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We had brekkie at the fancy Lake House restaurant, and found it not so fancy. It did have a nice view of the lake. Then it was on to the bus and off to Old Faithful. I had decided to miss today's hike because of the mild altitude sickness I had suffered the day before, but Alan was going (just to make me feel like a wimp - unsuccessfully!). Bob and Lisa and Stephanie were joining me on the wimps list. Chelsea had told us this was the hardest hike of the trip so it was a good excuse.
We walked altogether along the lower geyser trail to a pool called Morning Glory. This pool had been a good example of the multi-coloured pools found in Yellowstone due to different coloured bacteria growing at different water temperatures. But unthinking tourists had thrown coins and rubbish into the pool, blocking up the hot water vent and spoiling the show somewhat. The rangers climb into the pool every year with a big suction hose to try and clear out the rubbish.
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| Morning Glory pool. |
The hikers then left us and we planned our walk back through the geyser field to see as many eruptions as we could fit in. The rangers know when particular geysers are going to blow +/- 1/2 an hour. Old Faithful goes off every 90 minutes like clockwork, hence the name. We stopped first at Daisy Geyser. It came on strong on schedule and shot over 20m into the air for about 10 minutes. Then we walked through the rest of the thermal features towards Old Faithful. There were geysers, boiling mud, steam vents etc. One geyser called the Grand was the biggest, but hadn't erupted since 2015. The geysers are caused by hot rocks superheating groundwater deep below the earth's surface. The hot water doesn't boil because of the pressure and it gathers in a chamber just below the surface that has a narrow vent to the air. Once the pressure builds up enough, the constriction is overcome and the water erupts explosively as it is depressurised in the open air.
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| View over the Geyser Area. |
We got to see Old Faithful erupt, with 1000's of other tourists, and send a jet 30m into the air for about 5 minutes. I then lost contact with my colleagues and went into the visitor centre to check out the displays and watch a few videos on Yellowstone. I planned to visit Castle Geyser which Chelsea had recommended. I was disappointed to see it going off before I got there but then found its eruption lasted more than 20 minutes. During that time the jet twisted and turned in all directions giving the onlookers at shower.
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| Castle Geyser after eruption. |
Yellowstone is the result of a super volcano caused by a very large hot spot in the earth's crust. Unlike Crater Lake in Oregon, it formed the Caldera depression in one giant volcanic explosion. It has erupted 3 times over the last 2 million years and is due for another one. I wouldn't like to be around when it next blows as the destruction makes an atomic bomb look like a fire cracker.
Chelsea and the rest if the group arrived looking fairly tired. The climb had been strenuous and the trail 8 miles long. They all claimed it had been worth it for the view (when have you ever heard a hiker say the walk was not worth it), but Alan told me that our hike to the Grinnell Glacier had been more spectacular and a harder walk.
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| Crystal Pool on the hike. |
We made ourselves ready for the big dinner in the evening which was part of the tour fee. This was held in the dining room of the Old Faithful Inn. This was a grand edifice in the "rustic gothic" style invented by Charles Reamer and built in 1902-3. It had a massive internal space held up by a four sided rock faced fireplace and tree trunks with branches for bracing, almost like Gaudi's Sagrida Familia in Barcelona. Reamer had designed many other buildings in US National Parks in the same style.
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| Interior of the Old Faithful Inn. |
The dinner was great fun as by then we had all got to know each other. Then as a complete surprise my dessert came out with a candle burning in it and the dining room staff and the group all sang Happy Birthday. Mark was quick enough to get it on video on his phone which I hope to get from him. I'm sure Chelsea organised it.
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| Celebrating the birthday of yours truly. |
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