[Geysers] Ferris Fork Oct 1-6 2010

[Eric Hatfield]

Interesting to hear about this area.  My dad and I were there in 1997.  I'm most 
interested to hear about the features across the river from "Zealous Spring."  

I wrote an email to the server after that trip, some of which was reproduced in 
the Sput.  I described those features as "New Event," because when we were 
there, it seemed brand new, as in days, at least in parts.  There were areas 
where profuse boiling overflow was still crossing dense grass.  I remember the 
"crack," which then was a bulky perpetual spouter (think Aurum 1/3 as high) to 
around 4-5 feet.  There were other furious boiling and splashing pools/vents 
immediately adjacent.  Altogether the runoff, which only ran a few feet before 
reaching the creek, seemed to measure in hundreds of gallons per minute.

At that time, "Zealous Spring" (as I have just learned it is named), was about a 
foot below overflow.  Bubbling and thrashing could still be heard in the buried 
vents in its big sinter rampart, but otherwise the sinter mound was long dry.

So, I ask, tell me more about "New Event."  What is this feature and what do we 
know about it?  When was it first described, and how often has it been active?  
It sounds as if it was doing something in 2008, but not 09 or 10.  What happened 
between 1997 and 2008, and before?  Does it usually subdue "Zealous"?

Any info?




________________________________
From: Stephen Eide <stepheneide at cableone.net>
To: geysers <geysers at lists.wallawalla.edu>
Sent: Sat, March 5, 2011 12:16:23 PM
Subject: [Geysers] Ferris Fork Oct 1-6 2010


Greeting and Salutions,
 
This is a very late trip report from a hike I took with Jim Holstein on October 
1 to 6, 2010 from OK1 (Lone Star trailhead) to 9K1 (Bechler Ranger Station).  I 
was late starting out so we did not get to visit Shoshone Geyser Basin but we 
did spend part of two days in the Ferris Fork thermal area.  I thought Rocco 
Paperiello and Marie Wolf had written about the area but I could not find it in 
the index to Report on Lesser Known Thermal Features of Yellowstone National 
Park so I guess I will just give a narrative of what features we saw.  Jim had 
been in the area twice before in 2008 and 2009 so I am including some of the 
information he gave me from his previous visit also.  

 
Just as background, the Ferris Fork Thermal area is about half a mile upstream 
from three rivers junction where Phillips Fork, Ferris Fork, and Gregg Fork meet 
to form the Bechler River.  There are also many more hot springs from three 
river junction several miles down the Bechler river but most of them appeared to 
be cooler, or at least not close to boiling.  However for the most part we just 
walked past the features on the Bechler River and made no attempt to visit the 
hot springs on the far side of the river.  The Ferris Fork Thermal area is about 
15 miles from either end of the trailhead.  

 
You walk about 500 meters from the junction with the Bechler trail until you 
meet the first thermal area.  This area is about 150 meters east to west and 
about 50 meters wide.  Ferris fork is the right (south) border of the area and a 
thermal stream is the left (north) border.  The area runs mostly west to east.  
There are three sets of hot springs in this area, none looking like they could 
erupt with their current activity.  Just as you enter the area the trail drops 
down an incline about six feet and crosses the thermal stream.  Just after you 
cross this stream there is a hot spring on your right, shallow, maybe an inch or 
two deep with many bubbling vents in a fine gravel bottom.  The temperature is 
below boiling, I suspect around 150 or 160 from the lighter bacteria growing in 
the pool.  If you turn right before you cross the thermal water and walk about 
fifty meters to the south-west you reach another hot spring, it is deeper and 
appears hotter although I don’t think it was quite boiling.  It was bubbling 
vigorously.  Grass was growing down to the edge of the pool.  One point about 
the Ferris Fork Thermal area, all most all of the springs had strong bubbling, 
there seems to be a significant amount of gas evolution in almost all the 
springs in the area.  

 
The last spring in this first thermal zone is in the back-left of the area 
(north-east).  It is a series of many springs with one vent in the middle most 
active and the rest with minor to no bubbling/boiling.  The main vent there 
appears to be boiling however I cannot be sure.  There is a steady stream of 
water from these springs that I talked about earlier.  Grass was growing to the 
edges of all the vents.
 
As you continue on the trail you pass through about 80 meters of non-thermal 
land before reaching the next set of thermal features.  Ferris Fork goes around 
a bend so for the remainder of the thermal zone Ferris Fork is running mostly 
south to north.  The next thermal area you reach is two sets of springs on both 
sides of Ferris Fork.  On the far side of the river (west side) is a large 
constantly boiling pool Jim tells be is call Zealous Spring.  And on the near 
side of the river (east side) is an unnamed pool and sinter area with two 
features that did not erupt for us on this trip but features that Jim has seen 
erupt in the past.  

