Yellowstone National Park: Natural Beauty with a Rough Start

Lina: A wild land sitting directly over a massive supervolcano? Welcome to the legendary Yellowstone National Park.

Ralf: Famous for exploding geysers and amazing wildlife, this area is probably one of the most iconic World Heritage Sites of the United States.

Lina: Get ready for unexpected stories, natural wonders, and essential travel tips. Let's explore this wild wonderland right after the intro.

Lina: Welcome to World Heritage Rookies, the podcast where we explore UNESCO World Heritage Sites one episode at a time. We are Lina

Ralf: and Ralf, and we will travel alongside you to some of the most stunning sites our world has to offer.

Lina: Each week, we dive into the history, fun facts, and reasons why World Heritage Sites matter for humanity, sharing our own discoveries and travel tips along the way.

Ralf: So, let's dive in and learn about some World Heritage together!

Ralf: Welcome, everybody, to episode 8 of World Heritage Rookies, the podcast where we talk about World Heritage Sites, one episode at a time. If you've joined us for previous episodes, we're very happy to have you back. Welcome back.

Lina: And if you're new here, I hope you like today's episode. I think it's going to be quite exciting, because it's about another national park.

Ralf: Oh, what a surprise. I thought it was going to be super exciting because it's your turn again for the episode, and not mine again.

Lina: It is my turn, and this week we're going to talk about the OG of all national parks — a place so wild, so geologically mind-blowing, it was necessary to invent a new way to protect it. We're going to talk about the land of fire and ice.

Ralf: Game of Thrones?

Lina: No, before that — Yellowstone National Park.

Ralf: Close enough, okay. I'm also happy to talk about Yellowstone National Park instead of Game of Thrones.

Lina: Maybe that's where the phrase comes from, but actually I don't know why the "ice" part, so please ignore.

Ralf: It makes also more sense for this podcast than talking about Game of Thrones, anyway. I'm deviating — I don't think we're ever going to have an episode intro that doesn't immediately deviate from the topic, but so far it's also become a bit of a staple. So, let's continue with Yellowstone National Park, I would assume.

Lina: Yellowstone National Park.

Lina: As always, before starting — what do you know about Yellowstone National Park?

Ralf: So, I know more than I did about some of the other sites we've already talked about, but still not a lot, I'd assume. I know it's in the United States.

Lina: Oh my.

Ralf: Yeah, I know. Thank you very much. Why do I even need this episode?

Lina: Thank you so much, guys.

Ralf: I know it's a really, really big place — people who've been there told me you can't even understand how huge the whole area is until you've been there, and even then, you're sort of mind-blown. That's the feedback I got. And I know — this information comes from the highly qualitative movie 2012 — that there's a supervolcano below it, and if it goes boom, we're all going to have a bad day.

Lina: That's called a caldera.

Ralf: Okay, good to know already. Spoiler — I'm saving that for the main part of the episode, but thank you for teaching me in advance.

Lina: Anything else?

Ralf: I know that you've been there, right?

Lina: I have not been there.

Lina: I have been to Yosemite National Park.

Ralf: Okay, good — so I now know, you haven't been there.

Lina: That's the only place in the United States that was on my top list that I couldn't visit. It's a bit to the north of the United States, so it can be a little hard to reach.

Ralf: I think, for a lot of people, there's sort of a bucket list to visit all the great national parks, and I'd assume it's probably —

Lina: — one of the best.

Ralf: The top of the list, yeah.

Lina: One hundred percent.

Lina: So, to start this episode, as always, I'll mention a little bit about the history. Before Europeans arrived, Native Americans lived in the Yellowstone area over 10,000 years of span — they were in and out of the territory.

Ralf: Do you know if they know this mostly through oral tradition, or did they actually find some archaeological evidence?

Lina: Well, there's some archaeological evidence of trading with other Native American from other areas. For instance, they found arrowheads as far away as the Mississippi Valley.

Ralf: Oh wow.

Lina: So it wasn't only about trading, but also about the movement of these communities. Nevertheless, this is the archaeological findings that you can actually find — nothing in writing, sometimes not even oral. It's mostly archaeological evidence of movement and trading about.

Ralf: Because, as far as I remember, most of the Native American communities did not have any kind of written records —

Lina: Mm-hmm.

