On a wet spring day near Norris Geyser Basin, a group of Japanese visitors followed the meandering boardwalk past Cistern Spring, Steamboat geyser and Arch steam vent.
The wooden planking creaked underfoot as they moved from point to point, tasting the sulfurous air while enduring the evening’s steady drizzle under the protection of hats and hoods.
The loop around the basin is part of Yellowstone’s 14 miles of wooden walkways and planking. The network circles Old Faithful, guides visitors past the terraces near Mammoth and offers sweeping views of the Yellowstone River as it roars chocolaty brown with spring runoff.
Millions of visitors have traveled the paths, rarely thinking of the work involved in building and maintaining them.
For the record, they are the pride of Paul Anderson, leader of Yellowstone’s infamous “boardwalk crew.”
It’s been that long
On the job for more than 20 years, Anderson learned the trail trade under the tutelage of Keith Neil, a park employee who retired nine years ago. With a sigh, Anderson notes that he’s now replacing boardwalks that he helped build as a newcomer to the job in the 1980s.
Yes, he said, it’s been that long.
“It depends on the materials we’re using, but the wood generally lasts 20 to 30 years,” Anderson said. “So I’m now redoing some of the stuff that I myself built two decades ago.”
Anderson is full of Yellowstone trivia as it relates to visitors and his career as a park employee. Treated lumber, he said, doesn’t hold up so well when placed near the park’s thermal features, though untreated Douglas fir and larch fir fare well. Composite materials are something new.
The longest boardwalk surrounds Old Faithful. It also requires the most maintenance. The most troublesome boardwalk, he said, sits near the Mud Volcano.
“The ground around there is very unstable,” Anderson said. “The soil is more acidic and it eats up the boards quickly, along with the fasteners. The ground is slumping, moving geologically, and we have to keep up with that.”
Anderson’s crew of four sets the boardwalks on the recommendations of geologists, botanists and archaeologists, following the park’s existing pathways whenever possible.
Like layers of wallpaper in an old home, hidden layers of past trails are unveiled by the work. Rotten planking, asphalt, creosote and talus pathways lead the way over fragile and dangerous ground.
“Sometimes we’ll see past generations of boardwalk,” Anderson said. “When we can, we’ll go over that old foundation. I’ve seen pictures going back 100 years, and the system has certainly changed over that time.”
Building boardwalk
Steamboat geyser erupts into the gray evening sky. The water claps back down over the surrounding rock before steam hisses violently from the vent.
The deck above the geyser offers a perfect view of the process at work. Deeper into the basin, however, the boardwalk gives way to a gravel trail — something Anderson hopes to address in years to come.
Building boardwalks can be dangerous work, Anderson admits, even for park crews armed with the best geological information.
Not long ago, he said, a crew member inadvertently stepped off the boardwalk while stacking lumber for a project. He broke through the thin crust and burned his foot in the scalding water.
“The big question everyone asks is how we know where it’s safe to walk,” Anderson said. “The geologists look over the site. They’ll do infrared photography where heat shows up in different colors. They can say, ‘Don’t go that way, because the feature’s moving that way.’”
Anderson recalls more than a dozen occasions where a new spring has surfaced near a boardwalk, prompting crews to either move it or build it higher to quash any urge to reach down and touch the water.
One such spring appeared in the middle of a trail in Norris Basin, not far from Steamboat geyser. More recently, Anderson said, a new feature appeared near Mound Terrace at Mammoth, bringing hot water dangerously close to the trail.
“It’s spreading water where it wasn’t a year ago,” Anderson said. “The spring was taking over our boardwalk and visitors were walking right up to it. We’re building it off the ground to keep visitors safe, and so they can see it better.”
Science of navigation
Hank Heasler, Yellowstone’s chief geologist, notes that Mammoth lacks geysers and the water reaches the surface below the boiling point. Yet the popular region in the park’s northwest corner remains a dynamic system that’s always changing.
Deposits surrounding the area’s hot springs are very different from other areas of the park. The flowing water carries minerals that, over time, build the colorful terraces enjoyed by visitors.
“It’s a pattern that can change in a matter of days sometimes,” Heasler said. “The changes that go on throughout the park can be very slow, or sometimes they can be dramatic. The dramatic changes require us to move the boardwalk so visitors are safe and the natural processes are preserved.”
Hundreds of earthquakes rattle Yellowstone each year, though many go unfelt by visitors. Thousands of square miles of terrain is also being uplifted, Heasler said, and the thermal features are ever-changing because of it.
Yellowstone officials aim to preserve the processes, allowing them to play out naturally. Some geysers grow stronger while others go dormant. Water changes course, springs drain and then refill, and micro-organisms thrive.
“As the processes evolve, they can make something different, change the flow, the features, or the colors,” Heasler said. “All the changes that occur are natural and we can learn from them scientifically.”
There’s a science involved when placing a new boardwalk.
As Heasler tells it, decisions are based on the understanding of the area’s geology, its history and its trends. Chemical composition, water temperature, infrared imaging and other methods aid the process of laying the walkways.
The science is also cross-checked with park botanists to preserve sensitive species, archaeologists to protect the park’s history, and Yellowstone’s interpretive division, which looks to provide a quality experience for visitors while keeping them safe.
“Many of those deposits are very fragile,” Heasler said. “You can imagine what would happen if 10,000 people a week were walking over these fragile hot-spring deposits.
