Photo of the Day #719: Yellowstone River

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The Yellowstone River, photographed near Tower Falls in Yellowstone National Park.


More like this

Lichen Moss growing on a tree at a turnout near Tower Falls in Yellowstone National Park. (Many thanks for the correction! Shows how much I know about plants...)
North American river otters (Lontra canadensis), photographed in the Lamar Valley of Yellowstone National Park.
Heated water from the Norris Geyser Basin empties into a nearby river. Photographed in Yellowstone National Park.
North American river otters (Lontra canadensis), photographed in the Lamar Valley at Yellowstone National Park.

Years ago, I was standing on a steep trail somewhere near where this photo was taken, craning my neck upwards to try to figure out why the tree next to me was shaking so. It dawned on me, belatedly, that the culprit was not a large bird, but rather an earthquake. A lot of the loose gravelly sedimentary and volcanic deposits like that can be seen on the riverbank in this photo slid downward into the river canyon. Somewhat scary, but, of course, not as serious as events the caldera that is Yellowstone might be capable of producing someday.