Welcome to the final installment of my 2020 trip to Yellowstone National Park! ‘Tis now the morning of Day 6, and we find ourselves at Midway Geyser Basin. This basin has a comparatively small number of geothermal features, but they are good ones! And they were particularly well photographed. Honestly, these pictures may be my best work yet! (But, you may and/or mayn’t notice that I’m still experimenting with watermarks.)
A “floater” in Excelsior Geyser CraterGetting a full view of Grand Prismatic Spring requires a separate hike to get above it. So this is all I got……OK, I also got terraces formed by runoff from Grand Prismatic Spring.These weird little orange formations at the edge of Opal Pool were interesting.Steaming waterfall – water pouring down from the various geothermal featuresMore runoff terracesTurquoise Pool is turquoise-colored in the middle……but not at its edges.Striking visual contrast between storm clouds and the calcite-laden soilMidway Geyser Basin, Yellowstone National Park (photographed August 3, 2020)
The next stop on my list was Firehole Lake Drive (not to be confused with Firehole Canyon Drive, which is coming up soon enough). Firehole Lake Drive takes us through another geyser basin with lots of groovy geothermal activity. Take a look, won’t you?
Black microbes grow along the shore of Black Warrior Lake.Intriguing mineral and/or bacterial formation in Black Warrior LakeA mini-waterfall where Black Warrior Lake drains into Hot LakeA colorful spot on the fringes of Hot LakeCelestine PoolRunoff from Celestine PoolClepsydra Geyser eruptingFirehole Lake reflecting the cloudsFirehole Spring bubblin’ awayMinerals and microbes at the fringes of Firehole SpringFountain Geyser is not erupting just now.Great Fountain Geyser also is not erupting just now.Detail of Great Fountain GeyserIntriguing formations in Hot LakeMore intriguing formations in Hot LakeSo many colorful bacteria!Intriguing formations at the fringes of Silex SpringThis bubbly fellow is called Surprise Pool.Formations at the fringes of Surprise Pool – interesting, but not surprising.The runoff channel from Surprise Pool – pretty nifty, but still not surprsing.OK, here’s your surprise.I’m not completely sure, but I believe this tiny geyser is called Young Hopeful.White Dome Geyser erupting in the distance
OK, now it’s time for a short trip through Firehole Canyon. And I do mean short:
A representative shot of the canyonFirehole FallsAnother view of Firehole Falls
I started day 7 with a short stop at Gibbon Falls. I offer no individual comments on these photos:
Next, I headed to the Norris Geyser Basin. This ended up being my favorite of the many geyser basins scattered around the park, largely because of Porcelain Springs – an ever-changing expanse consisting of MANY small geysers. View away:
Emerald SpringThis one is named Fearless Geyser. But I think it’s secretly afraid of spiders.A serious amount of steam comes out of this little fumarole.Green Dragon SpringA small eruption from Minute GeyserMonarch Geyser CraterYellowstone isn’t just canyons and geyser basins – there are mountains, too!Porkchop Geyser has an interesting story. In 1989 it hurled rocks at park visitors!What Porkchop Geyser looks like nowAn interesting-looking pair of (I think) unnamed featuresNot sure of the name of this feature (or whether it even has one).I think this is an amaretto spring. I didn’t taste it to find out.Veteran GeyserWhirligig Geyser’s runoff channels and……an explanation of the colors therein.Whirligig Geyser’s runoff channels
Now for the aforementioned Porcelain Springs. Let’s start with some background on this amazing collection of geothermal features:
At least five mini-eruptions are taking place in this picture.
After lunch, I returned to the stretch of road between Yellowstone Canyon and Yellowstone Lake, to photograph the Bison herd. And yes, I’ve herd of bison.
American bison (Bison bison)
I spent my last evening at Yellowstone waiting for Grand Geyser to erupt. Grand Geyser is the largest predictable geyser in the world. It was truly the grand finale of my trip! (The largest one they CAN’T predict is Steamboat Geyser – which did not erupt while I was looking at it.)
There are actually three geysers here. When Grand Geyser erupts, it is accompanied by Vent Geyser and Turban Geyser.
A pool downstream from Grand GeyserMore runoff from Grand GeyserIt begins…It intensifies…Grand Geyser (on the right), Vent Geyser (left) and Turban Geyser (JUST to the right of Vent Geyser).Vent Geyser is pretty impressive by itself.Together, these three geysers put on quite a show.Vent and Turban geysers continued spoutin’ off for a while after Grand Geyser had finished.
And that, ladies and germs, was my 2020 trip to Yellowstone! As I said, I’m still working out what I want the watermarks to look like. Let me know what you think of today’s watermarks versus the ones I used last week. Come on back next week, for more ThrowBack Thursday fun!
Voyages with Parkinson's 