Photo Essay • Photography • Top • Travel

A summer journey to Yellowstone National Park

July 4, 2023
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by Isabel Shen
Opal Pool and other hot springs' deep blue hue is due to light scattering when it enters the clear water. (Isabel Shen/YJI)
Yellowstone boasts a wide variety of terrains, from forests to meadows to tundra. (Isabel Shen/YJI)
The Great Canyon of Yellowstone is a popular tourist spot, with a roaring waterfall flowing down into a frothing river, framed by steep cliff sides. (Isabel Shen/YJI)
Underneath the billowing, cloaking steam, Excelsior Geyser Crater’s waters were a luxurious pale teal. (Isabel Shen/YJI)
Liberty Cap, a finger-like rock formation, juts out of the ground near Mammoth Hot Springs. (Isabel Shen/YJI)
A buffalo grazes among steaming hot springs. How the heavy, cumbersome animals manage to wander through the delicate Earth crust between hot springs remains a mystery. (Isabel Shen/YJI)
For visitors, the thin wooden boardwalk is the only barrier between safety and scorchingly hot spring waters, where one slip or misstep can be the difference between life and death. (Isabel Shen/YJI)
Old Faithful immediately after the eruption. During the eruption, it shot up to the height of a small apartment building and showered the thousands of viewers with a light, eggy mist. (Isabel Shen/YJI)
The Grand Prismatic’s vibrant colors drew the most photographers at the hot spring park. The iconic, slightly psychedelic picture of a lake-like landform is an overhead picture of the hot spring, where its formation and shades are more distinct. (Isabel Shen/YJI)
Geysers and hot springs are named after their appearances. Names such as “Goggles Springs” and, funnily enough, “Chinese Spring” (named after the shape of China) are common. (Isabel Shen/YJI)
While the hot spring has the same crystalline, azure hue as a tropical ocean or a pool, more than 20 people have been killed by Yellowstone’s various attractions; the pool is scaldingly hot. (Isabel Shen/YJI)
One of the many gorgeous valleys revealed just by driving through Yellowstone. (Isabel Shen/YJI)
Mammoth Hot Springs is a marvel of both curvaceous surfaces and cuboid levels. The orange tint comes from thermophilic bacterial communities that thrive off the unique ecosystem. (Isabel Shen/YJI)

Isabel Shen is a Junior Reporter with Youth Journalism International.

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