Old Faithful and the Upper Geyser Basin

Hot Falls Old Faithful erupting Photos © 2005 by Leaf McGowan

Saturday, 28 May 2005 - Wyoming Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming Old Faithful & Upper Geyser Basin by Leaf McGowan From Fountain Paint Pot, I headed down Hwy 87 1.2 miles (2 km) to Firehole Lake Drive where I was amazed by more hot lakes, geysers, hot springs, and a hot cascade. Firehole Spring, Surprise Pool, Great Fountain geyser, White Dome geyser, Pink Cone Geyser, and the amazing firehole Lake. Young Hopeful spouting up to 4 ft, while others do 15 ft - past Steady Geyser, Hot Lake, Black Warrior Lake, and the Hot Cascades - right back onto Hwy 87.

Hit the Upper Geyser Basin where was amazed by more volcanic beauties. It is here that the majority of the world’s most active geysers reside - only three other locations in the world - Iceland, New Zealand, and Kamchatka (Siberia) have large concentrations of hydrothermal features like this - and Yellowstone being the largest - hosts here 5 famous geysers - Old Faithful, Castle, Grand, Daisy, and Riverside.

Old Faithful
I stuck around and waited for Old Faithful to erupt. How could I not. If you go to Yellowstone, it’s a must see. Though I’ve been here several times, and have seen Old Faithful perform - its still spectacular on the 8th visit to the park. Old Faithful erups more frequently than any other geysers - and is why its named such. Its average interval between eruptions is about 94 minutes and it expels 3,700-8,400 gallons (14,000-32,000 liters) of boiling water and reaches a height of 106-184 feet. Its average interval has lengthened through time, but still remains faithful to its viewers. Anemone Geyser, Plume Geyser, Beehive Geyser, Lion Group, Double Pool, Giantess Geyser, Castle Geyser, Crested Pool, Grand Geyser, Beauty Pool, Chromatic Pool, Giant Geyser, Grotto Geyser, Riverside Geyser, Morning Glory Pool, Daisy Geyser, Black Sand Basin, Emerald Pool, Rainbow Pool, Sunset Lake, Cliff Geyser, Biscuit Basin, Mustard Spring, Jewel Geyser, and many more surround Old Faithful … and will consume your wait time inbetween eruptions.

Yellowstone National Park: 3 of 3 - Painted Pot Trail

Painted Pot, boiling mud pit Photos © 2005 Leaf McGowan

Saturday, 28 May 2005 - Part 3 of 3 Yellowstone National Park Fountain Paint Pots & Pools Fountain Paint Pot Trails by Leaf Mcgowan Lured in by the smell of sulphuric bubbling mud, enveloped by clouds of molten mist, and intrigued by gushing geysers … I took the wooden walkway trails through volcanic flats filled with bubbling mud pits, steaming pools, boiling water bowls, and spraying geysers. Keeping my distance from the dangerous levels of hydrogen sulfide, carbon dioxide, and carbon monoxide - I gazed at these geological wonders from a distance. In the heart of the Lower Geyser Basin, the Fountain Paint Pot trail displays all four types of hydrothermal features: geysers, hot springs, mudpots, and fumaroles.

An easy trail length of .5 miles (.8 km) wooded boardwalk that will keep you a safe distance from sinkage, toxic fumes, and scalding burns. Thermophiles (heat-loving microorganisms such as bacteria) form ribbons of various colors of green, brown, and orange mats. Fountain Paint Pot - the most famous of bubbling mud pools in Yellowstone can range in target strength from a light boiling water to thick bursting bubbles that can lob mud up and over the guard rails. Mud here is composed of clay minerals and fine particles of silica, quartz, feldspar, and kaolinite. Hissing and roaring of fumaroles project steam, carbon dioxide, and hydrogen sulfide rushing up through these vents. The amazing beauties of Leather Pool, Red spouter, Volcanic Tableland, Twig Geyser, Jet geyser, Fountain Geyser, Morning Geyser, Spasm Geyser, Clepsydra Geyser all erupting and firing steam and/or water into the air. Dead lodgepole pin trees are fossilizing before our eyes as they extend dead from the pool edges. The beauty of Celestine Spring will finalize the trail with spectacular glory.

Yellowstone National Park: 2 of 3 - Firehole Falls, Fountain Flat

Firehole Falls ©2005 Leaf McGowan

Saturday, 28 May 2005 - Part 2 of 3 Yellowstone National Park Firehole Falls & Lake, Fountain Flats by Leaf McGowan As I came down hwy 20 along the Madison river and merged onto Hwy 89 south, the Park took on geological action.

A side-loop scenic trail along the Firehole River that is a raging river carving through geologically carved rocks to present some of the most scenic river canyon falls and morphing I’ve seen in a very long time. Apparently there is a Firehole Swimming Hole off this scenic area, but apparently was closed for the season. Still kinda cold. Would love to go swimming there in the near future though.

Back onto Hwy 89, explored Fountain Flat Drive and got some more up-close encounters with Bison. Apparently there is a reall scenic bicycle trail through the Bison trails where bicyclists and bison travel side by side … Bubbling mud pits along the Firehole River.

Yellowstone National Park - 1 of 3

Photos copyright 2005 Leaf McGowan

Saturday, 28 May 2005 - Part 1 of 3 Hwy 287, Montana - West Yellowstone - Yellowstone National Park By Leaf McGowan The wildfires that they let restore and went out of control, killing the natural beauty of Yellowstone Park can still be seen even though its been years. A new recovering natural growth is taking on - the wildlife is still active even though its a different kind of green around Yellowstone.

