Geysers and Springs

 Oh, what a glorious day!  Again, we are blessed with sunshine and blue skies.  

Entering the park we were greeted by a small group of Pronghorn on a steep slope above the highway.  First a doe and fawn and then a buck.  We were able to get a photo of the buck.  

I just love seeing these magnificent animals in their habitat.  

On down the road we were excited to see a geyser erupt.  It shot water into the air 150-200 feet, and was so amazing to see.  It was the “Great Fountain Geyser”.  It erupts approximately every 11 hours.  Kind of a surprise bonus just driving by.

We are looking for the Grand Prismatic Spring, it’s in the Midway Geyser Basin.  Not only did we find it but we also saw several other springs and geysers.  

As we walked up and around another wooden walkway the first one we came to was the Excelsior Geyser Crater .  

It’s a huge former geyser that blew itself out of existence in the 1880s with massive 300 foot explosions of water.  It lay dormant until 1985 when it erupted almost continuously for 46 hours before going back to sleep. 

As we watched the pool started to bubble in the center and spout up a couple of feet every few minutes.

The pool releases 4000 gallons a minute of steaming water into Firehole River.  

On around the boardwalk we came upon the “Grand Prismatic Spring”.

It measures 370 feet in diameter and 121 feet deep and is the largest and deepest hot spring in Yellowstone!  

Even standing on a bench we could not get a picture that would show the immense size and color of the hot spring.  We took this picture of an aerial photo from the park brochure.

Even at eye level its a Mother Nature wonder.  It’s the most beautiful single thermal feature in the park.  Water from the Grand Prismatic Spring feeds into Excelsior Geyser.

Not to be missed are Opal Pool 

and Turquoise Pool also along the boardwalk. 

This was a not to be missed stop for sure!  Now, we are on to the centerpiece, the most famous thing you associate with Yellowstone National Park— Old Faithful!  We follow the signs and the traffic to the entrance and the parking lot.  Fortunately, we have had great luck in finding  parking places.  

Lunch and folding chairs (brought from home) in hand, we make our way to the viewing area.  There are crowds but we are able to find a place in a shady area.  

True to its name, eruptions occur about every 90 minutes.  I sat in my chair in the shade while Tom made his way up to a picture perfect viewing place.  Right on time, 2:46pm Old Faithful made its appearance. 

 

 It was like fireworks going off with the ooh’s and aha’s all around.  

The water shot up to 180 feet!  It was truly a spectacle and mesmerizing to watch. 

 It lasted almost 4 minutes and was one of those “bucket list items!” 

 Just another of Yellowstone’s magical treasures.  Thank you, Yellowstone and Mother Nature.  We’ve seen what we came to see today, so we have 2 choices to get back home.  One is the way we came and the other is by the Bison— guess what we choose?  Bison, of course!  

On the way we passed by Yellowstone Lake again.  It is the largest freshwater high altitude (above 7,000 feet) lake in the US.

A cow elk was grazing on the side of the road as we passed by.

Sure enough the bison were in the same area.  They were on the hills on both sides of the road and went on for over a mile.  

One group after another.  There were at least a thousand or more bison in that one spot.

They did not disappoint.  I can never get enough of these magnificent animals in the wild.  

What an absolute treasure to see.  

Some people really took advantage of a spectacular vista.  

I was just happy to see them up close, but not too close!  Just might be my favorite animal.

On to the house with just one more spectacular panoramic before we leave the park for the day.