Tag Archives: supervolcano

Volcano Hopper Team by a river

After discovering that the La Garita eruption – the largest explosive eruption in the history of the Earth – was essentially in my own backyard, I had to explore it. The caldera itself is massive, well over a thousand square miles. It would take me years to explore it all on foot. For now, I decided to focus in on one of the most obvious traces of the ancient eruption: Wheeler Geologic Area. 

Wheeler Geologic Area is tucked away deep in the La Garita Wilderness in southwestern Colorado. When La Garita erupted, huge amounts of ash and pyroclasts fell out here. The heavy ash compressed together and became volcanic tuff. Now named the Fish Canyon Tuff, Wheeler has been well protected over the millennia by the deep valley where it fell. Erosion has carved away at the tuff deposit over the years, leaving spectacular formations of gray and white behind.

Exploring a tiny section of Wheeler Geologic Area
Exploring a tiny section of Wheeler Geologic Area

We had tried to plan our adventure to Wheeler Geologic Area for several years after I discovered the existence of La Garita. Monsoon rains and raging wildfires kept us from making the trek until, in 2017, we got our chance. The hike to and from Wheeler Geologic area is a long 8 miles; 16 round trip. But the views and volcanic formations that we saw along the way were absolutely worth it, even if it was one “tuff” hike.

Read more

Vital Stats
Name: Yellowstone
Type: Supervolcano
Eruption Status: Active
Last Eruption: Approximately 640,000 years ago
Location: Upper Geyser Basin 44.4600° N, 110.8292° W
Northwestern Wyoming/Southeastern Idaho

Volcano Hopping at Old Faithful Geyser.


As we head west along the southern loop road, we catch glimpses of wildlife in the thick trees. A mother elk and her calf are grazing on sweet grasses that are clinging to what’s left of autumn. The father, a majestic ten point buck, bounds across the road in front of us and disappears up the hill. As we pass West Thumb Geyser Basin, the trees begin to take on a ghastly appearance. Here you can see the scars of the 1988 forest fires. I was just a kid then, on a cross country trip to Oregon to visit family, but I remember the roiling smoke on the horizon. The fires destroyed 36% of Yellowstone. But forest fires have a natural way of clearing out the old junk and creating space for new life. This is similar to how volcanoes behave. Ash mixes with soil to create fertile land and vibrant life springs forth from it. Now, nearly 30 years later, we can see where life is making her comeback.

Read more

Vital Stats
Name: Yellowstone
Type: Supervolcano
Eruption Status: Active
Last Eruption: Approximately 640,000 years ago
Location: N 44 43.178 W 110 28.829
Northwestern Wyoming/Southeastern Idaho

Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone Photo Credit: Volcano Hopper

The Grand Canyon of Yellowstone

It’s early. The sun hasn’t even begun to crest the eastern horizon and I’m shimmying into my coat and hiking boots. There’s too much of Yellowstone to explore to stay in bed a moment longer.

Watching the sun rise over Yellowstone Lake  Photo Credit: Volcano Hopper

We swing by Yellowstone Lake to watch the sun come up. Brilliant bands of pink and orange streak across the sky and reflect in the deep water. Snow glints off of the peaks in the Absaroka Mountains just on the other side of the sprawling lake. A great horned owl hoots as it perches on a sign nearby. A young male elk tromps through the woods, scraping his horns against a tree trunk before disappearing in the brush at the top of the hill.

Read more

Vital Stats
Name: Yellowstone
Type: Supervolcano
Eruption Status: Active
Last Eruption: Approximately 640,000 years ago
Location: 44.4280° N, 110.5885° W
Northwestern Wyoming/Southeastern Idaho

We continued our journey north from Yellowstone Lake along the Southern Loop Road. The Yellowstone River runs adjacent to the road and here you can find some great fishing spots. LeHardys Rapids is one of them. In the summer months, you can watch the cutthroat trout doing acrobatics as they leap up over these rapids in seach of their upstream spawning grounds. Keep on going through the heavy forest and you’ll come to a section of the park that really stinks.

You get out of your car at a place called Mud Volcano. Whewie! I wasn’t kidding, was I? The place smells quite a bit like you left some eggs out on the porch to rot for a month. But the smell should tip you off to some pretty fascinating volcanic features. So let’s go take a look around.

Read more

Photo Credit: Volcano Hopper

Sit back and close your eyes for a moment. What comes to your imagination when I say “Yellowstone?” Do you see a national park full of sweeping forests and gushing rivers? Vast herds of buffalo grazing on the sweet grasses and bears romping through the hills? Are you imagining the white spray of a geyser as it shoots water over a hundred feet into a crystal blue sky? And do you imagine the throbbing pulse of a volcano just beneath your feet as you stand in the heart of the park?

Sometimes that last one catches people off guard. Many people who visit Yellowstone each year have no idea that they’re visiting an active volcano. But it is the volcano that creates such a fascinating and other-worldly terrain out of what would be just another mountain range. In fact, the area is so unique and unusual that no one believed the “frontier fiction” that returning fur traders in the 1700’s were spinning. It was made a national park in 1872 to protect such incredible features.

Read more

5/5