CHAPTER XIII.

A TOUR OF THE PARK.

_North Boundary to Mammoth Hot Springs._

Distance five miles. The road for most of the way lies in the valley of the Gardiner. The principal points of interest en route are:

_The Junction of the Yellowstone and Gardiner Rivers_ which determines the north boundary of the Park. It lies in the State of Montana, the state line being two miles further south. The old prospector's route bore off at this point and kept up the valley of the Yellowstone. Folsom took this route in 1869; so did the Wasburn party in 1870. Hayden and Barlow in 1871 kept along the Gardiner and thus saw the Mammoth Hot Springs.

_The Gardiner Cañon_ is a precipitous valley of loose gray walls suggestive of danger from falling rocks. The nests of fish-hawks here and there crown detached pinnacles. The most striking feature of the cañon is the river, a typical mountain torrent of such rapid fall over its rocky bed that it is a continuous succession of foaming cascades.

Some four miles up the river, at the point where the road leaves it, the tourist gets his first sight of any indication of subterranean heat. This is a large stream of hot water, in early times called the _Boiling River_, issuing from an opening in the rocks and emptying directly into the river. It is formed of the collected waters of Mammoth Hot Springs which find their way to this point through underground passages. It was here that "numbers of invalids" were encamped when Hayden and Barlow saw the spot in 1871.

From the last crossing of the Gardiner a winding road, which rises 600 feet in its length of one mile, brings the tourist to the world-renowned _Mammoth Hot Springs_, and to the administrative and business headquarters of the Park.

First in importance, among the many points of interest accessible from this locality, are the _Hot Springs Terraces_. These have been built one upon another until the present active portion constitutes a hill rising 300 feet above the site of the Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel. The formation about these springs, it will be remembered, is calcareous, and to this fact is due its distinctive character, so different from the silica formations which prevail nearly every-where else in the Park. The overhanging bowls which these deposits build up are among the finest specimens of Nature's work in the world, while the water which fills them is of that peculiar beauty to be found only in thermal springs. Speaking of this feature Dr. Hayden says:

"The wonderful transparency of the water surpasses any thing of the kind I have ever seen in any other portion of the world. The sky, with the smallest cloud that flits across it, is reflected in its clear depths, and the ultramarine colors, more vivid than the sea, are greatly heightened by constant, gentle vibrations. One can look down into the clear depths and see, with perfect distinctness, the minutest ornament on the inner sides of the basins; and the exquisite beauty of the coloring and the variety of forms baffle any attempt to portray them either with pen or pencil."[AZ]

[AZ] Page 69 Hayden's Report for 1871. See Appendix E.

_Cleopatra Spring_, _Jupiter Terrace_, _Pulpit Terrace_, _Minerva Terrace_, the _Narrow Gauge Terrace_--an incongruous name for a long fissure spring--the _White Elephant_, another fissure spring, and the _Orange Geyser_, a very pretty formation, dome-shaped, with a pulsating spring in the top, are among the most interesting of the active springs.

_Liberty Cap_ is the cone of an extinct spring and stands forty-five feet high and twenty feet through at the base.

_Bath Lake_ is a warm pool of considerable size, much used in bathing.

Scattered over the formation in every direction are caves, springs, steam-vents, handsome deposits, and curiosities without number to attract and detain the visitor. Many of them, like _Cupid's Cave_, the _Devil's Kitchen_, and _McCartney's Cave_, are of much interest. In the last-mentioned cave, or, more properly, crater, an elk fell one winter when the crater was level full with light snow. His antlers caught between the sides of the crater, holding him in a suspended position until he perished. He was found the following spring by Mr. McCartney.

Besides the hot springs features, there are other important objects of interest in this neighborhood.

_Lookout Hill_ is a prominent rounded elevation opposite the hotel. Upon its summit is a block-house, built by Colonel Norris, in 1879, as a headquarters building for the Superintendent. The awkward and inconvenient location was selected for its defensible qualities. It will be remembered that the two previous years, 1877 and 1878, had witnessed the Nez Percé and Bannock incursions into the Park.

_The Falls and Cañon of the Middle Gardiner_, distant four miles from the hotel, are the finest scenery of the kind in the Park, excepting only the Grand Cañon of the Yellowstone.

_Bunsen Peak_ is a conspicuous summit located between the Middle and West Forks of the Gardiner. Its western face terminates in _Cathedral Rock_, a bold cliff that overhangs the valley of _Glen Creek_.

_Golden Gate_ and _Kingman Pass_ are names applied to the picturesque cañon of Glen Creek. It is justly considered one of the gems of the Park scenery. The skillful engineering feat of carrying the tourist route through this difficult cañon was performed by Lieutenant D. C. Kingman, of the Corps of Engineers, U. S. A., in 1884-5. _Rustic Falls_ is a handsome cataract near the head of the pass. The best view in this vicinity is to be had from above the pass, looking through it toward Mt. Everts.

Besides Bunsen Peak, the tourist will find _Terrace Mountain_, _Sepulcher Mountain_, and _Electric Peak_ ever ready to satisfy whatever ambition for mountain climbing he may possess.

The _East Gardiner Cañon_ affords some fine views, and the falls and rapids at its head are extremely beautiful. It is through this cañon that access can most easily be had to the summit of _Mt. Everts_. This last name is given to a feature which bears almost no resemblance to the ordinary conception of a mountain. It is simply a broad table-land extending from the Yellowstone south and terminating in the lofty and conspicuous bluff just across the Gardiner from Mammoth Hot Springs. The mountain derives its chief popular interest from the Everts episode, which is described in the Appendix under "Mt. Everts." It is also of great interest to scientific inquirers. The view from the prominent point opposite the forks of the Gardiner is very fine. The whole Mammoth Hot Springs formation and the group of buildings near it; the cañons and falls of the three Gardiners; and the array of mountain peaks across the valley, form a rare and attractive landscape.

Mt. Everts and the surrounding country are the home of the Park antelope and mountain sheep.

As explained elsewhere, Mammoth Hot Springs is the official and business headquarters of the Park. The handsome garrison of Fort Yellowstone is built on the white formation, and with the hotel and transportation buildings, the post-office, and various other structures, gives the place a village appearance not to be seen in any other part of the Park.