Ralf: preserved via oral traditions, and by telling, well, the histories from generation to generation.

Lina: Yes, and this archaeological evidence show, for instance, that they hunted fish, gathered plants, used the hot springs of Yellowstone National Park for healing or for religious purposes. They were taking care of the land for around 10,000 years. So, this is the evidence that they had found so far.

Lina: Nevertheless, after the Europeans arrived in the early 1800s, there were European-American trappers starting to hear about stories of bubbling pools or steaming grounds around that area, but for a lot of times that was considered a myth. So much that one of the first explorers, called John Colter, he passed through in 1807-1808, and he described the place as a place of fire and brimstone. So, around 60 years after John Colter came around this place, a detailed expedition was organized by the Hayden Geological Survey to actually go there and for the first time do research in the place. When they went, they finally took these stories actually serious, and the government after that funded a massive survey which included reports from photograph professionals like William Henry Jackson, and paintings from Thomas Moran to actually see what was in the park. And, boom! Let's say that's actually how it was described in the Encyclopedia Britannica, and boom! Suddenly it became important.

Lina: One year afterwards, President Ulysses S. Grant, signed the act of dedication, officially reserving the land as a public park, or pleasure ground, for the benefit and enjoyment of the people. And this is how the first national park in the world was created.

Ralf: The first, not only in the United States, it was the first in the world?

Lina: Yes.

Ralf: Oh, wow.

Lina: 1872, I mean, it was quite early. Before, of course, there were parks and parks of recreation, but they were not officially named as such. So, this was the first official national park in the world.

Ralf: Which is interesting, when you consider how many breathtaking national parks you can find today in the United States. I mean, obviously, unfortunately I have never been to any one of them, so I dare not make any comparison which is more impressive than the others, or way around. But, I assume many of the national parks we have today, well, they were already like stunning or breathtaking and wonderful to behold in the time when this happened. So, it's very interesting to see. It seems there was a little bit of a luck associated with it being called the first national park.

Lina: Yeah, of course. I mean, first of all, it's the most famous national park in the United States. Of course, that's not only granted because it was the first one. I will mention a lot of firsts that this park has. But, it's also, I mean, because its nature is quite special. So, to be honest, I have been in three national parks in the United States, and all of them are absolutely gorgeous. There is something about the nature of American landscape that is really special. Nevertheless, I haven't seen it, unfortunately, but I think that this will take away, because it has so much of special things, like, you really, really have to be able to compare somehow. But, yeah, no, like, all national parks in the United States, I think that even, I would take that the national parks are more amazing than actually maybe historical places. That doesn't mean that the historical places of the United States are not great, of course. But, of course, if I would choose one or the other one, I would choose the nature side.

Ralf: I think that the United States is obviously very well known for its beauty and landscape. Also, thanks to its size, obviously, you can have a lot of variety, depending — are you more, like, in the east coast, or are you more in the central parts, or, like, more about, for example, the west coast. So, like, I think what also is a really benefit of the national parks, at least from what I understood from people who have seen more, is, like, well, they also have a huge variety. You never can underestimate the size and how large the United States are as a country, and therefore, automatically, there will be more variety, and that's what I heard from people who went to multiple national parks, that they really enjoyed, especially, well, how different they are.

Ralf: You are in the same country, but obviously, we know also the individual states in the United States can sometimes be functioning like a country in other continents,

Lina: And sometimes, they are the size of other countries, so.

Ralf: And that makes it for so many so interesting to discover the national parks all over the United States.

Lina: I mean, we know, for instance, Texas is bigger than Germany, so we can even imagine how the functioning, at least the government functioning, and the culture and the specificity change from state to state.

Ralf: True, yeah, but that's obviously a very important milestone with Yellowstone and being called the first national park and laying the foundation for all of these amazing sites you can see today.

