At Geyser Basins

Yesterday, Wednesday, after seeing the grizzly bear, we drove to Old Faithful.  Old Faithful is a geyser but it is also a place in Yellowstone that has a visitor center, inn, lodge, cabins, store and other services as well as other geysers and thermal features.  It is 51 miles from our camp at Mammoth Hot Springs and we got there just before 2:00.  It was cool and partly cloudy but a dark cloud was over the mountain.

Castle Geyser is about 15 minute walk from Old Faithful and forecast to erupt about the time we got there, Old Faithful an hour later. So, as we went there to watch it, the cloud kept coming and it started to snow, the wind picked up and it got cold.  We watched it for 15 minutes then went to the inn to warm up and wait on Old Faithful.  By 2:50 the sun had come out and the snow stopped - all in one hour.  See the pictures.

Today we went to the Norris Geyser Basin, between Old Faithful and Mammoth.  It is just full of geysers, mud pots, thermal pools, and fumeroles.  The colors are magnificent.  We took a hundred pictures but they are inadequate to describe it.  I've included a few of the better ones I would consider typical of the area.

The Norris basin is named for Philetus W. Norris who was the second Superintendent of Yellowstone National Park from 1877 to 1882.  He recorded the area's hydrothermal features in detail.  He also campaigned for legislation to protect Yellowstone against the ravages of poachers and vandals.

 Linda at Castle Geyser just before snow

Snowing at Old Faithful Inn

 

Old Faithful in the sun

Typical Geyser pool at Norris- picture sideways.

Typical blue hot spring at Norris

 Typical green algae river runoff at Norris

Vixen Geyser at Norris