon's Mouth Spring. 560 00:43:53,163 --> 00:43:57,501 The rhythmic belching of steam and the flashing tongue of water 561 00:43:57,534 --> 00:44:06,744 give the Dragon's Mouth Spring its name. 562 00:44:06,777 --> 00:44:09,913 At the top of the lower loop road is one of the most 563 00:44:09,947 --> 00:44:14,752 beautiful thermal basins in the park. 564 00:44:14,785 --> 00:44:18,856 Because of the long hike, many visitors often bypass the 565 00:44:18,889 --> 00:44:23,794 magnificent Artist Paint Pots. 566 00:44:23,827 --> 00:44:31,101 Nowhere is there such a rich conflagration of color. 567 00:44:31,135 --> 00:44:33,704 (Jennifer) My other favorite is the Artist Paint Pots. 568 00:44:33,737 --> 00:44:36,774 It has the gooey blurpy mud pots and then it also has the 569 00:44:36,807 --> 00:44:38,642 beautiful blue pools. 570 00:44:38,676 --> 00:44:44,882 Narrator: Mud pots form when hot water is limited and hydrogen 571 00:44:44,915 --> 00:44:49,987 sulfide gas is present... 572 00:44:50,020 --> 00:44:51,321 it's the gas that emits the 573 00:44:51,355 --> 00:44:57,561 "rotten egg" smell common to thermal areas. 574 00:44:57,594 --> 00:45:02,166 As a result of these conditions, sulfuric acid is generated, 575 00:45:02,199 --> 00:45:05,169 dissolving the surrounding rock 576 00:45:05,202 --> 00:45:10,774 into fine particles of silica and clay. 577 00:45:10,808 --> 00:45:14,545 They mix with what little water there is to form the seething 578 00:45:14,578 --> 00:45:20,484 and bubbling mud pots seen here. 579 00:45:20,517 --> 00:45:23,821 But it is from the high point of the trail that one can see the 580 00:45:23,854 --> 00:45:27,858 swirling colors of an Artist Paint Pot. 581 00:45:29,593 --> 00:45:34,598 [montage] 582 00:45:57,921 --> 00:46:00,657 Near the north entrance to the park and outside of the 583 00:46:00,691 --> 00:46:07,998 Yellowstone Caldera is a remarkable thermal area... 584 00:46:08,031 --> 00:46:12,736 a thermal area not set in volcanic rhyolite 585 00:46:12,770 --> 00:46:18,442 but in sedimentary limestone. 586 00:46:18,475 --> 00:46:21,345 President of "Yellowstone Country Guardians" 587 00:46:21,378 --> 00:46:23,680 and former park ranger Mike Leach 588 00:46:23,714 --> 00:46:28,051 leads tours of this famous thermal feature. 589 00:46:28,085 --> 00:46:29,486 (Mike) Welcome to the Mammoth Hot Springs 590 00:46:29,520 --> 00:46:31,421 here in Yellowstone National Park. 591 00:46:31,455 --> 00:46:35,025 This is a very historic region, the first hotel in Yellowstone 592 00:46:35,058 --> 00:46:38,362 National Park was built at the foot of the hot springs here and 593 00:46:38,395 --> 00:46:40,631 it's also home to historic Fort Yellowstone. 594 00:46:40,664 --> 00:46:44,935 The U.S. Cavalry came to Yellowstone in August of 1886 595 00:46:44,968 --> 00:46:49,640 when 50 members of Company M marched down Fort Custer Montana 596 00:46:49,673 --> 00:46:51,875 territory with Captain Moses Harris 597 00:46:51,909 --> 00:46:54,044 after being asked by the Department of the 598 00:46:54,077 --> 00:46:57,548 Interior to come and help facilitate the protection of 599 00:46:57,581 --> 00:46:59,149 Yellowstone National Park. 600 00:46:59,183 --> 00:47:03,053 It was features like Mammoth that were actually being 601 00:47:03,086 --> 00:47:07,624 degraded by many entrepreneurs and visitors who were curious 602 00:47:07,658 --> 00:47:10,460 about the wonders of this region. 603 00:47:10,494 --> 00:47:14,498 While many people think of wildlife when they have images 604 00:47:14,531 --> 00:47:17,768 of Yellowstone today: grizzly bears, wolves, bison. 