Black Sand Basin gets its name from the volcanic glass (black obsidian) in the area. Oranges, greens and other colors are again the result of thermophiles. The trail runs about 1/4 mile.
The Firehole River with an erupting Cliff Geyser
Green Spring... and a distant view of Cliff Geyser
Emerald Pool
The Old Faithful basin area was quite extensive and divided into several main sections. But first things first... I squeezed in with hundreds of other folks to witness the reason most people come here... the eruption of Old Faithful.
The geyser gets ready...
Old Faithful is a cone geyser named by Henry D. Washburn during an 1870 expedition. With an average height of 145 feet, it is not the tallest in the park but it is the most predictable, with eruptions ranging every 35 to 120 minutes. It is so regular due to the fact that it doesn't share an underground water source with any other nearby geothermal feature.
It is reported that in the 1880's, the geyser was used as a sort of laundromat for early explorers and military. They placed their dirty items in the quiet geyser and added laundry soap, which promptly ejected clean and warm garments. Even without clothes to clean, visitors, park officials and scientists used to throw soap and lye into pools to induce a geyser’s eruption. Unfortunately this can be quite damaging to a geyser’s internal workings. Mostly this is now prohibited for environmental concerns.
... and boom!!
I first explored the Geyser Hill area.
Pump Geyser
Blue Star Spring
Doublet Pool
Aurum (Latin meaning gold) Geyser is named for the color of the iron oxide deposits lining its rim. It erupts every 2 1/2 - 5 hours.
I wandered over to the Castle-Grand area.
Sawmill Geyser
Spasmodic Geyser
Belgian Pool
A viewing area for Grand Geyser, which erupts every 7 to 15 hours. It shares the same subterranean source of hot water as two of its neighboring geysers.
WATCH A MOVIE OF THE GEYSERS!
Next came the Giant-Grotto group.
Beauty Pool ... and Chromatic Pool sit next to each other and share an underground water link.
The color reveals water temperature and is an indication of what life can survive there.
Blue and clear are extremely hot (190 degrees F at this elevation) and home to thermophiles.
Yellow (at 163 F) is where cynobacteria live.
Green (140F) is fungi and algae.
Light brown (133F) is protozoa.
Darker browns are mosses, crustaceans and insects (at 122F) and fish (80F or lower).
Giant Geyser is highly unpredictable, going through periods of activity and dormancy. When it is running, eruptions can reach 250 feet and last over an hour, expelling more than a million gallons of water.
Grotto Geyser today... and a woodcut illustration from 1871
Grotto Geyser is one of the most unusual ones in the park. It is believed that hundreds or even thousands of years ago, the geyser emerged in a stand of dead or dying trees. Over time, layer upon layer of siliceous sinter (silica) was deposited over the stumps and branches. Eruptions can vary from 50 minutes to 24 hours.
The Morning Glory-Riverside area
The Firehole River... and some of its bubbling geysers
Spiteful Geyser... and Riverside Geyser. This one is more consistent than the other geysers in the area because it is isolated and has a constant supply of heat and water.
Unfortunately Morning Glory Pool is losing its color as every year people toss all sorts of objects (trash, rocks, coins, and supposedly once even a couch!) into the hot spring, blocking the vent and lowering the temperature. As the water cools, the heat-loving blue organisms are replaced by yellow and orange ones.
It is very difficult to clean the pool. The park has removed 112 different kinds of objects including all kinds of trash, rocks, coins ($86.27 in pennies), socks, bath towels, handkerchiefs and supposedly even a couch!
A ground squirrel finds a treat... Oh my gosh, this is sooooo good!!
