Yellowstone National Park--Old Faithful

8 and 10 June, 2013

Old Faithful is probably the most famous landmark in any national park in the US, perhaps even in the world. Everyone knows what it is, and why it is called Old Faithful. We decided to begin our visit here, mostly because, by the time we got to the park and had an unspectacular lunch of overprocessed chicken sandwiches, it was already 16:30, and the Old Faithful area looked like something we could see it in the remaining time.

Old Faithful Geyser. Photo by Eric.


It was amazing! I know a lot of people don't find volcanic landscapes beautiful, but I do. I was enthralled.


The rangers told us that the next predicted eruptions were the Grand Glacier, at 18:40 plus or minus 30 minutes, or Old Faithful at 18:58 plus or minus ten minutes. We didn't think we could see both, and, although the Grand Glacier eruption would be more dramatic, we couldn't very well say we went to Yellowstone without seeing Old Faithful erupt. We decided to walk around for a bit and come back for the Old Faithful eruption.

Our first view of Old Faithful.


You walk through the Old Faithful area on a boardwalk. The path brings you very close to some of the geysers. You would almost expect that the Park Service wouldn't allow you to get that close. But it makes for some nice photography.

The first geyser that we were able to observe up close and personal was the Anemone Geyser. We stared at it in fascination for a while as it bubbled.




The bubbly earth around the Anemone Geyser.


Next, we passed the Beehive Geyser. We would later see this one erupt.


Deep blue Heart Spring.


Eric's view of Heart Spring.


Fascinating Goggles Springs.


There were so many geysers, sometimes we lost track of which one was which. Here's a bubbling one Eric shot.


Another unidentified geyser. Photo by Eric.


Yet another unidentified geyser. Photo by Eric.


Lion Group. Photo by Eric.


Depression Geyser. While taking the picture, Eric said, "It's so sad."


It was now time to turn back and go see the eruption of Old Faithful. Eric took a picture of the crowds waiting for the famous event.


While we were waiting for Old Faithful, the Beehive Geyser erupted!


It was a spectacular eruption, going on for quite some time and continuing to shoot higher and higher and higher.


Eric's view of the Beehive eruption.


A little bit late, the iconic Old Faithful began to erupt.


I think here it looks a little bit like a figure waving its arms.


Back in Grand Teton, we had twice, once on Friday and once Saturday morning, run into a family where the father was completely decked out in Google logo regalia, hat, jacket, etc. Eric talked to him, and they talked about working at Google. As we were getting up from seeing Old Faithful, we saw the same family yet again! It was just a crazy series of coincidences. This time, Eric and Jian exchanged names and contact information.

Eric took this picture of a fancy vehicle outside one of the lodges. We later found out that this was not a reproduction; it's actually a vehicle from the 1930's. The tour company has a fleet of them and had kept them running and looking good at rather considerable expense.


We headed back out on the geyser-laden plain to see more.


Look at the deep blues of Blue Star Spring.


Sponge Geyser. Photo by Eric.


And a close-up, also by Eric.


My shadow on pools.


An unidentified geyser with an interesting border.


Another view of the same geyser.


Castle Geyser. Photo by Eric.


Sawmill Geyser.


Eric took a picture showing the depth of Sawmill Geyser.


Giant Geyser. Photo by Eric.


The Firehole River, which winds through the Old Faithful area.


An unidentified pool.


Beauty Pool.


Chromatic Pool.


We had been seeking out Chromatic Pool specifically, because we had seen pictures of a feature that we thought was Chromatic Pool. We found out later that that feature had actually been Grand Prismatic Spring, a little ways further up the road. But when we got to Chromatic Pool, expecting something much more colorful, we were highly disappointed, and assumed that all the pictures we had seen had just been heavily Photoshopped.

By the time we got up to the Grotto Geyser, even we were getting tired of looking at geysers, especially after the disappointment of Chromatic Pool. We were both feeling the needs for rest, food and bathrooms. Eric suddenly happened to look at his watch and announced that it was 20:30.

Oh, no! The restaurant back at Old Faithful closed at 21:00. What were we to do? After a brief consideration, it seemed our best option was for Eric to take the camera equipment and for me to run on ahead, about 1.5 km, to the restaurant and order food.

With only one stop, to take a picture of an elk (with the little pocket camera), I arrived at the restaurant at 20:50. I jogged all that way, at 2,500 meters of elevation, even though I am a cyclist and an aerial dancer and not trained for running at all. I think we can attribute this to, "I hate riding the Bay Point (as opposed to Richmond) train THIS MUCH!"

Eric did make it to the restaurant before it closed by walking very quickly, but it was very close. We dined with a view of Old Faithful. Not as pretty as the Tetons, but still cool.

Monday morning, we stopped briefly at Old Faithful to find out the timing of the eruption of Great Fountain Geyser, supposed to be one of the best in the park. As the eruption was predicted for 15:45, it did not fit into our schedule. But, as we were there, Old Faithful was due to erupt, so we stayed to watch the eruption.


Distance hiked: 5+ km

On to West Thumb.

Last updated: 10/06/2013 by Eric and Beth Zuckerman