Yellowstone National Park

A few years ago, I had the opportunity to visit Yellowstone National Park. Of all of the places I have visited, this magical place remains the one I long to return to, as I do not believe there is a place quite like it on Planet Earth. Yellowstone National Park is a national park located primarily in the U.S. state of Wyoming, although it also extends into Montana and Idaho. It was established by the U.S. Congress and signed into law by President Ulysses S. Grant on March 1, 1872.

Here are just a few interesting facts to explain my absolute fascination with this park, and below that is a sampling of some of the wildlife images I took during my visit there in 2011. If all works out, I am planning a return to Yellowstone next January to experience Yellowstone in winter.

• World's First National Park
• 2,219,789 acres (Larger than Rhode Island and Delaware combined) 
• Wildlife - 7 species of ungulates (bison, moose, elk, pronghorn), 2 species of bear and 67 other mammals, 322 species of birds, 16 species of fish and of course the gray wolf.
• Plants - There are over 1,100 species of native plants, more than 200 species of exotic plants and over 400 species of thermopholes. 
• Geology - The park is home to one of the world's largest calderas with over 10,000 thermal features and more than 300 geysers. It has one of the world's largest petrifiied forests. It has over 290 waterfalls with the 308' Lower Falls of the Yellowstone River as it's showpiece.
• Yellowstone Lake is the largest (132 sq. mi.) high altitude (7,732') lake in north america.

Ciao for now!

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