605 00:47:17,801 --> 00:47:22,372 It's important to remember that the boundaries were drawn up in 606 00:47:22,406 --> 00:47:26,410 1872 around Yellowstone National Park as the world's first 607 00:47:26,443 --> 00:47:29,079 national park in hopes of keeping all the geothermal 608 00:47:29,112 --> 00:47:31,215 features and scenic wonders in tact. 609 00:47:31,248 --> 00:47:34,151 It really wasn't the purpose of Yellowstone's establishment to 610 00:47:34,184 --> 00:47:37,487 protect the wildlife as much as it was to protect the scenic 611 00:47:37,521 --> 00:47:39,523 wonders and incredible thermal features, 612 00:47:39,556 --> 00:47:44,428 and well certainly those down in the Norris area can argue why 613 00:47:44,461 --> 00:47:47,364 that is such a dynamic and extreme environment, 614 00:47:47,397 --> 00:47:50,033 as someone who had the opportunity to work as a ranger 615 00:47:50,067 --> 00:47:54,771 naturalist here in Mammoth for seven years I will always argue 616 00:47:54,805 --> 00:47:58,508 that this is one of the most dynamic geological regions on 617 00:47:58,542 --> 00:48:03,547 our planet I always like to say that Yellowstone is not a place 618 00:48:03,580 --> 00:48:08,185 but a process and I don't think any one thermal basin really 619 00:48:08,218 --> 00:48:11,588 represents that and demonstrates that more than Mammoth Hot 620 00:48:11,622 --> 00:48:15,025 Springs, so here we are in the vicinity of Palette Spring. 621 00:48:15,058 --> 00:48:16,627 This is certainly one of the most dynamic 622 00:48:16,660 --> 00:48:17,828 we have in the region. 623 00:48:17,861 --> 00:48:19,329 It's constantly changing. 624 00:48:19,363 --> 00:48:21,064 You can look up here and see some of these 625 00:48:21,098 --> 00:48:22,866 really unique features. 626 00:48:22,900 --> 00:48:24,902 We have four different types of thermal features 627 00:48:24,935 --> 00:48:26,570 in Yellowstone National Park. 628 00:48:26,603 --> 00:48:30,474 We have hot springs, geysers, fume roles and mud pots. 629 00:48:30,507 --> 00:48:33,744 All you're going to see here at Mammoth are the hot springs but 630 00:48:33,777 --> 00:48:35,946 they're some of the most spectacular hot springs that 631 00:48:35,979 --> 00:48:37,981 this world has to offer. 632 00:48:38,015 --> 00:48:40,884 While there's over 10 thousand thermal feature in Yellowstone 633 00:48:40,918 --> 00:48:45,856 National Park, Mammoth and in particular Palette is certainly 634 00:48:45,889 --> 00:48:49,493 one of the more well known, so if you look up top you'll see 635 00:48:49,526 --> 00:48:53,096 where the water comes out of the vent and as that flows over 636 00:48:53,130 --> 00:48:56,133 you'll have a feature that we like to call a pulpit and then 637 00:48:56,166 --> 00:48:59,970 hanging off of that pulpit you'll see stalactites or fluted 638 00:49:00,003 --> 00:49:03,941 columns much like you'd see in a cave and many people like to 639 00:49:03,974 --> 00:49:07,911 describe this as an inside out cave that changes very rapidly, 640 00:49:07,945 --> 00:49:10,714 and then you'll get those unique cascading features when there's 641 00:49:10,747 --> 00:49:13,951 something trying to displace the flow of the water 642 00:49:13,984 --> 00:49:15,252 like one of these trees. 643 00:49:15,285 --> 00:49:18,822 Often you'll start to get the build up of a terrace formation 644 00:49:18,855 --> 00:49:22,893 those stair step like, wedding cake style formations that make 645 00:49:22,926 --> 00:49:25,796 this area so unique and then you'll get down into here and 646 00:49:25,829 --> 00:49:29,032 you'll get some of these really interesting mini terraces or 647 00:49:29,066 --> 00:49:32,269 scalloping effects, but let's talk a little bit about how this 648 00:49:32,302 --> 00:49:36,373 forms and really why this area is so dynamic. 649 00:49:36,406 --> 00:49:38,875 If you were to look up here at Mount Everts, 650 00:49:38,909 --> 00:49:42,879 Mount Everts was once underwater, 651 00:49:42,913 --> 00:49:46,350 approximately 60 to 120 million years ago. 652 00:49:46,383 --> 00:49:54,291 This region was largely sculpted by the absaroka volcanic period 653 00:49:54,324 --> 00:49:55,892 that was about 50 million years ago, 654 00:49:55,926 --> 00:49:58,795 but roughly 60 to 120 million years ago there was an inland 655 00:49:58,829 --> 00:50:01,765 ocean here in this region and when that ocean receded it 656 00:50:01,798 --> 00:50:04,601 left foils, shells and crustaceans that formed a layer 657 00:50:04,634 --> 00:50:07,270 of limestone over a thousand feet thick. 