Midway Geyser Basin

Compared to Upper and Lower Geyser Basins, Midway Geyser Basin is quite small. But it has two very large and notable tenants: Grand Prismatic Spring and Excelsior Geyser. Parking was once again a problem, but we eventually found a spot.

In the late 1800s, back when it was erupting regularly, Excelsior Geyser was the largest geyser in the world. (Steamboat Geyser in the Norris Geyser Basin is the current champion.) It sometimes reached 300 feet high, and, since it is a fountain geyser, almost as wide. Then, after decades of violent eruptions, it abruptly stopped in 1890. The theory is that its own ferocious eruptions somehow damaged the underground plumbing. It has only erupted a few times since (1878, 1901, and 1985). Today it is classified as a mere "hot spring". But it still pumps 4,000 gallons of near-boiling water into the Firehole River every minute. That's enough to fill nine Olympic-size swimming pools per day.

It's a shame they don't have an elevated boardwalk so you can get the full perspective of Grand Prismatic Spring. The pool is 370 feet in diameter (a larger surface than Lambeau Field, including the sidelines and end zones.) It's the largest hot spring in the park. But the appeal isn't just its size. It's its color. While difficult to appreciate from a ground-level photo like this, the aerial view is absolutely spectacular. The outer ring is a fiery orange, and it radiates out in a sunburst pattern. The next ring is a brilliant yellow, followed by a narrow band of neon green. But the center...ah, the center. It takes your breath away. It's the deepest, most intense cobalt blue you've ever seen.

Upper Geyser Basin: Geyser Hill

Our energy thus recharged, we explored the section of the Upper Geyser Basin right next door: Geyser Hill.

Geyser Hill is home to Old Faithful as well as many of the most popular geysers in the park. Several geysers, such as Castle and Riverside, are even predictable. That certainly doesn't hurt their popularity.

We started off on our own but almost immediately ran into a group on a ranger-led walk. The ranger's name was Erin, and she was a veritable fount of information. How lucky we were!

Caramel sauce, anyone?

The runoff of many geysers in this area end up in the Firehole River, shown here.

Anenome Geyser exhibits the four stages of a geyser in just a matter of minutes. First, the recharge stage begins. Water accumulates in its underground chamber and is heated by magma. Some hot water flashes to steam, and the bubbles try to rise to the surface. Second, pressure builds as the bubbles clog at a constriction point. The pressure continues to rise, preventing the water from reaching the boiling point. Third, the bubbles compress and squeeze through the constriction. The eruption has begun. Some pressure is relieved, and a chain reaction begins. The water reaches the boiling point and flashes into steam, further lowering the pressure and further reducing the boiling point. Water gushes out the top. Fourth, an equilibrium is established, and the eruption ends. The recharge process starts over.

For Anenome Geyser, the recharge stage takes 7-10 minutes, and the eruption lasts 25 to 45 seconds.

I'm sure you'll have no trouble figuring out why this is called Beehive Geyser. Ranger Erin informed us that it erupts at random, but it has a unique feature called an indicator geyser. The indicator geyser is located just a few dozen yards from Beehive, and it is visible to the rangers in the Old Faithful Visitor Center. They watch the indicator because a few minutes after the indicator erupts, Beehive is sure to follow (well, almost sure). Erin told us that Beehive's eruptions were an awesome event, an experience not do be missed. More on Beehive Geyser later today...

Heart Spring

(Lion Group in background)

The Lion Group is four geysers on the same mound. They're connected underground and typically erupt in a series. Lioness and Big Cub tend to erupt together, and Lion and Little Cub go together.

Ear Spring, constantly boiling. It had a great bacteria mat surrounding it, too.

Beach Spring

Aurum Geyser

Aurum is Latin for gold. It gets its name from the amber-colored iron deposits around the rim. It erupts every 2.5 to 5 hours and shoots 20 feet into the air.

Doublet Pool

This hot spring had a wonderfully crusted edge. As you know, I'm a sucker for a crusted edge. Parts of the pool are eight feet deep. Although technically just a "pool", it has been known to erupt with giant splashes of water from its center.

Pump Geyser

This geyser erupts almost constantly, sometimes big (15 feet) but usually small (two to three feet).

Teakettle Geyser

Sponge Geyser

Sinter (geyserite buildup) forms at a rate of about a hundredth of an inch per year. So, just imagine how long something like this must have been sitting in the same spot.

