Day 77 - Yellowstone Mammoth Hot Springs and Norris Geysers

The famous Travertine Terraces of Mammoth Hot Springs riminded me of Rome since Rome built so many structures with marble travertine stone; but this travertine was brought alive literally by thermophiles- heat loving bacteria.

These bacteria give the terraces and hot springs and water runoff kaleidoscopes of color ranging from brown to red to orange to yellow to blue depending on the water temperature. We took a ranger guided walk at the upper terraces and were given the full explanation of the geology and biology of this area of Yellowstone. The natural wonders of Yellowstone are powered by underground heat built up due to the colliding tectonic plates underfoot and due to Rhyolite heated rock and underground water reservoirs and volcanoes!! In fact, the center of Yellowstone is a massive caldera forming supervolcano which last erupted 640,000 years ago. Yellowstone is truly one of a kind-- a remnant of a volcanic age, with a feel of another planet mixed with beautiful natural landscapes and wildlife, and the first of a great movement-- natural parks reserved from commercial exploit and set aside for the enjoyment and inspiration of the people of the world. I love Yellowstone.

But Mammoth Hot Springs is only one part of a massive park. After the hour and a half tour we drove south toward Old Faithful but first we stopped at Norris Geyser Basin. The third largest Geyser Basin at Yellowstone, Norris is most famous for Steamboat Geyser, the highest active geyser in the world at up to 385 feet. Except it erupts every 5 hours to 50 years, with the last known eruption happening in 2010. Not having 5 years to sit and watch, we lingered for ten minutes watching minor twenty foot eruptions. We did walk through the Porcelain Basin, named for dozens of beautifully vibrant hot springs nestled closely together.

Our final destination for the day was the Old Faithful Inn, a historical log-built hotel directly next to Old Faithful geyser. The lobby was a 100 feet tall V-shaped room built entirely by gorgeous deep brown logs. We enjoyed some drinks, a great dinner and a wonderful Old Faithful geyser show to top off a fun night, the highlight of which was my hitting Steve on the top of the head with a snowball-- thus winning my first Wyoming snowball fight.

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