Earthquake Lake. The power of nature

Earthquake Lake was formed overnight by a 7.5 Richter scale earthquake around midnight on August 17 1958.A total of 28 people lost their lives that night but the quake also moved around 80 million tons of rock from the side of the canyon into the bottom and to the other side of the canyon.
It successfully dammed the Madison River below the Hebgen Lake dam. Check it out on Google Earth. There were lots of tourists and campers as it was the height of the summer season, and the rescue efforts were underway by 11 the next morning. I think that is remarkably quick. It had to be as the water was rapidly rising and there was concern that it could impact the Hebgen Dam adding to the problems.

  This is the view looking west (direction of flow) 

This side is where most of the rock ended up. You can see the river in the center.

 

 

 

The large rocks in the next pictures came from the horseshoe shaped area in the center of the picture

Me in the picture for scale!!

 

Looking back to the East

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Looking down the river (west) from the destroyed campground

A destroyed building at the campground

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A significant section of Highway 287 that runs through the Gallatin National Forest was also destroyed making the evacuation all the more challenging.

The Army Corps of Engineers had to create a spillway which still exists today. It is gradually eroding and the water level today is about 70 ft down from the peak right after the quake. The belief is that it will eventually erode and the Earthquake Lake will disappear. 

There is (of course) more information at the website. Follow the link. Earthquake lake info

We also found time to go to West Yellowstone for groceries and gas, and stopped at Renee's favorite spot on the Madison River. She says that on a calm day the reflections of the mountains (correction HER mountains) are beautiful. I for one believe her!!

Renee at the Madison River. Renee's Range in the background!!

Yellowstone Part One

I arrived here in West Yellowstone on Sunday afternoon (it is now Friday) It was raining cool and windy, but with better weather forecast for the rest of the week.
My (excellent) host Renee was cooking ribs and had invited some of the other folks from the campground over for supper. Renee had another guest Beth Wagner. All three of us had worked together at Caterpillar in Clayton NC and then gone our separate ways. I will create a special post about Renee and my admiration for her lifestyle and choices.
Beth had been here for a few days and was due to leave for Bozeman on Monday evening for an early Tuesday flight. 
We decided to go into Yellowstone on Monday to see the geysers and of course the most famous one, Old Faithful. I have to admit that I have done little planning for this whole trip but particularly for this portion. Renee has been here since late May and has spent many days in the park so knows it well and also the best time of day for visits. 
It was quite foggy when we got up and the campground is right by a lake. I took a couple of photos that have the peaks of some of the mountains peaking out. Renee claims they are HER mountains so I will call them the Renee Range. I could hear a coyote on the other side of the lake, but could not see him or her through the mist. Rather cool! 
I have also posted a picture of the same range after the fog had cleared so you can see the magnificent view on a clear day. Superb.

Renee's Place

We left for the geysers early Monday morning and traffic was light. The only hold up was a "parade" which is when all the cars stop (sometimes in the middle of the road) to look at animals.
We experienced this within the first hour although there were few cars.

I have never seen a bison (live) so this was an interesting experience all the more so for a close up experience. Park rules do not allow you to get closer than 75 ft from animals other than bears and wolves, and then it is 300 ft. Plenty close if you ask me.

We arrived around 8.45 at the geyser field and Renee checked the estimated times for the various geysers to blow so we could begin to plan a route. There are about 150 geysers and they are spread out over about one square mile. All are well signed and some are certainly more spectacular than others. It was a partly cloudy day and quite cold when the wind blew and the sun was behind the clouds. 
We first went to Daisy Geyser as it was the first to erupt and she did so right on time. As you can see below it is difficult to photo the geyser against a white cloud background!

GOCA hat sighting

Renee and Beth at Daisy Geyser 

We spent the next few hours wandering around some of the other geysers and saw Old Faithful erupt from the lodge near by. It seems to have the most regular and predictable eruptions but is actually not as spectacular as Grand Geyser. The challenge with Grand is that they give you a 4 hour window of when they predict it will erupt, but the eruptions last between 7 and 12 minutes and are worth the wait. There are people who are Geyser Gazers and spend a LOT of time looking at them or waiting for them to erupt. The older ones are actually known as Geyser Gazer Geezers!!  

 We got back around 7pm after a full day and Beth still had to drive to Bozeman. Plans are for a short day tomorrow with a trip to Earthquake Lake!!