Geysers in Yellowstone

8/1/16

Dear B-,

How have you been doing? I hope it hasn't been too hot this week!

Yesterday, I arrived in Yellowstone. It's my first visit here. I entered the park through the entrance at West Yellowstone, Montana. Many years ago, a train used to take some visitors to the park. The train went through West Yellowstone. Can you imagine what it would be like to ride a train for many hours to get to the park?

After entering the park, I went south toward Old Faithful, the famous geyser. There is actually a lot of geothermal (heat inside the earth) activity in the park. There are many geysers, fumeroles (holes near a volcano where steam comes from), mud pots (hot springs filled with boiling mud) and hot springs. The best geothermal sight was definitely Old Faithful. It was impressive, even though it didn't erupt when it was predicted to. Old Faithful was nine minutes late!

hot springs

This is actually a mud pot, you just can't see the boiling mud

hot springs

Old Faithful

I look forward to seeing you in about a week and a half. I hope you will get a chance to do a couple more fun things before school starts.

Your teacher,

Elaina

P.S. I just read an interesting fact. Two-thirds of the world's geysers are in Yellowstone!

Craters of the Moon National Monument

7/31/16

Dear NH,

Today is Sunday, the day you get to camp. This is the second letter I'm writing - I'm sending these letters early to make sure you get them in time before camp is over.  Of course, you won't get this letter for a few days. By the time you get this, I'll probably be in a different state, and hopefully, you will be having a great time.

Yesterday, the trip toward Yellowstone continued. The first stop of the day was in Twin Falls, Idaho. Even though I'm out of the desert of Nevada it is till hot at around 100 degrees Fahrenheit. I looked around downtown Twin Falls a little bit, but I was mostly interested in the waterfalls outside town. The two waterfalls were pretty cool.

After seeing the falls, I headed over to a nearby lake. This lake was a very popular spot to go swimming. An area of the lake was blocked off to make a pool area. There was even a lifeguard and a diving board. I don't like cold water, so I didn't swim, but I did wade in a couple of feet.

The other big thing I did yesterday was visit Craters of the Moon National Monument, also in Idaho. This park is full of lava! I saw many kinds of lava including rope lava that looks like rope and a'a lava. A'a (ahh-ahh) is a Hawaiian word that basically means "hard on the feet," but really the idea is that it is ouchy lava. That kind of lava will tear up your shoes. In this park, I even got to climb up a cinder cone!

rope lava

a'a lava

emerging from a lava tube

a'a lava at sunset

I look forward to hearing about camp.

Your teacher,

Elaina

Traversing Nevada

7/30/16

Dear B-,

How is your weekend going? Mine is pretty good. I hope you have been able to do something fun.

I have already started my road trip. Yesterday, I spent the day traveling across Nevada. Nevada is mostly just hot. The car said it was over 110 degrees in one place. Does it get that hot in New Mexico?

While driving across the state, I stopped several times. One stop was to see a cave called Lovelock Cave. This cave is not very big, only about 35 feet by 150 feet. (150 feet is half of a football field). Today, there is not much inside that is interesting, but when the cave was discovered in the early 1900s, there were many artifacts from ancient people. There have been 2 or 3 excavations that uncovered bones of humans, plant material, and so much more.



I have attached a picture to this letter. This is a picture I took when I was standing next to the cave. This is what Nevada looks like.

I look forward to getting your next letter.

Your teacher,

Elaina