 
First Zealous Spring, this is one of the most impressive features in Ferris 
Fork, at first it appears to be one pool but when you are close you can see it 
is three interconnected pools with the pool closest to Ferris Fork the only one 
with an active vent in it.  And it is very active, constantly boiling two to 
four feet high with occasional higher boils.  In some ways it resembles Crested 
Pool but the boil is more like the one-meter boil on Great Fountain.  There is a 
constant heavy outflow both over the lip of the pool and through some covered 
sinter tunnels that pop out in the sinter shield below the pool.  There is an 
overflow terraced pool in the sinter between the pool and Ferris fork that will 
remind you somewhat of the terraces at Mammoth.  After looking at sinter 
overflow channel I would not recommend walking on it, it has several covered 
channels in it that pop up here and there containing boiling water.  The sinter 
is very white, which is another feature of the Ferris group as a whole; most of 
the sinter in the area is very white in color.  

 
The grassy area just south of Zealous Spring is interesting also.  There is an 
area of grass covered ground that appears to be very soft with constant gas 
bubbles coming up through the grass.  When I stepped on the edge of it I got the 
impression of a quicksand-like area, firm looking with grass on top but with 
lukewarm thermal mud underneath.  However, I did not walk on it so I am unsure 
how correct this impression was.
 
In the area on the east side of Ferris Fork across from Zealous Spring and 
between the trail and Ferris Fork is the second area of hot springs.  According 
to Jim two of these springs erupted in some manner in 2008..  The first spring 
was erupting out of a crack across the top of some sinter as a  perpetual 
spouter in a fan shape to 2-4 feet high in 2008 but was quiet in 2009 and quiet 
when we visited in 2010.  The other erupted out of a small pool to the left and 
forward of  the fan shaped spring (from the trail) with a height of 1-2 feet and 
an interval of a few minutes in 2008.  It also was quiet in 2009 and 2010. 

 
The next feature you reach is Mr. Bubbles, an amazing hot spring on the edge of 
the river with part of the river flowing into it.  Mr. Bubbles is roughly 
circular with a diameter of 10-14 meters by my guess.  A hot water creek flows 
into it from the east.  The water in the creek has green mats in it but is to 
hot to keep you hand in, or do more than just touch it.  There is another small 
geyser/spring on the east edge of Mr. Bubble with a light overflow into Mr. 
Bubbles but I will talk about it later.  Ferris Fork flows into Mr. Bubbles from 
the West.  In the middle of Mr. Bubbles is a bubbling vent, not boiling, but 
constantly giving off gas bubbles.  They cause the ground to thump and vibrate 
constantly.  You can hear Mr. Bubbles (and feel the ground vibrate) for 10-20 
meters from the pool.  When you are in Mr. Bubbles you can stand on the rocks 
over the vent and feel them bounce up and down with the force of the gas coming 
out.  However it is hot so I couldn’t stand on the rocks for long because of the 
heat.  

 
You can soak in Mr. Bubbles but be careful where you enter, don’t try to walk in 
near the hot creek’s discharge.  Since the water enters the pool from the river, 
hot creek, side geyser/spring, and main vent of the pool the temperature of the 
water varies depending on where you are in the pool.  With the gas from the main 
vent and the thumping and vibration of the water it is quite an extraordinary 
soak.  

 
The little geyser/spring on the northeast side of Mr. Bubbles is a new feature.  
Jim tells me there was no thermal feature there when he visited in early 
September 2008 but appeared about a week later in mid-September.  It was a 
perpetual spouter with a height of about four feet in late 2008.  The rangers 
called it a thermal explosion but in 2009 (and 2010) there was no debris from 
the spring so how it was formed is unclear.  From what Jim learned from the 
rangers in the area they closed Mr. Bubbles for the remainder of the 2008 season 
either because of the volume of hot water it put out or just as a precaution due 
to a new and unknown thermal feature.  In 2009 it was a perpetual spouter to 
about one foot.  In 2010 when we visited it just bubbled/boiled with a small 
steady water output.  

 
If you travel up the hot creek entering Mr. Bubbles from the east you’ll find 
several interesting thermal features.  All along this creek are frequent small 
hot springs near the level of the creek.  I started walking up the creek on the 
north side through some low brush and bushes and if you walk this route be 
careful, I found a couple of lukecool springs in the bushes, very hard to see  
because of overhanging  brush.  They were several feet across, very deep, and 
could have been unfortunate to step in.   

