Old Faithful and Friends

Hi Blog! Well, we put it off as long as we could.  We've been in the Yellowstone area now for over two weeks.  It's time to screw up our courage and face the crowds to visit Old Faithful.  We got a really early start on Friday, June 28th.  There was still plenty of room in the parking lot.  We got there just in time for the 9:33 a.m. spouting.

We joined the throng of tourist and took our seats on the benches outside the Visitor Center.  We were soon joined by a group of six Kiwis on a western driving tour.  We chatted a little bit before the show.  After the spouting, one Kiwi gent commented, "So is that it, then?"  They quickly left to finish their drive around the park.  Unfortunately, they missed the best parts of the Upper Geyser Basin.

What surprised us the most was how large the entire geyser basin really is.  It is so much more than just Old Faithful.  In fact, Old Faithful is not the largest or the most impressive geyser there.  It just happens to be the most predictable, so the entire tourist experience is built around it.

We pulled out our handy trail guide and began exploring.  We soon left the crowds behind as we hiked up the mountain on the far side of the Visitor Center to visit "Solitary Geyser."  While it did not spurt more than five feet in the air, it did so every five minutes - no 90-minute wait here.  From there, we hiked over to the Observation Point, were we got to look down upon old Faithful and the entire tourist compound.  We were just in time for the 11:05 a.m. show.  If you squint, you can see the hordes of tourists line up on the benches, just like we were at 9:30.

Coming down from the Observation Point, the trail/boardwalk took us along the Firehole River.  Some of the geysers spill right into the creek.

The entire valley is bubbling, boiling, steam and spurting.  Here some brightly colored algae have made a home just outside the "hot zone" of this hot spring.

Unfortunately, someone lost their baseball cap.

The hotter the water, the bluer it is.  In some cases, the water is so hot it exceeds the boiling point.

Here is the Sawmill Geyser showing her stuff.  We got to see her go off a number of times, since it only takes about five minutes between spouts.

Each pool, spring or geyser is different.  The color depends a lot on the temperature of the water, the mineral content and the amount of algae that can grow.

The Grotto Geyser is thousands of years old.  It's cone was once much large, but a build-up of pressure caused it to blow one side away, leaving a grotto-like feature.

After wandering all around the basin, it was time to tie on the feedbag.  We stopped at the historic Old Faithful Inn.  We were unable to climb all the way to the Crow's Nest, since an earthquake in 1959 damaged a number of the support beams.

After lunch, we joined the hotel guests on the second floor balcony and watch another eruption of Old Faithful.  Having seen it go off now three times, it was time to head for home.  However, we forgot one small detail.  Everyone else had the same idea.  Most tourists arrive in time for an Old Faithful eruption, watch the eruption, then leave.  The parking lot reminded us a lot like trying to leave the parking lot after a Phillies Game.  Luckily, we were parked in such a way that we only needed to make right turns to get back to our campground.

We would advise anyone wishing to see Old Faithful to go as early in the morning as possible and wait to leave until everyone else has.

Ok, check that off the Bucket List.