Wausau pilot. [volume] (Wausau, Wis.) 1896-1940, 1913-08-26

as he looks upon these wonderful
falls, the beautiful rainbows in rising
mlsts, the beauties of the colored
landscape OF the sides of the canyon,
through which the river winds its
way l,200 feet below like a blue rib
bon, and at some points / 300 feet be-
low, is simply.beyond expression. It
has to be seen to be appreciated and
there is no picture ever painted or
taken by the artists camera which
can even approximate its great
beauty. TO all travellers the Grand
Canyon is the most impressive But
there are other attractions. The
geysers of the park surpass anything
of the kind known in the world: the
mammoth hot springs, the only ter
race-building ones known; mud geys-
ers, boiling paint pots: cliffs of vol
canlc glass, mountains of petrifac-
tions, hills of birthstone, makes it
the wonderland of the world.
The party attended lecture at the
Old Faithful Inn, where the speaker
had on exhibition an automatic geyser
which spouted every few moments,
showing that there is nothing mys-
terious in this phenomenon to a stu
dent OF nature. 1t was interesting,
as it demonstrated to all present Just
why the various geysers would
spout" at stated intervals, and why
some are just hot springs. We were
also made acquainted with the geo.
logical formation of the park: That
running water had carved furrows
thousand or more feet into it's solid
rock; that the mountains are igneous
and throughout the park are eyidenc-
es of violent volcanic eruptions as in
dicated by the extensive beds of lava.
Amygdaloid cliffs and great gnarled
masses are common; that there are
obsidian cliffs, great geometrical
blocks, petritications and the print of
leaves in rocks where forests had fall
EN- prey to the flowing molten lava;
that some sedimentary deposits are
found near the northern boundary in
the form of limestone beds, clays and
sholes; that glacial invasions had left
hills of sand, gravel and isolated
powders; that the most wonderful
deposit in the region is the formation
of the mammoth hot springs; that it
is composed of pure calcium carbon
ate, dissolved from limestone beds
below and brought to the surface by
the hot springs; that the depth is UNI
known, and the period of building ex-
tends over great length of time
The deposit is building where the
water flows, and crumbling to a
chalky powder where dry. That the
water is heated by masses of rock |
which have not yet cooled below the
zone of percolating water.
The chief attraction of this great |
deposit is it's beautiful coloring;
shades of yellow and |
occasional streaks of dark green and |
red; this is so, especially where the !
water is the hottest. The predomin-
ating rust color is found in the tepid |
water, farther away from the mouth |
Of the hot springs.
There are many wild animals in |
the park: Buffalo, bear, deer, elk, |
badger, woodchuck, beaver, muskrat,
squirrels and the common
gopher or chipmunk There are about |
10000 elks and large herd of buffaloes,
some of these animals, the traveller |
viii see every day. The hotels dump |
their garbage in convenient spots a
half mile away, where it is not uncom-
mon to see thirty or forty bears, near
taking their evening meal.
They range in size from a very large |
full grown bear to the small cub. A |
rope is stretched across, perhaps 500 |
feet from the animals, where soldier |
stands guard with his gun allowing |
none to pass the danger line. A few |
years ago, a fellow insisted that they |
were only tame bears, and managed |
to pass the guard unnoticed, and upon
to pat Mr.. Bruin upon |
the head the animal raised his paw |
and brushed out three ribs and a part |
of the mans lung. 1t is unnecessary |
to say that he was fully satisfied.
The mountains are heavily covered |
with forests of balSam, white and |
black pine, cedar dwarf maple, willow |
and elder, and the flowers are in
countless varieties. Those of which |
we noticed that grew in profusion |
were the forget-me-nots; they are
large and grow close to the ground. |
In some sections this color is light |
and in others very dark blue. And |
then there is the golden rod and the |
butter cup. If there had been dande- |
lions and sun-fiowerS, we would all
have felt very much at home.
The high altitude makes the trip |
the park necessarily a cold |
one and travellers wear heavy cloth |
ing and wraps while in the coaches, |
though at the hotels, and in the
valleys where the sun shines, it is
warm enough to satisfy the most
cold-blooded individual. The weather
through the park d1ring the trip, was
ideal in every way.
There are seven hotels in the park,
under the Yellowstone Hotel Park
Co. Each hotel is different in archi-
lecture, and especially the Grand
Canyon hotel and Old Faithful Inn
are famous for their beauty. Then
there are the Wylie and Show &
Powell tents, distributed at various
points along the route. All rates and
charges in the park are regulated and
require the approval of the depart