It was our first visit to Yellowstone National Park. We, like every other visitor that day, were transfixed by what we saw.
Fortunately we flagged down Yellowstone National Park Ranger, Chris Burke, to explain the plumes of vapors and hissing sounds. The earth was not about to open up and swallow us whole. The plumes of smoke were from the eruption of the Steamboat Geyser, less than 24 hours before our visit. We were not in danger. However, we did take note that the last six years have seen more eruptions than in the last 13 decades. Was this because of climate change, I asked Chris? He said he could not verify.
To learn more about Yellowstone National Park and its volcanic activity, please visit the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory.
Speaking of climate change, when we left Yellowstone National Park to head to Jackson, WY for the night, we were engulfed in smoke from the Park Trail Fire. The locals seemed indifferent to the chronic smoke. I felt a bit more sane when I ran into a young visiting couple from London who shared a similar dystopian disbelief as we discussed the fires as we snapped pictures of the hazy gray silhouettes of the Grand Tetons.