Lina: Yes, and actually, coming to the topic before I forget, last time you mentioned it, and I was not prepared. So, Yellowstone, the name Yellowstone comes from the Yellowstone River. It had other names in the past, which, when, with, early indigenous were there, for instance, before it was also called the Mi tsi a-da-zi, which translates as Yellow Road River, so, kind of similarities in the name, finally arrived to the Yellowstone National Park. Yellowstone National Park, at the beginning, was actually not really easy to protect. The first park caretaker, Nathaniel Langford, he had no payment, he had no staff, he had no funds, so it was really hard for him to protect the area, and at that time, many poachers and vandals caused a lot of problems. It was then, that around 10, 15 years after it was considered a national park, the U.S. Army took over the park management, and they created Fort Yellowstone, which became, like, the headquarters of the park area.

Ralf: Military was needed to ensure that it was safe.

Lina: Yes, I mean, let's go back to that — it's a huge territory, and it was completely uncontrolled, because it was one person taking care of it.

Ralf: Without payment, I mean, that takes also some commitment. Thank you very much, shout out to, sorry, what was his name again?

Lina: Nathaniel Langford, sorry if I mispronounce his name.

Ralf: Okay, thank you very much for Nathaniel for the dedication.

Lina: Yes, actually, I hope he has, like, at least a photo in the headquarters. Finally, after 30 years, in 1916, control was officially given to the National Park Service, NPS, which is who manages all national parks in the United States today.

Ralf: They are a government organization, right?

Lina: Yes, yes.

Lina: Well, now, let's talk about facts, and Yellowstone has many, so we know it's big. But how big is it? Well, it's bigger than Rhode Island and Delaware combined. It covers 8,983 square kilometers, which translates to around 3,468 square miles. And it stretches across three states. So, mostly Wyoming with 96%, but also touch Montana with 3% of the territory, and Idaho with 1%. So, it is huge.

Ralf: Yeah.

Lina: Also, it is a geothermal gold mine. So, Yellowstone has over 10,000 geothermal features. These combining hot springs, geysers, mud pots, and steam vents. And it has more than half of all hydrothermal features of Earth. So, yes.

Ralf: I'm assuming, like, a lot of other activities you might have in Iceland, right? Which is also, to my knowledge, a very well-known geothermal spot. But half of all of Earth, I mean, that's...

Lina: Hydro-thermal.

Ralf: Yeah, sorry. Hydro-thermal. I'm just trying to understand it. Okay, yeah. Wow.

Lina: I mean, again, combining what it's in hot springs, so hot springs we have pretty much in every country, and imagine the size that had to be, to be considered the one that has two of the third part of the whole, hot springs, geysers, mud pots, and steam vents.

Ralf: Yeah.

Lina: Also, as I mentioned before, it's known as the Geyser King. The park has over 300 active geysers, which encounters two of the third part of all geysers of the planet.

Ralf: Have you ever seen a geyser actually live? I never have.

Lina: No, me neither, and I quite would love to, and actually the most famous geyser in the park is called Old Faithful, and erupts roughly every 90 minutes, so it's kind of an attraction of the park now. Because, you know, every 90 minutes is gonna erupt, so of course you can see in it from a safe distance, and, I mean, you can just wait and see it, which is something I really want to do.

Ralf: Just imagine, like, how much the whole, let's say, pressure around it must be that it's regularly going off all this time. I mean, I have to admit, I do not know much about the physics behind geysers, but I assume that, obviously, it has relation with some pressures, and everything that makes me really wonder what is going on around there that's really erupting every 90 minutes.

Lina: It is quite interesting. What is interesting as well, I mean, it's called the Geyser King, not only because it has this amazing geyser, Old Faithful, but also because it has the world's tallest geyser in the world. It's called Steamboat Geyser, and it's also located in the park in the Norris Geyser Basin, because it's so huge that they have to kind of name the locations and, like, name the territories differently in order to be able to allocate themselves.

Lina: Well, it's also known by everybody that the supervolcano status of Yellowstone Park. Yellowstone sits on a massive volcano system called the Yellowstone Caldera. Ah, coming back to the caldera, don't be kidding.

Ralf: Because, like, actually, when we were talking before this epsiode, we were like, okay, what's caldera in our native? And I'm like, I do not even know what that means in German. So, yes, I learned, so it's also caldera in German, so, I have to admit, I learned a new word in my native language.

Lina: It is Latin, and it's caldera in Spanish, in German, and in English. Ha, facts. I'm dropping facts all the way.

Ralf: Thank you so much for educating me every episode, newly.

