Coyote

We stepped out of the car and walked on the snow.  It crackled.  It was a very distinct sound, something I never heard before.  Snow was falling again.  I looked up and let snow fall on my face.  It was pleasantly cold on my skin.  I removed my gloves and opened my palms.  Snow crystals melted as quickly as they make contact.  They say no two snow crystals are alike.  And how many are there in each snowfall?  Remarkable!   As we were driving towards Grant Village on Lake Country, a coyote loped across a meadow.  We stopped, but not long enough to see him find and catch his dinner.  What could it be?  And what must he be thinking of us and our sudden intrusion into his peaceful world? 

Wildfire

At Madison junction I noticed new growth of lodgepole pines interspersed by the eerie charred remains of their predecessors that were consumed by the wildfires of 1988.  At the time, Armageddon has fallen, eating up more than half of Yellowstone.  There were over 25,000 firefighters and thousands of soldiers were called in to help the civilian crews.  Smoke columns from the park became visible as far as 500 miles away, and ash fell over 100 miles away. 

To emphasize the immensity of the ‘88 wildfires, Dan Sholly, Chief Ranger, of Yellowstone NP noted that - “All the land features – rivers, canyons, meadows – that usually stop a forest fire’s progress were proving to be worthless. This was a barbarian of a forest fire – ruthless and unpredictable.”  He continued in saying that - “Every single one of our predictions had turned out to be wrong, as well as those of five of the top fire-behavior specialists in the world.  The problem was that no one had ever seen fire behavior like this before.  The book on projecting wildfire was seemingly being re-written by Satan himself.” 

Volcanic

Fumaroles or steam vents are the hottest hydrothermal features in the Yellowstone. They have so little water that they all flash into steam before reaching the surface.  They hiss and emit vapors rich in sulfuric acid that breaks rocks, turning it down into clay to form mud pots.  Hot springs are the most common hydrothermal features.  Due to their natural plumbing, and circulation called convection, they are prevented from erupting.  Superheated water cools as it reaches the surface, then sinks, and is replaced by hotter water from below.  Geysers on the other hand are a type of geothermal feature that erupt scalding hot water. Old Faithful is the most famous and goes up to over 100 feet.  But it is hardly the most spectacular when compared with one like Steamboat Geyser, the world’s largest.  The rangers at the park said that when Steamboat erupts, it roars like a tornado for hours and throws up a boiling plume over 380 feet, expelling over a million gallons of water.  New Zealand and Iceland are known for geysers, but nowhere are there as many as in Yellowstone.

Grizzly

Back in the car, we turned east to Roosevelt Country to visit Tower Falls.  On the way to the lookout, we passed by a sign that says our safety was not guaranteed if we went on the trail.  It means that in Yellowstone’s backcountry, man is no longer number one, and that out there, are things a lot more powerful.  Our eyes suddenly became as alert as our feet because right here, grizzly bears wander when they’re hungry.  Its powerful jaws can crack bones and one swing of its paw can cause instant decapitation.   

Old Faithful

In the morning we got up early to our first amazing experience with Old Faithful geyser.  With an average of 92 minutes interval, we were in for the predicted 7:17am eruption that may last just over 2 minutes.  It was already a few minutes past 7 o’clock and people started to gather on the platform for the show to begin.  The walkways surrounding it as well as the benches were frosted, so it’s slippery and very cold.  Mist let out from our mouths as we exhale.  Then we heard the unmistakable gurgling sound underneath, and the steady rising of water from its vent.  Within seconds water shot a hundred feet vertically up.  Our gaze followed, and for a time nothing else mattered.  Nature does that to you.  

Bison

Up ahead on the road, we saw shaggy mounds of humps and horns.  They were a herd of bison that bedded down on our path.  I coasted to a stop in appreciation of this unexpected welcome party, but mainly because we couldn’t move any further.  Suddenly, the largest of the bison snorted and looked at out direction.  I swallowed hard.  Would he charge?  If he did, there was no way I could get the car turned around in time.  He easily weighed close to a ton and we will be trampled like frogs.  After a while, it seemed to me that they were bivouacked for the night so I decided to rev the engine and dart toward the glossy-eyed roadblocks.  In a flash, the herd sprang upright and stampeded ahead on the road.  For at least a hundred meters, they refused to yield to us until they plunged like small humpback whales into a ravine.

Spare Me Some Money, Dude?

Unpleasant encounters make an experience fuller and more meaningful. - I and the Filipinas I met working at the Ritz were riding inside the metro when a hulking vagrant dressed in rags hopped in from a station when it stopped.  I was seated near the door and on the aisle side.  Wafts of the most disgusting odor came with this guy.  I tried to avoid eye contact and held my breath hoping he will pass me by quickly.  But he stopped and leaned closer to look into my eyes while asking for money.  I almost vomited at his face.  The smell was so strong like a mixture of decaying organic matter of the grossiest kind, it almost knocked me unconscious.  I felt relieved when he moved on to the other passengers.  And on the next stop, he was out, but his filthy smell hang in the air like a nightmare.     

Invalides

Invalides is a military museum chronicling WWI, WWII and the medieval wars especially that of Napoleon Bonaparte’s conquests.  There are many collections and memorabilia but the one I like best is the Medieval room which is devoted to the wars of the 13^th, 14^th and 15^th centuries exhibiting armour and military weapons, and in particular a remarkable collection of swords.  The great emperor Napoleon Bonaparte has a tomb inside in what is called the Dome Church which has been converted into a military pantheon.  Surrounded by other great military leaders, the emperor is encased in successive 5 coffins, one made of tin, one of mahogany, two of lead and one of ebony.  And in 1989, the massive golden dome and its decorations directly above Napoleon’s sarcophagus were re-gilded using 12 kilograms of gold!  Remarkable!