Trek of Yellowstone National Park Wyoming State Historical Society June 21-23, 2002 A Mile-by-Mile History Excursion Around Yellowstone's Grand Loop Road Prepared for the Wyoming State Historical Society By Lee H. Whittlesey and Aubrey L. Haines Photo (above): Union Pacific Railroad "offical car" (YPT bus number 316) at Mammoth Hotel, probably in 1925. Bus 316 was one of the White Motor Company series B-5 ten-passenger vehicles, purchased in 1925 by the YPT Company. The following notes, prepared for the Wyoming Historical Society's 2002 Yellowstone trek, are a combination of those belonging to Lee Whittlesey and those of Aubrey L. Haines. These notes concentrate on park history as opposed to park science, but our tour bus commentators utilized science whenever it became necessary or relevant during the trek. Yellowstone is our oldest national park but no longer the largest in the U.S., as at least six parks in Alaska are larger. It is 3,472 square miles (2.2 million acres) in size which is slightly larger than the combined states of Rhode Island and Delaware. It has over 300 miles of roads. Imagine the park as a rectangle 54 miles by 63 miles in size. It has five entrances and is composed of land in Wyoming (96%), Montana (3%), and Idaho (1%), but the park is under exclusive federal jurisdiction and predates the three states in age by twenty years. Some state laws (such as traffic laws) apply where there is no equivalent federal law, but otherwise federal law is supreme here. MAMMOTH HOT SPRINGS JUNCTION TO NORRIS JUNCTION ROAD SECTION Mile 0.0 — 21.3 Mammoth Hot Springs Junction (reset mileage at headquarters flagpole). Fort Yellowstone at left, built by the U .S. Army (1891-1913) during its 32-year occupation of the park for protection purposes. Today's park rangers wear the "hats" as a salute to the old U.S. Army campaign hat. The army arrived in 1886 and was not supposed to stay long, but ended up staying for 32 years, doing (in the opinion of most historians) an effective and efficient job of protecting Yellowstone National Park from poaching, vandalism, souvenir collecting, and forest fires. Construction of Fort Yellowstone began in 1891, with the buildings shown in this photo. Mile 0.1 — 21.2 Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel and dining room stand exactly on the site of the "National Hotel" built in 1883, almost completely remodeled 1911-13, and replaced by the present hotel in 1936-37. The National was a Queen Anne style building "with an air of discomfort" about it – an early creation of L.F. Burrington, father of the American skyscraper. The current building is essentially the third hotel to stand on the site. Yellowstone's first large hotel boasted electric lights. Designed by L.F. Burrington Mile 0.2 — 21.1 Hamilton Store was built in 1895 and was then known as the Henderson-Lyall Store. (A sinkhole to the east gives the viewer a good idea of just how deep the travertine deposits that underlie the entire Mammoth area are.) The gas station is a historic building, erected in 1920. The new NPS restroom stands on the site of the former Cottage Hotel which was built in 1885 by the Henderson family to compete at a cheaper rate with the then larger National Hotel. Lyall-Hederson store at Mammoth, about 1897. This was Mammoths second store. Mile 0.3 — 21.0 At east, the gray building is the Executive House, built in 1907-08 from designs by architect Robert Reamer, for Harry W. Child, then head of the Yellowstone Park Hotel Company and Transportation Company. The building has always housed the presidents of the park's main concessioner and today it continues to do so, as General Manager Jim McCaleb makes it home today. Mile 0.3 — 21.0 Liberty Cap, the cone of an extinct hot spring, was named from its resemblance to the peaked caps worn in the French Revolution; just beyond it is the Devil's Thumb – one of about eight park features that today retain a name with satanic association. At least 56 such names once graced Yellowstone's map. That nomenclature, which was considered so appropriate in a time of fire-and-brimstone theology, has largely been replaced with other designations. Probably a member of the Hayden Survey at Mammoth Terraces, 1872. McCartney's cabin, the first building and hotel at Mammoth, once stood in the draw of Clematis Gulch behind the present stone building now occupied by Yellowstone's U.S. Judge and Commissioner. Built in 1871, McCartney's cabin was destroyed by an accidental fire in 1912 while it was in use as a Chinese laundry. The Crude Wooden shack known as McCartney's Hotel was built at Mammoth Hotel Springs in 1871. Mile 0.4 — 20.9 The Mammoth Hot Springs, named in 1883 from their great size, have been since 1871 the main tourist attraction in this area. Formed of calcium carbonate (travertine), these hot springs discharge around 500 gallons per minute of hot water and deposit up to two tons per day of calcium carbonate, the same material from which today's TUMS and ROLAIDS (stomach medicines) are made. In the far different world of the nineteenth century, they were used for bathing by visitors who were "taking the waters" for health reasons. Liberty Cap the most distinctive hot springs formation at Mammoth Hot Springs, 1871. Mile 0.6 — 20.7 The parking area at right was the site of Camp Sheridan (1886-1915), the army's temporary headquarters in the park prior to the commencement of Fort Yellowstone in 1891. The "Norris Blockhouse," formerly on the top of Capitol Hill to the left of the road here, served as the first park headquarters. Superintendent P.W. Norris built it in 1879, complete with an armored turret for defense against Indians. It was torn down in 1909. Directly behind these buildings stands the front of the Mammoth Terraces, named from left to right (south to north) as follows: Canary Spring, Marble Terrace, Pulpit Terrace, Jupiter Terrace, and Mound Terrace. Mile 0.8 — 20.5 The old Army Cemetery is at the east surrounded by a green fence. It received burials from 1888 to 1917, with one final burial occurring in 1957, a woman whose husband and daughter had died more than fifty years earlier. In 1917, the army moved its soldiers from this cemetery to the cemetery at Little Bighorn Battlefield, leaving (strangely) their wives and children here. Mile 0.9 — 20.4 A section of original stagecoach road can be seen at west which was probably in use as early as the late 1880s. Mile 1.4 — 19.9 Side road to NPS housing area. Mile 1.9 — 19.4 The Main Terrace is before you. The term refers to the expanse of deposited limestone (travertine) on our level. Many of the features here bear classical names such as Jupiter Terrace, Minerva Terrace, Diana Spring, and Naiad Springs. Mile 2.1 — 19.2 Entrance to Upper Terrace Drive (open to autos in summer and used for cross-country skiing in winter). Angel Terrace, which reactivated in the late 1980s after having been dormant for around fifty years, was named about 1895 for the Angel of Health. That name was probably left over from even earlier days when the spring was called "Bethesda" and was used for bathing. An early guidebook writer praised the beauty of "Bethesda Geyser," "by the warmth of which invalids have already been cured, the Angel of Health continually stirring the waters." Mile 3.2 — 18.1 The small lake below the road is named Africa Lake from its shape. It was formerly called "Beatty Lake" for an unfortunate truck driver who rode his vehicle down into it in 1931. Mile 3.6 — 17.7 The Silver Gate preserves a section of the original road built by the United States Engineers in 1883 through this jumble of huge limestone blocks plucked from the rim of Terrace Mountain (above right) probably by glaciers and landsliding. These huge stones are called the Hoodoos, an 1880s name which means a person or thing that causes bad luck. Mile 4.6 — 16.7 Golden Gate, which we are now entering, is a short canyon providing a route onto Swan Lake Flats. The name refers to the gold-colored lichens on the canyon wall. A road was first built through here in 1885, by Lt. Dan Kingman of the U.S. Engineers. He used a wooden trestle to pass around the cliff. Captain