Lina: Oh, well, this Yellowstone Caldera is, of course, it's a supervolcano because it was formed by a huge explosive eruption in the span of, like, more than one million years ago. And so, the last major eruption happened 640,000 years ago. And it has been erupting around 500,000, 600,000. And so, of course, there is a lot of, how to say, stories around that it's going to erupt soon. Let's go back to the movie 2012. So, yes, it is true that it's erupting in the span of what has happened. So, it erupted every 600,000, 650,000 years in the span, and now we are, again, 640,000 years ago.

Ralf: Well, to be fair, everything basically went wrong in this movie, so, like, Yellowstone explosion was, I have the feeling, just like a side effect.

Lina: Yeah, and it is true, it could actually happen. There is a lot of studies, and, of course, don't worry about not visiting because it's one of the most controlled, geological control areas. So, if something changes, they immediately give alerts and it prohibits certain impacts, safety of the impacts of the park. So, it is okay, they control the development of the area so much, that it's actually quite safe.

Ralf: But I think, frankly speaking, if this place were to erupt, there's, anyway, nothing we could do.

Lina: Yeah, no, and it will be massive, the whole world will see it. So, I think that this is just, unfortunately, something nobody can control.

Ralf: But we can observe it, mm-hmm.

Lina: We can observe it and be amazed by it, that's true. Also, Yellowstone National Park is not only known by its amazing nature, but also because it has one of, an architectural wonder, one of the most beautiful ones in the world. The Old Faithful Inn, which was built in 1904, it's a historical hotel made mostly of wood logs, and it's believed to be the largest wood building in the world. And Ralf, I do have to show you one photo. I mean, please, I will put it also in our Instagram @worldheritagerookies. Sorry, I forget the name.

Ralf: Still practicing our own brand name, so let's see after how many episodes we get it right.

Lina: World Heritage Rookies, you have to see it, guys, the hotel is so pretty. It is really a wonder in wood, let's say like that. And it's the biggest building in the world, made completely in wood.

Ralf: The biggest, I mean, okay, that puts it —

Lina: Sorry, not the biggest, the largest. There is a difference.

Ralf: That puts it into competition with some other really amazing places, especially churches in Europe, which I know some are just made fully of wood, so then it must be really extraordinary.

Lina: But it looks like a castle. It's huge.

Ralf: Oh, wow. Okay.

Lina: So, I do have to show you, if you haven't seen it, and you guys can also go and see it now, or also you will see our link to our Instagram account in the description, so, marketing time.

Lina: Anyways, so, it is also a really large place for bison heritage. Yellowstone has the oldest and largest wild bison herd in the United States. It's the only place where bison have lived continuously since prehistoric times. And the park bison herd reached an absolutely peak of around 4,900 bison in 2005.

Ralf: That's a lot.

Lina: Also, wolves were a really big part before, in the 18th, 17th and 16th century, but they were wiped out in 1926. Because the park's protection wanted to reduce the amount of deer that they were consuming. However, of course, because this was not natural to the park, they decided to reintroduce them around 1994, 1995. And, actually, that has been an absolute success. Now, they have a lot of wolves, again, and it's just a normal part of the ecosystem of Yellowstone Park.

Ralf: But they were not originally native to the place?

Lina: They were naturally native, but they killed them all. In the, in the 20th century, sorry.

Ralf: And then they had to reintroduce them in order to reduce the population of deer. Okay.

Lina: No, no, really, not because of the population in deer, it's because they are indeed, endemic to the place.

Ralf: I see.

Lina: So, to kill them all was actually unbalancing the natural structure of the park. And that's it. That's, like, the major facts. Something you found really interesting, Ralf?

Ralf: Well, obviously, I did not expect within the park to be such a famous construction site with the inn that you mentioned. I mean, when you think about the national parks, you, yeah, well, mostly think about the landscapes. So, this was something I did not know and that I find very curious.

Lina: If we ever visit, we have to go to that inn.

Ralf: So, can you, like, — can you stay there? Can you sleep there?

Lina: It's a hotel!

Ralf: So, like, so it's a hotel

Lina: Yeah.

Ralf: Like, you can actively still be there and it's not just a monument you can visit.

