[Geysers] Some non-geyser stuff

[Dave TAYLOR]

Over the Labor Day weekend, I noticed a few 'irregularities' I was wondering if anyone knew anything about.

1)  About 11:00 A.M Sat. 9/4, while driving along the Firehole Falls drive, there was a large gathering of people with scuba gear parked just alongside the swimming hole.  I didn't see anyone in the water yet, and was a bit confused.  This didn't seem to be a search and rescue, as I saw no 'officials' present, but I wasn't aware recreational scuba diving was organized in the Firehole river.  Thoughts?

2)  While staying at Canyon Village (in the 'P' cabins), my 5 year old found great delight in the 10 or so lodgepole pine tee-pees scattered in the forest behind the cabins (just east of the P40 - P 80 cabins).  My suspicion is that these are the result of Park and/or Xanterra employees with nothing better to do.  Some were rather large, and took quite a bit of effort to build.  I'm not an expert on winter weathering, but these looked to be new this summer.  Can anyone shed any light on the origin of these things?

3)  While at Mud Volcano, I overheard a ranger discussing how the water there was much newer than the water at Old Faithful, indicating that the Mud Volcano water was only a few years old, while O.F. is closer to hundreds.  Has anyone else heard this (not that I doubt it), and is anyone aware of what the geology is behind the difference?

Oh, and by the way, we saw Old Faithful go off around 1:00 P.M. on 9/4.  (That's the best geyser report I can offer with  5, 3 and ½ year old kids accompanied by Grandma).

Thanks,
Dave Taylor
S.A. Webmaster
626-6737
http://saweb.weber.edu

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