Day 20 - Blowing Off Steam

Yellowstone is special. The park is a combination of other worldly and quaintly historic. Most geysers sprout out water and steam from below the earth's crust whilst most hot springs have a kaleidoscopic range of colours representing the various microbes living in the most extreme temperatures. At the same time we stayed in a cabin that is part of a hotel from the 1890s and does it's best to keep the feel of a hotel from the turn of the century.

We ventured out in the car armed with the map given to us when we entered the park. Yellowstone is huge and it took about an hour to get to Old Faithful, the geyser with the most predictable eruption. It erupts roughly every ninety-one minutes and the large crowd as we arrived signalled we had timed it right. Within ten minutes a few puffs of steam were followed by a whooshing of water with sounds of bubbling and splatting as the water hit the ground. The fountains of water slowly increased in height and having a clear view of the actual stream was dependent on the direction the wind was blowing the steam. After a few minutes of occasionally high peaks the show was over. Satisfied, people turned around and headed to the visitor centre. Alice and I followed and looked at a walking route that would take in a host of hot springs and geysers. We embarked on the walk and all the sights varied in size, activity and age. The range and strength in colours of the hot springs were particularly attractive.

The walk took a lot longer than expected as each natural phenomena required a plethora of photos. We are here as the peak season has just finished. The other main cafeteria had closed two days ago which limited our food options. However, this benefited us when it came to the numbers of people in the park. It was still sunny and hot and at no time did we have to wait to see anything. Over-hearing a couple of people talking, a frequent visitor mentioned that they had visited in June and it was overwhelming. Alice and I had heard a similar remark from tour guides in Yosemite and the increased crowds in the peak season is leading park organisers to a rethink of the current balance of preservation and recreation. This seems to be the trend for all National Parks in America and I would definitely recommend visiting just after the peak season and as soon as you can. It's a tough balancing act and I feel that preservation will and should always tip the scales (as long as the funds are there of course!).

We got back in the car and saw the spectacular Grand Prismatic Spring. It's obviously grand and is one of the must-see springs and once there its size is overwhelming. The pictures I had seen of it before were always aerial shots and so when you are next to it you can only see a part of it. Although a touch disappointing at first, how this spring interacts with its environment is more appealing due to its size. The large amounts of water that are leaving the spring rundown a hill to the Firehole River (what a name!) and as this incredibly hot water hits the river via certain channels, pillars of steam are seen rising. Also due to the vast amount of water leaving this large spring, there are obviously increased volumes of minerals being deposited resulting in vivid colours of red and yellow amongst others in the basin and channels of where the water flows. Added to all this is a curtain of steam surrounding the whole place which transported me to another planet or who knows where. A unique place.

There was one more stop off point in the car and that was the paint pots. The title becomes apparant when you see geysers in this area with thick mud as opposed to clear water, bubbling, slurping and popping.

It was time to head back to our cabin and get ready for dinner. We got dressed up as we were back in the nineteenth century and we both had a lovely fish dinner. A great day.

Song of the Day:
Neneh Cherry - Buffalo Stance (heard it in the car and the timing was excellent. Thank You Now 14.)Read more