Sunday, May 11, 2014, Geyser Hill With Kate, Yellowstone National Park, WY

Since it was Mother's Day, I thought we should eat at the Old Faithful Inn Dining Room while in Yellowstone National Park, WY. The suggestion was heartily accepted and off we went. The Inn had a lunch buffet and we all indulged on fried Perch and pulled pork BBQ and Bison Chili. Of course, we ate too much!

Although it was difficult to move, we resolved to explore Geyser Hill determined to actually see some of the geysers today. There is so much variety and all of it is so alien looking.

The lacy edge of the East Chinaman Spring.

Blue Star Spring 192°F - 9x10 feet - Depth 6 feet deep

Pump Geyser - 199°F - 2-3 feet high splashes - almost continuously

Bacterial mat from the runoff of Pump Geyser. Since Pump has a steady flow of water, there is a stable microbial community in the run-off channel.This may be the richest and thickest mat in the basin.

Doublet Pool - 194.4°F - 9x25 feet - 8 feet deep. Two hot springs together forming a sapphire-blue pool.

The runoff mat of Doublet Pool is spectacular.

The Lion Group of geysers erupted just as we were getting close

The Lion Group (202°F) consists of four geysers: Lion, Lioness, Big Cub and Little Cub, which are all connected underground.

Grand Geyser was expected to erupt at 2:30 and it was about 2:10, so we waited. When you sit still, the cold wind seems to have a little more bite. After about 30 minutes, I walked to the end of the platform to try to warm up. I got pretty close to a Yellow Bellied Marmot we had been watching, but I did not warm up. We waited another 15 or 20 minutes before finally moving on. Almost a half hour later, from a quarter mile away, we did finally see Grand Geyser erupt.

Yellow Bellied Marmot

We saw several bluebirds in the area. I especially liked this one posing on a close rock. The orange lichen, green grass and yellow flower help to make this a very colorful picture.

Mountain Bluebird

Grotto Geyser was one of our favorites - it's very active - steaming and sputtering. It even managed to throw some water 20-30 feet in the air a few times. 

Morning Glory Pool was our favorite for color. The sun was peeking through the clouds as we reached it making the color really pop. The water must be a lot cooler than Grand Prismatic since there was very little steam to obscure the view. It rarely erupts as a geyser. Historically, eruptions usually follow an earthquake.

Morning Glory is my favorite pool. It is so accessible and the colors are so vibrant.

We had thought about touring the Inn, but our geyser walk went too long and we missed the last tour for the day. Kate was intrigued by the knotty wood railing (caused by western gall rust) of the General Store next to the Inn, so we stopped to look a little closer.

This is called the Knotty Porch of the Lower Hamilton Store, built in 1897. The elaborate burled log porch was added in 1925.

The store is closed for the season. I hope it opens before we leave since there is more to explore.  

Joani noticed this outside stairway on the roof of the Inn that the stewards use to attend to the flags. The platform has to have a pretty phenomenal view - I wonder if they ever allow visitors up there?