Lina: Exactly. And I think that, of course, because it's such a popular monument, you have to book in advance. So, maybe skipping a little bit to the travel tips, book as soon as possible if you want to visit.

Lina: Okay, so now we are going to talk about why we're here and it's because it's a World Heritage Site.

Ralf: Really?

Lina: Yes. Tan, tan, tan, tan. Shocking. Yellowstone's recognition started in 1976 when Yellowstone was named a Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO. And it was two years afterwards, 1978, when it was actually added to the UNESCO World Heritage List, recognized as a global treasure. Now, the question that always comes to us, how many, how many criteria do you have, do you think Yellowstone has?

Ralf: I'm gonna be ambitious here and say it fulfills all four natural criteria.

Lina: It fulfills all. So, when it was inscribed, yes, it was recognized by the four full criteria, natural criteria, which is 7, 8, 9, and 10. So, the criteria is 7, natural beauty. Yellowstone is packed with, of course, an extraordinary scenic treasures. We had mentioned them, we had mentioned some of them. It has the largest collection of geysers, it has a number of waterfalls, including the lower Yellowstone Falls, which is 94 meters high, and the kind of, say, dramatic Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone Park, because there is also a canyon inside Yellowstone.

Ralf: Of course.

Lina: There is also criteria, Earth, eight, sorry, Earth. Criteria Earth.

Ralf: It fulfills criteria Earth, right, I think.

Lina: It is 8, Earth history. I say yes, kind of. It is a major site for studying Earth's evolutionary history. We know that it contains unparalleled geothermal activity and is the world's largest recognized caldera, Yellowstone Caldera. The park also has abundant fossil deposits coming from the continuous eruptions, but also has included more than 150 species of fossils and plant fossils.

Ralf: Do you tell me they found dinosaurs there in Yellowstone?

Lina: I do think that they found dinosaurs, yes. Because the mud pots, you know, they are where, I mean, I think that we have all seen the cartoons where they actually dinosaurs got stuck in the mud and they kind of died there and this became like a really easy way to have fossils today.

Ralf: Poor dinosaurs, but. Good for discovery, I guess.

Lina: Okay. Criteria number nine. Ecological processes. Yellowstone Park is one of the most interactive large ecosystems in the northern temperature zone. The park allows natural process to process the minimal human intervention because it is due to his size that really the park takers have been able to actually experiment of natural processes. For instance, lighting started forest fires are actually allowed to exist until they disappear because they are natural. So, when it's only lighting who causes the fire, they do not stop it. Just for research and understanding how the fire, for instance, fastly multiplies and develops. And also to understand how it, for instance, goes down naturally.

Ralf: That's, it makes absolutely sense but it's, in the beginning it's nothing that you would assume would happen because, like obviously with forest fire and when you see the devastating effects it can have, you would assume, especially in a place like Yellowstone, they will try to ensure that it doesn't, it doesn't happen.

Lina: Yeah, but at the same time I think that it's a good opportunity to also understand how to fight for, with artificial fires. So, when they are human-created, this kind of understanding of how naturally the system would, the fire will go down would also support fires around the world. So, I think that is a really interesting research and also something that Yellowstone size kind of allows. Finally, criteria number ten. Conservation and biodiversity. Biodiversity. The park serves as one of North American refugees for rare plants and animal species. It supports major wildlife populations of grizzly bears, wolves, as I mentioned before, bisons and elks. The grizzly bear population here is actually the most studied in the world. So, actually they do have a lot of research on all the endemic, wild animals population in the park.

Ralf: Do you know if they name the grizzly bears?

Lina: Probably. I don't know, I don't remember where was this competition, no, this is in Canada, I think, so where they kind of bet of who it's going to be the biggest bear every year?

Ralf: I never heard of that.

Lina: Do you have never heard? Oh my goodness, I wanted to bet for a lot of time. But I think that is not National Yellowstone Park. Though I would assume that some of the most well-known bear population have a name.

Ralf: If anybody of our listeners knows about some famous grizzly bears of Yellowstone, please let us know on our Instagram comments or send us a message. I'm very curious about it.

Lina: I'm very curious. I have a lot of ideas as well. So if National Parks of the United States have some interest in hearing them, just let me know.

Ralf: If I know it, you would just name the bear Pedro, because for some reason when you have to give a name to something, it always is Pedro.

