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.
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 GeyserAurum 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 PoolThis 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 GeyserThis geyser erupts almost constantly, sometimes big (15 feet) but usually small (two to three feet).
Teakettle Geyser
Sponge GeyserSinter (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 matSome 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 GeyserSpasmodic 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 ConeThis geyser sits right on the bank of the Firehole River.
Crested PoolThe 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.
