Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Due to a landslide in the 1970s, Trout Creek's meanders now differ greatly from this 1930s sketch.
There's Molten Rock below Sour Creek Dome
As you drive along the north end of Hayden Valley, you're about as close as the road goes
to the Sour Creek Dome (see map,
page 302
), one of the two areas in the park that overlie
molten rock—as close as 3 to 4 miles (5-6 km) below the surface.
Even a very modest rise of the Sour Creek Dome affects the shorelines of Yellowstone
Lake. Raising Hayden Valley raises the lake outlet (the Yellowstone River), which in turn
raises the lake level. This is a different phenomenon from the rise in lake level due to sud-
den spring thaws that cause the Yellowstone River to flood.
10.6/4.8
Alum Creek bridge. Alum Creek drains some hot springs reached by the Mary
Mountain Trail. Though the water may not actually contain
alum,
which was sometimes used
to contract blood vessels, plenty of legends have risen from the belief that it does. Coach
drivers were fond of telling tales about how its waters could shrink practically anything—such
as the one about the guy who, upon riding his horse across the creek, found that the horse's
hooves had shrunk to pinpoints. Another legend had it that water from this creek, when
sprinkled on park roads, caused the distances to shrink.