Chittenden replaced that with a concrete viaduct in 1901, and it was rebuilt in 1934 and again in 1977. The rock pillar here is known as the Pillar of Hercules, probably a tribute to the Herculean feat of road-building at this spot, and it has been moved and replaced each time the bridge has been worked on. Mile 4.7 — 16.6 Rustic Falls (47 feet high) was named by Superintendent Norris in 1879. Mile 5.1 — 16.2 The mountains in view from here are, from right to left, Electric Peak (10,992 feet) named by Hayden Survey topographers from their "hair-raising" experience involving electricity on top of the mountain; Quadrant Mountain (10,216 feet), with the long up-slope to the left; Bannock Peak (10,323 feet); Antler Peak (10,023 feet), and the Mount Holmes group, which are the four summits at far left. They represent the southern-most extension of the Gallatin Range (its northern end is at Bozeman, Montana). Electric Peak was named from the following circumstances, described by Henry Gannett, who ascended the mountain July 26, 1872: "A thunder-shower was approaching as we neared the summit of the mountain. I was above the others of the party, and, when about fifty feet below the summit, the electric current began to pass through my body. At first I felt nothing, but heard a crackling noise, similar to a rapid discharge of sparks from a friction machine. Immediately after, I began to feel a tingling or pricking sensation in my head and the ends of my fingers, which, as well as the noise, increased rapidly, until, when I reached the top, the noise, which had not changed its character, was deafening, and my hair stood completely on end, while the tingling, pricking sensation was absolutely painful. Taking off my hat partially relieved me. I started down again, and met the others twenty-five or thirty feet below the summit. They were affected similarly, but in a less degree. One of them attempted to go to the top, but had proceeded but a few feet when he received quite a severe shock, which felled him as if he had stumbled. We then returned down the mountain about three hundred feet, and to this point we still heard and felt the electricity." Mile 5.9 — 15.4 Swan Lake is sometimes frequented by rare trumpeter swans, who nest in its marshy shallows, trying to avoid marauding coyotes. Mile 6.1 — 15.2 The patchy timber to the west was the site of the Wylie Camping Company's tent-camp, a lodging place for tourists from 1906 through 1916, the final year of stagecoaches on the Yellowstone tour. In 1917, seven and eleven-passenger busses replaced stagecoaches which had served the park since the late 1870s. Mile 7.6 — 13.7 Service road to west leads to NPS water supply aqueduct. Mile 8.1 — 13.2 The side road leads to Sheepeater Cliff, a basaltic cliff named for the mountain-dwelling Shoshonean Indians – the Sheepeaters – who were the park's only Indian inhabitants when white men arrived. Mile 8.3 — 13.0 Cross Gardner River, named for Johnson Gardner, a respected if illiterate fur trapper, who trapped beaver in this area in the early 1830s. Gardner's Hole, a large valley to the west, is also named for him. Mile 8.7 — 12.6 The side road leads to Indian Creek Campground, on the site of a Shaw and Powell permanent camp that appears to have existed 1900-1916. Such camps housed tourists in canvas tents rather than in hotels – a low-cost way to see the park during the stagecoach era. Mile 9.0 — 12.3 Willow Park for next mile and a half or so, named from the prevalence of willows along the stream which is called Obsidian Creek. Willows are a favorite food of moose, and this meadow was a favorite camping area for early stagecoach tourists. Mile 11.4 — 9.9 Apollinaris Spring provides a faintly sour-tasting water reminiscent of that from the spring in Germany for which it was named. "Apollinaris Water" is a commercial beverage from there that is still produced today. Apollinaris Spring was used by thirsty Yellowstone stagecoach travelers as early as 1885. Employees rehearse for a 1926 play at Appollinaris Spring. Mile 12.7 — 8.6 Obsidian Cliff is a rock face containing volcanic glass. It has been identified as a place from which Indians quarried material for arrowheads and spear-points. It is one of Yellowstone's six National Historic Landmarks, and the only one that is a natural feature rather than a building. Beaver Lake (almost dry) has an old beaver dam a thousand feet in length. Mile 13.8 — 7.5 Cross Lemonade Creek, so named from its yellowish-green color caused by acidic thermal springs. Stories of stagecoach drivers dipping water from the creek and carrying a "small bag of sugar along to treat their party to cold lemonade hardly distinguishable from the real article" (Randall, 1961, p. 57) may also have been responsible for the name, although the stream is warm, acidic, and unfit to drink. Mile 15.4 — 5.9 The hill north of the road at the abrupt curve is called Brickyard Hill because clay obtained here was used to make bricks for Fort Yellowstone chimneys. Mile 15.6 — 5.7 The hot springs along both sides of Obsidian Creek are known as the Clearwater Springs. Several careless visitors who ignored the posted warning signs have been burned here by hot springs. Mile 16.0 — 5.3 The quiescent pool at the right of the road is Semi-Centennial Geyser, so named because it erupted violently (300 feet high) in 1922, the fiftieth year of the park, and created such a stir that it was reported in newspapers around the nation. It has been called the park's most northerly geyser. Mile 16.2 — 5.1 Roaring Mountain was named by the U.S. Geological Survey in 1885. Its hissing steam vents reached a peak of activity in 1902. Mile 17.0 — 4.3 Twin Lakes (North Twin Lake and South Twin Lake). The north lake is warmer than the south because of hot springs in and around it. Thus it freezes later and thaws earlier than the south lake. Neither lake contains fish. These two lakes were once known as "Mystery Lake" and "Myrtle Lake" for reasons that are presently unknown. Mile 17.8 — 3.5 Bijah Spring is a large alkaline hot spring just west of the road. Its name is of uncertain origin, but dates from as early as 1884. Mile 18.4 — 2.9 Nymph Lake is believed by geologists to be a hydrothermal explosion crater and is nearly 100 feet deep. It is more like a giant, overgrown thermal spring than a lake and contains no fish. It is named for the nymphaea, a genus of waterlily. Mile 18.6 — 2.7 Frying Pan Spring (both sides of road) resembles hot grease sputtering on a griddle, but its appearance is misleading. Gas bubbles ascending through cold water produce the effect. Stagecoach drivers used to spoof tourists here, telling them the birds nearby drank so much hot water that their nests were full of hard-boiled eggs. If challenged about that, a driver could always claim he was behind schedule, otherwise the doubting Thomas could walk into the woods and quickly prove the story false because of the cold water. Mile 18.8 — 2.5 Hazle Lake was named for its color by early park tour guide G .L. Henderson (who misspelled hazel) about 1888. Mile 19.4 — 1.9 Altered rhyolite area (whitish rocks). One Hundred Spring Plain area of Norris Geyser Basin is visible to the west. Mile 19.6 — 1.7 Norris Geyser Basin Overlook. Mile 20.4 — 0.9 The side road leads to the old Norris Soldier Station, which today is the "Museum of the National Park Ranger." Portions of the Norris Soldier Station have been carefully preserved as an example of a typical outpost building from the park's army era. During that time period, a non-commissioned officer and several privates were stationed at each point of interest in the park to regulate visitor use and protect against vandalism and fire in summer and to prevent poaching in fall and winter. Mile 20.3 — 0.8 Cross Gibbon River. Mile 20.2 — 0.7 A large hotel was built on the rise at the right of the road in 1886, but was never used by the traveling public. When it opened in the spring of 1887, someone built a fire in a stove connected to a chimney that had been left unfinished in the attic. That burned the new hotel down. Tents and ramshackle wooden buildings located here (on the concrete pullout