658 00:50:07,304 --> 00:50:09,973 We're sitting on a hot spot here in Yellowstone and the 659 00:50:10,007 --> 00:50:12,242 definition of a hot spot is a plume of magma 660 00:50:12,275 --> 00:50:14,111 very close to the earth's surface. 661 00:50:14,144 --> 00:50:17,214 Where most people throughout North America live that magma 662 00:50:17,247 --> 00:50:20,217 will be 21 to 50 miles beneath the earth's surface, 663 00:50:20,250 --> 00:50:23,553 here it's three to seven miles beneath the earth's surface, 664 00:50:23,587 --> 00:50:27,891 beneath the crust and so that what creates all this dynamic 665 00:50:27,924 --> 00:50:29,459 thermal activity here. 666 00:50:29,493 --> 00:50:30,761 We have a lot of snow. 667 00:50:30,794 --> 00:50:33,830 You can see anytime you visit Yellowstone it's a smart to 668 00:50:33,864 --> 00:50:37,901 bring an umbrella and some rain gear and certainly some warm 669 00:50:37,934 --> 00:50:42,706 clothes because we're at over 6500 feet in elevation right now 670 00:50:42,739 --> 00:50:45,976 and much of the Yellowstone Plateau is at over 7000 feet in 671 00:50:46,009 --> 00:50:49,112 elevation and so the weather can change drastically, 672 00:50:49,146 --> 00:50:53,183 but we have a lot of snowfall in fact we're sitting at about 226% 673 00:50:53,216 --> 00:50:56,753 of our annual snowfall on the upper Yellowstone River drainage 674 00:50:56,787 --> 00:50:59,923 and while most of that snow will work it's way into the river 675 00:50:59,956 --> 00:51:04,061 systems and we'll get spring run off and we'll have this scouring 676 00:51:04,094 --> 00:51:08,498 effect of this regions most powerful erosive process which 677 00:51:08,532 --> 00:51:11,301 is the water, the rivers coursing throughout this region. 678 00:51:11,334 --> 00:51:13,937 Some of that will work its way into the ground water, 679 00:51:13,970 --> 00:51:17,574 so in this region where you have the several most likely streams 680 00:51:17,607 --> 00:51:20,477 and channels working their way through the limestone, 681 00:51:20,510 --> 00:51:24,714 that water is heated up by the magma and when that magma heats 682 00:51:24,748 --> 00:51:27,684 the water the water wants to rise, 683 00:51:27,717 --> 00:51:30,554 but not only does the magma send up heat but it also send up 684 00:51:30,587 --> 00:51:34,391 gasses and the most important of the gasses in the Mammoth region 685 00:51:34,424 --> 00:51:37,661 is carbon dioxide because when the carbon dioxide mixes with 686 00:51:37,694 --> 00:51:41,064 the water it forms a week acidic solution, 687 00:51:41,098 --> 00:51:43,733 a carbonic acid, so now as the water is rising through the 688 00:51:43,767 --> 00:51:45,635 cracks and fissures in the limestone, 689 00:51:45,669 --> 00:51:48,338 it's eating away at that limestone and carrying it in 690 00:51:48,371 --> 00:51:51,074 solution form until it reaches the earth's surface. 691 00:51:51,108 --> 00:51:54,044 If you were to walk up to the vent here at any of these 692 00:51:54,077 --> 00:51:57,481 springs like High Manor Palette Spring you would see what looks 693 00:51:57,514 --> 00:51:58,915 like boiling water. 694 00:51:58,949 --> 00:52:01,952 The boiling temperature at this elevation is approximately 199 695 00:52:01,985 --> 00:52:05,489 degrees, the higher in elevation the lower the temperature in 696 00:52:05,522 --> 00:52:09,759 terms of your boiling point, so what you're seeing up there is 697 00:52:09,793 --> 00:52:11,061 actually gasses being released. 698 00:52:11,094 --> 00:52:13,063 You'll smell a little of that hydrogen sulfide. 699 00:52:13,096 --> 00:52:15,899 We certainly don't have the concentration of hydrogen 700 00:52:15,932 --> 00:52:20,504 sulfide you'd see throughout some of the other thermal areas, 701 00:52:20,537 --> 00:52:23,707 the geyser basins where they have a compact center where 702 00:52:23,740 --> 00:52:27,377 rhyolite is the bedrock thus a presence of sulfur and hydrogen 703 00:52:27,410 --> 00:52:29,880 sulfide, but the carbon dioxide is released. 