Month: August 2023

Today’s destination is Old Faithful, the first geyser in Yellowstone to be named. It has erupted every 44 to 120 minutes since 2000. In 1872, Yellowstone became the first National Park in the United States to protect all the geothermal features found there. For many years, only the rich could go, initially taking the train to West Yellowstone where they then boarded stagecoaches which took them into the park. In 1903, the Old Faithful Inn was built and opened to guests in 1904. It still stands today and we were able to take a tour of it. It survived the 1988 wildfires that destroyed about half the park. Although a dozen cabins burned, the Inn managed to escape the fire.

Although we had a cloudy day with only the occasional peak of the sun, the rain stayed away. We arrived at Old Faithful about 15 minutes prior to a predicted eruption time. Predicted times are +/- 10 minutes and Old Faithful erupted about 10 minutes after our arrival.

We also walked around some other trails to catch views of some hot springs and geysers. One geyser was Excelsior Geyser which is dormant. It had gone dormant in 1890 and then in 1985 erupted for 47 hours. It has remained dormant since. However, the geyser continues to pump out about 4000 gallons of water per minute, creating a colourful runoff.

The different colours in the runoff are formed in different ways. The yellows are from sulphur, browns and reds from iron and greens and blacks are from algae and heat loving bacteria. One spectacularly coloured spring is Prismatic Spring. Best views are seen from the air, but since we can’t do that, our view at least gives the hints of colour.

One view we did get in our travels was of Ospreys in their nest. It was beside a pull off on a side road we were driving and was neat to see from the car.

We decided this is the end of our time in Yellowstone. Tomorrow will be a relaxing day before we head to southeast Idaho on Thursday.

We’ll, we’ve had a few days of downtime. we had a day to travel through Yellowstone from the east to the west and then south about 40 minutes to our next campground. Another National Forest – Buffalo Campground. We needed a day of rest from driving and sightseeing so that was Saturday. Sunday we woke to rain and we had to move campsites within the same park. We managed to find a window when it was light rain and made the move. Then spent the rest of the day inside as the rain continued all the day. However, it’s the first rain we’ve really had during the trip so not really concerned. Then on Monday morning we headed back to Yellowstone to explore some more. We decided to concentrate on the Norris Basin since there was a possibility of afternoon rain.

We drove to the parking area and headed out on the upper trail which was the longer of the two routes. From hot springs to geysers, with a few mud pots thrown in, it was an interesting walk. Near the end it started with a light rain so we opted not to continue with the lower loop. Tomorrow we’ll plan on returning and head to the Old Faithful area. Hopefully we’ll see some more significant geyser activity.

Steamboat Geyser is one they haven’t been able to predict. it last erupted in early June. When it does erupt, it shoots 300’ in the air and the water is acidic so they caution it could damage your vehicle.