It is Yellowstone, the world's first national park. Forged by fire and ice, it is a land of contradictions, of exquisite beauty and stark extremes: geysers spew and hot springs boil - bearing witness to the molten lava a mere two miles below the surface - in a land of year-round frost; delicate flowers bloom perilously close to pools belching clouds of sulfur and steam; dense forests, lush meadows, vaulted canyons, and plentiful lakes, rivers, and creeks are alive with moose, elk, deer, buffalo, ravens, coyotes, bobcats, mountain lions, river otters, and native trout.
Essayist and naturalist Gretel Ehrlich traverses Yellowstone on foot and on horseback. In vividly eloquent prose, she shares her experiences in Yellowstone's wildest country, explores its diverse, seemingly incongruous attractions, and chronicles its violent, volcanic birth and dramatic, continuing transformation.