704 00:52:29,913 --> 00:52:33,283 Once the carbon dioxide is released the bond is broken and 705 00:52:33,316 --> 00:52:36,786 the water can no longer hold the limestone in solution form and 706 00:52:36,820 --> 00:52:39,956 thus it precipitates out so where ever you see water flowing 707 00:52:39,990 --> 00:52:42,826 here, it's actively participating limestone. 708 00:52:42,859 --> 00:52:45,128 We used to say that we could see a growth of about eight to 709 00:52:45,162 --> 00:52:47,931 twelve inches in a one-year time period but in my last year 710 00:52:47,964 --> 00:52:51,535 rangering here in 2007 we documented a growth at Palette 711 00:52:51,568 --> 00:52:55,572 Spring of over a meter, and so that's one of the things that 712 00:52:55,605 --> 00:52:57,507 makes this region so dynamic. 713 00:52:57,541 --> 00:53:02,212 As this continues to grow it can either cap itself off or plug 714 00:53:02,245 --> 00:53:05,282 it's own plumbing system and since this water is all coming 715 00:53:05,315 --> 00:53:07,851 from one source and looking for the path of least resistance, 716 00:53:07,884 --> 00:53:10,387 if it can't come out of a spring where it's come out in some 717 00:53:10,420 --> 00:53:13,557 cases for decades, it'll come out somewhere else, 718 00:53:13,590 --> 00:53:16,493 so we're always asked here at the Mammoth Hot Springs, 719 00:53:16,526 --> 00:53:18,461 "Why are the springs drying up?" 720 00:53:18,495 --> 00:53:21,431 because people remember springs like Minerva Terrace and when it 721 00:53:21,464 --> 00:53:24,501 was in it's heyday it looked like this whole hill was active, 722 00:53:24,534 --> 00:53:28,071 but we believe the water level stays relatively constant in 723 00:53:28,104 --> 00:53:30,340 this region, it's just always changing, 724 00:53:30,373 --> 00:53:33,310 so when you visit the Mammoth Hot Springs take some pictures 725 00:53:33,343 --> 00:53:36,446 some of these springs that are very dynamic and active now 726 00:53:36,479 --> 00:53:38,848 because when you come back 20-25 years from now, 727 00:53:38,882 --> 00:53:43,687 when you come back three months from now it could be dry. 728 00:53:43,720 --> 00:53:47,824 A dry area could be active, this was an area that was never 729 00:53:47,857 --> 00:53:52,162 active during my time from 2002 to 2007 working as a ranger up 730 00:53:52,195 --> 00:53:55,365 here, and so it just speaks to the dynamic nature 731 00:53:55,398 --> 00:53:57,500 of the Mammoth Hot Springs. 732 00:53:57,534 --> 00:53:59,302 The colors here are quite unique. 733 00:53:59,336 --> 00:54:01,838 When you travel around Yellowstone National Park and 734 00:54:01,871 --> 00:54:06,009 you visit the thermal areas most of the colors you're going to 735 00:54:06,042 --> 00:54:09,112 see are similar to what you see here at Mammoth but you'll also 736 00:54:09,145 --> 00:54:11,348 see a lot of iron oxides and minerals. 737 00:54:11,381 --> 00:54:15,118 The mineral here is calcium carbonate or travertine, 738 00:54:15,151 --> 00:54:18,455 its deposited limestone that's the white and grey stuff the 739 00:54:18,488 --> 00:54:20,357 grey stuff is the weathered limestone, 740 00:54:20,390 --> 00:54:22,459 but all the colors you're seeing here: the yellows, 741 00:54:22,492 --> 00:54:26,563 the oranges, the greens they are what we call thermophiles. 742 00:54:26,596 --> 00:54:30,166 They're thermophilic meaning heat-loving microorganisms 743 00:54:30,200 --> 00:54:33,737 primarily bacteria and algae that need the heat and need the 744 00:54:33,770 --> 00:54:37,440 water to survive, and so you can see a lot about the dynamic 745 00:54:37,474 --> 00:54:41,478 nature of this region by looking at the colors because typically 746 00:54:41,511 --> 00:54:44,681 the hotter the water the lighter the colors. 