Skip to main content

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:





Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Day 96 - Banff Cirque Peak

OMG Canada.  Today was my favorite day. The climb to Cirque Peak started with a lovely hike to Helen Lake, climbing quickly at the start but then gently roaming on the backside of the valley, above tree line and with views south to infinity. I made it quickly to the lake then continued on the trail to Dolomite Pass, scrambling on top of the ridge beyond Helen Lake.  My destination : Once on top of the ridge (above my head), I hiked around another lake and up the sandy right side of Cirque Peak, following the route picture from the scramble guide. I eventually made it to a snowbank at the crest of the upper ridge.  I figured walking below the snowbank to the nose would be safer for me with little snow experience, but I saw old steps cut up the near-vertical snowbank and I decided to go for it.  Kicking steps with my right then left foot then propelling my hiking poles right then left deep in the snow above, I inched my way up a snow wall, keeping three solid contact p...
2 comments
Read more

Day 62 - Colorado National Monument

Established as a national monument early in 1911, Colorado NM is known for its high canyon "rim road" and sandstone spires of Monument Canyon.  The canyons of west Colorado are pretty--as they have more green trees and shrubs than the more famous Utah canyons. This gives them a more alive feeling, although the sandstone spires were formed many thousands of years ago by erosion.  Rim Rock road curves up the the top of the canyon cliff, goes through several round tunnels and is lined with scenic viewpoints. The best views were in he Monument Canyon section, and included in sequence, the Coke Ovens, The Kissing Couple (behind my head), and the most famous of all: Independence Monument, the tall spire in pic 3 and viewed from the side in pic 4.  The original promoter and caretaker of the park, John Otto, was the first person to climb Independence Monument and now it's a climbing right of passage. Every July 4 climbers ascend and mount an American flag at the summit. Fun! ...
2 comments
Read more

Day 99 - Mount Robson

The weather was perfect, 80 sunny and clear with a cool breeze for my attempted  40km, 24 mile round trip hike to Berg Lake at Mount Robson Park.  At 7km, I reached the reflective Lake Kinney. The trail was flat and easy up to here and I made quick time.  At 11km I arrived at the Valley of A Thousand Falls, a colorful glacier valley with beautiful waterfalls falling from all corners. The river flowing in form the left was white while the one from the right was blue--interesting.  At 14km White Falls came into view, first of three major falls. This fall cascaded from down the dark rocks and seemed like artwork to me.  At 17km I experienced the most famous waterfall called Emporer Falls, named for its placement below the steep, nearly unclimable  Emporer Face of Mount Robson.  I scrambled below the fall toward small drops of water to rinse off and was promptly drenched by a wind gust.  At 18km I started up the valley toward Berg Lake to breathtaking...
2 comments
Read more