Lina: I don't know. Pedro has such a charm name. Anyway, so that's pretty much it. Nevertheless, it's good information, the park actually almost lost his protected status. So Yellowstone was listed as a World Heritage Site in danger from 1995 to 2003 due to threats like proposed mining, the river pollution, excessive tourism, and excessive tourism and snow-mobile use, so cars and trucks through the park. So it was a huge effort by the American government to actually remove Yellowstone National Park from the list. And they were actually able to do it in 2003.

Ralf: I know this is one of the criticisms that, for example, UNESCO faces for its list, that very often the status of being recognized on the World Heritage list is, well, of course, increasing tourism. And that can put the site by itself at risk, which is especially harmful very often for natural sites. But I wonder if this would have happened for Yellowstone anyway, because the way you describe it, the importance it has in being the first national park, it might anyway have had the situation of being visited that often. And then it was obviously, it's obviously good that an organization like UNESCO is putting really emphasis on saying, hey, if you continue doing this, or if this continues happening, then it will lose its status. So I find there's always a bit of an interesting discussion about the benefits and disadvantages of for something being called a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Lina: I think we had this conversation a lot of times in the past, especially, I mean, we have talked about actually, and I think also in the podcast, having a special episode only with endangered places and things like that. But I think that it's true. So it is true that having any historical or natural place being known as a World Heritage Site increases tourism, which is good. But it's also the fact that, like, I think that even before it's named, UNESCO has to make sure that these places can support this level of tourism. I don't know if this is something that is being taken in account before. Maybe this is something where, like, the processes of actually listing this place as a World Heritage Site happens, like, could be done before. Because it's true. I mean, there is places that get really in danger because of the massive tourism. And it's just making sure that there is preventive measures before to actually avoid this kind of overtourism in situations.

Ralf: Yeah, I think if we went now in detail that would take too much long time. But I know at least this is, like, one of the main criticisms that's often, of the World Heritage Site, that it might not be taken too much into account. Is actually the conservative efforts or, like, is the infrastructure or the site itself suited for an increase in tourism?

Lina: This has to be, I mean, I'm pretty sure this is something that they have to check because how they are going to know if the infrastructure, it's being supported of the amount of tourism that is going to arrive. Because one of the, we had mentioned as well, one of the features of being an UNESCO World Heritage Site is that they have to be accessible.

Ralf: Yeah, but on the other hand, I think it's also obviously sometimes very hard to assess because you cannot predict what will happen. You cannot predict how popular a place will become. You cannot predict, obviously, like, in the end, it's also about the fact... To conserve the places, well, like, yeah, of course, I seem to remember, like, you have to make a, like, a concept or whatever, but there's a difference also between, yeah, that's how we are gonna preserve it, and this is how it's actually done. So, not applying specifically to Yellowstone here,

Ralf: it is a general discussion, but what I want to say with this is, like, we will encounter for sure in the future also sites here that are controversial, because they have potential negative impact on the places or on the local population, and I think this is also for us important, even though we both, in my opinion, we fully believe in the good that the UNESCO World Heritage Site does, and also raises the organization, of, it has to be also be clear, it's not just black and white, there are obviously discussions and things that are important to highlight, and I think this is important, why we also mention when something is on the World Heritage List in danger, because it places also the focus, hey, what can go wrong?

Lina: What can go wrong? And of course, what is the general perception of the communities, because they are actually, they directly impact when a place is named, a World Heritage Site. So, it's important also to have it in mind and to mention it. So, well, what do you think, this is a World Heritage Site that is amazing, it has the four criteria, and it has been all. So, it has been endangered, it has been restored, now it's booming in his wildlife population, so quite an interesting history of Yellowstone, I think so.

Ralf: It is, and I have to admit, I'm now very curious about what I assume you will mention during the travel tips, like what, how can you sort of explore Yellowstone National Park?