747 00:54:44,714 --> 00:54:47,484 You can see the main run off channels there are white, 748 00:54:47,517 --> 00:54:50,253 there are most likely organisms living in that water but they're 749 00:54:50,287 --> 00:54:53,423 so microscopic we're not seeing their pigments and then the 750 00:54:53,456 --> 00:54:55,859 further you get from that you'll get into some of these darker 751 00:54:55,892 --> 00:54:59,596 colors: the algaes, the browns, the greens. 752 00:54:59,629 --> 00:55:02,732 Another thing that's really dynamic about this mammoth area 753 00:55:02,766 --> 00:55:05,702 is you can look at and area, like you see right up to the 754 00:55:05,735 --> 00:55:08,204 left, where there's no water flowing but there's color. 755 00:55:08,238 --> 00:55:11,441 If there is stark white rock with no water flowing that 756 00:55:11,474 --> 00:55:15,078 typically tells you that there's been water flowing sometime in 757 00:55:15,111 --> 00:55:17,414 the last year to year and a half, 758 00:55:17,447 --> 00:55:20,183 because after about a year and a half the rock will begin to 759 00:55:20,216 --> 00:55:22,986 weather and turn gray, but if you see colors what you're 760 00:55:23,019 --> 00:55:26,356 looking at there is essentially dead or dying thermophiles 761 00:55:26,389 --> 00:55:28,525 because they need the heat, they need the water, 762 00:55:28,558 --> 00:55:30,860 the water's not flowing there and so you're looking at their 763 00:55:30,894 --> 00:55:34,297 pigment and if you see that pigment, 764 00:55:34,331 --> 00:55:36,466 and it's bright, that can tell you that there's been water 765 00:55:36,499 --> 00:55:39,536 flowing sometime, most likely in the last two weeks, 766 00:55:39,569 --> 00:55:42,939 and so even as an amateur naturalist you can come here to 767 00:55:42,972 --> 00:55:47,143 Yellowstone, visit the Mammoth Hot Springs and certainly begin 768 00:55:47,177 --> 00:55:51,881 to experience the wonders of this incredibly dynamic area and 769 00:55:51,915 --> 00:55:56,986 it really speaks to the enigmatic and mysterious heart 770 00:55:57,020 --> 00:56:01,191 of this wild landscape. 771 00:56:01,224 --> 00:56:04,627 Narrator: With a thermal history similar to Mammoth Hot Springs, 772 00:56:04,661 --> 00:56:09,299 yet not a thermal area, the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone 773 00:56:09,332 --> 00:56:13,536 would qualify as a national park in itself. 774 00:56:13,570 --> 00:56:16,005 (Jennifer) In the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone that water 775 00:56:16,039 --> 00:56:20,243 that the Yellowstone River is flowing through is rhyolite that 776 00:56:20,276 --> 00:56:23,513 has been decayed by thermal activity underneath, 777 00:56:23,546 --> 00:56:27,684 so steam and heat are percolating through that 778 00:56:27,717 --> 00:56:32,155 rhyolite, it's kind of softening the rock and as the river flows 779 00:56:32,188 --> 00:56:34,858 through it, it is more easily cut 780 00:56:34,891 --> 00:56:38,595 and quickly erodes into the Steep Wall Canyons. 781 00:56:38,628 --> 00:56:40,730 (Mike) I certainly would not make a visit to Yellowstone 782 00:56:40,764 --> 00:56:43,900 National Park or the Yellowstone ecosystem without 783 00:56:43,933 --> 00:56:45,568 stopping at Artist Point. 784 00:56:45,602 --> 00:56:48,037 The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone I firmly believe is 785 00:56:48,071 --> 00:56:51,408 one of the most inspiring and remarkable landscapes we have in 786 00:56:51,441 --> 00:56:53,076 the northern Rockies. 787 00:56:53,109 --> 00:56:55,912 To see that canyon that is been created over the coarse of the 788 00:56:55,945 --> 00:56:59,115 last 480 thousand years. 789 00:56:59,149 --> 00:57:02,118 With all the vibrant colors you're essentially looking at 790 00:57:02,152 --> 00:57:05,588 canyon, a landscape that is rusted. 791 00:57:05,622 --> 00:57:08,625 You're seeing the oxidation of the iron 792 00:57:08,658 --> 00:57:11,261 and the colors are brilliant. 