Breakfast with Old Faithful... and I don't mean David!
/We’re still in Yellowstone National Park at the Lewis Lake Campground. It rained throughout the night and was cold (37F / 3C), wet and raw in the morning. The skies were still overcast, but the rain finally stopped by 0630. We were on the road early en route to the Old Faithful Visitor Center with hopes of getting a cell signal and, of course, seeing Old Faithful erupt. The sun teased us, shining brightly every few minutes then disappearing behind heavy clouds. A red fox darted alongside the road and popped back into the forest in a flash.
Heading WNW on the Great Loop, we approached the hydrothermal areas and a faint rainbow appeared reflecting off the fumarole vapor.
With billows of smoke rising on the horizon, if we didn’t know there were fumaroles everywhere, we would have thought there was an active forest fire.
Forest fire or fumaroles?
Old Faithful was originally named ‘Eternity’s Timepiece’. In 1870, the Washburn Expedition renamed it because of the regularity of its eruptions.
Old Faithful is, indeed, faithful. It’s easy to figure out what time it’ll erupt. Geyser predictions are available from several sources: a free NPS app, the Geyser Times website, or by calling the park for a recorded message with current predictions (307-344-2751 - option 2). David called the number and it provided a time +/- 10 minutes for the next eruption. We were ready for Old Faithful and it didn’t disappoint.
First, some hissing and smoke and rumbling. Then a spurt, then higher and higher and higher the water shot into the air. Its maximum height ranges from 90-184 feet (27-55 m). The eruption lasted 2-3 minutes and then the show was over. An encore was due in about 90 minutes.
The viewing platform is large and extends around the geyser allowing access for hundreds of people to watch the world’s most famous geyser blow off some steam (and boiling water). Despite some myths, Old Faithful doesn’t erupt every hour, nor is it the largest or most regular geyser in Yellowstone. It does, however, erupt more frequently than any other of the large geysers, erupting around 20 times a day, every 35 to 120 minutes for 1-1/2 to 5 minutes.
These eruptions are predicted with a 90 percent confidence rate based on the duration and height of the previous eruption. The longer an eruption lasts, the longer the interval time till the next eruption. Old Faithful’s interval range hasn’t varied much through the years. According to the NPS, “long interval eruptions have been a little more common than they were a few decades so the yearly average has increased by a few minutes over what it was a few decades ago but this change is very small and the range of intervals is still the same.”
We watched and ooohed and aaahed along with our fellow viewers, then walked the Upper Geyser Hill Trail for an overlook and then onto the Upper Geyser Basin Trail. There are all sorts of signs warning visitors about getting too close to the hot springs or geysers (Hot water will scald!… no kidding!) or about the thin crust that covers the areas that are subject to caving in at any time. More than 20 people have died at Yellowstone over the years from falling into ‘hot water’.
Yet, we saw bison chips and even a bison roaming around. We wonder how they manage to avoid getting burnt or if maybe they do.
The number of geysers and fumaroles is amazing. There are so many in this area, it’s almost surreal. It makes you feel as if you’re on another planet.
Boardwalk to another planet.
A boiling, burbling river
They bubble and burble and gurgle and hiss constantly, fed by the geothermal activity of the Yellowstone supervolcano beneath them. The sulfur smell can become almost overwhelming. Each geyser, each hot spring, each mud pot here has been named or numbered and all seem to have their own story. Here’s a map… take a walk with us to see some of the more colorful and interesting sights.
The Doublet Pool is actually two connected clear water pools, both roiling and boiling. It rarely erupts… only once after the 1959 earthquake. Most of its activity includes only bubbling and steaming.
Aurum Geyser was so named because of the iron oxide deposits inside its vent that creates a golden color. It last erupted in May 2023 after a 2-year hiatus.
According to the park records, Yellowstone's Ear Spring Geyser doesn’t erupt often (last time was September 2018), but when it does, it spews out all sorts of trash that has been thrown in over the decades including a cement block, coins, cans, and a baby pacifier from the 1930s.
The Spasmodic Geyser is fun to watch since it always seems to be erupting. It doesn’t spurt high (less than 10’ / 3m), but it’s constantly churning, bubbling and spitting.
Midst all the sulfur fumes and hissing and boiling water, we spotted a western bluebird chirping away and seemingly quite content with its surroundings.
By the time we reached Beauty & Chromatic Pools, it was raining again. We donned our rain gear and kept trekking. Chromatic Pool is closely related to and actually linked underground to neighboring Beauty Pool, which shows its brightest colors when its water is hottest.
The cone of Castle Geyser is thousands of years old and rests upon even older platforms. Together, they form one of the largest sinter formations in the world. Castle currently erupts, on average, every 14 hours. We did not, however, see it erupt while we were there.
The Giant Geyser is actually a group of geysers on the same platform. It became dormant in 1955, but over the last couple of decades, it’s been waking up. Considered the second largest geyser in the world, its eruptions can last more than an hour and reach upwards of 250 ‘(76m).
The Grotto Geyser really impressed us, not because it erupted, but rather because of its size and shape.
A Dr. Seuss creation if I ever saw one!
Grotto Geyser close up.
After completing the walk, we returned in the rain to the Visitor Center in time to watch Old Faithful faithfully erupting once again… right on time.
We were geyser-ed out for the day (and I’m sure you are, too!), so we headed back to the Lewis Lake Campground. The rain continued and it was cold and raw. By the time we reached the campground, it was sleeting and subsequently a thunder and lightning storm ensued. The wind picked up, the rain/sleet continued, and the temperature continued to fall. As I made my last foray to the vault toilet at around 8pm, it was snowing. For the first time, we kept the diesel heater on all night through.
By morning, the temperature outside read 27F (-3C). There was still evidence of the dusting of snow we received during the night and Blanche’s dashboard warned of ‘ice on the road’. Luckily, the roads turned out to be dry. The forecast was for more snow in the evening. We were thankful we were no longer tent camping!
We headed back along the loop road to the Fairy Falls Trailhead. As we exited Blanche, we could hear howling. Sure enough, we spotted a gray wolf high on the hill above us trotting along between groves of trees. It would stop to howl every once in awhile… a long, soulful sound, maybe calling to other members of its pack.
Heading out on the Fairy Falls Trail
A hazy sun tried desperately to break through the thick clouds and succeeded for a moment or two before getting gobbled up. We hiked to the observation platform above the Grand Prismatic. This is an especially gorgeous view when and if the sun is shining. It definitely was not, so the photo opp was less than ideal. Next time!
Grand Prismatic… not nearly as grand or spectacular as we’d hoped.
We began our drive south on the John D. Rockefeller, Jr. Highway to Grand Teton National Park, adjacent to Yellowstone. Join us next time as we move from glaciers, geysers and fumaroles to the ragged, rugged peaks of the Teton Range.