along with a telephone and interpretive signs) then served Norris for years afterward, until 1901 when the final Norris Hotel (located just north of the geyser basin) opened for business. Philetus W. Norris (1821-1885) NORRIS JUNCTION TO MADISON JUNCTION ROAD SECTION Mile 21.1 — 0.2 Norris Junction (the 1966 incarnation). Norris Geyser Basin to west. It was named by park superintendent P.W. Norris for himself sometime 1877-1882. It contains hundreds of hot springs and geysers. A geyser is a special type of hot spring that periodically sends its water into the air. All geysers are hot springs, but not all hot springs are geysers. Steamboat Geyser, the world's tallest active geyser (380 feet) is located here at Norris, but it erupts only rarely (most recently on May 2, 2000). Mile 0.0 (Reset mileage at Norris Junction) Mile 1.0 — 12.4 Back Basin of Norris Geyser Basin is visible to the north and west. The most obvious large springs are called the Gray Lakes from their color. Mile 1.6 — 11.8 Elk Park. Elk are often seen here along the Gibbon River. Mile 2.9 — 10.5 The Chocolate Pots along Gibbon River have been built up by tepid springs which are heavily impregnated with iron compounds. Gibbon River is named for General John Gibbon, the army officer who fought the Nez Perce Indians at the battle of the Big Hole in western Montana. He led an exploring party up this stream in 1872. Mile 3.3 — 10.1 Gibbon Meadows, named as early as 1881, was used by early tourists for camping. Mile 4.0 — 9.4 Trail to east leads to Artists' Paintpots, a part of the Gibbon Geyser Basin. The area was named as early as 1884 from the bright, colorful mud springs which reminded geologists of an artist's palette. Mile 4.8 — 8.6 A trail beginning at this bridge leads to the Monument Geyser Basin. The basin takes its name from a peculiarly-shaped geyser cone often called the Thermos Bottle Geyser. This basin was regularly visited by park visitors of the 1880s but is seldom visited today except by geyser enthusiasts. Mile 5.1 — 8.3 Beryl Spring [pronounced BURL not BARREL] is one of a number of hot springs where the water is super-heated, that is, at a temperature above the normal boiling point of water at this altitude. The name Beryl was given circa 1884 for the blue-green gemstone, whose color the water here imitates. Mile 6.6 — 6.8 The trace of an old road (across the river, left) continuing southward is a remnant of the original "Norris Road" built by the park's second superintendent (1877-1882) in 1878. It was a very rough wagon track from Mammoth Hot Springs to Old Faithful, built in only a few weeks by Norris and about twenty laborers. Mile 6.7 — 6.7 Tanker Curve, so named because an oil tanker overturned and caught fire here in 1970. Mile 8.1 — 5.3 Cross Secret Valley Creek. Mile 8.7 — 4.7 Gibbon Falls at the left of road, 84 feet high. Prior to 1886, the road was on the east side of the falls here, and stagecoach visitors had to scramble down a difficult trail to see it. Mile 12.1 — 1.3 The escarpment rising above the road is of tuff [spell], a compacted, volcanic ash which is soft and easily eroded. Thus the face of this cliff has a peculiarly pock-marked appearance and it is called Tuff Cliff. Mile 12.7 — 0.7 Terrace Spring is a small lake about 125 feet by 350 feet which has a temperature of about 141 degrees F. and which discharges about 1220 gallons per minute. It formerly had one nearby feature which held water at just the right temperature for pleasant bathing which was known as the Bath Tub. On the night of the great Yellowstone earthquake-August 17, 1959-a couple from West Yellowstone were enjoying the waters when the ground shook and the next moment they were sitting in a dry basin. They reportedly left in great confusion. MADISON JUNCTION TO OLD FAITHFUL INTERCHANGE ROAD SECTION Mile 13.4 Madison Junction (Junction with road to West Yellowstone). Mile 0.0 (Reset mileage at Madison Junction). Madison Museum at west. Mile 0.2 — 15.8 National Park Mountain, which overlooks the junction of the Gibbon and Firehole rivers (the two headwaters of Madison River) takes it name from the fact that the Washburn party of explorers camped here on September 19, 1870, and supposedly discussed the advisability of making the Yellowstone area into a public park. Mr. Langford's 1905 book The Discovery of Yellowstone Park claims a great deal more for this campfire conversation than subsequent historians have believed. Mile 0.3 — 15.7 Cross Gibbon River. Mile 0.5 — 15.5 The one-way scenic loop road follows the Firehole River, passing Firehole Falls (40 feet high) and rejoining the main road at the Cascades of the Firehole. The name of the river is very old, appearing first on the DeSmet map of 1851. It is of fur trapper origin and probably refers to a time when the Madison Valley was devastated by a great forest fire (most historians believe it was nQ1 a reference to the appearance of the geyser basins). Mile 2.3 — 13.7 Exit of Firehole Canyon Drive (one-way from other end). Mile 3.1 — 12.9 Christmas Tree Rock, in center of Firehole River. A lodgepole pine tree grows right out of the rock, breaking the rock into soil. This tree has for many years been decorated Christmas-style by park employees each August 25 as they celebrate Yellowstone's "Christmas in August." This long tradition began in the 1940s when it was called "Savage Christmas," and was an excuse for park employees to have parties. Such employees were, until the 1970s, called "savages." Mile 5.6 — 10.4 The side road was formerly known as the Fountain Freight Road (today it is called Fountain Flats Drive) and was used to detour wagon traffic around the Lower Geyser Basin. An early hotel, the Marshall House, built in 1880 to accommodate visitors reaching the park from Virginia City by way of the present west entrance, stood in the trees south of the picnic area, just across the bridge over Nez Perce Creek. The grave of Mattie S. Culver, wife of a hotel winter-keeper and who died of tuberculosis there in March of 1889, can be seen near the picnic area. Mile 6.2 — 9.8 Cross Nez Perce Creek, formerly called the "East Fork of Madison River." It got its current name from the Nez Perce Indians who captured a party of tourists near here in 1877 and then traveled up the stream in trying to escape pursuing U.S. Army troops. A recent book about that campaign is by Jerome Greene and is entitled Nez Perce Summer, 1877. Mile 6.3 — 9.7 Porcupine Hills, two thermally-cemented glacial moraines, are east of the road. Southbound you are entering Fountain Flats, a name given to the entire valley from the area's most famous geyser which is Fountain Geyser. Mile 7.8 — 8.2 The low, rocky ridge through which the road passes was the site of the Fountain Hotel (east of road). Opened in 1891, it was the first large hotel in the geyser basins, and it faced south so that visitors might have a view of Fountain Geyser and vicinity. Made obsolete by the opening of Old Faithful Inn in 1904, this great hotel was abandoned after the 1916 season and torn down in 1927. It boasted geyser water in its baths and spawned the legend of a ghost who rang call bells at odd hours. The truth was: some wires got crossed in a pack rat's nest and that rang the bells. Mile 8.2 — 7.8 This thermal area of Lower Geyser Basin is best known for its Fountain Paint Pot, a bubbling mud phenomenon caused mainly by escaping gases. There are numerous geysers here, including the famous Fountain Geyser which gave its name to the valley, the paint pots, and the old hotel. Clepsydra Geyser is also here (from the Greek meaning water clock). This area has been the main tourist attraction in this area since the 1870s and it heavily affected activity at the nearby Fountain Hotel during the period 1891 through 1916. Mile 9.1 — 6.9 The side road is a one-way loop drive which passes many geysers and hot springs, including Great Fountain Geyser, a 100 to 230-foot geyser discovered by the Folsom party in 1869. Mile 9.3 — 6.7 The meadow to the east is Whiskey Flats, The name is of uncertain origin, but probably referred to stagecoach drivers caching illicit whiskey bottles here. Mile 10.5 — 5.5 