A colorful bacteria mat

Some shameful visitors throw rocks into the mat or write their name in it with sticks. It can take decades for it to recover.

Tardy Geyser

Penta Geyser isn't much to look at, but it has a couple interesting features. First, it has five openings. Second, it is the turning point of the Sawmill Complex. Other geysers in the complex are Spasmodic, Sawmill, and sometimes Tardy. They erupt in a series, but they can also interrupt each other. For example, if Spasmodic erupts, Sawmill usually follows, and then Penta. But if Penta erupts before Sawmill, then Sawmill won't erupt until Spasmodic erupts again.

Sawmill Geyser gets its name from the whirring the water makes at it leaves the opening.

Spasmodic Geyser

Spasmodic Geyser and Sawmill Geysers are situated at a crossroads. If you turn left, you loop back around to Old Faithful. If you go straight, you join the Morning Glory trail into the woods, and several miles later you'll reach the Biscuit Basin section of the Upper Geyser Basin. We followed the ranger walk back to Old Faithful. We'll be back to do a portion of the other trail later on.

Belgian Pool

Scalloped Spring

Chimney Cone

This geyser sits right on the bank of the Firehole River.

Crested Pool

The temperature of this pool remains above boiling (approximately 200 degrees at this elevation) even on a cold winter day. Sometimes it boils to six feet high! And would you just look at that beautiful crusted edge!

Castle Geyser is estimated to be thousands of years old. And it sits upon an extinct geyser that is even older than that. It is one of the predictable geysers in Yellowstone. It erupts every 14 hours or so, and lasts for 20 minutes. A noisy steam phase lasts for another 30 to 40 minutes.

More on this big guy later...

The ranger walk was over, and we were on our own again. We needed a break. After enjoying some souvenir shopping and an ice cream cone on the "Knotty Porch", we stopped in to see the Old Faithful Inn.

The Old Faithful Inn has been wowing visitors for over a century. It first opened in 1904, long before the National Park Service existed. It was built by the Great Northern Railway who was just one of many park concessioners at the time. They weren't here so much to protect nature as to exploit it.

The interior of the Inn was just as impressive as the outside. It evoked the feeling of a cavernous log cabin, complete with several 7-story-tall stone fireplaces. Both the stones and the logs were harvested from the park itself.

Yup, that's me on the third floor. The stairs were blocked off above that level. Earthquakes have made the upper staircases unstable.

It's extremely popular for looky-lous, like us, as well as for hotel guests. You have to book rooms here six months to a year in advance.

Dawn eruption

This being our second-to-last morning in Yellowstone, Ma and I decided to get up early and see Old Faithful's first eruption at dawn. Our cabin was only a few hundred yards from the boardwalk around the geyser.

As we waited, we took inventory of our surroundings. In front of us, under the steam, is the cone of Old Faithful. At the other end of the semi-circular boardwalk, just barely visible in the dim light is the Old Faithful Inn. We'll see its famous interior later today.

Behind us is the Old Faithful Lodge. (There's also an Old Faithful Snow Lodge. Confusing, I know. It is located between Old Faithful Inn and Old Faithful Lodge.) The windows on the left side of the photo belong to the dining room. Ma watched Old Faithful erupt on our first evening in Yellowstone from there. Tonight, we'll watch the last eruption of the day while sitting on the porch (middle of the photo).

Sadly, we must have just barely missed the first eruption of the day. We proceeded to wait in the chilly morning air for about 70 minutes. The wait was worth it because it was nearly a private showing. When it was over, we hurried back to our cabin to warm up and eat breakfast.

Day 13: Geysers galore

Let's review. So far in the park we've already visited

• West Thumb Geyser Basin (Fishing Cone, Abyss Pool, a herd of dentally-challenged elk)
• Norris Geyser Basin (Steamboat Geyser, Emerald Spring, diabetic emergency)
  
• Lower Geyser Basin (Fountain Paint Pots, Great Fountain Geyser, White Dome Geyser)

Today we'll visit

• Upper Geyser Basin (Old Faithful, Castle Geyser, Morning Glory Pool, and get drenched)
• Midway Geyser Basin (Excelsior Geyser, Grand Prismatic Spring)

There are 10,000 hydrothermal features in the park. After viewing today's posts, you might think we took a picture of every single one. I'll be judicious and only pick the most popular or photogenic ones. I'll try not to bore you.

To Old Faithful

We were done touring for the day. We headed toward Old Faithful where we would spend the night.

