ACROSS THE DIVIDE
	Hippo's vacation: through the states of American Northwest, section Yellowstone, WY. CA-NV-ID-WY precedes, Montana follows.

... continued (from CA-NV-ID-WY).

	Yellowstone: hot spring at West Thumb.

	Yellowstone: last free herds of bison.

Yellowstone National Park is a sort of double ruin. For one, it is actually remains of a volcanic explosion, still active, for second, it is a blackened stage of a 1988 wildfire, which destroyed considerable portion of the park forest. Volcanic scenes are picturesque; burns are ugly.
I liked the many animals who are used to people so are easy to watch -- I was disgusted by those many crowds streaming through the park to see the animals etc.

Coming from the south, I decided to take the geyser route. A cove on Yellowstone lake, named West Thumb, indicates by its crater-like shape that it was created in a volcanic blast. There are hot mineral water springs on the shore and under the surface, saturated with sulfur and calcitic gasses. Steam escapes from holes in the ground, sometimes with a pretty intense stink to match. A few spots remind of karstic formations, yet the stalagmites and cascades lay outside in the open air, not in caves. Both flowers and the dirt they grow on, are bright with colors, accompanied by crystal clear ponds in all shades of blue.

	Yellowstone: Old Faithful Geyser.

	Yellowstone: blue gentians thrive on thermal grounds.

A whole village (stores, hotels, offices) is built around the Old Faithful and heavy machines are extending it towards the forest, where we can expect a new shopping mall and car repair shops, soon. I arrived in a real motorcade, completely unaware; only consistent stream of individuals hurrying in a certain direction led me to a thought that the geyser may be about to gush. And so it was, in half circle around a smelly hole in a top of a small mound in the middle of a rather homely meadow, hundreds, possibly a few thousand people had crowded several platforms. Every burp from the hole revivified the audience; the Japanese carefully taking picture of every steam eddy, what if this were it! During our wait, a number of other quite remarkable, tall geysers erupted in the background, yet everyone ignored them. There is only one Old Faithful.
Well finally the wait was over, though it came late by 10 minutes (they say it's getting slower and weaker). Hot water, propelled up by the onrush of gasses and vapors released through pressure difference between deep under and the surface, managed to keep splashing some 30 feet high. I had seen taller fountains -- but this one has no electrical pump and has been more reliable through years, longer than they recorded or remembered.

	Yellowstone: one of many circular springs.

	Yellowstone: an average geyser with people around.

It is a good idea to plan several hours for a walk through the geyser area; I did not plan, but spent the time walking. A creek runs through the valley relatively independent of the springs, with blue mountain gentians blooming on its volcanically colorful banks. Having finished hiking a sightseeing loop and observing the thick crowds, I parted with the idea to eat and headed towards accommodation office. The financial centrifuge works flawlessly, available rooms are always quite inconvenient for your needs, so you are forced to pay up. While I was being offered exclusively family accommodations for four or more, I am certain that teams and families were forced to accept several rooms for one or two. Eventually, I settled for a cabin somewhere 60 miles away for mere $60. Services in the park are provided by one very sticky company in a monopoly situation. The sales tax is even higher than in Silicon Valley. Disgusting.

A traveller has to tolerate arrogance and torpidity of personnel in a place of demand. The food, invariably inferior, is offered in expensive, snobby restaurants, or at carry-it-yourself buffets, where one can expect either heavy public density, or extremely poor choice of meals, often both. I would not object eating less economically were it possible at all: having entered a restaurant at 4 p.m. (I had not had any lunch that day yet), I was pompously ignored; only upon asking for food they informed me, "meals are not served now, until six o'clock." And I came there being directed right from the reception. Alas, monopoly.

	Yellowstone: face to face with an elk.

	Yellowstone Grand Canyon.

My mood improved only with the wonderful book The Stainless Steel Rat Is Born by Harry Harrison that I took with me. I drove through the rest of the Yellowstone circle, stopping at nice places, walking a bit, sitting down, reading a few pages. Evening was gently descending onto the landscape and elk slushed through mud around ponds - one did let me come quite close.

Stones are rather orange than yellow on occasion in Yellowstone, especially around hot springs. Indian tribes used to travel through the area during their hunting migrations, never really stopping, only a small group of Shoshones settled here year-long and lived in the park area till 1871. The region was not in good favor by Indians and early settlers, who feared the alien country, odd geysers, mudholes emanating strange sounds and smells. Many legends were born, occasional odd stories were regarded as hallucinations or fiction, like the one about a guy who caught a fish on a line and without taking it off the hook, he boiled it in a nearby hot spring. With the gradual discovery of the West, the area was eventually explored by the military. Two years later, in 1872, Yellowstone Park was legislatively founded as the first large National Park in USA.

	Mammoth Hot Springs.

	Elk female in the midst of hot springs.

As could be expected, I slept miserably, since teenagers were housed next door, and as teenagers do, they made loud noises till two a.m. I was glad to have my Stainless Steel Rat. By five a.m. it became clear that the students were members of one of those groups whose programs are packed full so they must rise at dawn. They left, I fell asleep.
"Housekeeping! Boom! Boom! Boom!" a maid woke me at nine, pretty girl, but bored and thoughtless. When I inquired glumly about checkout time, she turned around without a word and walked off into the distance, leaving the door open. Alas, monopoly.

So I was leaving this beautiful park rather happily, having driven over 2000 miles since the beginning. At Mammoth Hot Springs I visited a cascade of calcite pools, mailed a postcard to my parents (they carry brochures at the Tourist Information Center, but no postcards; one must buy them at a souvenir and ice cream store, though that one does not carry stamps, which can be obtained at the post office, provided it is open; if it is, you can buy nothing but stamps there). I passed under a stone arch into Montana (still highway 89) and started smiling madly: in this wonderful state, they do not have any speed limit. Let's go north!

continuing (in Montana) ...