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Day 81 - Yellowstone Geyser Gazing

See Great Fountain, Castle, Daisy and Riverside geysers erupt in 60 seconds:

The crew awoke early after a cold night camping with intentions to drive to Cody, Wyoming.  But after Steve, Lanny and Landon determined that they needed to drop Landon off at the airport at noon the next day, they decided to take their rental car and drive south to Jackson instead.   Thus ended the very fun vacation within my adventure. I had to continue onward, north toward Glacier National Park in Montana, but wanted to do more geyser gazing before I left Yellowstone. Luckily, earlier in the morning, all of us had indulged in a wonderful breakfast buffett at the historic Yellowstone Lake Hotel-- a fitting end to the vacation. 

I converted the van back into a camper and drove two hours back to Old Faithful geyser basin, arriving just as threatening rain clouds flew in above. Unfazed, I hiked in toward Daisy geyser, but she had erupted before I arrived. I walked north toward the famous Morning Glory hot spring then to Grand and Old Faithful geysers, where I luckily caught Castle unexpectedly going off. 
 


Enough time had passed by now that I could backtrack to Daisy to see her show as the rain began to fall. I had purchased a comprehensive guide to Yellowstone geysers so I knew how to read the pools and I had the geyser times predictions in hand to plan my route.  After Daisy's angled eruption, I walked to Riverside and waited an hour before she erupted, spraying elegantly over the river. 


The final major geyser left on my list was Great Fountain, a massive geyser with a beautiful crater, and located fifteen minutes up the road. This geyser had a four hour window and I was an hour and a half into it, so I was happy when I arrived and saw the pool nearly full (empty means it erupted already).  I waited in the car as rain drizzled and then got out of the car to stand in pouring rain just as the geyser went off. A marvelous eruption: Great Fountain bubbles for a few minutes before all the water drains inside the opening then a small pause before booming a bomb of water a hundred feet to the sky. Watch the video for the pause then boom!

I watched Great Fountain go off for a full hour while reading my geyser book. Then I drove to Fountain geyser, but it had already erupted. I drove on to Midway to see Grand Pismatic, the world's largest hot spring again and got a great view from atop a hill bluff across the road (selfie pic). I then drove to watch a smaller Flood geyser erupt at a scenic Jurassic-looking spot. Following a final 10pm walk around the Biscuit Basin area, I drove to the Old Faithful Inn parking lot, found a quiet spot and secretly camped for the night. 

See Great Fountain, Castle, Daisy and Riverside geysers erupt in 60 seconds:





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