We returned to Yellowstone National Park's Inn at Old Faithful to take one of the guided tours offered at 9:30, 11:00, 2:00 and 3:30.
The massive fireplace,
500 tons of volcanic rhyolite, sports a clock designed by Reamer and built on
site by his blacksmith.
The 29-year-old architect, Robert C. Reamer, designed the building to "bring the outdoors in." The original portion of the inn, "the old house," was built in less than one year (winter of 1903-1904 with wings added in 1915 and 1927) by 40 laborers at a cost of $140,000. His atrium is 76.5 feet high, mirroring the average height of the lodgepole pines in the surrounding forest. Lodgepole pines were used with the bark intact! In 1940 the bark was removed to reveal the patterns made by bark beetles. In 1966 the logs were cleaned and varnished.
Until the tour, I had never noticed the tree-house in the rafters.
On the third floor, there is a winding staircase leading up to a tree-house in the rafters. Catwalks also lead outside onto the roof of the inn, with stairs leading up to a deck on the top of the roof. Back in the day, a band would often play from the balcony just below the tree-house. The "Crow's Nest," as it was nicknamed, has been closed since the earthquake of '59.
This balcony on the second floor was a popular place, back in the day, for a band to serenade the dining guests.
On the tour, we were allowed to view one of the very tiny rooms of the "old house." The shared bathroom was down the hall ($103 per night).
After the tour, we headed outside to watch Old Faithful. It was windy, which made it a lot colder than the picture below might make it seem, but at least it was not snowing this visit! Joani's research turned up an interesting fact about the famous geyser. Old Faithful erupts every 60 - 110 minutes. It is probably so reliable because it's not connected with any other geyser of the Upper Geyser Basin
Difficult to see the water with all of the steam, but still beautiful!
Heading back from the Inn, the sunshine allowed us to stop at several of the areas previously missed. Black Sand Basin is closest to the Inn and we were able to take in the thermal features nearly by ourselves. I did meet one couple who didn't mind the cold. They were from Kodiak Island, AK, and thought the weather was pretty balmy.
Opalescent Pool (144°F - 28x55 feet - 6 feet deep).
Less than another mile north was Biscuit Basin. It was named for the unusual formations around one of the larger geysers that, you guessed it, looked like biscuits. You can't see them anymore since they were blown away by a particularly large eruption many years ago.
Black Opal Pool.
Wall Pool's bacterial mat.
Hi! from Avoca Spring (199°F).
The next stop heading north was Midway Geyser Basin which included my favorite, the Grand Prismatic Spring. The combination of sun and slightly warmer temperature allowed us to see the color in the spring this time. There was too much snow on the overlooking hill, but someday we hope to hike up and see the pool from above. For now, I think the panorama shot below pretty well captures the color beauty of Grand Prismatic. As you can see, Midway Geyser Basin has some of the larger pools in Yellowstone.
Grand Prismatic Spring (147-188°F - 250x380 feet).
Can you see the blue in the steam? I only see that color in Grand Prismatic Spring's haze.
The bacterial mat, around and near Grand Prismatic Spring, is so varied and interesting.
A somewhat colorless rainbow was hanging over Excelsior Geyser Crater (202°F - 276 x 328 feet).
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