793 00:57:11,294 --> 00:57:18,101 The sulfur, that canyon has been hydrothermally altered and thus 794 00:57:18,134 --> 00:57:21,771 allowed the most powerful and erosive force we have in this 795 00:57:21,805 --> 00:57:25,408 ecosystem, water and there's no more powerful source of water 796 00:57:25,442 --> 00:57:28,578 then the Yellowstone River, the longest free flowing river in 797 00:57:28,611 --> 00:57:32,449 the lower 48 to just create that incredible canyon 798 00:57:32,482 --> 00:57:36,486 with the 308 foot plunge fall. 799 00:57:51,634 --> 00:57:54,604 Narrator: Traveling throughout Yellowstone Country, 800 00:57:54,637 --> 00:57:57,307 at any moment one can have a personal 801 00:57:57,340 --> 00:58:03,079 and unique animal experience... 802 00:58:03,112 --> 00:58:09,552 spot a bushy marmot scurrying across the hillside... 803 00:58:09,586 --> 00:58:14,858 hear the call of the Sandhill Crane... 804 00:58:14,891 --> 00:58:19,629 encounter a Black Bear... 805 00:58:19,662 --> 00:58:23,132 or come across migratory pronghorns 806 00:58:23,166 --> 00:58:28,137 in the lush Lamar Valley. 807 00:58:28,171 --> 00:58:33,576 That is the promise of wild Yellowstone... 808 00:58:33,610 --> 00:58:37,614 the promise of the Yellowstone experience. 809 00:58:37,647 --> 00:58:40,583 (Mike) Yellowstone National Park is the heartbeat of the greater 810 00:58:40,617 --> 00:58:43,753 Yellowstone ecosystem, but Yellowstone National Park itself 811 00:58:43,786 --> 00:58:48,558 as large as it is at roughly 2.2 million acres in size, 812 00:58:48,591 --> 00:58:52,462 it's approximately 3,472 square miles, 813 00:58:52,495 --> 00:58:55,465 larger that the states of Rhode Island and Delaware combined, 814 00:58:55,498 --> 00:58:59,636 is not an intact ecosystem in and of itself. 815 00:58:59,669 --> 00:59:02,205 The greater Yellowstone ecosystem or the greater 816 00:59:02,238 --> 00:59:04,941 Yellowstone area we love to call Yellowstone Country, 817 00:59:04,974 --> 00:59:06,643 which includes countless communities, 818 00:59:06,676 --> 00:59:09,846 six national forests, portions of three states, 819 00:59:09,879 --> 00:59:15,585 two national parks it adds up to over 18 million acres and that's 820 00:59:15,618 --> 00:59:18,187 what really makes this region so unique. 821 00:59:18,221 --> 00:59:23,059 Yellowstone National Park in and of itself means very little 822 00:59:23,092 --> 00:59:25,028 without the land surrounding Yellowstone. 823 00:59:25,061 --> 00:59:29,732 It certainly is the lifeblood of the region but with grizzly 824 00:59:29,766 --> 00:59:33,903 bears, bison, wolves with everything that makes this place 825 00:59:33,937 --> 00:59:38,441 so unique, Yellowstone National Park can't support a viable 826 00:59:38,474 --> 00:59:42,211 population of those animals, so for instance with the grizzly 827 00:59:42,245 --> 00:59:45,582 bear and adult male grizzly bear can have an average home range 828 00:59:45,615 --> 00:59:50,787 between 800 and two thousand square miles. 829 00:59:50,820 --> 00:59:53,523 Narrator: The highlight of each spring in Yellowstone country is 830 00:59:53,556 --> 00:59:57,226 to see a mother grizzly emerge from her winter's den 831 00:59:57,260 --> 01:00:02,498 with her playful cub in tow. 832 01:00:02,532 --> 01:00:04,968 (Mike) The grizzly bear, which I thing really speaks to the wild 833 01:00:05,001 --> 01:00:06,669 heart of Yellowstone. 834 01:00:06,703 --> 01:00:09,872 I personally as a former bear education ranger in Yellowstone 835 01:00:09,906 --> 01:00:13,209 don't believe there is a more authentic representation of 836 01:00:13,242 --> 01:00:16,846 wildness in the lower 48 than the grizzly and they've been 837 01:00:16,879 --> 01:00:18,915 reduced to less than two percent of there historic 838 01:00:18,948 --> 01:00:20,783 range in the lower 48. 839 01:00:20,817 --> 01:00:23,853 Where there was once upwards of 50 thousand grizzly bears in the 840 01:00:23,886 --> 01:00:27,657 1800s there's approximately 14 to 15 hundred left in the lower 841 01:00:27,690 --> 01:00:33,262 48 and they reside for the most part in two distinct 842 01:00:33,296 --> 01:00:35,932 populations, the Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem 843 01:00:35,965 --> 01:00:39,402 outside of Glacier National Park and the Greater Yellowstone 844 01:00:39,435 --> 01:00:42,572 Ecosystem, so this place is truly remarkable. 