Geyser eruption day part 1

Today we went to the upper geyser basin and had an epic eruption day. We started out first on a hike to the Old Faithful overlook. Once we got up the hill, we made it there just a few minutes before Old Faithful went off. The view wasn’t that great being that far away but it did give you a much different perspective.

Old Faithful erupts more frequently than any of the other big geysers, although it is not the largest or most regular geyser in Yellowstone National Park. It is believed this regularity is in part due to no known connection with other hydrothermal features in the area. The eruption lasts from 1 to 5 minutes and is about 100 feet in the air.

Next, we headed down to the boardwalk where we saw tardy geyser and sawmill geyser, which are located right next to each other, both erupting at the same time. It wasn’t a huge eruption, but it was pretty neat to watch. Sawmill Geyser's eruptions are highly variable, some lasting only 9 minutes while others may last over 4 hours. Sawmill received its name because water spins in its crater as it erupts looking somewhat like the rotating circular blade of a lumber mill.

We only walked a few more feet down the boardwalk, and we made it to grand geyser. There were several benches set up in front of this geyser and several people were starting to sit around and watch it. Mike and I stood there for a few minutes and watched the Marmot’s running around in the field across from the geyser and then BAM. The geyser erupted. It was huge and we were not far away from it. Much closer than you can stand to old faithful. According to the NPS website, Grand is the tallest predictable geyser in the world to erupt. A classic fountain geyser, Grand Geyser erupts with powerful bursts rather than a steady column like Old Faithful. An average eruption lasts 9-12 minutes and consists of 1 to 4 bursts, sometimes reaching 200 feet. We timed it when we were there and that geyser went off for about 20 minutes. It did take a brief break for about one minute and then he irrupt it again. And I would say it was about 100 feet in the air not quite the 200 the park site says.

We walked around on the boardwalk to the back of the basin and saw several more pools of water and but no more guys eruptions.Read more