From the Caldera's Rim

I learnt about the word Caldera only a month ago when I was planning my vacation to Yellowstone National Park. Caldera signifies the huge volcanic bowl in which the park is located. The Caldera was formed due to three major violent volcanic eruptions - 2.1 mn, 1.3 mn and 640,000 yrs ago. It is due for an eruption anytime now, and when it does happen, only the New England portion of this country would be spared from the ashes & dust of this gigantic hotspot.

Yellowstone houses more than 75% of the worlds natural geysers. The constant volcanic activity underneath surfaces in the form of hotsprings, fumaroles, mudpots & geysers. Bacteria (Thermophiles) which thrive at 70C and minerals give various shades of orange, blue and yellow and make these hotspots majestic. Probably the most spectacular of all the geysers at yellowstone is most definitely the Grand Prismatic spring. Most geysers reek of sulphur and hydrogen sulphide due to bacterial activity and visitors are warned from touching the hot acidic waters.

The whole park is situated at an altitude of more than 7,000 ft and hence exhibit extreme weather. The night time temps were below zero while the day time temps were sunny 80F (32C). The best part of the trip was, undoubtedly, camping at 24F (-3C). With no prior experience of sub-zero temp camping, I decided to brave the elements with a mere sweatshirt and a good sleeping bag, only to return home with a clogged nose and a sore throat. Camping in wilderness is always eerie. A deathly silence surrounds you at nights, and you try to link up every grunt to a big black bear or every howl to a wild coyote. I made sure that I never made trips to the restroom at night, unaccompanied, although it involved swallowing some male ego!

The eastern side of the park display a different geology with the mountains and the canyons. The highlight of this section is most definitely the lower falls on the yellowstone river which is actually twice the height of Niagara falls. The flat valleys in between the mountains are an ideal place for gazing at wildlife. Bisons, elk, deer abound in these areas and we also had sightings of fox. But the highlight of the trip was most definitely seeing a black bear from less than 20 ft distance, cross the road unperturbed by amateur photographers like myself around.

3 days at Yellowstone was probably not enough time to do justice to all the beauties of the park, but we were on a tight schedule and we decided to visit Grand Teton National park just south of Yellowstone. The view of the Grand Teton, is more intimidating than view of any other mountains in Rockies or Sierra Nevada. The tallest rise to a height of 13,750 ft, from a flat valley of about 6,000ft and easily the most inspiring memory from the trip.

Wyoming, turned out to be even prettier than what I had imagined. Most drives are flanked by cattle and horses grazing pastures with gorgeous mountaineous backdrops. And at other times you drive along snaking rivers through steep gorges and dense forests. The sights were spectacular, the air was fresher, and time was slower - and after 3 slow days at work this week, I realise my heart is still lying somewhere in that fabled land !