Bypassing Midway Geyser Basin (until tomorrow), I caught sight of some birds in the sky. I pointed them out to Ma. It took only moments for her to conclude they were bald eagles! I practically had an accident in my excitement to pull over.

There were three birds, all flying together. Two had white heads and were clearly bald eagles. One had a brown- and white-speckled body. I surmised it to be a red-tailed hawk. (I've had experience with those around my yard.) It wasn't until later that I learned we had the unique privilege of watching a mom and dad teaching their eaglet how to fly.

I took dozens of photos. This was probably the best one to show the white head and tail of the adult bald eagle. I'm so pleased I was able to capture them mid-flight.

We arrived in the early evening at Old Faithful. The enormous crowd gathered around the Old Faithful Geyser mound meant that it was nearly time for it to erupt.

Old Faithful has become less "faithful" over the years, but it is no less predictable. Decades ago, it erupted for exactly 2.5 minutes, every 66.5 minutes. Now its eruptions are bimodal. The duration of the previous eruption is used to predict the next eruption. If the eruption was short (about two and a half minutes), the interval will be about 60 minutes. If the eruption was long (about four minutes), the interval will be about 90 minutes.

Why is it so faithful? First, it isn't connected to any other features in the park. So, its "plumbing" remains isolated and undisturbed. Second, the constriction point (believed to be a 4.125" wide opening, 22 feet below the surface) has remained unchanged. It hasn't eroded to become larger. It hasn't narrowed with mineral deposits. Third, the water source is not affected by precipitation. So, wet or dry weather does not affect eruptions. The only thing that has changed over time is its heating chamber deep underground. This area is subject to frequent seismic activity. Over the years, the heat and water sources have shifted and become less consistent. So, sometimes the chamber fills and reaches the critical temperature/pressure quickly (60 minute interval) and sometimes it takes a little longer (90 minute interval).

The crowd's long wait was rewarded with an eruption, as always. And the rangers dutifully recorded its duration so they could predict the next interval.

Time for laundry, dinner, shower, and bed. It's hard to believe that tomorrow will be our last day in Yellowstone.

Lower Geyser Basin: Firehole Lake Drive

Just down the road from the Fountain Paint Pots is the entrance to the one-way Firehole Lake Drive. It's an opportunity to see geysers and hot springs from your car. But you get so much more out of the experience if you get out and walk around.

The temperature of Firehole Spring is well above boiling. I'm also a sucker for a well-crusted rim.

Speaking of well-crusted rims, this is the Surprise Pool. It got its name because early visitors discovered that it would boil if you threw sand in it. This activity, of course, is illegal today.

It was boiling for us already. No sand required.

One of the most famous geysers in Yellowstone is the Great Fountain Geyser (not to be confused with "Fountain Geyser" which we saw earlier today in the Fountain Paint Pots).

Great Fountain Geyser erupts predictably (the only geyser in the Lower Geyser Basin to do so) every 9 to 15 hours. But alas, its eruption times were not conducive to our busy schedule.

Geysers are classified into two types: fountain or cone. Fountain geysers erupt from a pool, like this one. They tend to spray in many directions at once. Cone geysers erupt from a mound, like White Dome below. They generally erupt in single jet, like a fire hose.

Both types produce deposits of geyserite (called sinter). Fountain geysers develop silica terraces, like stepped concentric rings around a center. Great Fountain Geyser's terraces reach a whopping 150 feet in diameter. The highest recorded eruption was 220 feet, but it more typically reaches about 100 feet.

Hundreds of years of geyserite buildup have formed the 12-foot high cone of the White Dome Geyser. It's built upon a 20-foot high mound from an earlier geyser. It spurts frequently but sporadically, varying from every few minutes to an hour and a half in between. The spray reaches 10 to 30 feet. Heavy steam phases sometimes replace actual eruptions. Geyserite deposits have narrowed the opening to just four inches in diameter. It may one day close completely. Everyone is interested to see what will happen at that point.

It's hard to miss Pink Cone Geyser. It's just 13 feet from the road. The pink color comes from deposits of manganese and iron.

This swirling vortex of color is part of Firehole Lake. Runoff from several geysers have produced a yin-yang appearance. See the red "yin" and the black "yang"? The different colors are produced by different species of bacteria, each loving a different water temperature.

Geyserite. Bacteria. Rapids. What's not to love?

This water will trickle out of the lake to form Tangled Creek and eventually dumps into the Firehole River.

