Norris Geyser Basin

Sun Rays through Norris © 2010 bo Mackison

We explored Norris Geyser Basin on an early October morning. We arrived before sunrise. The temperatures had dropped to nearly freezing overnight, so we were alone in our explorations. Perhaps everyone else thought warm rooms and hot food were a better choice than dark and spooky geyser basins. Personally, I was quite enthralled with this magical looking land–a setting that one might expect in a few of the scarier fairy tales.

Mineralized Forest © 2010 Bo Mackison

Standing water from geyser eruptions has turned this Lodgepole Pine forest into a rather ghostly, mineralized forest, especially when seen before dawn. The near freezing temperatures made the steam from the geysers all the more visible. Since there are over 180 thermal features in Norris, this place becomes a steamy place when the temperatures drop. Even daylight doesn’t help much.

Norris Geyser Basin at Sunrise © 2010 Bo Mackison

See? Sunrise doesn’t provide much light, but it does add some interesting reflections and light to the many geyser runoffs in the basin.

Back Basin © 2010 Bo Mackison

The Back Basin at Norris contains stands of trees that are in varying degrees of decay. It is park policy to leave the trees as they fall, unless they are an obstruction to traffic or a safety hazard. Lodgepole pines have a shallow root system, and so larger trees are easily toppled by strong winds or they absorb the minerals in the geyser runoff.

Fogged In Trees © 2010 Bo Mackison

More cold. More steam. More trees standing in cold air, but in steamy fog.

Crater Spring © 2010 Bo Mackison

Crater Spring is one of the few pools on the Back Basin loop. Norris is the most changeable and unpredictable of all of Yellowstone’s geyser basins. It is one of the hottest areas in the Yellowstone region. Geologists doing test drills have found water temperatures over 400˚ F at depths of 200 to 1000 feet. They also estimate that this geothermal area has been continuously active for over 150,000 years.

Steamboat Geyser © 2010 Bo Mackison

Back Basin is the location of Steamboat Geyser, Yellowstone National Park’s tallest, though unpredictable, geyser. Steamboat is most always steaming or spouting, but only minor eruptions of 40 to 60 feet have occurred in recent years. When the geyser was having major eruptions, water was forced upwards nearly 400 feet. Steamboat was at its peak performance in the 1960s, erupting more than 100 times in that decade. It has steadily declined since then, and there have only been a few major eruptions since 2000.

Springs and Pools of Yellowstone

Crested Pool © 2010 Bo Mackison

Crested Pool is a sinter (or silica) pool; its crest is made of layer upon layer of sinter that has been laid down over the centuries. This is one of Yellowstone’s super-heated pools, and it is surprisingly deep at 42 feet. Crested Pool is in the Upper Geyser Basin, north of Old Faithful Geyser and the Old Faithful complex.

Chromatic Pool Landscape © 2010 Bo Mackison

Walk further north past Crested Pool, and Chromatic Pool comes into view. Chromatic Pool and Beauty Pool seem to exchange brilliance. When one pool cools and its colors lessen because of a decrease of bacteria, the other pool seems to heat and its colors deepen. Chromatic Pool seemed to have the better colors when we were visiting in early October.

Chromatic Pool © 2010 Bo Mackison

The deepest part of the pool actually reflects the color of the sky. The other colors–usually reds, browns, yellows–are the result of bacteria and algae mats.

South Scalloped Spring © 2010 Bo Mackison

There are a pair of scallop-shaped springs near each other. The water level of Scalloped Spring is several feet below surface level. This is thought to be an un-natural occurrence and is presumed to be the result of human interference. The South Scalloped Springs gurgle and slurp, and occasionally spill water into Firehole River.

Shield Pool © 2010 Bo Mackison

Shield Pool, so named because of its shield shape, is across the path from Crested Pool. It’s colors are not remarkable when compared to the more colorful hot pools, but I love the different depths and swirling waters.

Memories of Yellowstone

Back to Yellowstone. As slowly as I am editing my photos from our trip to the western and southwestern National Parks, I may need the rest of the year to finish the job. I’m going to start posting several photos at a time, or it might take me until the end of 2011! Here are a few more thermal features from the boardwalk that extends north of Old Faithful.

Beauty Pool © 2010 Bo Mackison

Beauty Pool shows a wide range of colors, most due to the presence of micro-organisms which thrive in extremely hot water.

Grand Geyser and Vent Geyser © 2010 Bo Mackison

I captured a rainbow while I was photographing Grand Geyser  (right) and Vent Geyser (left). Just before Grand erupts, it emits a roaring from deep within its chambers, soon followed by a burst of water which can reach heights of 150 – 200 feet. The Vent Geyser, the little one shooting off to the left at an angle, is a companion geyser. It almost always erupts when Grand does, though it continues to shoot bursts of water and steam into the air long after Grand has quieted.

Steaming Giant Geyser © 2010 Bo Mackison

Love these geysers that make their own spurting cones. These geysers are most often the older geysers, and have been around long enough to put down layers and layers of geyserite. I never did see Giant erupt, but it was gurgling and hissing much of the time I watched.

Crystal Geyser? © 2010 Bo Mackison

Might be safe to say that if you go looking for Crystal Geyser in Yellowstone, you won’t find it. I did though! I had to get a photo of the water bottle from “Crystal Geyser” in front of the hot, sulphur-y Grand Geyser. Personally, water from a geyser would be one of my last choices for quenching thirst. Just sayin’!

Riverside Geyser Rainbow © 2010 Bo Mackison

We were amazingly lucky on our geyser walk. First we saw Grand Geyser which began erupting as we were approaching it. Great timing on our part! And then another half mile down the trail and Riverside Geyser is spurting across the Firehole River. Doubly perfect timing. Riverside Geyser is one of Yellowstone’s most consistent geysers. A century ago is was spurting every eight hours or so. Now it is likely to erupt every six to seven hours. The rainbow was quite a pretty sight, a lovely bonus.

Wyoming High Range – Cross Country Travel

High Plains ©2010 Bo Mackison

Traveling from the Badlands in South Dakota to Yellowstone National Park, we traveled through western South Dakota and eastern Wyoming. In Wyoming, the landscape changed rather suddenly from irrigated farm fields to sagebrush high range.

It was one of only a couple of times that we pulled the car over and I took a few photographs. I learned the hard way how difficult it is to try to travel 2o hours with a minimum of stops. I passed by hundreds of places I wanted to photograph, but knew I couldn’t stop we would never get further west than Iowa. It was a long two and a half days to get to Yellowstone.