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Entertaining the kids with these surefire Yellowstone treats
No TV, no Internet access. How is a parent supposed to entertain a kid who grew up with videogames at Yellowstone National Park? By choosing the geysers and thermal features sure to fascinate the mind of the average kid these days.
In this article we provide 10 surefire geysers and thermal features bound to excite any young visitor to Yellowstone National Park, whether it be their first visit or their 10th. Yes, most of us remember our first time in the Park and recall how blown away we were by the geysers, fumaroles and whirligigs, but let's face it: today's average kid is a little more world-weary than most of us were a generation ago.
Our top 10 list should get you through a multiday visit to the Park. As a bonus: Video to prepare your young ones with a glimpse about what they'll see in America's first national park.
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LeHardys Rapids and Trout Lake - The struggle to reproduce
Every year about this time (mid-June to the end of July), cutthroat trout of Yellowstone Park begin the search for the waters of their birth. It's time to spawn - to lay and fertilize eggs in the gravel of streams and rivers so that the cycle of life continues. But it isn't easy.
Two locations make a good example of what the cutthroat go through to continue the species: Trout Lake, near the Northeast Entrance highway and LeHardys Rapids near the Grand Loop Road between Fishing Bridge and Canyon. We picked these two because they're great places to visit with the kids - living showcases of nature's way. LeHardys Rapids is a 'rough spot' in the smooth flow of the Yellowstone River as it passes through the southern end of Hayden Valley. If it weren't for the rapids, the cutthroat trout (Yellowstone's native species) could swim the placid waters of the river all the way to Yellowstone Lake. But the rapids change everything - from a fishy equivalent of a stroll into a life-and-death struggle.
The rapids separate the calm waters in Hayden Valley from the spawning ground at the outlet of Yellowstone Lake, and in order to breed the fish must hurtle themselves into the rock-strewn torrent and literally swim for their lives - and the lives of their offspring. (Map and pictures below the fold.)
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