[Geysers] News: Timing is everything on geyser walk

[V]

8/22 news Article- 
Enjoy!
Vicky Frangos


Timing is everything on geyser walk

http://www.redlandsdailyfacts.com/Stories/0,1413,209~29391~2346110,00.html

YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK, Wyo. _ Anemone Geyser 
was dry and silent as we walked up. Our trail brochure 
noted that these benign traits were in fact precursors to 
an eruption, so we stood along the boardwalk and waited 
_ though other tourists hurried past.

Soon enough, the show began. The pool filled, then churned 
with boiling water on the surface. A spout formed _ 5 feet, 
6 feet _ belching steam. The spectacle lasted barely a minute, 
and then the gusher subsided as quickly as it had formed, 
and the water receded into the pool, disappearing with the 
sound of a flushing toilet.

Later, we concluded that little, dramatic Anemone was our 
favorite among the many geysers, hot springs and mud 
pots to be found inside the volcanic caldera of Yellowstone 
National Park, a 30-by-45-mile basin at the heart of the 
park.

Guests of the Old Faithful Inn can readily get to Anemone 
and the better-known attractions of the Upper Geyser Basin 
_ Old Faithful, Castle, Riverside, Morning Glory Pool _ on 
a web of boardwalk trails that strings out along the Firehole 
River. Trail guides are available for 50 cents at the visitors' 
center or at dispensers at the entrance of the route.

The science of all this hydrothermal activity is pretty simple. 
Volcanic eruptions occurred here in Yellowstone's ancient 
past, the last about 640,000 years ago. A huge chunk of land 
collapsed, forming the caldera, or interior of the volcano. Water 
on the surface seeps down into porous layers of rock, where 
it is flash-heated _ sometimes by magma that is only three 
miles below your feet. The water races back to the surface as 
steam or hot springs.

For the visitor, it presents an otherworldly environment. Rocky 
cones smoke ominously (notably Castle Geyser). Some pools 
spurt and splash (Sawmill). Several holes have water boiling 
at the surface, bubbling furiously as if waiting for a handful 
of pasta. Peer inside and you'll see an orifice as complex as the 
human ear.

The water in some deep pools is bright-blue in color, because 
in the rainbow spectrum, blue rays scatter the most when 
sunlight strikes the water's surface. Also, the extreme heat of 
the water enhances the effect.

It was disappointing to discover that Morning Glory Pool wasn't 
as blue as it had been during the family vacations of my youth, 
and it was disheartening to hear why. Over the years, visitors 
just haven't been able to resist tossing objects into it _ coins, 
rocks, logs, litter. The foreign objects caused the temperature 
to drop, and yellow, orange and brown algae formed in the 
cooler water. Despite warning signs, rangers still have to drain 
the pool and extract the trash on a regular basis.

Travelers who throng to the Upper Geyser Basin often miss 
the Biscuit Basin, a short drive away. Maybe that's why its 
Sapphire Pool exhibits the blue brilliance once associated 
with Morning Glory.

At the visitors' center, rangers post predicted eruption times 
for some geysers, but patience is a must. Some of the forecasts 
will be worded as ``within 45 minutes of ...'' or ``within an 
hour of ...'' At Oblong Geyser, we encountered a fellow who 
had decided he was just going to sit down and wait it out.

Sometimes you can just be lucky. Castle Geyser suddenly 
erupted when we were on the opposite side of the basin, but 
the spout was so robust we had a great view of it nonetheless. 
Elsewhere in the park, at Lower Geyser Basin, where we stopped 
to see the Fountain Paint Pots, we were treated to an abrupt and 
sustained eruption of Clepsydra Geyser _ so vigorous that the 
steam cloud engulfed part of the boardwalk, scattering a handful 
of visitors.

Yellowstone's main event, of course, is Old Faithful, which 
spouts skyward at regular intervals (over the years they've 
varied from 45 minutes to 120 minutes; currently, the eruptions 
are spaced at about 90 minutes). The plume regularly tops 
100 feet, and sometimes will soar to nearly twice that height.

If you watch this one from the boardwalk, you'll have plenty of 
company, but for a much different perspective, cross the 
Firehole River on a nearby bridge and detour onto the Observation 
Point Trail. The one-mile round trip climbs through an evergreen 
forest, where marmots play among the downed logs (we 
encountered several).

At the overlook, the view takes in the geyser basin, the inn
_ and, if your timing is right, an eye-level view of the top of 
Old Faithful's gusher.

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