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Travellers Tips
Preparing camp for the night is a must. The horses
are hobbled so they can’t wander too far. Food must be
hoisted up into the trees, out of the reach of marauding bears.
Yellowstone is about eight thousand feet above sea level,
so it gets real cold real quick. Bring durable, waterproof
tents and warm sleeping bags.
One of the most important things for a horse trip into the
backcountry is to pack your things properly. Pack horses carry
the bulk of the equipment, clothing and food and everything
must be split up evenly between the packs.
Did you know?
- Three million visitors come to Yellowstone National Park
every year. Most of them stay in only about ten percent of
its vast area.
- Wapiti is a Native American name for elk. Many of
the trails through Yellowstone follow old native routes.
- Yellowstone has over ten thousand thermal features including
nearly 250 active geysers fuelled by heat from molten rock,
which is closer to the surface here than anywhere else on
earth. In fact, the name Yellowstone comes from the yellow
sulphur deposited beside the thermal vents. The geysers were
created by the collapse of an ancient volcano around 600,000
years ago.
- Yellowstone is home to the country’s last wild
bison herd. Two thousand of these protected animals roam
its valleys and meadows. Yellowstone has the largest concentration
of mammals in the lower 48 states. You’ll see elk,
black bear, grizzly bears, moose and bison. But beware:
the bison weigh 2,000 pounds and can sprint at 30 mph. They
have been known to gore visitors who have approached them
too quickly. Elk too, can also be deadly if startled. The
bottom line? View the animals from a distance.
- The world’s largest fossil forest can be found
at Yellowstone’s Specimen Ridge
- It’s a modern myth that native Americans never ventured
into the heart of Yellowstone in the past. In fact, the Shoshone,
Tukudikaaas and Bannocks moved through the area
and you can still see the evidence. At the Bannock Trail,
you’ll see rutted marks left by their travois, as they
moved across this part of the park to and from their hunting
grounds.
- In 1998, Yellowstone was hit by a devastating fire.
The fire burned from April until October, devastating 36%
of the park, or nearly 800,000 acres. It took 25,000 fire-fighters
to bring it under control. But the eventual effect was positive,
as huge areas are now regenerating and new vegetation is springing
up in the wake of the devastation.
- Yellowstone is only place in the continental United States
which has an eco-system that is exactly the same as
before the arrival of Europeans. But this has been a long
and difficult process. The protection has been there since
the park was created in 1872 (the first in the world), but
this has also meant that predators such as the wolf were controlled
to the point of extinction around here. The last one disappeared
in 1923. This meant that elk had to be culled with no natural
predators. Thankfully, the balance is now being redressed
with the successful re-introduction of the wolf in 1995. This
sensitive balance is controlled by wildlife rangers and biologists. |