I love the way the black and red converge here.

Lower Geyser Basin: Fountain Paint Pots

The Lower Geyser Basin contains several collections of geothermal features, such as the Fountain Paint Pots and Firehole Lake Drive (not to be confused with Firehole Canyon Drive which we saw earlier). It's the largest geyser basin (by area) in the entire park. It is also the place where the Nez Perce Indians kidnapped a group of white tourists.

On the evening of August 23, 1877, George Cowan, his wife, and seven other men and women were singing songs and telling jokes around their campfire. Unbeknownst to them, they had picked an unfortunate campsite on the banks of the East Fork (now the Nez Perce Creek, not far from where we were). They were just a short ways from a tribe of Nez Perce Indians who were hiding from the U.S. Army. The Indians had been on the run for four months, and they couldn't risk the possibility of their position being discovered and reported. They decided to kidnap the white travelers. Several skirmishes ensued. George was shot in the thigh and head and left for dead. The rest of his companions were captured; some were wounded. They were released near the Mud Volcano on the other side of the park. George miraculously survived his wounds and was reunited with them in Mammoth.

The Nez Perce fled northeast, hoping to make it to Canada and out of the reach of the army. Tired, starving, freezing, and desperate, Chief Joseph was forced to surrender on October 5, 1877. They had traveled 1,170 miles from where they started in Oregon. They made it to the Bears Paw Mountains, just forty miles from the border, and their freedom.

The Cowan party was likely camped here because of all the wonderful geothermal features nearby.

***
Time for more mud! We're at the Fountain Paint Pots.

Like most paint pots, these change with the season. In dry weather, the mud hole dries up, and cone-like "vents" start to form. In wet weather, like when we were visiting, the mud liquefies, the mounds smooth out, and bubbles are seen on the surface.

See the bubbles?

The Fountain Paint Pots doesn't just contain mud holes. It's home to plenty of hot springs and geysers, too. This is Silex Spring. The color (and accompanying steam) tells us that it is nearly boiling, about 200 degrees.

Not all hot springs are beautifully colored. The Leather Pool was dark and ugly. The water is lukewarm at best. But I'm sure the animals love it.

This geyser emerged following a deadly earthquake on August 17, 1959. They named it Red Spouter. It varies between a fumarole and a geyser depending on the amount of rain/snow the area receives.

Fountain Geyser

According to the guidebooks, this geyser erupts every one to twelve hours, with a duration of 30 to 60 minutes per eruption. It was erupting the entire time we were there.

Not far from the Fountain Geyser was Clepsydra Geyser. It erupts nearly continuously. Scientists assume an underground connection between them because it only stops briefly when Fountain Geyser is finished.

Artist Paint Pots

From Norris, we continued south toward Madison. The first stop on this leg was at the Artist Paint Pots.

People have argued that visiting and taking photos of stinking mud holes is a lot like admiring a leaky bathroom faucet covered in mold. But I would remind folks that I have pictures of that, too.

The Artist Paint Pots was a real-life amusement park full of colorful bubbling mud.

Ferric oxide (iron rust) stains many of the mud pots a dark reddish color.

The natural color of the mud is a whitish gray.

See the ripples? The mud isn't so much "boiling" as it is "burping". Hydrogen sulfide gas percolates up from deep within the earth and emerges here. The gas contributes to the acidity of the mud.

Some of the mud pots are actually crusted with geyserite. It's a reminder that if it weren't for the addition of acid, or if the rock were more acid-resistant, this would probably be a hot spring.

***
We found a few more amusements along the road to Old Faithful.

The steam cloud hovering over Beryl Spring beckons you to pull your car over and take a closer look. If the bright blue color wasn't evidence enough, the bubbles at the surface would tell you just how hot this pool is.

We stopped at this rest area and got an unexpected great view of the ancient caldera rim. You'll recall that the caldera is what is left of the volcano that blew this region apart 600,000 years ago.

We took a small side-trip off the Grand Loop Road. The one-way Firehole Canyon Drive follows the Firehole River. Upstream, it meanders past several geothermal features. But here, the river's waterfalls are its most alluring feature. This waterfall is known as Firehole Falls.

The Firehole River steams on cold days. It is warmed by the runoff of several geysers, and it is close to several heated underground chambers. The Firehole River has a place where swimming is allowed, but it was temporarily closed due to strong currents. Don't worry, though. We'll have our opportunity to get saturated by geyser chemicals/particles tomorrow.