THE PARK AS A HEALTH RESORT.
The climate of the Yellowstone National Park, to any one with a fair
reserve of health, is of the most beneficial kind. The general public
will be interested in the subject only as it relates to that season
when it is possible to visit the Park.
For the six months beginning with May, the average temperature will
not vary much from the following figures, Fahrenheit:
Maximum. Minimum. Mean.
May 77° 25° 49°
June 87° 30° 55°
July 91° 36° 64°
August 90° 36° 61°
September 85° 25° 54°
October 72° 18° 41°
These temperatures are for Mammoth Hot Springs. For the Park Plateau
they should be diminished by not less than ten degrees. No month of
the year in that region passes without ice-forming frosts. It will be
seen that during June, July, August, and September, the thermometer
makes excursions to the neighborhood of the nineties. This, however,
is only in the middle of the day, and is due to the direct intensity
of the sun's rays. No such heat pervades the general atmosphere. As
soon as the sun is near setting, the temperature falls rapidly. The
night temperature rarely gets above 55° or 60°, and averages scarcely
half as much. The Park is noted for its delightful sleep-giving
qualities, which constitute no small part of its claim as a health
resort.
Summer in the Park is comparatively short. It may not be strictly true
that "the Park has only three seasons, July, August, and Winter," but
it is true that July and August are the only two months free from the
ordinary characteristics of winter. Snows are frequent in June and
September, while May and October are well on the snowy side of the
year. July and August are the Park summer. The weather is settled. The
air is pure and bracing and not too cold. The long imprisoned
vegetation bursts suddenly into full life and beauty, and in a short
period take place all the changes which require months in lower
altitudes.
That there is life and health in that summer atmosphere, no one who
has breathed it will deny. At the same time, as has already been
hinted, it is healthful only for those who have some foundation to
build upon. Persons suffering from any form of heart disease or
advanced pulmonary trouble, or those greatly reduced in strength from
any cause, would better stay away. The altitude and sharp air might
prove too severe.
A matter which has naturally attracted considerable inquiry is the
therapeutic value of the mineral springs of the Park. The
superstitious faith in the efficacy of mineral waters to restore
health, which has characterized mankind in all ages, caused the
physically afflicted to hail the discovery of that region as the
promised fountain of new life. The first explorers to ascend the
Gardiner in 1871 found "numbers of invalids" encamped on its banks,
where the hot waters from Mammoth Hot Springs enter the stream; and it
is recorded that "they were most emphatic in their favorable
expressions in regard to their sanitary effects."
But this impression was very evanescent. No one now goes to the Park
because of its mineral waters. Nevertheless, it would be wholly
premature to assume that there is no medicinal virtue in them.
Certainly there is in the Park almost every variety of mineral spring;
there are abundant and luxurious waters for bathing; and it is not at
all improbable that the opportunities afforded in this region may yet
be utilized to the great advantage of the public.
But for health-giving qualities, the Park will never be dependent on
its mineral waters. Its true value lies in other and more potent
influences. The pure water of its snow-fed streams, the exhilarating
atmosphere, the bracing effect of altitude, the wholesome fatigue of
daily rambles over the rough, mountainous country, the fragrant odor
of the pine boughs which every-where pervades the atmosphere, and,
above all, the beautiful and varied scenery, which exalts the mind and
diverts the attention from cares that are too often the real cause of
physical ills--these are the true virtues of the Yellowstone Park as a
health resort.