Old Faithful Geyser

We drove through the Lower Geyser basin and the Midway Geyser Basin to reach the Upper Geyser Basin and home of the most famous geyser in the world, Old Faithful. Old Faithful is not the tallest geyser in Yellowstone; Steamboat Geyser shoots water three times higher, but it is unpredictable in its  showy display. Thus everyone flocks to Old Faithful because it erupts every 40 to 126 minutes. The rangers have it timed to a ten minute window each way. This morning's show was scheduled for 11:32 AM. (The other place on earth with geysers is Turkey.)

Jay was our tour guide today. Jay was into geology. Matt was yesterday's guide and his expertise was animals.

There are steam vents or fumaroles, all over this area of 16 miles. The white crusty areas silica from the magma underground.  As the silica cools once it reaches the surface, it become geyserite. It is also called sinter. The Upper Basin has the largest concentration of geysers in the world.

if the water is bubbling, its temp is 212º or higher

sometimes the sinkholes have vibrant colors

this is called Blue Star

Microorganisms called thermophiles survive and thrive in the active volcanic environment. community shapes, colors, and locations vary depending on the types of microbes, the pH (acidic or alkalinity), and temperature affect the color of these features.

a Sandhill crane was standing in the warm water

of Firehole River

water from the fumaroles descend the hillsides into the 

Firehole River, warming the edges of the river

and then cooling as the warm water mixes with the 

cooler river water

there are no fish in Firehole River

this diagram explains the difference between fumaroles,

hot springs, cone geysers, fountain geysers, and mud pots

we saw them all today

Old Faithful is a cone geyser

this is how she looked when our tour bus arrived

at 11:00

people were lined up all around the geyser, waiting

at 11:32 she began to erupt

a magnificent display

shooting hot water 106-184' into the air

3700-8400 gallons of boiling water

lasting anywhere from 1.5 to 5 minutes

today's eruption was several minutes in length

the show is over; everyone leaves

when the show was over, I entered the historic

Old Faithful Inn

designed by Robert Reamer

and built in 18 months

it boasted its steam heat and electric lights

the lobby is four stories high

so is the stone fireplace (500 ton, 85' high)

it is the largest log hotel in the world

constructed in 1903-1904

lodge pole pines were used to build the original part 

of the Old Faithful Inn

at lunch we sat with some ladies from Minot ND 

this was in their sack lunch

made in Grand Rapids MI

this is the Visitors Center at Old Faithful village

it also has a general store and a gas station

and housing for the workers (foreign students)

the back east side of the inn

a number of people stayed on the balcony to watch Old Faithful

we sat there at lunch and ate our tour-provided sack lunch

gives an idea of the size of the

 Old Faithful Inn

Castle Geyser in the same area

More photos from the Lower Loop tour of YNP in another post.