Pincredible Parks

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5mo
Grand Prismatic Spring from above
Grand Prismatic Spring was noted by geologists working in the Hayden Geological Survey of 1871, and named by them for its striking coloration. Its colors match most of those seen in the rainbow dispersion of white light by an optical prism: red, orange, yellow, green, and blue.
Grand Prismatic Spring
Grand Prismatic Spring was noted by geologists working in the Hayden Geological Survey of 1871, and named by them for its striking coloration. Its colors match most of those seen in the rainbow dispersion of white light by an optical prism: red, orange, yellow, green, and blue.
Thermal Features
Yellowstone National Park preserves the most extraordinary collection of hot springs, geysers, mudpots, and fumaroles on Earth. More than 10,000 hydrothermal features are found here, of which more than 500 are geysers. #nationalpark
Hot Springs
Microorganisms called thermophiles, or heat lovers, make their homes in the hydrothermal features of Yellowstone. Although individually they are too small to be seen with the naked eye, so many are grouped together in the park's hydrothermal features—trillions!—that they often appear as mats of color. These microorganisms are also called extremophiles because they inhabit environments that are extreme to human life. Imagine living in water at near-boiling temperatures, with the alkalinity of baking soda, or with acidity that can burn holes in clothing. Microorganisms in Yellowstone not only exist in such conditions, but require these extremes to thrive.
Grand Prismatic Spring
Grand Prismatic Spring, Yellowstone’s largest hot spring, is 200-330 feet in diameter and more than 121 feet deep. #yellowstone #nationalpark #travel
Yellowstone National Park
Yellowstone National Park preserves the most extraordinary collection of hot springs, geysers, mudpots, and fumaroles on Earth. More than 10,000 hydrothermal features are found here, of which more than 500 are geysers. #nationalpark #yellowstone #travel
Great Sands Dune Sunset
Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve is a sandy playground where you can marvel at towering dunes and try to convince yourself that sand in places it shouldn't be is just part of the experience. Sounds legit. But wait, there’s more. Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve spans over 30 miles and contains over 5 billion cubic meters of sand to create the largest sandbox in North America. (Please don’t tell your cat.)
Layer up
The dunes were formed by the right combinations of wind, water, and sediment. Creeks and streams brought in large amounts of sediment and sand into the valley. The wind then blew the sand toward the bend in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, where opposing storm winds helped squeeze the sand into the tall dunes you see today.
Great Sand Dunes
The dune field with the tallest dunes in North America spreads across 30 square miles (78 sq. km), a unique high-altitude desert environment.
Ripples in the sand
Sand dunes are created when wind deposits sand on top of each other until a small mound starts to form. These dunes form when complex wind patterns alternate direction and change the way sand is piled onto the dune. By changing wind direction, the sand piles up on multiple sides of the dune and is unable to reach the angle of repose so the dune never collapses. This is how the tallest dune at the park, known simply as the Star Dune, reached over 750 feet in height.
Great Sand Dunes Elk
Elk prefer open grasslands, avoiding forests when possible. In the San Luis Valley, they may seasonally migrate up into montane meadows or alpine tundra, but some herds stay on the valley floor year-round. I
Great Sand Dunes
The tallest dunes in North America are the centerpiece in a diverse landscape of grasslands, wetlands, forests, alpine lakes, and tundra
Flowers of Mount Rainier
Mount Rainer's renowned wildflowers bloom for a limited amount of time every year. The "peak" bloom for wildflowers is heavily dependent on weather and precipitation patterns, so accurate predictions are difficult. In most years, many flowers will be blooming by mid-July, and by the first of August the meadows should be very impressive.
Mountain flowers
Mount Rainer's renowned wildflowers bloom for a limited amount of time every year. The "peak" bloom for wildflowers is heavily dependent on weather and precipitation patterns, so accurate predictions are difficult. In most years, many flowers will be blooming by mid-July, and by the first of August the meadows should be very impressive.
Mount Rainier National Park
Ascending to 14,410 feet above sea level, Mount Rainier stands as an icon in the Washington landscape. An active volcano, Mount Rainier is the most glaciated peak in the contiguous U.S.A., spawning five major rivers. Subalpine wildflower meadows ring the icy volcano while ancient forest cloaks Mount Rainier’s lower slopes. Wildlife abounds in the park’s ecosystems. A lifetime of discovery awaits.