 While
wandering around Geyser Hill I noticed this little hot spring, kind of
across the trail from Beach Spring.
It isn't much more than a crack in the ground with a bit of presumably
warm water in it, but I liked it's color. Then I started wondering
how it managed to stay warm with no visible outflow or steam bubbles or
anything. |
 Boy
howdy, that water comes roaring out of Beehive Geyser. You can feel
it if you are standing near the geyser on the boardwalk. I guess
it has to roar in order to get it to travel up to 200 feet up. Only
a handful of geysers are this tall, and except for Grand, you would have
to be kind of lucky to see any of the others. Even Beehive takes
a little luck. In recent years Beehive has been much more active
and regular than when I was a kid. Back then it only erupted maybe
every week or two. It was always one of those geysers I wanted to
see really badly but never did see. In recent decades it has been
erupting once per day or better, and sometimes on a regular enough basis
that it is kind of predictable. If you visit it wouldn't hurt to
ask the rangers at the Old Faithful visitor's center what Beehive is up
to lately. Maybe you could arrange to be in the neighborhood when
it is likely to erupt. Another nice thing about Beehive is that it
gives a few minutes warning by way of it's indicator. The little
geyser in front of Beehive is the indicator. It starts several minutes
before Beehive, so if you notice it, get to a good viewing spot.
Pay attention to the wind direction as Beehive sometimes soaks people on
the boardwalk, and some people don't like that. |
 Little
Squirt is a much smaller geyser than Beehive. It is an interesting
one though. Recently, by examining records of geyser activity, people
have realized that the geysers on Geyser Hill go through a cycle of a weekly
increase in activity called the Geyser Hill Wave. Geyser Hill is
that hill across the river from Old Faithful where Beehive and Lion and
Giantess geysers are. Most of the time Little Squirt is a barely noticeable
hole in the sinter, but it normally will erupt in response to the Geyser
Hill Wave. Then, it sputters a few feet high for hours or days.
I figure seeing it in eruption is a good sign that it's neighbors are more
likely to erupt for me. |
 I
walked the length of the basin to Morning Glory Pool. Morning Glory
is one of Yellowstone's most famous hot springs. It probably got
that way because in the olden days the main road ran right through the
Upper Geyser Basin, and there was a little parking area at Morning Glory.
So, everyone stopped there. Unfortunately a lot of people thought
it was some sort of wishing well and threw an amazing variety of trash
into it. They still do. This has caused it to clog up a bit,
the water is now cooler, and yellow cyanobacteria now grows down into the
once pure blue pool. So it kind of looks like a dying or diseased
morning glory flower now, all yellowing about the edges. |
 I
saw one of those cute rodents that are so numerous in Yellowstone.
Notice how they are replacing the wooden boardwalks with the ones made from recycled plastic bags. Supposedly they are more durable. Time will tell how well they stand up to that intense mountain sunshine. They are also more slippery when wet, so watch your step. |
 I
got to see Daisy Geyser. Daisy was another of those geysers that
was much less frequent when I was young. Now it is one of those that
they predict at the visitors center. It erupts several times per
day. |
 There
were these colorful little sedum-ish looking succulent plants growing in
the sinter. I don't know if it is truly a sedum or not. |
 I
saw Castle Geyser erupt yet again. With Castle being frequent and
predictable and conveniently located I already had lots of normal type
pictures of it. So I decided to take pictures of it's cone during
an eruption. I wanted to try to capture the way the water splashes
and sprays, the way it comes down sometimes as a steady spray, but sometimes
in big interesting sloshes. This one kind of sort of does that I
think. |
 This
is Grand Geyser. Grand is the largest of the predictable geysers.
It is usually predicted to something like give or take 2 hours, but if
any geyser is worth waiting up to three or four hours on, it would be Grand.
Bring a book or something. Besides, the wait isn't necessarily constant.
Right behind Grand and hidden by it in this picture is Turban Geyser.
Turban erupts every 20 to 30 minutes. Grand will only start at the
time for Turban to start. Grand's pool must also be full to overflow
at Turban time. So, if Turban erupts with no Grand you have at least
15 or 20 minutes to wander a bit. Grand can erupt up to 200 feet.
It's a complicated eruption. Like I mentioned, Grand and Turban (a
five to 20 footer, taller with Grand) start at about the same time.
Grand erupts from a big pool of water. Its eruption is a rapid fire
series of jets that are maybe 100 foot tall, maybe a bit more, at this
stage. It does this for say 5 to 15 minutes. During this time
Vent geyser joins the other two. Vent is the angled 40 to 70 footer
next to Grand. Then Grand stops. People start to leave.
Sometimes, but not usually, Grand is done. More often it has what
they call a second "burst". I know, the term burst sounds like it
should refer to the separate jets of water in the eruption, but I didn't
invent the terminology. After a short quiet period it rockets up
to what sees impossibly high for a few minutes. Then maybe you will
get a third burst, maybe even more. At any rate Vent and Turban keep
going for quite a while. If you see Vent and Turban going steadily
and no Grand, you probably missed Grand. |
 Tardy
Geyser is much smaller than the nearby grand Geyser. I have no idea
how it or nearby Old Tardy Geyser got their names. As far as I know
they were never on any schedule. |
 My
sister Jennifer walked with me, but didn't want her picture taken.
We managed to get horribly sunburned. That high altitude sun ( and
maybe combined with a ground covered in reflective sinter? ) can be merciless.
I figured I was safe being from sunny Florida and outside a lot, and besides
I had never been severely burned in Yellowstone before, but I was wrong.
I even let mom and Jen have my hats, figured I didn't need them.
I had to get the little packs of vinegar for the sunburn from the fast
food place at the Snowlodge. People were looking at me strangely
because I was soaking napkins in vinegar and dabbing my face. They
obviously didn't know many good home remedies. By the time I got
home I had the lizard face, with all peeling off skin. |
 They
were putting plastic bark on the Old Faithful Lodge, to replace some that
had fallen off I guess. Hopefully they are going to paint or stain
it, it looks kind of obvious. It takes some creativity to maintain
some of the old buildings in Yellowstone. Some of the twisted, knotty
logs at the Old Faithful Inn and the stores are plastic now. Most
of it you would never notice without someone pointing it out to you though. |