When water falls as snow or rain on the Yellowstone Plateau , it slowly percolates through layers of porous rock. Sinking to a depth of nearly 3300 meters (10000 feet), it comes in contact with the hot rocks of the magma chamber under the surface. The water is cooked and becomes superheated (200°C or 400°F) while remaining in its liquid state due to the pressure pushing down on it from rocks and water.
Because the superheated water is less dense, it starts its journey back to the surface, where it forms a hot spring when pressure and heat energy which gets released slowly.
Yellowstone Hot Spring...
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Yellowstone National Park, named after the Yellowstone River which flows through the park, is the first National Park of the United States, founded in 1872. The park is known for its wildlife and geothermal features as seen on the pictures in this post. The geothermal features of the park are caused by the Yellowstone Caldera, which is the largest volcanic system in North America. It has been termed a "supervolcano" because the caldera was formed by exceptionally large explosive eruptions.
Chinese Spring, Yellowstone N.P. | Location on map
The current caldera was created by an enormous eruption...
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The Berkeley Pit is a former open pit copper mine located in Butte, Montana, about a mile and a half wide and about 1,780 feet (540 m) deep. Once the pit was closed in 1982, groundwater started to fill the pit to the natural groundwater level. This has presented an environmental problem in that the water allows minerals in the ore and wall rocks to decay, releasing acid and finally resulting in water that is heavily acidic (pH level of 2.5) and loaded with heavy metals and dangerous chemicals (hence the color of the water).
Berkeley Pit, Butte, Montana | Location on map
The water contains...
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In my opinion, Europe is behind on the US technology wise, but as far as the electricity system goes, the US is pretty outdated. The plugs and sockets for example are hell, providing no stability at all. In most US cities, the utility poles are still made of wood and a lot of main electrical connections between towns use these old wooden poles as their only support. A simple storm could easily cause power outages...
This picture of a utility pole with transformer mess was taken in Butte (No, with an "e" and no it does not originate from..., it's French for "small hill") , Montana and these can still...
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Here are some more pictures from Glacier National Park. The first picture shows Swiftcurrent lake and on the left you can see the Many Glacier Hotel. The second picture shows a small island in St Mary Lake with Red Eagle mountain in the back.
Swiftcurrent Lake, Glacier N.P. | Location on map
Red Eagle Mountain, Glacier N.P. | Location on map
I'm sorry for the slow pace of updates recently on the blog, but our lives seem to get rather hectic nowadays as we are in the final stretch of moving to Vancouver, Canada. My employer in Vancouver booked our plane tickets last week and our packing...
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The Swiftcurrent trail is an easy trail that starts right next to the Many Glacier Hotel and takes you all the way around the lake, making it perfect for an late afternoon stroll. When we did the trail in mid-June, the trail was still covered with snow at some places and was sometimes still one to two meters thick. The snowfall in this area must be immense... The trail gives you some wonderful views of the Many Glacier Valley as you can see on the following pictures and remember, be bear aware :)
Swiftcurrent trail, Glacier N.P. | Location on map
Swiftcurrent trail, Glacier N.P. | Location...
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On the edge of Swiftcurrent Lake in Glacier National Park lies the Many Glacier Hotel. This Swiss themed hotel was built between 1910 and 1914 and I must say that this was one of the best hotels I've ever stayed at location wise.
The rooms are a bit dated but contribute to the close to nature feeling as they feel like you're staying in a cabin. The lobby is just wonderful, with an open fireplace located in the middle and live music playing all evening. And what more could a man want than to sit by his loved one, watching the sun go down over Swiftcurrent Lake, enjoying a very nice "Moose Drool"...
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Just a quick Friday afternoon post before the start of the weekend.
Lake Louise is a lake in Alberta, Canada. The glacial lake is located in Banff National Park of which the eastern shore of the lake is dominated by Chateau Lake Louise, one of Canada's grand railway hotels, a luxury resort hotel built in the early decades of the 20th century by the Canadian Pacific Railway. This hotel is now owned by the Fairmont hotel group.
Lake Louise | Location on map
Lake Louise | Location on map
As you can see on the pictures, the weather wasn't too great, spoiling the reflections on the lake...
[Ine]:...
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This vertical panorama of Marble Canyon in Kootenay National Park clearly shows the devastation of the 2003 forest fire. The whole mountain on the picture doesn't have a single green tree left, all that remains is thousands of tree skeletons.
Marble Canyon Panorama | Location on map
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Established in 1920, Kootenay National Park is one of 41 national parks in Canada. In 2003 five different lightning-ignited fires started in Kootenay National Park. While three were quickly extinguished, the remaining two took off, fueled by the dry forests. By the time it was contained and out, just over a month after it started, 170 square km (17409 hectares) - almost 12% of Kootenay National Park had burned, including the Marble Canyon area. After several years, the marble canyon is now open again for the public.
Marble Canyon | Location on Map
The 1.6km one-way trail crosses the narrow...
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