Midway Geyser Basin contains the crater of Excelsior Geyser. This 300-foot-wide monster erupted in the 1880s to 300 feet high and 300 feet wide! Although it had 6 to 120-foot eruptions in 1985, its last large activity was probably in 1901. Large and well documented eruptions occurred in 1881, 1882, 1888, and 1890. The steaming caldron that remains today is 300 feet wide and continues to discharge over 4000 gallons of hot water per minute into Firehole River. Arguably this was Yellowstone's greatest historic geyser. Nearby is the Grand Prismatic Spring, where refraction of light creates rainbow colors in the rising vapor. Mile 11.1 — 4.9 Muleshoe Bend of Firehole River. Mile 11.4 — 4.6 Cross Rabbit Creek. Mile 11.6 — 4.4 Fountain Flats Drive exit (one-way from other end, and drivable only in winter by snow vehicles). Mile 12.1 — 3.9 Mallard Creek trailhead. Mile 12.9 — 3.1 Firehole River. The name of the river is very old, appearing first on the DeSmet map of 1851. It is of fur trapper origin and probably refers to a time when the Madison Valley was devastated by a great forest fire (most historians believe it was not a reference to the appearance of the geyser basins). Mile 14.0 — 2.0 We are entering the Upper Geyser Basin, which from the number and size of its geysers, is arguably the world's greatest geyser basin. Biscuit Basin (a part of Upper Geyser Basin) takes its name from the biscuit-like rock formations that surrounded Sapphire Pool prior to the 1959 earthquake. There are dozens of geysers and hot springs here, including Island Geyser (on the island in the river) and Rusty Geyser, both of which can usually be seen erupting, because they erupt often. Ahead and to the right are the Hillside Springs, so red in color because of their colorful bacteria, that they were known as "Tomato Soup Springs" to early park stagecoach drivers. Mile 14.1 — 1.9 Cross Firehole River at Biscuit Basin. Island Geyser (usually erupting) is at west. Mile 15.6 — 0.4 Black Sand Basin gets its name from tiny particles of obsidian rock which form much of the soil here. This area contains the beautiful and famous Emerald Pool, where yellow bacteria combine with blue water to produce a deep green color. Handkerchief Pool, which used to suck down pocket handkerchiefs and then spit them back out presumably laundered, is nearby. This little performer was a must on every early tourist's itinerary, from at least 1888 until 1926, when it choked on a bandana or something and quit operating. In 1948, a geologist pried a log out of its vent, restoring its circulatory powers, but there is no walkway to the spring today, so it can no longer be visited "up close." Morning Glory Pool and debris removed from it in 1950. OLD FAITHFUL INTERCHANGE TO WEST THUMB JUNCTION ROAD SECTION Mile 16.0 Old Faithful interchange. Mile 0.0 (Reset mileage at Old Faithful interchange) Old Faithful Geyser Eruption, 1872, Hayden Survey in foreground. Old Faithful Geyser is probably the world's most famous geyser, but it is not the tallest, hottest, most regular, or most predictable geyser. It is simply a geyser that is fairly tall (130 feet average) and fairly regular (interval=about 88 minutes) so that a lot of people get the chance to see this tall geyser erupt. (Except for Old Faithful, the park's taller geysers are less regular and the more regular geysers are less tall.) Old Faithful is remarkable mainly for the fact that it has maintained good regularity and predictability for at least 133 years whereas most geysers are inherently irregular and unpredictable. Old Faithful Inn, built in the winter of 1903-04, has been called the "World's Largest Log Cabin" although there is no hard evidence to back this up. Its ceiling is 85 feet high and it is one of the most important cultural icons in the national park system. A turn-of-the-century artist's rendering of the Old Faithfull Inn high- lights the grand scale of this present-day National Historic Landmark. Mile 1.7 — 16.4 Cross Firehole River. Mile 2.7 — 15.4 Kepler Cascades, a series of waterfalls totaling about 100 feet, was named for Kepler Hoyt, the twelve-year-old son of Governor John Hoyt of Wyoming Territory. In 1881, the lad accompanied his father through the Absaroka Range into the park, gaining the admiration of Superintendent Norris from his pluck and endurance. One suspects, however, that his father's stature as governor had more to do with the bestowing of the name than the boy's "pluck." Mile 2.8 — 15.3 This side road is now used by hikers going to Lone Star Geyser, a beautiful, cone-type geyser which erupts from many orifices. It was originally named "Solitary Geyser" by the Hayden surveyors, but photographs sold to tourists by F. Jay Haynes popularized the name it is known by now. Mile 5.2 — 12.9 Scaup Lake at north was named for the lesser scaup duck. Mile 5.4 — 12.7 On the old road which traveled through Spring Creek Canyon before turning toward Old Faithful, there is a large boulder known as Turtle Rock. A bandit hiding there was able to rob 174 passengers in 17 stagecoaches on August 24, 1908. His take was $2,094.20 in cash and jewelry – not a record in money terms but certainly the biggest stagecoach robbery of 20th century America in number of coaches and people. The bandit was never caught. Mile 7.8 — 10.3 The prominent gap to the right (south) is the Norris Pass, discovered by the park's second superintendent while scouting for a trail route between Old Faithful and the Thumb of Yellowstone Lake. The pass remains as he knew it, with only a trail through its shady woods. Mile 8.0 — 10.1 Isa Lake, where the road crosses the Continental Divide (we go from Atlantic flowing waters to those bound for the Pacific) at Craig Pass, is a lovely little lake carpeted with pond lilies. The name uses three letters from the first name of Miss Isabel Jelke, of Cincinnati, Ohio, and for whom Northern Pacific Railroad surveyors named the lake in 1893. The name of the pass itself comes from the maiden name of Ida Craig Wilcox, who appears to have been the first female tourist to cross the pass on the new road completed in late 1891. Mile 9.1 — 9.0 DeLacy Creek (a name given by superintendent Norris in 1881) immortalizes Walter W. DeLacy, a civil engineer who led a party of prospectors through the southwest corner of the park in 1863. The map he published in 1865 was the first to show that Shoshone Lake was on the Pacific slope rather than the Atlantic, and that there were geysers at the head of the Madison River. Because DeLacy failed to publish his discoveries until 1876, he failed to get credit for the discovery of the Yellowstone region. Mile 9.7 — 8.4 Here, at Shoshone Point, is a view of the Grand Teton Range of mountains, nearly fifty miles to the south. The lake in the middle distance is Shoshone Lake, named for the Indians of the linguistic group occupying most of the arid Great Basin, including the region just west and south of Yellowstone National Park. Just around the corner there was another of those stagecoach holdups that plagued the Park. On the morning of July 29, 1914, Edwin B. Trafton held up 15 coaches and took $915.13 from 165 passengers. Not only did he get less money than the Turtle Rock robber of 1908, he was also a bungler and got caught. Mile 10.2 — 7.9 Here at Dry Creek the original stagecoach road bore off to the left (east), continuing on in nearly a direct line toward West Thumb. Mile 13.3 — 4.8 Knotted woods. Here there are numerous examples of burls or cankers that grow on lodgepole pine trees due to an unknown bacterium. The trees were knotted like this at least as far back as 1870, for the journals of the Washburn party mention them as resembling "hornets" stings. Mile 13.9 — 4.2 This second crossing of the Continental Divide (8391 feet elevation) puts us back on waters flowing to the Atlantic Ocean. Mile 17.2 — 0.9 As we round this curve, there is a fleeting glimpse of Yellowstone Lake and the Absaroka Range beyond. It was here at Lake View that 1869 explorer David Folsom wrote his paean to Yellowstone Lake: "we ascended the summit of a neighboring hill and took a final look at Yellowstone Lake. Nestled among