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.