Lina: To be 100% honest, I was, I tried to make this section a little bit shorter, because Yellowstone National Park is one of the most recorded places on earth, so there is one million videos in YouTube, there is so much information, and blog information about how to visit, where to visit, what geyser is better in the morning, what geyser is better in the afternoon, so, there is so much research there, that it really makes no sense just to go to that level of details. I want it to be more broad in the sense of how to plan to go, and when to plan to go, so I think that this is the information I'm going to provide to you today. It is important first, for you to

Lina: know Yellowstone is popular, talking about popularity before, in 2024, it welcomed over 4.7 million visitors a year, making actually July the busiest month of the year, so if you can visit any other month, that would be ideal. To ensure that your trip is amazing, and you don't get stuck in bison-induced traffic, because that's a thing.

Ralf: Bison-induced traffic. OK?

Lina: Yes.

Ralf: Something again to add to my list about things I never thought existed.

Lina: That is here, so I brought some tips, especially tips that I found from the Parks Community site, like the one that I mentioned of yellowstone.org. First, you need to book early, so accommodations, especially inside the park, like what I mentioned before, the Old Faithful Inn, should be booked months in advance. Actually, booking three months before, it's already impossible. So, please, plan in advance if you want to go, especially to the inn. Time it right. If possible, try to be, only during weekdays, because, of course, during the weekends, it's extremely full all around the year. For the best experience, the park site recommends minimum two nights and three days. That would be like, kind of, but if you can stay the whole five days, it would be amazing. As I mentioned, it has sometimes a lot of crowds, so try to start the day early. There is a lot of things to do between 6 a.m. and 8 a.m. So, the park actually recommends to wake up really early, spot the wildlife during the morning, have a midday rest or nap, and then continue the enjoyment and visit other areas in the dusk.

Ralf: Ah, getting up early in the morning is already like, ah, god damn it, but no, I guess it's, I'm joining for the nap for sure, though.

Lina: I do appreciate that they actually recommend to have a midday nap.

Ralf: Have a nap because...

Lina: I mean, it is also, for instance, summer, we know it's quite hot. It's a caldera, so the temperature is actually a little bit higher than in other parts around the park. So, it is, I am pretty sure it's really nice to have a midday nap.

Ralf: Yeah, but that's generally the fact that midday nap is a great thing.

Lina: In this podcast, we support midday naps.

Lina: Of course, it is also really important you remember that it's, something that is a wildlife etiquette, and you have to behave responsibly. Yes, we all love, you know, seeing bisons and elk and maybe from faraway wolves, but, of course, be mindful. The most advised things in Yellowstone: do not stop for wildlife unless they are crossing. If you, for instance, I mean, there are roads in the park, unless you see them crossing in front of you, do not stop. Because, of course, you will stop a lot of the traffic, and you will cause congestions. And sometimes, this is the major cause of congestion, that a family is stopped because they saw a bison next to the road, or because they saw a bear a little bit far away, and this caused major car congestion.

Ralf: So, this is actually the main form of transportation in Yellowstone? You will go along with cars?

Lina: Well, it is not cars. Mostly, it's camping trucks.

Ralf: Hmm, I see.

Lina: I mean, because most of the people, and I will say because the inn is, it's huge, but it's large. But it's not going to be able to maintain the capacity of 4.7 million visitors. So, of course, not everybody can stay. And actually, as I mentioned, if you don't book three or four months in advance, and many families just decided spontaneously to visit, they will not be able to stay unless they actually get their camp truck in one of the specific areas.

Lina: Also, another really important thing to remember, do not feed the bears. I know this is something that, culturally speaking, and a lot of cartoons have teaching us otherwise, but this is not a good idea.

Lina: Something that I found really interesting also from the blogs that I visited about Yellowstone National Park, well, they mention some essential gear that you have to have in order to enjoy the most the wildlife. So, of course, sunscreen is really important. You also should bring binoculars and a high-zoom camera in order to get a close view of the bison and the bears. It's really, for instance, normal that wolves and grizzly bears are easily spotted in areas like Lamar and Hayden Valley that are a must-visit when you are in the park. Also, please have in mind, sometimes it's really normal to see bison walking across your car. So, please, for your own safety, do not touch them, do not interact with them. Just look from a safety distance. For the roads, well, most of them are accessible in summer, but they are sometimes closed to wheeled vehicles from early November to mid-April or during winter. The only road accessible during winter for wheeled vehicles are the one entering from Gardiner, Montana, extending to Cooke City, Montana. Otherwise, plan for a guided snow coach or a snowmobile tour in the winter. This is something, a possibility you can do.