845 01:00:42,605 --> 01:00:48,945 It's home to one of the last genetically pure continually 846 01:00:48,978 --> 01:00:51,381 free ranging wild bison population. 847 01:00:51,414 --> 01:00:57,787 The story of the bison here is one that is treasured by people 848 01:00:57,820 --> 01:01:00,390 from all throughout the west and all over the globe. 849 01:01:00,423 --> 01:01:03,159 To go out there and see on a day like today in June where you 850 01:01:03,192 --> 01:01:06,229 have all the succulents and fecundity returning to the 851 01:01:06,262 --> 01:01:09,599 ecosystem and to see a burnt orange bison calf out there 852 01:01:09,632 --> 01:01:12,568 spastically frolicking among the grasses is just, 853 01:01:12,602 --> 01:01:15,538 it's unique to Yellowstone. 854 01:01:15,571 --> 01:01:20,343 The return of the wolf in 1995 speaks to the wild heart of this 855 01:01:20,376 --> 01:01:25,081 region, and so it really is a place like no other when it 856 01:01:25,114 --> 01:01:29,552 comes to the lower 48 states because it is so intact 857 01:01:29,585 --> 01:01:32,321 ecologically and biologically. 858 01:01:32,355 --> 01:01:35,892 Narrator: It is also home to North America's largest members 859 01:01:35,925 --> 01:01:39,228 of the deer family... 860 01:01:39,262 --> 01:01:43,299 elk... 861 01:01:43,332 --> 01:01:49,605 and moose. 862 01:01:49,639 --> 01:01:53,242 Behind only the bison, the moose is the second largest land 863 01:01:53,276 --> 01:01:58,247 animal in North America. 864 01:01:58,281 --> 01:02:01,851 This majestic, if somewhat ungainly appearing, 865 01:02:01,884 --> 01:02:08,691 1500 pound giant is the icon of Grand Teton National Park and 866 01:02:08,725 --> 01:02:16,699 one of the main reasons tourists flock to the park each year. 867 01:02:16,733 --> 01:02:20,837 Nowhere else is there a better chance of seeing one of these 868 01:02:20,870 --> 01:02:26,776 magnificent solitary creatures. 869 01:02:26,809 --> 01:02:32,849 Moose favor damp areas of brushy vegetation... 870 01:02:32,882 --> 01:02:38,888 such as that along the Snake River habitat. 871 01:02:38,921 --> 01:02:43,726 There is not a more surprising sight than a bull moose with a 872 01:02:43,760 --> 01:02:49,932 full rack of antlers... 873 01:02:49,966 --> 01:02:55,104 No more surprising sight... 874 01:02:55,138 --> 01:03:00,176 unless it is a newborn elk calf lying under an SUV in one of 875 01:03:00,209 --> 01:03:06,549 Yellowstone's campgrounds. 876 01:03:06,582 --> 01:03:11,053 Elk are the second largest antlered animals in the world, 877 01:03:11,087 --> 01:03:15,291 only moose are larger. 878 01:03:15,324 --> 01:03:20,163 Bull elk are four and a half to five feet tall at the shoulder 879 01:03:20,196 --> 01:03:27,003 and weigh between 550 and 800 pounds. 880 01:03:27,036 --> 01:03:34,677 Cow elk weigh from 450 to 600 pounds. 881 01:03:34,710 --> 01:03:38,781 While most members of the deer family are primarily browsers 882 01:03:38,815 --> 01:03:42,518 feeding on twigs and leaves of shrubs and trees, 883 01:03:42,552 --> 01:03:47,156 elk are both browsers and grazers, 884 01:03:47,190 --> 01:03:54,597 feeding extensively on grasses and forbs, as well as shrubs. 885 01:03:54,630 --> 01:03:58,935 An astonishing 30,000 elk from 7 to 8 different herds 886 01:03:58,968 --> 01:04:04,273 summer in Yellowstone... 887 01:04:04,307 --> 01:04:12,715 and approximately 15,000 to 22,000 winter in the park... 888 01:04:12,748 --> 01:04:15,885 while another 7,500 elk winter around 889 01:04:15,918 --> 01:04:20,122 Grand Teton National Park. 890 01:04:20,156 --> 01:04:23,226 Winter is the longest and most difficult time for many of 891 01:04:23,259 --> 01:04:26,229 Yellowstone country's elk 892 01:04:26,262 --> 01:04:30,366 and many of its non-migratory animals. 