The sky began to get somewhat gloomy as we left the Old Faithful area and headed north back towards Bozeman for our trip home. I paused to take in this scenic vista, though unfortunately I don't know the identity of the mountain.

Note the patchwork of live and dead trees in the foreground. The bare areas are part of the territory ravaged by fire during the tremendous fires that ripped through Yellowstone in 1988. Unseen below these dead trunks is the new vegetation quickly rising to fill the place of the dead trees, some of which actually only grow after a fire. Blazes were once viewed as detrimental, but in recent years scientists have discovered the essential role that they play in the renewal of the forests.

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