the forest crowned hills which bounded our vision lay this inland sea, its crystal waves dancing and sparkling in the sunlight as if laughing with joy for their wild freedom. It is a scene of transcendent beauty which has been viewed by but few white men, and we felt glad to have looked upon it before its primeval solitude should be broken by the crowds of pleasure seekers which at no distant day will throng its shores." Mile 7.7 — 0.4 Duck Lake at east. Exotic (stocked) brown trout were removed from this lake in 1967 because it was feared they would somehow find their way into nearby Yellowstone Lake. WEST THUMB JUNCTION TO LAKE JUNCTION ROAD SECTION Mile 18.1 — 0.0 West Thumb Junction. Just to the east is West Thumb Geyser Basin, an area of beautiful hot springs and geysers right on the shore of Yellowstone Lake. Prior to the 1980s, there was a thriving tourist village here which included a large Hamilton Store, a photo shop, some eighty tourist cabins and rental office, a gas station, a campground, a ranger station, several parking lots, and employee housing facilities. Only the ranger station remains today, and it is used as the Yellowstone Association bookstore. The facilities were gradually removed 1972-1985 in order to protect the fragile thermal features in this area. Many of those facilities were moved two miles south to Grant Village. Mile 0.0 (Reset mileage at junction) Hot springs here include the famous Fishing Cone, where early Yellowstone tourists caught fish from Yellowstone Lake and cooked them "right on the hook." Park regulations now forbid this practice, but early photos show fishermen wearing cooks' caps and aprons. Mile 0.6 — 18.6 Occasional Geyser (lake side of road) occasionally erupts to sixty feet. Mile 1.6 — 17.6 The Potts Hot Spring Basin was named for Daniel T. Potts, a fur trapper who visited what is now the park in 1826. A letter he wrote to his family in Pennsylvania was published in the Philadelphia Gazette and Advertiser of September 27, 1827, to become the first published description of Yellowstone features and the earliest published writing about any U.S. national park. He described Yellowstone Lake as "about one hundred by forty miles in diameter and as clear as crystal." He also saw a spring which "throws its [mud] particles to the immense height of from twenty to thirty feet." Mile 2.0 — 17.2 Cross Little Thumb Creek. Mile 3.3 — 15.9 Highway crosses Bluff Point, a high bluff overlooking the lake which was named in 1878. Guidebook writer Herman Haupt was so taken with this point that he published a long tribute to it in 1883: "the finest view is that to the northward, where is stretched before you a miniature Bay of Naples." Mile 3.8 — 15.4 The small, rocky island is Carrington Island, named for E. Campbell Carrington, a naturalist with the Hayden Survey from 1869 to 1872. Carrington traveled around the lake in a boat in 1871, sketching and naming its islands, bays, and points. Mile 5.8 — 13.4 Arnica Creek was named in 1885 by the U.S. Geological Survey for the yellow arnica flower that grows in the park. Mile 6.9 — 12.3 West end of a sandbar, a natural wave-formed one, which was used as the roadbed for an early road built along the lakeshore. The sandbar road was primarily used from about 1897 to 1905, and logs from the "corduroy road" that was laid across it can still be found buried in the sand here. Mile 8.5 — 10.7 The Red Mountains can be seen 14 miles to the south. The highest point is Mount Sheridan (10,308 feet), named for General Philip Sheridan of Civil War fame who, in the 1870s and 1880s became a staunch defender of the new Yellowstone National Park. Mile 10.6 — 8.6 The small island in Yellowstone Lake is called Dot Island. It was named in 1871 by the Hayden survey "because it was a mere dot on the map." In 1896, boat concessioner E.C. Waters got permission to run a zoo on the island which featured bison, elk, and bighorn sheep. His failure to take care of those animals resulted in many complaints to U.S. Army officials and they threw him out of the park following the 1907 season. The old corrals and an ancient cabin used by his game-tender remain on the island today. Mile 1.6 — 7.6 "Contrasting Forests" interpretive exhibit discusses climax forests, which are spruce and fir here as contrasted with the usual lodgepole pine. Mile 14.5 — 4.7 Stevenson Island at the east was named in 1871 for James Stevenson whom Dr. F.V. Hayden considered "undoubtedly the first white man that ever placed foot upon it." Stevenson was manager of the Hayden surveys and a man that historians have said had the ability to move huge numbers of men and animals "with dreamlike precision" through the American West. Mile 15.3 — 3.9 (northbound) View of Lake Hotel to north. Construction began on the Lake Hotel, in 1889, and the hotel opened for the season in 1891. Mile 15.5 — 3.7 Gull Point Drive junction (one-way road). Mile 17.1 — 2.1 Gull Point Drive exit (one-way from other end). The side road to west goes to the Natural Bridge (1.2 miles west), a fifty-foot arch of volcanic rock spanning a fork of Bridge Creek. Mile 17.4 — 1.8 The side road gives access to Bridge Bay Marina, which can be seen from the road bridge. Mile 17.7 — 1.5 (northbound) Sleeping Giant can be seen on the horizon to the northeast. It is composed of parts of Castor and Pollux Peaks in the Absaroka Range and was named by park visitors as early as 1895. LAKE JUNCTION TO CANYON JUNCTION ROAD SECTION Mile 19.2 — 0.0 Lake Junction. Lake Hotel is the oldest remaining hotel in Yellowstone National Park. It opened in 1891 and was doubled in size in 1903. It was brought to its present size by addition of an east wing in 1923. Mile 0.0 (Reset mileage at Lake Junction) Mile 0.2 — 17.0 Cross Hotel Creek. Mile 1.1 — 16.1 Service road to NPS housing area and Montana Power Company. Mile 1.6 — 15.6 Fishing Bridge Junction. The road east goes 26 miles to the park (east) entrance and then 52 miles on to Cody, Wyoming. Fishing Bridge (visible to the east) became famous as a place where anglers could try for the large trout frequenting the lake's outlet. Fishing from the bridge has been prohibited since 1974. Yellowstone Lake is about 20 miles long and 14 miles across from West Thumb to the opposite shore. It covers 136 square miles and has a 110-mile shoreline. West Thumb bay is over 300 feet deep but the deepest known spot is northeast of Stevenson Island at nearly 400 feet. There are seven islands on the lake: Dot, Stevenson, Carrington, Frank, Peale, Molly, and Pelican Roost. The original Fishing Bridge was built in 1902, it was 360 feet long and differed from present structure in both location and appearance. Mile 2.6 — 14.6 (northbound) Yellowstone River flows from southeast of the park at Yount's Peak to and through Yellowstone Lake and eventually enters the Missouri River near the Montana-North Dakota border. In all, the river is 671 miles long. The Yellowstone River and Lake above Upper Falls together contain the largest population of native cutthroat trout in this hemisphere, a population now under threat from a human-caused invasion of exotic Lake Trout. The park takes its name from this river, which was named as early as 1796 (thus the name Yellowstone is the oldest place name in the region). The name Yellowstone probably came from Mi-tsi-a-da-zi ("Yellow rock"), the name given by the Minnetaree Indian tribe of North Dakota. French fur trappers changed it to "Roche Juane" or "Pierre Juane" ("rock yellow" or "stone yellow"). Mile 4.5 — 12.7 LeHardy's Rapids were named in 1873 by Captain W.A. Jones for his topographer, Paul LeHardy, who came to grief here while trying to float down the river on a raft. The raft came apart, throwing LeHardy and another man into the river. Mile 6.4 — 10.8 Emergency phone, Cascade Picnic Area. This picnic area was probably the site of the old "Mud Geyser Soldier Station," 1895-1897, originally placed here because of the nearby river ford which was used by poachers. Mile 6.7 — 10.5 The side road leads to Nez Perce Ford, where those Indians crossed the Yellowstone River in 1877. For twenty years after the name was officially changed