Went back into Yellowstone this morning at about 10 a.m., passing a small herd of elk right outside the gates. The weather was a little iffy, quite a few clouds, and we needed to wear our Soul’s Harbor sweatshirts, but the sun was out, so we took an umbrella and moved bravely forward.
Mammoth Hot Springs, just inside the north end of the park, is a phenomenal place. It consists of dozens of large mineral terraces formed when boiling, mineral-rich water bubbled to the surface, leaving behind little bits of the minerals. (Think stalactites and stalagmites in caves.) Some of these terraces have gone dry and have turned kind of gray and crumbly, but others are boiling and steaming, and are covered with bright yellow, orange, green, and/or white deposits. We spent nearly four hours walking all through them, and taking pictures by the dozen.
After we had exhausted ourselves on the boardwalks of Mammoth Hot Springs, we started south on our way out of the park, picking up a couple of things that we had not had time to see yesterday. That included Tower Falls, a gorgeous waterfall surrounded by spires of stone, and the “Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone,” where the Yellowstone River cuts through a deep, narrow gorge that really is covered in yellow stone. There are some spectacular waterfalls and rapids, and generally a lot of “ooh” inducing views.
While we were along the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, the weather turned downright nasty – really cold and strong (and COLD) wind. It even started dropping little snow pellets on us. As we left the east entrance to the park, we noticed that the mountains that were totally bare yesterday, were now quite snowy.
We saw several different herds of buffalo today, two of them coming up right onto the road. We also saw several deer, some chipmunks, and a pair of moose! We left the park at about 6:30, and drove down highway 20 to the east, dubbed “the most scenic stretch of road in the country.” In 60 miles we drove through scene after scene of fantastic rock formations, ranging from pale gray, to brick red, to creamy yellow. It was just getting dark as we pulled into Cody, Wyoming for dinner. (Cody was founded by Buffalo Bill Cody, who humbly named the town after himself!)
We finally arrived at our motel in Greybull, Wyoming, about 55 miles east of Cody.
As I reflected on all that we have seen in the last three days, including both days at Yellowstone and one day at Craters of the Moon, it struck me that all of the terrible beauty that is contained in both of these parks is the result of God’s judgment on the earth. It is well understood that volcanic activity was greatly involved in the flood of Noah, where the “fountains of the deep” burst open, shooting superheated water into the atmosphere, and that after the floodwaters subsided, volcanic activity and plate tectonics played a large part in continent building, and is still present today. Even though the volcanic activity can result in great beauty, such as the glorious pastel colors in many of the hot springs, the fantastic shapes of the lava outcroppings at Craters of the Moon, and the monumental terraces at Mammoth Hot Springs, the cause behind the beauty is the brokenness of the world due to mankind’s sin. One has to wonder what kind of greater and even more varied beauty we would see in our world if God had not had to bring judgment on it. But we also need to remember that God’s plan is restoration for not only the broken world in which we live, but all of creation, and WE have a big part to play in the restoration that God plans to bring about (Romans 8:19-21)