August 12, 2017
As we wandered from place to place in Yellowstone, I was in utter awe of the scenes surrounding us. It was common to look toward what would be a normal forest landscape anywhere else, but to see numerous steam plumes rising into the air through the trees.
I can't help but wonder what the first folks who happened into that area thought. There would be nothing in their experience to prepare them for that and so much more. The initial thought would have to be that there were fires out there in the woods, but no smell of wood smoke.
Upon investigation, did they first see a steaming boiling pond or was their first experience a geyser spouting scalding water into the air. Perhaps they would happen into a geothermal area and break through the crust. I can't imagine that there were not injuries to men or animals before they realized the danger.
At any rate, we are told that disbelief was the understandable reaction when explorers reported what they found in that super-heated and venting countryside. Even knowing what to expect and having seen numerous photographs of Yellowstone's unique scenery, I was still incredulous.
Black Sand Basin . . .
A geothermal area of Yellowstone called the Upper Basin is subdivided into regions. One section we explored, Black Sand Basin, contained stunningly colored coffee, rust, golden and aqua hot pools. We learned that the various colors are the result of bacterial growth. Amazing that anything would live, much less thrive in such high temperatures - some are as hot as 250 degrees. Evidently, various mineral content and varying water temperatures nurture different types and colors of bacterial growth, often in the form of mats on the water surface.
Upper Basin . . .
Although
I have seen a few geysers in other locales, it somehow never occurred
to me that so very many exist. Yellowstone alone must have hundreds;
they come in all shapes, sizes, degrees and regularity of eruption.
Some are a bit on the namby-pamby side; others are of hoary countenance and of a
size that took centuries to accumulate.
All of them have been given names; of those, I recall only the most impressive.
As we wandered through the geothermal areas, I could discern no rhyme nor reason for the relation of different features one to another. On the one hand might be a large cone built by a geyser's eruptions over the years and next to it a serene pool of the most beautiful hue you could possibly imagine and scattered around could be scabby lumpy earth interrupted by steaming bubbling mud pots and hissing spitting water holes, while running through the morass might be a clear cold-water stream. It really is an other-worldly atmosphere.
Evidently, the temptation is too great for some folks and they test the water's heat by sticking in a finger or toe, inviting a trip to a nearby clinic for treatment of their burns. Some are careless or foolish enough to fall into the boiling water with predictable catastrophic results.
Children have been burned and/or killed when they have slipped and fallen into super-heated features, yet, I saw numerous instances of children running on the boardwalks while their parents appear to be unconcerned, or balance walking along the narrow wooden edge over the pools.
One predictable geyser is called Daisy (below).
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Even the regular erupters occasionally change their pattern, sometimes for years at a time, depending on other conditions and what's happening in the area with other features, or for example as the result of an earthquake that might disrupt or alter the underground fissures through which their water emanates.
Some of Yellowstone's geysers are independent, but others are part of interconnected groups. One of those is the Grotto Group; Giant Geyser is part of that. Giant has built a considerable rim over a great length of time via eruptions that can be up to 250 feet; historically, it has reached even 300 feet in the air. During an eruption, it expels more than a million gallons of water over an hour to hour-and-a-half span.
While we watched, Giant and its nearby geysers spewed and burbled, but did not do a major eruption. Even at that, he was most impressive.
Grotto Geyser (below) put on quite a show for us; we were even more impressed with its unusual sinter formation that is shaped oddly because of being deposited over dead tree stumps and branches.
Grotto Geyser was one of those discovered and named by an 1870 expedition of explorers. A written account from Nathaniel Langford of that group describes their encounter with that particular fountain, and what a horrifying encounter it could have been:
" 'The Grotto' was so named from its singular crater of vitrified sinter, full of large, sinuous apertures. Through one of these, on our first visit, one of our company crawled to the discharging orifice; and when, a few hours afterward, he saw a volume of boiling water, four feet in diameter, shooting through, it to the height of sixty feet, and a scalding stream of two hundred inches flowing from the aperture he had entered a short time before, he concluded he had narrowly escaped being summarily cooked. The discharge of this geyser continued for nearly half an hour."
Continuing our walk through the Upper Basin, we saw one strange scene after another, no two alike, and each one seeming more astounding than the last. We were amazed by the clarity of the pools as we peered down into their convoluted depths. The water is completely clear; in the cases where it is colorless, it is nearly impossible to tell it's there except when it boils or steams.
At one point, we thought it was beginning to rain, that is until we walked back that way later and felt the same droplets. That was when we realized we were getting vaporous spray from a nearby geyser. Another time, we and others gathered near us were startled by a sudden geyser eruption that wet us pretty thoroughly. More surprising was that although the water boiled to cause the eruption, the fountain spray was not hot.
The Lion Geyser (below) shoots water up to 90 feet into the air while roaring like its namesake. It is another that is part of a group of interconnected geysers.
Old Faithful . . .
The world-renowned Old Faithful is located in the Upper Basin and certainly must be one of the most sought-after sights in the world. We watched it erupt twice - currently, the events occur every 90 minutes, so it was easy to walk to other sights and time our arrival back for a second go.
I was astounded at the number of people who were there only for that event, surely several hundred, maybe up to 1,000; they arrived early and waited patiently. How fun it was! At the beginning of the eruption, there were shouts, then oohs and aahs similar to what you hear at a Fourth of July fireworks display, then cheers as it continued, and finally applause at the end of the performance.