back to its original form of Nez Perce Ford, the sign here continued to incorrectly read "Buffalo Ford" (a local name applied one winter in the 1940s when some buffalo were found frozen in the river). Mile 7.4 — 9.8 Mud Volcano thermal area. The thermal area contains several interesting features: the Mud Geyser, the first true geyser seen by the explorers of 1870 who saw it spout forty feet high (it no longer erupts and is today a quiet, muddy pool); the Mud Volcano, a cavern in the hillside from which the escaping steam throws mud; and the Dragon's Mouth Spring, another feature in the hillside whose surging, churning hot waters reminded someone of a dragon's mouth. Nearby are the Black Dragon's Caldron (a hike up the hill) and the Sulphur Caldron (now undermining the road to the north). The prevalent smell here is hydrogen sulphide gas (H2S), the same gas which forms inside of rotting eggs and the same gas which is associated with gunpowder. Mile 7.7 — 9.5 Sulphur Caldron and Turbulent Pool. Named from the free sulphur in their waters and their agitated nature. The pH of Sulphur Caldron is 1.8, about the same as stomach acid. Mile 8.0 — 9.2 The road is now entering the open part of Hayden Valley, named for Dr. Ferdinand V. Hayden of the U.S. Geological and Geographical Survey of the Territories (known as the "Hayden survey"). His organization made the initial surveys of Yellowstone Park in 1871. Hayden Valley was once covered by a prehistoric lake of which Yellowstone Lake is apparently a remnant. Its water surface was as much as 100 feet above the present lake. These grass lands provide summer range for bison, elk, moose, and other animals. Mile 9.1 — 8.1 Cross Elk Antler Creek, named by superintendent Horace Albright in or about 1921. Mile 9.6 — 7.6 Trout Creek here assumes the form of the ancient Chinese monad, the symbol of the duality of life (light and dark, good and evil, male and female – a concept basic to eastern religions ). The stream was also early known as "Trade Mark Creek" from the idea that the Northern Pacific Railroad got its symbol here; but that is not so. The Northern Pacific's logo came directly from the old Korean flag which was an expression of the oriental philosophy just mentioned. Mile 11.9 — 5.3 Sulphur Mountain, or the Crater Hills, contains another group of interesting but seldom visited hot springs. Prior to the 1920s, the main stagecoach road passed through this area and the trace of that old road can be seen running southwest to northeast across the meadow at a point just south of the present Alum Creek crossing. Mile 12.0 — 5.2 Cross Sulphur Spring Creek which originates from Sulphur Spring (a gas-driven geyser) at Crater Hills. Mile 13.4 — 3.8 Cross Alum Creek. It gets its name from the astringency of its waters. That characteristic was known to 1830s fur trappers and led to some tall tales concerning the water's ability to shrink things. One tale (incorrectly attributed to Jim Bridger) has it that Alum Creek overflowed and puckered up the scenery until a two-day trip was reduced to four hours. Another said that a man riding a horse across the stream here reached the other side on a pony. Mile 13.8 — 3.4 Meadow signed with animal warning signs ("Bison Are Wild and Dangerous"). During the Nez Perce War, General O.O. Howard's wagon train was let down the mountainside about a quarter mile west of here with ropes. Until the fires of 1988 destroyed many of them, numerous area trees still showed rope burns from this incident. The site became known as "Spurgin's Beaver Slide" for one of the army officers who accompanied Howard. Mile 14.3 — 2.9 Cross Otter Creek. Mile 14.4 — 2.8 The side road goes up Otter Creek a mile to the old Canyon bear-feeding ground, where – from 1926 through 1941 – hotel garbage was dumped on a concrete apron each evening so that visitors could watch the bears from the safety of a fenced enclosure. Such "bear shows" were stopped because garbage is an unhealthy food for bears, and because the concentration of grizzlies habituated to human food here created a hazard to nearby campgrounds and villages. Otter Creek was also the scene of an Indian raid on a tourist camp during the Nez Perce War of 1877. One visitor was killed and several others were wounded here. In October of 1986, hiker William J. Tesinsky was killed near here by a grizzly bear. Mile 14.7 — 2.5 Junction with South Rim road to Artist Point. Chittenden Memorial Bridge was built in 1962 on the site of the graceful Melan arch bridge erected here in 1903 by Captain Hiram Chittenden in order to provide access to the east rim of the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone. A.F. "Uncle Tom" Richardson, who pioneered a trail to the foot of the Lower Falls on the east side, operated a ferry crossing above the rapids for several seasons prior to 1907. From 1897 to 1906 he took visitors on a boat trip across the river (by bridge after 1902), took them on a rope down into the canyon, fed them lunch, and boated them back. In 1905, a wooden walkway was built down into the canyon and its descendant trail today retains the name "Uncle Tom's Trail." Mile 15.6 — 1.6 Junction with Brink of Upper Falls road. At west is a gated service road that served as the main stagecoach (and later auto ) road to Norris until the 1950s. Thus this historic spot was the "Canyon Junction" of old Yellowstone days. To the east, at the present brink of Upper Falls parking area, were many historic structures, now all gone. The first Canyon Hotel (1886-89) was once here, along with a Haynes photo shop, a large store, a soldier station (later ranger station), housekeeping cabins, a cafeteria, a gas station, and a campground. Mile 15.7 — 1.5 Cross Cascade Creek. Mile 16.0 — 1.2 The third Canyon Hotel, which opened in 1911, occupied the hillside here. Its predecessors were located here (1890-1910) and at the present Brink of Upper Falls parking area (1886-89). This third hotel was closed after the summer of 1958, destruction was begun in 1959, and the remainder was destroyed in an accidental fire on August 8, 1960. This hotel was built entirely during the winter with materials hauled in on horse-drawn sledges. It was a grand structure, a mile in circumference, designed by architect Robert Reamer. CANYON JUNCTION TO TOWER JUNCTION ROAD SECTION Mile 17.2-0.0 Canyon Junction. Mile 0.0 (Reset mileage at Canyon Junction) To the east, Canyon Village was constructed in 1956 and opened in 1957 as part of the Mission 66 project to improve park facilities. The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone River begins a half-mile below Chittenden Memorial Bridge at the point where the Yellowstone River drops 109 feet (the Upper Falls), but the colorful portion of the canyon is below the Lower Falls (an additional drop of 308 feet). The canyon is 800-1200 feet deep and 1500-4000 feet wide with steep walls that range in color from light yellow to red to orange-brown to white, all caused by hydrothermal alteration. The river, which appears as a greenish thread in the bottom of the canyon, flows around 64,000 gallons per second in late June but usually decreases to less than half of that by November. Mile 1.4 — 16.9 Cascade Picnic Area. Mile 3.4 — 14.9 To the east of the road are the Washburn Hot Springs, called "Hellbroth Springs" by the 1870 Washburn expedition. One large, black mudpot is called Inkpot Spring and a second one is called the Devil's Inkstand. East of them the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone can be seen and the Absaroka Range (on the horizon) which forms the park's east boundary. Mount Washburn (10,243 feet) can be seen ahead. Named for General Henry D. Washburn, leader of the exploring party of 1870 and the first white man to ascend it, the summit provides a panoramic view of much of the park. There is a fire lookout on the summit which can be reached by hiking up the abandoned "Chittenden Road" either from Dunraven Pass or from a parking area near the north exit of the summit road. Mile 4.9 — 13.4 Dunraven Pass was named for the Earl of Dunraven, a Welsh traveler whose trip through the park in 1874 inspired a book – The