2014XC: Day 10, June 21 – Wyoming (Yellowstone – Old Faithful)

I think I was the only one in this family, but I could have done days touring geysers and hot springs – they were phenomenal. We started out at Old Faithful. There’s two lodges there, places to eat and to shop, a museum of sorts, some other shops centrally located, and then there is Old Faithful and some trails to walk to see the other geysers and hot springs in that area. The trails are actually a boardwalk that you are instructed to stay on. You aren’t allowed to step off the boardwalks to get near the geysers or springs since they say the earth around them is extremely fragile, and if you fall through you’d get scalded – I believe it! The hot springs sure are tempting though – they are sooo beautiful!!!
We started the trail at a few small springs and then sat and waited for Old Faithful. It erupts every 92 minutes, five or take 10. It was about 11 minutes late, but it was really cool. There were so many to see. Some looked just like others, and some were really unique. The waters were crystal clear, but the colors were magnificent. I was looking forward to seeing one called “Morning Glory” (last pic of this group).

There were other geysers along the way too, like the Grotto Geyser – smaller but powerful.

After finishing the trail, we visited the “Old Faithful Inn”, a really spectacular building. Someone at the park suggested that we should watch Old Faithful erupt from the deck of this lodge. So we checked it out. The entire place was constructed using trees from the park. It was really something. We got ice cream and headed up to the outside deck. Old Faithful was late again, but definitely worth seeing twice and from above ground.

On the way through the park towards our campsite, we stopped at a bunch more sites. A couple that we met in Devil’s Tower suggested stopping at “Biscuit Bay” to see the springs there so that was our first stop. So worth it – glad we listened! Steve was brave enough to check one of the spring runoffs (and then we all had to confirm it) that yes, the water coming from the springs is in fact scalding hot! Our favorite was the turquoise pool.

Each of the stops were just as stunning as the one before. It’s amazing that these wonders exist, and, that part of the beauty of them – the colors – come from bacteria!

Our last stop on the route was at Firehole Falls. It was a 2 mile, one way road. Beautiful. It had a swimming hole, but unfortunately it was closed. 🙁