Ralf: So, you're still allowed to go with snowmobile, even though it was a concern from UNESCO to put it in danger. I assume then probably just less usage of snowmobiles, right?

Lina: No, no, no. The snowmobiles were never the issue, but actually the wheeled vehicles. Because they were too many. So, let's have in mind, actually, that the roads are being developed in order to not endanger wildlife, but also maintain certain separation between the roads that can actually allow people to enter the park, and the roads for hiking and trekking and so on. So, they are a little different. It is actually the heavy cars which were the issue. But of course, snowmobiles tend to be less heavy and tend to also have specific roads or specific paths you can go through, so it is not as dangerous. Also, as always, as I mention it every time, I think we mention it every time, safety is first. So, if you haven't understood so far, Yellowstone is dynamic, has a lot of wildlife, and most of its trails are constructed in wood and it has thermal features, which means, actually, it's not the wildlife the most danger is that the most of the fatalities come from people deviating from the tracking paths. Why? These tracking paths are actually for everybody's safety, because if you deviate from them, you can actually finish in a geyser, or in a mud pot, or in a steam vent. So, please, be mindful, sadly, 38% of fatalities recorded between 2007 and 2023 were actually related to hiking.

Ralf: So, people died in Yellowstone?

Lina: Yes. Hiking, climbing, and walking near geothermal areas is the most dangerous thing you can do, and it is true that there are certain levels on the park, you can walk freely, but the national parks governmental structure is trying to define really specific sites where you can go or not go, but there is certain freedom you can have. It's a huge park, which is impossible to control, so try to always maintain yourself in the path.

Ralf: That's, in general, like, good advice. Be safe about where you are going.

Lina: Yeah, exactly. And especially be mindful about activities, not only hiking, but also climbing and walking to see geyser seeing. Geyser tourism is something? I didn't know. There is a lot of people that visit the park just to go from geyser to geyser, so also be mindful when you are doing these kind of tours, because there is, like, a list, actually, of the best ones you can do, and you can see. Be mindful. Keep your distance. Normally, when they are big, the geysers are kind of protected, so you cannot really go close, but there are some that are more open. So, be mindful, be careful. This is important. So, there you have it. I think that that's the most important travel tips. It is important also, I mentioned that this is a destination that is living and breathing history books of geothermal evolution. So, it is a marvel to visit. That's why it's so popular. That's why it is a must, too, if you have the opportunity to visit the United States. Go, explore, see some geysers.

Ralf: But be careful by doing so.

Lina: Give us some names of wild bears, if you can.

Ralf: That are not Pedro.

Lina: Pedro is amazing. I'm pretty sure there is a Pedro Ralf, so be mindful of your words.

Ralf: Possibly, possibly. But it was not named by you, Pedro.

Ralf: So, no. Thank you, first, so much for, again, sharing with me, with the listeners, some information here. As usual, I'm very excited about the things that I did not know before, that I learned. That's, I think, the main reason also why we do this podcast, in a way, to share things, well, that you might not know before. I did not expect to have such a huge wooden building, like I mentioned before, within Yellowstone. I mean, it makes sense after all this history that, yeah, people died there, but I would not have thought, well, that might be related to the hiking or geothermal activities there. When you think about it, yes, it makes sense, but it doesn't pop immediately into mind when you think about Yellowstone. So, again, thank you so much for sharing this, all this information you learned.

Lina: So, thank you for joining us. I think that it was a really nice episode for me to research. So, happy to come back to the next episode. Where are we going next time, Ralf?

Ralf: Well, next time it's again my turn. I will talk again about a country that we have already visited. I will talk again about a site in a country that I have already shared. So, I think also a bit of a common theme of those first places we're telling us that a lot of countries are more than... Yeah, once or like at least two times, in this first overview, so I can only say also a bit of a spoiler, I did not expect all of the things that I learned during the research, because the more and more deeper you dig into, I think it's a bit similar also for you when you know about the national park, like, you are surprised by the details you learn, and that is the same true for me in the next episode, so, yeah.

Lina: Tune in.

Ralf: Tune in. Until then, thank you so much, everyone, and have a nice remaining day. Bye-bye.

Lina: Goodbye.