Coming into the Park from the West entrance I was quickly shown the devastation from the fires, saw a beaver pond and dams, saw a herd of Elk, and bison off in the distance. As I entered deeper into the park, the animals no longer cared about cars and people, feeling safety of the rangers, they wait for no cars to pass across the road - we have to wait for them, and some of the Bison deciding to munch on grass and stand or sit in the road for 30 minutes while traffic builds up behind, is no big deal. (even later, instead of passing a car or bicyclist on the side of the road, was a brown bear walking alongside my car (pictures forthcoming)).

Its funny, I was so excited about seeing the wild game off in a distance, I stopped what seemed every 500 feet, pulled over to take pictures, little did I know I would be surprised with up-close visitors later in the park. All I wanted to see up-close was a moose and a bear. That was granted to me. A 2-hour intended drive through the park, turned quickly into a 7-hour roadside excursion.

Rediscovering hidden treasures

When I first moved up to the North Carolina/Virginia border, my husband was still living in Wilmington, 200 miles south. I had a lot of free time on my hands, and so, given my penchant for geology, I began to research the geology of the area. Imagine my surprise when I discovered that this rural, sparsely populated, mostly-tobacco-fields area was home to a dozen or more working copper, gold, and silver mines at the turn of the century, with some of the mines within 5 miles of our house. I couldn’t believe it.

I got an out-of-print professional paper (dated 1917) from the Geological Survey, and read it cover to cover. It has lots of very specific information, including maps of the mines themselves, and even annual statistics on ore percentages and so forth. Of course, it’s difficult to locate something that went out of production a hundred years ago, more so when the location is listed as “half a mile west of the wagon road leading south from town.” I asked around to friends and finally got a vague location for one of the most productive mines, but rural North Carolina isn’t like rural New York; I can’t just pull off the side of the road and go wandering about, unless I want to get shot. So I decided I needed to get two things: a good source for verifying the historical facts and locations, and permission from all the property owners. With this I could do my research easily and document the locations and conditions of all the local mines.

So the other day I sent an email to the mayor of one of the towns involved. I was ecstatic to receive an enthusiastic reply! In a week or so we will be having a meeting, and I hope to be able to verify all the exact locations of the mines (there are at least five I’d like to research) and get the necessary permissions to go and actually see and document everything. Stay tuned; pictures are forthcoming!

A Weekend in Seattle

I visited Seattle this past weekend for the first time and absolutely fell in love with it.

It really does deserve the name ‘The Emerald City’–ivy was hanging off everything, and vegetation thrived on every bit of land that hadn’t yet been covered in concrete.

The thing I wasn’t used to seeing was all that green-ness right next to the water. I’ve seen green areas inland, and sandy/rocky areas on the water… but never woods abutting coastline so dramatically. It was amazing.

We dined atop the Space Needle one night–not as pricey as I thought it’d be. (Not as bad as Boston’s Top of the Hub, or Atlanta’s Sun Dial Restaurant, for example–both of which are also fantastically high places to dine.)

Walking through Pike Place Market was a blast, and Pioneer Square had some cute places to shop and eat.

But yes, it did rain a lot. We were there about 80 hours total, and it was raining for at least 50 of those 80 hours, I’d wager.

Stone Mountain, GA

I went to Atlanta about a year ago, and the best part about it (besides the hilarous fact that just about every single street is named Peachtree Street) was Stone Mountain (which is actually about 15 minutes outside of the city).

Stone Mountain is this gigantic mound of granite–the largest lump of bare, exposed granite in the world, I believe. This in and of itself isn’t especially spectacular, but what’s arond the rock is: trails, parks, a railroad, picnic areas, riverboat rides, camping areas… all with this adorable “antebellum” theme going. When I was there, we ate delicious southern cooking, watched glassblowers make vases, and listened to a bluegrass band (banjos n’ all).

The thing it most reminded me of was Plimoth Plantaion–though, of course, Stone Mountain is a lot further down on the map, and the period it aims to capture is a lot more recent.

Other things to do while in Georgia include touring old plantation homes and checking out antique shops (especially if you have a thing for Civil War items).

Nantucket’s Old Gaol

The last time I was on Nantucket, my boyfriend and I discovered something we’d never noticed before–the Old Gaol on Vestal Street. It was built in 1805 to replace the original jail, and used up until 1933. It’s now a museum–unstaffed, unadorned, just sitting there with the door open, allowing you to walk in and check out what 19th-century prison life was like. It’s famous for being the first jail in the U.S. to allow prisoners to go home in the evenings (!)–though I guess that makes sense on an island, right?

Here’s a really good site about the Old Gaol. If you’re into quirky history, definitely check it out. (Though, if you’re more into lounging on the beach or going shopping, you might find it a bit boring.)

Ah, Utah…

I’ve driven west a few times along I-70, and one of the things that constantly amazes me is the beauty of Utah.

I’m orignally from New England, and back home one just doesn’t see rock formations (and colors!) like those along the interstate in Utah.

One of the highway’s designated viewing areas was particularly cool–it had pictures and stories of early settlers, talked about how the colors of the rocks corresponded to various geological eras, mentioned just how hard it was to find water in the rocky, barren area… I wish I could remember the name of it. I checked out the Utah Dept. of Transportation site, and it seems there are a few possibilities (like Black Dragon, Spotted Wolf, and Eagle Canyon–cool names, eh?).

Here is a fascinating account of that stretch of road, which was finished in 1970. (Interesting quote: “At the dedication, Governor Cal Rampton noted that I-70 was the first road built over a completely new route since the AlCan (Alaska) Highway was built in the early 1940s.”)

I’ve never taken photos in Utah, unfortunately–but here’s a small sampling of the stuff one can see there (from this site):