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Show Yellowstone's fire devastation attracts throngs last summer f , ; f I i. f i- l l:.n I ji j . -. 4 , ' ; 'Sit ' ' . r " t - ;t . '1 ' - I Jt ' r v ' "1' " . V t --.lit i i ' - ' t .if ' " ". J - . ' .... .- I I i , .. '-.. . - -t " Vv i . ' 7 ' , - -1 Charred tree trunks stand as a reminder of the controversial fire in Yellowstone last summer. By KALYN SECRETAN Yellowstone Park is still a wonder won-der to behold and a magnificent place to visit. Some people have stated it was depressing to go to the park. We found itfascinatingto drive through the areas and see the effect of the fire with the timber fallen in some acres as toothpicks. It just made you wonder how all those numerous trees found room to survive. Looking beyond the mosaic pattern pat-tern of burned and unburned vegetation vege-tation offered new views. Animals could be spotted more readily and new mountain or hillside scenes could be seen through the standing charred timber. Fires are part of the life processes, proc-esses, but the 1988 Yellowstone fire has been described as the greatest great-est ecological event in the history of national parks, and it caused the greatest fire fighting effort in all history. Visiting the outskirts of the park last fall, we saw crews of volunteers volun-teers working hard, pumping water wa-ter from springs and laying pipe for water to preserve areas near the fire. There was an eerie feeling as thick layers of smoke filled the air for miles. I have never seen such a bright red sun lay over the landscape. land-scape. Traffic enforcers made us turn back when we reached a point within a mile of the fire, but what I saw was many people trying to preserve pre-serve a place they loved. Farmers donated their sprinkling pipes. Ricks College students were returning to campus by the busload after volunteering volun-teering to fight in the nation's biggest big-gest fire. Now as we return to a peaceful park, it looks renewed with a new view. The geysers are still there. It's always great to be on the spot to wait for Old Faithful. People come from all over the world to view the geologic wonder. We saw license plates from virtually virtu-ally every state in the union. It comes as a surprise to many to learn Old Faithful is just one of some 10,000 thermal features across Yellowstone Park. The thermal activity in Yellowstone Yellow-stone is classed as hot springs, mud pots, fumaroles and geysers. The park contains over 200 geysers gey-sers and each has a different, ever-changing ever-changing pattern. I guess everyone hopes to see a bear in Yellowstone. Many remember remem-ber the day bears roamed the park and stopped traffic. They stood up to the car windows and people jumped out of their cars to get a picture of them. Today bears are observed occasionally occa-sionally and visitors consider themselves them-selves lucky to see a bear in Yello w- it' K ! I f . J r p.miJ"'". ' s ...... -..a . f . , - ts H . : Bob Secretan and other visitors at Yellowstone Park stop to see the ravaged scenery resulting from last year's fire. stone. The bears who used to beg for food were trapped and relocated relo-cated in remote areas of the park. Efforts were made to get the bears eating the natural vegetation." Most bears that are seen now are observed in the early morning or evening hours near the edge of open areas. Yellowstone is home to a variety of wildlife. Visitors are warned as they enter the park not to approach the bison. Each year visitors approaching ap-proaching them too closely are gored. We pulled off the road two or three times to observe the deer and elk. It's great to see birds and wildlife wild-life in a natural setting. You also have to make several stops to see the hot springs or. mud pots or to view a beautiful waterfall. Our time in Yellowstone was limited. We just entered the west entrance and traveled to Old Faithful, Faith-ful, then turned back towards the north entrance. With so much to see and do, it would be a fun place to stop and take time to camp and experience ' the trails, visitors centers, and museums. |