Great Divide – which became popular in Europe and which caused many Europeans to travel to Yellowstone. Mile 9.1 — 9.2 The Washburn Range can be seen all around us, especially to west. The peaks from south to north are: Dunraven Peak, Hedges Peak (named for Cornelius Hedges who has been partially credited with originating the national park idea), Inside Mountain, Cook Peak, and Folsom Peak. The last two are named for two members of an 1869 exploring expedition. Mile 9.9 — 8.4 The side road leads to a parking area for those who wish to hike up Mount Washburn. Mile 10.1 — 8.2 Mae West Curve is the accepted name of this 180-degree bend in the road. Yellowstone tour-bus drivers of the 1930s seem to have given the name in honor of a movie star who had a lot of curves herself! Mile 12.3 — 6.0 The mountain on the northern horizon which is notched at its west end is called Cutoff Mountain, probably named because the park north boundary cuts through it. To the northeast is the Beartooth Range of mountains, outside the park. To the east is the long grassy ridge of Specimen Ridge with the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone River at its base. Mirror Plateau is the heavily timbered area to the south and east of the canyon. Mile 14.6 — 3.7 Road follows Antelope Creek for next few miles. Mile 15.8 — 2.5 The prominent trace of the Bannock Trail, an Indian trail used by Bannock and Shoshone hunters from at least 1840 to 1878, crosses the main road at this point on its way east to a ford of Yellowstone River. Mile 16.1 — 2.2 Hamilton Store parking area. Tower Fall is a short distance beyond the store here. It is 132 feet high and was named by the 1870 Washburn party for the prominent "towers " of eroded rock which stand above it. Across the valley, below the barren area on the bank of the river, was the Bannock Ford, a crossing place for an Indian route through the park. It was probably the place where John Colter crossed the Yellowstone River on his epic winter journey of 1807-08. Mile 16.2 — 2.1 Cross Tower Creek. Devil's Den is the name of the pinnacles to the east which are just above Tower Fall. The largest pinnacle was named the Devil's Hoof by the 1870 Washburn party. Mile 16.6 — 1.7 Overhanging Cliff, a cliff formed of basalt and columnar basalt, here rises 150 feet above the road. Mile 16.9 — 1.4 Below the road and difficult to see is the Needle, a 260-foot spire of volcanic breccia. It was formerly called "Cleopatra's Needle." And there are two layers of columnar basalt on the opposite side of the canyon which is here called the Narrows. Mile 17.0 — 1.3 Calcite Springs Overlook Mile 17.8 — 0.5 Rainy Lake is so named from tiny springs in the bed of the lake which make it appear at times that it is raining on the lake's surface. On the bank of the Yellowstone River below this point (on the other side of Bumpus Butte) is Calcite Springs, one of the most odiferous localities in the park because of hydrogen sulphide gas. Some vents yield a tarry mixture of bitumen and sulphur which has been known to ignite spontaneously and set fire to surrounding brush. TOWER JUNCTION TO MAMMOTH HOT SPRINGS JUNCTION ROAD SECTION Mile 18.2 — 0.0 Roosevelt Lodge and Tower Junction (junction with road to Cooke City, Montana). Contrary to popular belief, Theodore Roosevelt did not sleep here. The lodge, or "camp" as it was first called, was not built until 17 years after Roosevelt's 1903 visit to Yellowstone. He did camp in this area, but it was near Rainy Lake and not at the lodge site. Tower Falls Mile 0.0 (Reset mileage at Tower Junction) Mile 0.1 — 18.1 Tower Ranger Station. Mile 1.2 — 17.0 The side road leads to the Petrified Tree (one-half mile). The largest stump (over five feet in diameter and twenty feet tall) has been excavated and enclosed with an iron fence. A similar stump 100 feet to the east has unfortunately vanished, removed piece by piece by specimen collectors. Petrified Trees on Speciman Ridge. Mile 1.3 — 16.9 Cross Yancey Creek. It is named for Uncle John Yancey who settled in Pleasant Valley, a short distance down this stream, in 1882. Two years later he built a hotel to serve miners and freighters to the Cooke City mines, and operated it until his death in 1903. The buildings were tore down in the 1960s. Yancey's Hotel had five rooms and Yancey often housed 20 people in those rooms at the rate of $2.00 per day which included meals. Yancey advertised "excellent accommodations" but in 1902, park superintendent Captain John Pitcher urged improvements. It was said that Yancey changed the bedding once in the spring and once in the fall. Meals were said to be drab and repetitious, sometimes fried in rancid butter. Yancey sometimes boasted that the glasses in his establishment "had never held water" (only whiskey). Mile 1.4 — 16.8 Exit of Blacktail Deer Plateau Drive (one-way from other end). Mile 1.7 — 16.5 Cross Elk Creek. Mile 2.1 — 16.1 The trace of John Yancey's original stagecoach road can be seen at east. Mile 3.1 — 15.1 Floating Island Lake provides a nesting place for water and other birds of many kinds. Mile 3.7 — 14.5 Crescent Hill, west of the road, was named in about 1885 because it was crescent-shaped on the map. It was on the other side of this peak that 54-year-old explorer Truman C. Everts was found after he had been lost in the Yellowstone country for 37 days. Separated in 1870 from the Washburn expedition, he wandered freezing and nearly starving until he was essentially insane. Found by two mountaineers, he was nursed back to health, married in his sixties a fourteen-year-old girl, fathered a child at age 75, and lived on another ten years after that. His written account has been recently republished in Lee Whittlesey, ed., Lost in the Yellowstone: Truman Everts s Thirty-Seven Days of Peril (Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 1995). Mile 5.3 — 12.9 Hellroaring Creek, which comes out of the mountains on the other side of the river, was named by a party of prospectors in 1867. They had been working a placer at Crevice Gulch (outside of park to north) and decided to move on up the Yellowstone River, so they sent A.H. Hubble to scout the way. When he returned and was asked what the next side-stream was like, he answered: "She's a hell roarer." The name remains today. Mile 6.4 — 11.8 Cross Geode Creek. Mile 7.8 — 10.4 Phantom Lake is usually full of water in the spring but in late fall it is often entirely dry; hence its name. Mile 8.5 — 9.7 Valley of Oxbow Creek to the north. Mile 8.6 — 9.6 Entrance to Blacktail Deer Plateau Drive (one-way from here). Mile 9.7 — 8.5 The large boulder at the south with the face of a frog on it is locally known as Frog Rock. In the right light you can see a squatting frog, his mouth drooling a bit. Frog Rock is one of many granite boulders transported by glaciers from the Absaroka Range and known as "glacial erratics." Children's Fire Trail at west. Service road at east. Mile 11.3 — 6.9 Blacktail Deer Creek crossing. This is a very old name, probably given by prospectors in 1871 but the reason is unknown. They may have been influenced by another stream of this name near Virginia City, Montana Territory, from which many of them had come. Mile 11.9 — 6.3 Blacktail Ponds are the remnants of an extensive glacial lake – an extremely boggy area where many types of birds are often seen. Mile 13.7 — 4.5 Lava Creek crossing and picnic area. Mile 14.2 — 4.0 Undine Falls (pronounced un DEEN) (60 feet tall) was named in 1885 by the U.S. Geological Survey. In German mythology, undines were female water fairies who lived around waterfalls. Mile 16.4 — 1.8 This is Sheepeater Canyon Bridge, built in 1939 and rebuilt in 1978. It is 805 feet long and 200 feet above the Gardner River. Guidebooks claim that it is the longest bridge in the state of Wyoming. Gardner River is named for Johnson Gardner, a respected if illiterate fur trapper, who trapped beaver in this area in the 1830s. Mile 17.0 — 1.2 The spot where the road "bottoms out" here is the lowest point on the Grand Loop Road, about 6005 feet in elevation. Mile 17.3 — 0.9 The long ridge on the east side of the valley was named Mount Everts, for