[Geysers] Yellowstone offers numerous attractions for geyser enthusiasts

[V]

Mon, Jun. 19, 2006

Yellowstone offers numerous attractions for geyser enthusiasts
BY BOB DOWNING
Knight Ridder Newspapers

YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK, Wyo. - John Warnock is a geyser 
gazer. Or a geyser groupie.

Warnock, 55, who owns a real-estate business in Loveland, Colo., 
has made 150 pilgrimages over the years to Yellowstone National 
Park to pursue his passion.

"They're just so beautiful," he said of the park's 300 geysers and 
other thermal features. "I enjoy them for their intrinsic beauty ... 
They're just so fascinating to watch. And I truly enjoy this hobby.

"One has to find a passion in life and, for me, that passion is 
Yellowstone's geysers," he said.

Geysers also provide a spiritual connection and a restoration 
from the daily world, he said.

"You can't do anything to control them or manipulate them. 
You just sit there and enjoy them," he said.

It takes patience and sometimes a little luck to observe geysers 
at their best, he said.

And like many geyser gazers, Warnock felt a sense of accomplishment 
in becoming knowledgeable and a self-taught expert on 
Yellowstone's geysers.

"I became a somebody, thanks to geysers," he said.

Warnock made his first trip to Yellowstone at age 2 and got hooked 
on geysers at age 13. He typically makes a minimum of two to 
three trips to the park throughout the year to observe geysers 
shooting boiling hot water and steam hundreds of feet into the 
air in violent eruptions.

His specialty is observing the geysers near Old Faithful - the park's 
most iconic geyser - in what is called the Upper Geyser Basin.

Warnock is not alone. He is a charter member of the Geyser Observation 
and Study Association, a citizen-science group that's 300 members 
share his passion for Yellowstone geysers.

Geysers are rare. There are an estimated 700 in the world, and half 
of those are found in Yellowstone, a sprawling federal wilderness 
park of 2.2 million acres that lies in northwest Wyoming and spills 
into Idaho and Montana.

It is a land of grizzly bears and wolves, towering waterfalls, forests 
and snow-capped mountains. It is some of the wildest country in 
the continental United States.

Its distinctive thermal features result from Yellowstone sitting atop 
an active volcano. The park has geysers, hot springs, fumaroles - 
or steam vents - and mudpots that delight Yellowstone's 3 million 
annual visitors.

Most geyser eruptions last only a few minutes, but some can last 
for days. Some almost never stop. Some may be dormant for years 
or decades.

It is estimated that Yellowstone's geysers discharge a staggering 
70 million gallons of water a day.

Yellowstone's geysers are created, in part, by the heavy winter 
snowfall, a 35-mile-long magma chamber 10 miles below the 
surface and a system of fissures.

Old Faithful erupts more frequently than any other big geysers, 
although it is not the largest or the most regular geyser in the 
park. But it is the most viewed because of its easy access, its 
beauty and its predictability.

The average interval between eruptions is 88 minutes. It can 
vary from 45 to 120 minutes.

The National Park Service's estimates on when Old Faithful will 
erupt are within 10 minutes 90 percent of the time.

One of its eruptions will last from one and one-half to five 
minutes and will result in up to 8,400 gallons of boiling water 
going skyward. Its height varies from 106 to 184 feet.

Old Faithful was named by the Washburn Expedition of 1870 
for its regularity. Its average interval has grown slightly.

Warnock said the best place to observe Old Faithful is not 
at the nearby benches, but from nearby Geyser Hill.

He said his two favorite geysers at Yellowstone are Beehive 
Geyser and Grand Geyser.

Beehive is where he got hooked on geysers in 1963. Seeing 
the geyser erupt to 180 feet was an adrenaline rush and Warnock 
was immediately hooked.

Beehive may be dormant for long periods, but when it is active, 
it typically erupts every 12 to 13 hours, with eruptions lasting 
four to five minutes. Its narrow cone acts like a nozzle and shoots 
a powerful water column to a height of 130 to 180 feet.

A small vent near Beehive spits water when the big geyser 
is getting ready to erupt.

Grand Geyser is the tallest predictable geyser in the world 
and a classic fountain geyser. It erupts in powerful bursts, 
not a steady stream.

A typical eruption lasts nine to 12 minutes and consists of 
one to four bursts that may reach 200 feet.

It was erupting every six to eight hours, but has slowed and 
is now erupting every 10 to 14 hours.

Warnock said Grand is "a sight beyond description."

It is a geyser that is worth waiting to see erupt, he said.

Warnock's advice to Yellowstone visitors wanting to see 
geysers is simple.

Start at the park's Old Faithful Visitor Center. Join a ranger 
walk. Attend a geyser program.

The center will also list the tentative next eruption time for
Old Faithful and four other geysers: Castle, Grand, Daisy and 
Riverside.

If your time is limited, check out those four geysers, which can 
be reached via trails near Old Faithful along the Firehole River, 
he says.

Castle erupts every 12 and one-half to 21 and one-half hours, 
although it's getting more fickle. It features a massive, 15-foot-
high cone. Its eruptions last 20 minutes and reach 90 feet. It 
may be the oldest geyser in the park.

If you have two days, sit back and enjoy the show at either Grand 
or Castle geysers and check out Old Faithful at sunrise or sunset, 
Warnock suggested.

The Geyser Observation Study Association was founded in 1983 
and the nonprofit group was incorporated in 1988.

Its members are known for detailed observations, meticulous 
records and computer analysis. Members typically carry radios 
to communicate with each other about geyser activities in the park.

Its Internet site is www.geyserstudy.org

You can also contact GOSA, c/o Udo and Janet Freund, 
39237 Yellowstone St., Palmdale, CA 93551.

Contact Yellowstone National Park at P.O. Box 168, 
Yellowstone, WY 82190; 307-344-7381; www.nps.gov/yell.

To contact the Yellowstone Association Institute, write to 
P.O. Box 117, Yellowstone National Park, WY 82190; 
307-344-2294; www.yellowstoneassociation.org


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