Despite having a wake-up call at 7 AM we decided to just go back to sleep and let everyone recharge. I woke up at 9:30 AM to work on the blog while Addison woke up shortly thereafter to watch some TV. We let the ladies sleep in until almost noon. While part of me was “man, what are we doing wasting a day we paid dearly for?!” the reality is that though we usually don’t get out until 9 AM or 10 AM we run hard until 10 PM or 11 PM each night. We needed a break.
Skipped breakfast as it was lunch time and on the recommendation of the hotel staff we went to Ernie’s Deli in West Yellowstone, Montana. Decent sandwiches, reasonably priced for the most part, and they had some chocolate donuts and maple bars (YUM!) left over from breakfast that we snarfed up for later snacking.
Shortly after arriving in Yellowstone I found a site that listed the top ten things to see in the park. Their list jibed with other sites so I have been using it as a yardstick to determine if we’re doing OK in trying to get the most out of Yellowstone. I had four full days set aside for Yellowstone with the hope that I could do it in three and do Grand Teton National Park on the fourth day rather than on the way to Idaho Falls, Idaho on Monday. Through yesterday we had seen six of the sights: Old Faithful Geyser and Upper Geyser Basin, Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, Mammoth Hot Springs, Yellowstone Lake, Tower Fall, and West Thumb Geyser Basin. I had already written off two more: Lamar Valley and Hayden Valley because the former was too far to drive back out to that part of the park and the latter just didn’t sound that promising. That left Norris Geyser Basin and Lower Geyser Basin / Fountain Paint Pots to wrap up.
Headed into the park a bit after 2 PM and headed to Norris Geyser Basin (B on the map below). Norris Geyser Basin is the hottest point in the park (with a reading of well over 400F at one time just a mile or so below the surface) and has many interesting thermal features including the tallest geyser in the world, Steamboat Geyser, at 300+ feet. Unfortunately it is not very predictable, going through dormant periods of up to fifty years, though the last one was in May 2005. There is also an old visitor center with some basic exhibits about the thermal aspects of the park as well as some interesting things to say about geothermal energy’s impact on thermal features (basically, it harms them and has killed many geysers in Iceland, for example).
One thing I love about all of the active sites is this lovely diagram warning about the dangers of thermally active areas. Look how little Timmy has strayed off the path and his foot has broken through the thin crust and into certain scalding danger. What I presume is the mother is pointing, helpless. What really takes the cake, however, is what can only be the dad walking away unaware or uncaring — parent of the year!
Thermal Area Warning sign, YNP, Wyoming
Anyhow, we started on the 1.5 mile trail around the first of two basins in Norris Geyser Basin, Back Basin. First up was Emerald Spring, a very pretty light green hot pool. Next was Steamboat Geyser which I discussed at length above. No, it didn’t explode while we were there, though it was still pretty active with steam coming out and minor eruptions of water a couple of feet into the air occurring. Echinus Geyser was next, once predictable but now no longer so.
Emerald Spring, Norris Geyser Basin, YNP, Wyoming
Steamboat Geyser, YNP, Wyoming
It was at about this time that it started to rain. Other than having to protect the camera it was quite pleasant. It nicely cleared most of the tourists out of the basin and cooled things off a bit. The lightning was a bit disconcerting what with myself being one of the tallest objects but it never got bad enough that we were significantly worried. Pressing on in the rain we next checked out Green Dragon Spring. Green Dragon Spring is really cool because there is quite a bit of bubbling water that looks like it is coming out of a small cave. A bit further down the 1.5 mile path was Porkchop Geyser. Porkchop has a fascinating past — for a long while it was a hot spring with infrequent eruptions then its vent narrowed to the size of a garden hose by 1985 leading it to continuously erupt. Pressure continued to build up until 1989 when it exploded sending rock up to 200 feet in all directions. Despite some small activity since it is now mainly considered a hot spring again.
Green Dragon Spring, YNP, Wyoming
Porkchop Geyser with thrown rock, YNP, Wyoming
Veteran Geyser was interesting in that it had a very smooth cone. It also gurgled loudly from other holes near it and would splash out water every couple of seconds that would over spill the cone and run downhill in a neat trickle. Cistern Spring is also nearby, notable mostly for emptying after Steamboat Geyser has a major eruption and taking days to refill. It was full for us, of course, considering that Steamboat hadn’t had a major eruption in five years. Minute Geyser finished up Back Basin and has a sad tale to tell. It used to erupt almost continuously but people kept tossing crap into it to the point that it has been damaged beyond repair (it would require heavy equipment to clean out its vent and that would damage it more) — it is now an extinct feature. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again — humans!
Veteran Geyser, YNP, Wyoming
Cistern Pool, YNP, Wyoming
Next we intended to walk around the other basin, Porcelain Basin. The rain (and lightning) was picking up, however, so the wife and kids decided to stay at the museum. Lacking the same sense I decided to go a bit into the basin and at least see Black Growler Steam Vent and Crackling Lake. While pretty, and wishing I could see some of the other features (like the intriguingly named Whale’s Mouth”), the weather just wasn’t working with me so I headed back to the family.
Rain from above, steam from below, YNP, Wyoming
We then drove a short distance to the Artists’ Paintpots. We were told this was an area of beautiful hot pools and springs in a more woodsy setting. They lied, it was instead a 1/3 mile walk to a low-lying mosquito deathtrap. There were some pretty things I guess, and the flora was quite nice to look at (and photograph), but the weather forced yet another hasty retreat (though the mosquitoes would’ve forced it if the rain hadn’t) before we could fully explore the feature or climb up the hill to the observation platform.
Thermal features at Artists' Paintpots, YNP, Wyoming
I sure as heck didn’t want to end Yellowstone on such a dud so I cajoled the family into one last stop — the Lower Geyser Basin. We had already done Upper Geyser two days before (that’s the area surrounding Old Faithful) as well as Midway (that’s the Basin containing the Grand Prismatic Spring) but hadn’t gotten around to Lower Geyser. I had read that it was quite spectacular and since it wasn’t far from the road back to our hotel I convinced them to go.
I’m really glad I did. Not only did it have several beautiful hot pools but it also had a mud pot called Fountain Paint Pot. It was basically a cauldron of bubbling mud that sent the occasional mud blob soaring a few feet. The gurgling sound it made was awesome. In addition to the mud pot it also had Fountain Geyser. While Fountain Geyser didn’t have an eruption while we were there it almost continuously spews steam and some water so it’s fun to watch. Also in Lower Geyser there was Red Spouter, a geyser that opened up with the 1959 earthquake.
Silex Pool, YNP, Wyoming
Fountain Paint Pot, YNP, Wyoming
Fountain Geyser, YNP, Wyoming
Done with Yellowstone we headed back to West Yellowstone, Montana. We ate at Gusher’s, a pizza place. It wasn’t bad and was reasonably priced. Like many establishments in West Yellowstone it had some casino machines but also had a Ms. Pac-Man / Galaga combo cabinet. Afterward Addison and I got some Dairy Queen and the ladies got some ice cream at another place. We then shopped and returned to our hotel. The four of us went swimming and called it a night.
Route for July 17, 2010