Truman C. Everts who was lost from the Washburn expedition in 1870. He wandered freezing and nearly starving for thirty-seven days until he was essentially insane. Found by two mountaineers, he was nursed back to health, married in his sixties a fourteen-year-old girl, fathered a child at age 75, and lived on another ten years after that. His written account has been recently republished in Lee Whittlesey, ed., Lost in the Yellowstone: Truman Everts s Thirty-Seven Days of Peril (Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 1995). Mile 17.7 — 0.5 Cross Bluff Creek, the runoff from the Mammoth Hot Springs. Mile 18.2 — 0.0 Mammoth Hot Springs Junction (at flagpole). CANYON JUNCTION TO NORRIS JUNCTION (NORRIS CUTOFF) ROAD SECTION Mile 0.0 (Reset mileage at Canyon Junction) Mile 0.0 — 11.6 Canyon Junction. Canyon Village was constructed in 1956 and opened in 1957 as part of the Mission 66 project to improve park facilities. Mile 0.3 — 11.3 Cross Cascade Creek. The creek was named by Cornelius Hedges, a member of the 1870 Washburn expedition. The entire area here is called Cascade Meadows. Mile 0.4 — 11.2 Cascade Creek trailhead to north, providing access to Cascade Lake and Observation Peak. Mile 1.6 — 10.0 Canyon Hill is the name of the long grade that connects Cascade Meadows and Solfatara Plateau. Prior to the 1950s, when the main road was two miles farther south, it still ascended this same hill which has been called Canyon Hill or "Canyon Hotel Hill" since at least the 1890s. Mile 2.4 — 9.2 The small, dense stand of lodgepole pines to the north have been growing since 1954 when a human-caused forest fire burned their predecessors. Mile 3.5 — 8.1 Grebe Lake trailhead to north of road. Mile 3.6 — ( ) (eastbound only) Mount Washburn (10,243 feet) can be seen in several spots along here with the fire lookout station on its summit. Mile 3.8 — 7.8 Barren ground in this area is an ancient, nearly extinct thermal basin. You are crossing Solfatara Plateau (a solfatara is a gas vent). The service road to the south here follows the former main road to the old "Canyon Village" at brink of the Upper Falls. Mile 4.8 — 6.8 Plateau Trail trailhead. The trail to the south leads to Cygnet Lakes and on to Mary Lake. Mile 6.1 — 5.5 (westbound) Begin descent of Blanding Hill, steepest grade on Yellowstone's road system. Peaks of the Gallatin Range can be seen to the west. When the main road was moved north in the early 1950s, the new road still ascended and descended Blanding Hill. Hence that place name moved with the road, as the hill is the same one as on the old road. Mile 7.6 — 4.0 (eastbound) Begin ascent of Blanding Hill, steepest grade on Yellowstone's road system. You are climbing onto Solfatara Plateau, elevation about 8000 feet. Mile 7.7 — 3.9 Cross Gibbon River at bottom of Blanding Hill. Mile 8.1 — 3.5 Exit of Virginia Cascades Drive (one-way from other end). Mile 8.2 — 3.4 This area has been a favorite spot for "fire devastation" photos ever since 1988 when the huge Yellowstone fires occurred. The story is much more complex, however. This area experienced an unusual windstorm in 1984 which essentially leveled the forest here. Author Lee Whittlesey, originally from Oklahoma where tornadoes are common, was working as a law enforcement ranger at Norris that summer, and personally saw the funnel cloud and the tornado which spawned the windstorm. Geyser volunteer Rocco Paperiello took a photograph of this funnel cloud as it approached the Norris Geyser Basin and felt the tornado lift his car from the road near Norris Junction. These two men maintain determinedly that the storm was in fact a true tornado, although tornadoes are rare in mountain areas like Yellowstone. Four years later, the dead dried-out trees were consumed in the North Fork Fire of 1988. Television newsmen stood at this spot while the fires were burning the many fallen trees here and decried the "extreme fire damage" without knowing that four years earlier, the windstorm had done most of the damage. The effect of having so large an amount of fuel close to the forest floor (where it can more easily scorch the soil) can clearly be seen in the sparse vegetation here. Mile 10.0 — 1.6 Entrance to Virginia Cascades Drive. This two-mile, one-way drive (east) parallels the main road and in fact was the main road until the early 1960s. The original stagecoach road past Virginia Cascades (a sixty-foot sliding cascade) climbed up out of the canyon alongside the cascade. Mile 11.1 — 0.5 Road north leads to Norris Picnic Area. Mile 11.2 — 0.4 Cross Gibbon River. Gibbon River is named for General John Gibbon, the officer who fought the Nez Perce Indians at the battle of the Big Hole in western Montana. He led an exploring party up this stream in 1872. Mile 11.3 — 0.3 Service road to north leads to NPS housing area. Mile 11.6 — 0.0 Norris Junction, elevation 7484 feet. The original stagecoach road from Norris to Canyon was built in the fall of 1885 and spring of 1886. Brief Bibliography for Further Reading on Yellowstone History Haines, Aubrey L. The Yellowstone Story, two volumes, (Boulder: Colorado Associated University Press, 1977, revised 1996). Haines, Aubrey L. Yellowstone National Park: Its Exploration and Establishment (Washington: GPO, 1974). Bartlett, Richard A. Yellowstone: A Wilderness Besieged (Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 1985). Bartlett, Richard A. Nature's Yellowstone (Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1974). Pritchard, James A. Preserving Yellowstone's Natural Conditions: Science and the Perception of Nature (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1999). Schullery, Paul. Old Yellowstone Days (Boulder: University of Colorado Press, 1979). Schullery, Paul. Searching for Yellowstone: Ecology and Wonder in the Last Wilderness (Boston: Houghton-Mifflin, 1997). Schullery, Paul. Yellowstone's Ski Pioneers: Peril and Heroism on the Winter Trail (Worland: High Plains Publishing Company, 1995). Schullery, Paul. Mountain Time (New York: Schocken Books, 1984). Schullery, Paul. The Bears of Yellowstone (Worland: High Plains Publishing Company, 1992). Schullery, Paul. The Yellowstone Wolf: A Guide and Sourcebook (Worland: High Plains Publishing Company, 1996). Whittlesey, Lee H. Yellowstone Place Names (Helena: Montana Historical Society), 1988. Whittlesey, Lee H. Death in Yellowstone: Accidents and Foolhardiness in the First National Park (Boulder: Roberts Rinehart, Court Wayne Press, 1995). 259 pp. Whittlesey, Lee H. Lost in the Yellowstone: Truman Everts's Thirty-Seven Days of Peril (Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 1995). Editing job, 62pp. Whittlesey, Lee H. A Yellowstone Album: A Photographic Celebration of the First National Park (Denver: Roberts Rinehart, 1997) (written for Yellowstone's 125th anniversary), 208pp. Whittlesey, Lee H. (with co-authors Paul Rubinstein and Mike Stevens), The Guide to Yellowstone Waterfalls and Their Discovery (Englewood, Colorado: Westcliffe Publishing Company, 2000). 296 pp., 225 photos, maps. Whittlesey, Lee H. (with Paul Schullery, co-author), A History of Large Mammals on the Yellowstone Plateau. 1806-1885 (to be published in 2004 by a University Press). This work is currently published as "Documentary Record of Wolves and Related Wildlife Species in the Yellowstone National Park Area Prior to 1882," in Wolves For Yellowstone: A Report to the United States Congress [YNP: Yellowstone Research Division, July, 1992].) Whittlesey, Lee H. (with Paul Schullery, co-author), Yellowstone's Creation Myth: History and Tradition in the Origin of the American National Parks, has been accepted by University of Nebraska Press and is slated for release sometime in 2003. Whittlesey, Lee H. Yellowstone's Horse-and- Buggy Tour Guides: Intepreting the Grand Old Park. 1872-1920. Written for the National Park Service, 1994-99. Currently being reviewed by University of Oklahoma Press. Whittlesey, Lee H. "They're Going to Build a Railroad!": Cinnabar and the Northern Addition to Yellowstone National Park. Written for the National Park Service, 1999. Manuscript in draft, still being peer-reviewed.