March 1, 2022 will mark the 150th anniversary of President Grant signing into law the creation of the world’s first national park—Yellowstone. My first visit was the year of its 100th anniversary, and I’ve returned to my favorite park three more times. The last in February 2017. Here are some images of two icons of Yellowstone—bison and thermals—from that visit five years ago.
Old Faithful dawn
Old Faithful is named for its reliable eruption every hour to hour and half. In the cold winter air, its steam rises high in the sky even when not erupting.
Firehole River
The Firehole River cuts through the Upper Geyser Basin which holds the largest concentration of geysers in the world. As all the thermal features drain their water into the Firehole, the river continues to flow through the frozen landscape.
Blue Star Spring
While there’s about 500 geysers in the park, over 10,000 thermal features are found. The most beautiful are the hot springs with their multi-hued bacterial mats.
Bison trio
A group of bison spent the night lying on the warm ground near a geyser, and then plowed through the snow on their way to new grounds.
Frosty bison
This lady stayed on the warm ground while the geyser steam frosted her hair with some highlights.
Feeding time
Although most calves are born in the spring, some born later in the year challenge themselves and their mothers to stay alive through the winter. The creation of Yellowstone National Park helped protect the last of the the millions of bison that had roamed the continent. Now Yellowstone cannot support the growing herds. Rather than cull the herds, the park service now cooperates with the Fort Peck Assiniboine and Sioux Tribes to transfer bison. In the last four years, 182 bison have been distributed to 18 tribes in 10 states.
Old Faithful sunrise
For the first time, the Park Service Director Chuck Sams and Interior Secretary Deb Haaland are Native Americans. Natives peoples hunted, fished, quarried, and used the thermal waters around Yellowstone for thousands of years before its creation as a park. Multiple tribes will participate in the anniversary, including the creation of a teepee village near Roosevelt Arch at the park’s north entrance.
Golden morning
Yellowstone has received more than $125 million for infrastructure funded through the Great American Outdoors Act. With about 5 million visitors each year, the park needs significant resources to protect these treasures and to safely handle the people who want to see these riches.