Wyoming

WYOMING – THE EQUALITY STATE

First of all, I want to make a confession. I wanted to write an article about Yellowstone. As there is no category for the same, I am writing a review about WYOMING with major part of my review being about Yellowstone. I shall delve into a brief history about WYOMING.

HISTORY

Wyoming is the 9th largest state in US, area-wise and the least populated one (About half a million). There are very few cities in Wyoming and the most populated one being “Cheyenne” which is its state capital. Wyoming has many US military installations and is the second largest Uranium producer for the US. Wyoming, along with Colorado is almost like a rectangular shaped state, if you see in a map, although it is not exactly so. :)

Wyoming has one of the great wonders of the nature called Yellowstone, which I am going to explore in detail. Wyoming came into light by the migrants who used the Oregon trail before some of them built Ft. Laramie. It got its sobriquet of “Equality State” in 1925 as it became the first state to given women the right to vote. (Another piece of trivia here – The first country to allow women to vote is New Zealand). The major cities in Wyoming are Cheyenne, Casper, Laramie, Gillette and Cody.

Wyoming gets its name from the Delaware Indian tribe word called “maugh-wau-wa-ma” meaning large plains. It was also the first site for ICBM (Inter Continental Ballistic Missile) at the beginning of the cold war. The entrepreneurs JC Penney, US VP Dick Cheney are some of the proud sons of Wyoming.

As mentioned, the major attractions in Wyoming are the tourist destinations. I have visited many of them myself. In no particular order the star attractions are

MY Experiences in WYOMING

One fine day in 1999, some of my friends asked me what I am doing for the long-weekend. I said I had no plans. They asked me if I would like to go to “Yellowstone”? Without a hesitation, I said, “YES”. A few phone calls and some trips to AAA to get maps and plan for the trip, we were on the road. We reached the place after 10 hours of grueling drive (at least for me, as I drove for 5 straight hours in the night!!) we landed in a motel nearby place called Jackson. Jackson is a place much nearer to Grand Teton National Park. Grand Teton itself is a Grand National park. As we didn’t have enough time to visit fully, we saw few places while we can and headed straight into Yellowstone.

YELLOWSTONE

Yellowstone National park is one of the most popular national parks anywhere in the world. It is the second largest national park in the continental united states (Death Valley being the largest, after it was included. – Alaskan ones are twice or thrice the size of Yellowstone). It is one of the highly visited national parks (Great Smoky Mountain is the #1) in the US. It is spread over an area of 2219789 acres. Incidentally, the Yellowstone was the cause of creation of the National Park System of the US in 1872, as it was the first National Park created in US for its sheer beauty, geological, environmental and historical importance. Yellowstone became much more popular after the great wildfires it had in 1988 that caused severe damage to this great place. The rubbles of that fire were still visible when I visited Yellowstone in 1999.

Yellowstone has so many beautiful things to see, all in one place. Yellowstone is spread over Wyoming (91%), Idaho(1.8%) and Montana(Remainder). Yellowstone is also a camouflage of natural wonders. This is a place where you can see volcanic activity, a serene waterfall, an enchanting lake, a breath-taking mountain valley, awesome geysers, intriguing hot-springs whilst watching the humongous Bisons staring at you with elks moving across. You will also see wonderful flora spanning across some 2 million odd acres for your viewing pleasure. Some of the wild-life you’ll see are the bald eagles, bison, osprey, elk, moose, antelope, grizzlies and black bears among others.

What will you say if you can have a mini experience of visiting Grand-canyon, Rocky Mountains, Niagara Falls, Hot Springs Site, A wild life preserve, Smoky mountains all in a single place? If you want one, this is the place to be.

Yellowstone has many star attractions. Some of them to list are

In Yellowstone you can find Geysers, Fumaroles, Mudpots and Hot Springs all in many places. I shall delve into details about couple of things.

Old Faithful

This is the most famous spot in Yellowstone. This is very punctual and predictable leading to the name. The geyser eruptions happen exactly every 80 minutes (It was 76 minutes before and earthquake). It lasts for1 to 5 minutes. Many people stay the entire day doing nothing but watch “Old faithful” erupt dutifully.    The old faithful rises to an astonishing 184 feet. Watching forcefully steaming water rising to such heights is just wonderful experience, may I add? Our guide at the point was a funny chap who butter-coated his talk with a beautiful story. As the saying going twos a company, threes a crowd, we had to rush as 10 of us were at the place. J I would have loved to see it few more times. (We did see it twice). This place also has loops and walkways wherein you can see the other geysers in action. There are just so many. It is not allowed to touch the smaller ones, as it is chemically active sometimes.

You can see it to believe it via https://yellowstoneparknet.com/geninfo/info_web_cams.htm

Grand Canyon

This is a spot loved by many as it has similar viewpoints as those in Grand Canyon, although not as Grand. This spot is one of the most popular after the Old Faithful and is much looked forward to place in Yellowstone

Waterfalls

This is also a grandeur spot in Yellowstone. This is due to the geological nature of Yellowstone. This 308 feet(small) waterfall is an artist’s dream. You can spend a few minutes here.

Mammoth Hot Springs

This is an excellent place to visit as this is the other wonder in Yellowstone that pulls visitors. Although not active at all the times, it is a geological wonder that causes many scientists to intrigue about. In Yellowstone park net (https://yellowstoneparknet.com/geninfo/geothermal_terraces.htm) description “a rarer kind of spring is born when the hot water ascends through the ancient limestone deposits of the area instead of the silica-rich lava flows of the hot springs common elsewhere in the park. The results are strikingly different and unique”

Continued in the comments section.

Kalil