On the first day, we drove to the southern end – Upper Geyser Basin, home to Old Faithful and about 180 other geysers, plus a variety of hot springs. The first port of call should always be the Visitor Centre where you can pick up predicted times of eruption. Although not the biggest (up to 180 feet) or the most predictable geyser in the park, Old Faithful is the most frequent – every 90 minutes or so. We observed it twice – the first time, just after we arrived, from the boardwalk.
The second time, we climbed Observation Hill behind the geyser to look down on it and I think this was better. The first picture below shows the crowds patiently waiting, and how nondescript Old Faithful looks before spouting.
However, Upper Geyser Basin has so much more to it than Old Faithful. We watched our first eruption at 1030 and didn’t leave till 1600. There’s the park architecture to start with – lots of modern stuff which you can see above, but also Old Faithful Inn (1903) and Old Faithful Lodge (1928) which are still in service.
Most of the geysers and springs, such as this one, the name of which I can’t remember, line the Firehole River:
Do we look exhausted?
Maybe not yet, but after 5 and a half hours we were certainly footsore. However, we stopped off at two smaller basins on the way back. First, Black Sand Basin.
Then Biscuit Basin.
By this time, we really were exhausted. However, the next day we were back to complete our tour of Geyser Country – and saw what I think was the most beautiful sight of our whole trip.
Absolutely fantastic! I think geysers are one of those things you only understand whan you experience it. So I’m very grateful that you share your journey and your photos but I’m sure that I can’t even start to understand what that experience truly is.
I hope one day I’ll be able to visit Yellowstone myself 🙂
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Yes, eve seeing some of these places with my own eyes I find them hard to believe!
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Majestic! And the colors are stunning. Enjoyed your post!
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Thank you!
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Oh my… these photos are actually unbelievable!! I had to look at these scenes for quite some time. Just amazing sights. Wow. I can only begin to imagine how that might look actually being right there. The intense colors of the pools and the huge jets of steam are just fantastic. Thanks for sharing this amazing place.
Peta
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Thank you Peta – it really is an amazing place. I can still hardly believe it when I look at the pictures, even though I was there!
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I had been looking forward to this post, Anabel. Once again, you did not disappoint. I love the photos and your descriptions. Makes my feet start itching again!
I look forward to hearing more about the Grand Prismatic Spring!
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Thanks! Day 2 following on Monday.
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Yellowstone and its beauty. Most beautiful!
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I know! It blew us away. (Not literally, thankfully – we didn’t get that close to the vents!)
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Wow!!! I just love the colours of all the pools, and I’m with you I’d be spending more time with the other geysers too.
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It was all various degrees of amazing.
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That is a lot of geysers, some quite beautiful. Must have been amazing to witness in person!
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It certainly was! Thanks Marcia.
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Spectacular! 🙂
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Thanks!
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