We passed a cocky coyote and some pronghorn antelope, which seemed surprised to see tourists out so early, but spied nary a wolf. In warm weather, wolves stick to their dens by day and hunt at night. In winter, by contrast, they're day trekkers. They stink like rotten eggs from sulfur in the water, they blurp and burp like demented coffeepots, and the big ones erupt with an eerie roar. Hot and powerful, Yellowstone's 250 to 300 active geysers owe their lives to the dormant volcano beneath the park.
Volcanic rocks heat underground water to boiling.
It bubbles up through narrow passageways and explodes into the air. Geysers, mud pots, and hot springs evoke all sorts of emotions, as wild things should. The Big Anemone geyser, near Old Faithful, tickled my daughters. A winsome foot-high jet of water splashes up every 10 or 12 minutes, then gurgles back down like, well, a flushing toilet. Both died of their burns.