893 01:04:30,399 --> 01:04:36,072 Indeed, winter lasts more than half the year. 894 01:04:36,105 --> 01:04:43,079 It isn't until sometime in late May, that early wildflowers 895 01:04:43,112 --> 01:04:50,486 herald the arrival of spring in Yellowstone. 896 01:04:50,519 --> 01:04:54,523 It is also the time of calving in the park. 897 01:04:55,791 --> 01:05:00,796 [montage] 898 01:05:23,352 --> 01:05:29,091 Yellowstone Lake's winter ice finally breaks up... 899 01:05:29,125 --> 01:05:34,931 Rushing streams and rivers carry the snow melt out of the park on 900 01:05:34,964 --> 01:05:41,504 its long journey to the Pacific and Atlantic oceans. 901 01:05:41,537 --> 01:05:45,942 Then comes the high season for tourism. 902 01:05:45,975 --> 01:05:48,277 (Jennifer) Then summer comes to Yellowstone, 903 01:05:48,311 --> 01:05:51,013 things start to get a little dryer a little warmer. 904 01:05:51,047 --> 01:05:54,317 The animals change where they graze. 905 01:05:54,350 --> 01:05:59,722 As the lower elevations dry up the grasses brown up and so at 906 01:05:59,755 --> 01:06:03,292 the higher elevations where it hasn't gotten as warm or hot the 907 01:06:03,326 --> 01:06:07,029 grasses might be a little more lush and green and so the 908 01:06:07,063 --> 01:06:09,065 animals will move up in elevation where it's a little 909 01:06:09,098 --> 01:06:13,336 cooler, the grasses are a little greener and that's often when 910 01:06:13,369 --> 01:06:17,373 some of the mating seasons start to kick in as the summer 911 01:06:17,406 --> 01:06:23,145 progresses, so in august the bison will start their rut. 912 01:06:23,179 --> 01:06:26,882 You'll see big bull bison charging at each other 913 01:06:26,916 --> 01:06:29,085 and doing battle. 914 01:06:29,118 --> 01:06:31,988 They'll be rolling in the dirt and kicking up dust and 915 01:06:32,021 --> 01:06:37,093 competing for the females. 916 01:06:37,126 --> 01:06:43,599 Narrator: The arrival of fall brings cool crisp days... 917 01:06:43,632 --> 01:06:49,238 the parks' deciduous trees turn their vivid fall colors... 918 01:06:49,271 --> 01:06:53,843 and the mist from the hundreds of hot springs 919 01:06:53,876 --> 01:06:58,481 becomes more robust. 920 01:06:58,514 --> 01:07:03,886 By November winter returns... 921 01:07:03,919 --> 01:07:10,059 Whatever the season, there is no place like Yellowstone country. 922 01:07:10,092 --> 01:07:13,429 (Mike) I think when people come to Yellowstone 923 01:07:13,462 --> 01:07:15,731 they come here to get unplugged. 924 01:07:15,765 --> 01:07:18,467 They come here to experience something their grandparents 925 01:07:18,501 --> 01:07:22,471 experienced, to experience something that I think is in our 926 01:07:22,505 --> 01:07:27,610 blood that's something important for us on a spiritual level. 927 01:07:27,643 --> 01:07:31,080 I think that places like Yellowstone help to provide some 928 01:07:31,113 --> 01:07:33,516 level of spiritual sustenance. 929 01:07:33,549 --> 01:07:37,486 I think there are tangibles here and then there are the 930 01:07:37,520 --> 01:07:40,823 intangibles and the intangibles I think are one of the things 931 01:07:40,856 --> 01:07:44,126 that make Yellowstone such a remarkable landscape. 932 01:07:44,160 --> 01:07:46,896 This is a place that deeply inspires people. 933 01:07:46,929 --> 01:07:51,267 It's a place that people love, a place that people are moved by 934 01:07:51,300 --> 01:07:54,570 and I think when people visit this region and when they come 935 01:07:54,603 --> 01:07:57,540 to the Yellowstone ecosystem as a whole but certainly to 936 01:07:57,573 --> 01:08:00,743 Yellowstone National Park in many ways they're not only, 937 01:08:00,776 --> 01:08:03,579 they're not really getting unplugged, 938 01:08:03,612 --> 01:08:10,086 they're plugging into something deeply important to all of us 939 01:08:10,119 --> 01:08:13,222 who have the opportunity to visit these wild western 940 01:08:13,255 --> 01:08:16,358 landscapes and Yellowstone I believe 941 01:08:16,392 --> 01:08:20,396 is in a class all of it's own.