Old Faithful was the first geyser spied by the 1870 expedition I mentioned earlier. Langford also wrote about that sighting:
| "Judge, then, what must have been our astonishment, as we entered the basin at mid-afternoon of our second day's travel, to see in the clear sunlight, at no great distance, an immense volume of clear, sparkling water projected into the air to the height of one hundred and twenty-five feet. "Geysers! geysers!" exclaimed one of our company, and, spurring our jaded horses, we soon gathered around this wonderful phenomenon. It was indeed a perfect geyser. The aperture through which the jet was projected was an irregular oval, three feet by seven in diameter. The margin of sinter was curiously piled up, and the exterior crust was filled with little hollows full of water, in which were small globules of sediment, some having gathered around bits of wood and other nuclei. This geyser is elevated thirty feet above the level of the surrounding plain, and the crater rises five or six feet above the mound. It spouted at regular intervals nine times during our stay, the columns of boiling water being thrown from ninety to one hundred and twenty-five feet at each discharge, which lasted from fifteen to twenty minutes. We gave it the name of 'Old Faithful'." |
An 1883 account tells us that in the early days of the park, Old Faithful was sometimes degraded by being made a laundry.
"Garments placed in the crater during quiescence are ejected thoroughly washed when the eruption takes place In 1882, Gen. Sheridan's men found that linen and cotton fabrics were uninjured by the action of the water, but woolen clothes were torn to shreds."
Grand Prismatic Spring . . .
Possibly the most astounding geothermal sight we experienced in Yellowstone was the Grand Prismatic Spring, the largest hot spring in the park and easily one of the most colorful. Even from a distance, we could see a line of steam along the horizon; surprisingly, even the vapors were of aqua and golden hues. Its 160-degree temperature keeps the surface steaming, creating a bizarre effect.
The pool stretches for about 200 feet in width; a boardwalk allows visitors to walk out and around it, over much of the brilliantly colored and striated runoff plain. It pours a whopping 500 gallons of water per minute into the Firehole River just below.
We could hardly believe our eyes when we saw elk hoof prints under the water of Grand Prismatic Spring. These were near the boardwalk coming from across the wide pool, which meant the animal had waded through a substantial span of very hot water!
Excelsior Geyser . . .
Adjoining Grand Prismatic Spring is a large crater created by a violent eruption of Excelsior Geyser. That entire area is swathed in steaming vapors, making it very difficult to obtain photographs. A picture of people on a surrounding boardwalk gives some idea of its scale.
Brits, the eclipse . . .
During our two days in Yellowstone, we walked a goodly number of miles. Unfortunately, one of those treks was due to our misguided attempt to get to Grand Prismatic Spring. Fortunately, the misguided hike that went to an overlook instead of getting us to the spring resulted in meeting a very nice couple from Liverpool, England.
They, too, were on the wrong trail. It turns out that they are planning to view the upcoming total solar eclipse from Casper the same as us. In addition, like us, they are staying at another spot for a couple of days prior to the event and also plan to scout out their viewing spot ahead of time. That is our plan; however, from what I have read, those plans may very well go awry - seems that hordes upon hordes of folks are expecting to descend on places in the "path of totality" to spend a few minutes standing around in the dark of day.
Besides crowds of thousands and the traffic associated with their arrivals, there's the small matter of smoke. Last night, we had rain (the first we have had for the entire trip!) which cleared out some of the smoky conditions here; however, the fires evidently blaze away causing smoke to obscure much of the path where the eclipse will be visible (or not, as the case may be). For me, I am grateful that we did not plan our journey around the event that is so vulnerable to weather and other factors.
Expectations, wildlife . . .
One of the first places we stopped to explore within Yellowstone was Swan Lake. A peaceful picturesque place cradled in a wide valley held up by encircling mountains, we saw only a few waterfowl on the water.
One Canada goose had been left alone by his flock; he appeared to have a hurt leg, which made me feel very sorry for him - he looked sad out there by himself.
As we drove by the place a second day, we were startled to see two trumpeter swans floating serenely along. Is that an habitual haunt for swans - thus the name - or was that a fluke? Certainly, swans was not the first thing I think of when I conjure sights at Yellowstone; in fact, they were nowhere in my radar of possible sightings, yet there they were.
In the same department of seeing exactly what one never expected to see were two sandhill cranes having a supper in a vast expanse of tall dry grass.
The only other addition to the trip's bird list was western bluebird.
As we departed the park after our second very long day, we encountered an elk jam: a whole bunch of folks doing exactly what they/we were admonished not to do via numerous signs posted throughout Yellowstone. "View wildlife from your car. Do not approach wildlife", the powers that be urge us all, to no avail at all apparently.
We gleefully joined the throngs of people parked haphazardly along a road far too narrow for safe passage through stopped vehicles and watched at least a hundred elk grazing their way through the forests on both side of the road.
Further along, more stopped cars and excited people pointing up to a mountainside alerted us to the presence of a herd of bighorn sheep. The señor counted while I snapped photos; there were nine animals that we saw, including one baby.
Eventually, the grass seemed greener on the other side of the road.
Chico Hot Springs . . .
Ah, bliss - a nice soak at yet another mineral spring - the historic Chico Hot Springs, quite close to our RV park! We quite enjoyed the much more peaceful ambiance of Chico over Fairmont's rowdiness. Two pools are open to the sky, yet protected by surrounding buildings while still allowing a view of nearby hillsides.
The small warmer pool is about 105 degrees, the larger just over 98. An ordering/serving window opens to the adjoining saloon. On other sides are changing rooms, decks with tables, a restaurant, a grill and the hotel.
The attractive main lodge is on the National Register of Historic Places.
We chatted with several nice people and families while we relaxed and soaked. One extended family we met had Yavapai College connections - surprising; after all, Chris and I both retired from there. The matriarch had lived in near-to-us Cottonwood for 13 years and had worked at YC. Her son-in-law was also a YC staffer whom Chris knew from his time there - what are the chances?
2 comments:
Just looking at you wonderful photos helped me relax. Mother Nature has quite an eye for colors Yellowstone.
You are so right, Bobbi - the colors are incredible!
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