We spent the day exploring the unusual landscape of the Geyser Basin in Yellowstone National Park (YNP). More than once, I remarked on how the early explorers might have been amazed at the features. White calcium carbonate from dissolved from limestone build up deposits on the base of the hot spring, geyser, or fumarole. You can always find a “hot spot” by these deposits.
Of course, I had to take plenty of pictures of Old Faithful, but there are more pics of other smaller and just-as-interesting geysers.
Around Old Faithful, there are benches that seat hundreds, probably a thousand people. The benches start to fill up about 30 minutes before the “performance.” By the time Old Faithful explodes, the benches are filled and more people are standing around watching. The largest and more dramatic explosion is in the first few minutes, about fifty feet in the air. After that, the geyser slows down and the water is not as high, maybe ten to fifteen feet. Depending on how the wind blows and where you are sitting, depends on how much water you see spraying.
We walked around the boardwalks to the other geysers and were rewarded with the eruption of a few smaller geysers.
The oddest thing was a bubbling boiling, steaming lake. Really!
I think our favorite was the Dragon's Mouth, which was a cave releasing steam and waves of water. The cave was also roaring, the effect of the steam being released. Odd. . . just very odd.
We also saw the Mammoth Hot Springs, which are mountains of the calcium carbonate. The springs of water leave the dissolved minerals on the ground where they build up into these massive terraces of white rock.
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