“The boardwalks are an amazing piece of construction that’s a useful tool for resource protection, and visitor enjoyment and safety.”
The wooden planking creaked underfoot as they moved from point to point, tasting the sulfurous air while enduring the evening’s steady drizzle under the protection of hats and hoods.
The loop around the basin is part of Yellowstone’s 14 miles of wooden walkways and planking. The network circles Old Faithful, guides visitors past the terraces near Mammoth and offers sweeping views of the Yellowstone River as it roars chocolaty brown with spring runoff.
Millions of visitors have traveled the paths, rarely thinking of the work involved in building and maintaining them.
For the record, they are the pride of Paul Anderson, leader of Yellowstone’s infamous “boardwalk crew.”
It’s been that long
On the job for more than 20 years, Anderson learned the trail trade under the tutelage of Keith Neil, a park employee who retired nine years ago. With a sigh, Anderson notes that he’s now replacing boardwalks that he helped build as a newcomer to the job in the 1980s.
Yes, he said, it’s been that long.
“It depends on the materials we’re using, but the wood generally lasts 20 to 30 years,” Anderson said. “So I’m now redoing some of the stuff that I myself built two decades ago.”
Anderson is full of Yellowstone trivia as it relates to visitors and his career as a park employee. Treated lumber, he said, doesn’t hold up so well when placed near the park’s thermal features, though untreated Douglas fir and larch fir fare well. Composite materials are something new.
The longest boardwalk surrounds Old Faithful. It also requires the most maintenance. The most troublesome boardwalk, he said, sits near the Mud Volcano.
“The ground around there is very unstable,” Anderson said. “The soil is more acidic and it eats up the boards quickly, along with the fasteners. The ground is slumping, moving geologically, and we have to keep up with that.”
Anderson’s crew of four sets the boardwalks on the recommendations of geologists, botanists and archaeologists, following the park’s existing pathways whenever possible.
Like layers of wallpaper in an old home, hidden layers of past trails are unveiled by the work. Rotten planking, asphalt, creosote and talus pathways lead the way over fragile and dangerous ground.
“Sometimes we’ll see past generations of boardwalk,” Anderson said. “When we can, we’ll go over that old foundation. I’ve seen pictures going back 100 years, and the system has certainly changed over that time.”
Building boardwalk
Steamboat geyser erupts into the gray evening sky. The water claps back down over the surrounding rock before steam hisses violently from the vent.
The deck above the geyser offers a perfect view of the process at work. Deeper into the basin, however, the boardwalk gives way to a gravel trail — something Anderson hopes to address in years to come.
Building boardwalks can be dangerous work, Anderson admits, even for park crews armed with the best geological information.
Not long ago, he said, a crew member inadvertently stepped off the boardwalk while stacking lumber for a project. He broke through the thin crust and burned his foot in the scalding water.
“The big question everyone asks is how we know where it’s safe to walk,” Anderson said. “The geologists look over the site. They’ll do infrared photography where heat shows up in different colors. They can say, ‘Don’t go that way, because the feature’s moving that way.’”
One such spring appeared in the middle of a trail in Norris Basin, not far from Steamboat geyser. More recently, Anderson said, a new feature appeared near Mound Terrace at Mammoth, bringing hot water dangerously close to the trail.
“It’s spreading water where it wasn’t a year ago,” Anderson said. “The spring was taking over our boardwalk and visitors were walking right up to it. We’re building it off the ground to keep visitors safe, and so they can see it better.”
Science of navigation
Hank Heasler, Yellowstone’s chief geologist, notes that Mammoth lacks geysers and the water reaches the surface below the boiling point. Yet the popular region in the park’s northwest corner remains a dynamic system that’s always changing.
Deposits surrounding the area’s hot springs are very different from other areas of the park. The flowing water carries minerals that, over time, build the colorful terraces enjoyed by visitors.
“It’s a pattern that can change in a matter of days sometimes,” Heasler said. “The changes that go on throughout the park can be very slow, or sometimes they can be dramatic. The dramatic changes require us to move the boardwalk so visitors are safe and the natural processes are preserved.”
Hundreds of earthquakes rattle Yellowstone each year, though many go unfelt by visitors. Thousands of square miles of terrain is also being uplifted, Heasler said, and the thermal features are ever-changing because of it.
Yellowstone officials aim to preserve the processes, allowing them to play out naturally. Some geysers grow stronger while others go dormant. Water changes course, springs drain and then refill, and micro-organisms thrive.
“As the processes evolve, they can make something different, change the flow, the features, or the colors,” Heasler said. “All the changes that occur are natural and we can learn from them scientifically.”
There’s a science involved when placing a new boardwalk.
As Heasler tells it, decisions are based on the understanding of the area’s geology, its history and its trends. Chemical composition, water temperature, infrared imaging and other methods aid the process of laying the walkways.
The science is also cross-checked with park botanists to preserve sensitive species, archaeologists to protect the park’s history, and Yellowstone’s interpretive division, which looks to provide a quality experience for visitors while keeping them safe.
“Many of those deposits are very fragile,” Heasler said. “You can imagine what would happen if 10,000 people a week were walking over these fragile hot-spring deposits.
“The boardwalks are an amazing piece of construction that’s a useful tool for resource protection, and visitor enjoyment and safety.”