 
The first notable spring is on the north side of the creek a maybe 80 meters 
upstream.  It is a beautiful white pool, oval in shape, with one large and many 
small terraces down the side of the spring.  It bubbles but I don’t think it is 
boiling, I think it is just gas.  After the water leaves the main pool the 
cyanobacteria starts as green with no other intervening colors so the spring is 
just white and green. 

 
Further up the creek another 100 meters or so are a set of formations on the 
north side of the stream.  The first is a couple of “anthill” like formations 
that are dry; the water appears to be leaking out elsewhere.  The anthills are 
covered with beautiful little terraces on all sides.  Not far above this is a 
larger feature on the north bank with a large vent into the hillside and a side 
vent that acts as a perpetual spouter one to two feet high.  The large vent 
appears to be boiling continuously.  The perpetual spouter is a mixture of water 
and steam with mostly water.  The wet rocks are either white or cyanobactria 
covered green.  The dry rocks tend to be either white or grey.  There is another 
lukewarm hot spring a few meters further upstream. 

 
Another 50 meters up the creek is a nice set of white pools on the south side of 
the creek, hot but not boiling.  There are a few more hot springs on up the 
creek. I quit following the creek when its water was cool water, showing most of 
the thermal features were downstream.  I think this was about 300 to 400 meters 
upstream from Mr. Bubbles.  Please keep in mind I was guessing at these 
distances from my memory.
 
Starting back at Mr. Bubbles the trail past Mr. Bubbles thins out a lot.  You 
pass a pool on the right between the trail and Ferris Fork.  If you leave the 
trail here and walk in this area you will find many crater ponds in this area, 
all appearing to be lukecool to cold.  

 
If you follow the fading trail you come to another small hot creek coming in 
from the east.   It drains into a pool in a depression that Jim tells me is 
Dyslexic Spring.  Along this spring and up to ten feet uphill on each side of 
this creek are many hot springs.  One of these appeared to be erupting with a 
height of about a foot, duration of a few seconds, and intervals of 15-30 
seconds.  Many of  the rest of these hot springs bubbles, again I think with gas 
but some of them could be boiling.  The trail essentially ends here.  

 
There is a little rise between Dyslexic Spring and Ferris Fork.  Over this 
little rise is several more hot springs with runoff down to Ferris Fork.  Down 
by Ferris Fork and a few meters downstream is an interesting set of hot 
springs.  Some of these springs are in the river coming out of a set of vents 
that will likely be low rock islands when Ferris Fork is very low however since 
we were in the area the first week of October I doubt Ferris Fork gets much 
lower.  Up on the shore is another set of two lines of small hot spring vents.  
These appear to be boiling and are surrounded by a field of fresh sinter about 
two by  four meters.  Because the whole area is covered with fresh sinter it 
looks like it could erupt. On the first day when we were in the area I left a 
marker on this spring.  It was still in place the next day, so I removed the 
marker.  So I am unsure if this feature does anything more than we saw.
 
Across Ferris Fork on the west bank are three active thermal vents that are 
active.  The first vent, the one most downstream, has a long run off  channel 
that parallels Ferris Fork for about eighteen meters before turning and entering 
Ferris Fork.  When we were there it splashed to one to two feet high every few 
seconds and it never overflowed into the runoff channel.  Jim tells me in 2009 
it was erupting to 3-4 feet high with a duration of over 28 minutes and one 
closed interval of 1 hour 56 minutes.  I believe he told me with those eruptions 
the runoff channel was used.
 
The next spring upstream on the west bank of Ferris Fork currently looks like a 
quiet pool several feet in diameter with wood debris in it.  It was quiet while 
we were there but Jim tells me it did erupt to one to two feet as a perpetual 
spouter in 2008 and 2009.  In those years the water level in Ferris Fork was 
higher and closer to the level of this spring.  I think in the spring at high 
water this feature would be underwater.
 
The last feature is the most upstream feature at the foot of a big rock.  When 
we were in the area it was a perpetual spouter to a foot or two high.  Jim did 
not remember it being active in the past.  This spring would also be underwater 
with higher water levels in Ferris Fork.
 
Back on the East side of Ferris Fork I think about across from the third 
upstream spring by the big rock is one spring that looked just warm with broken 
algae mats in it.  However the runoff channel was full of broken pieces of 
matting seeming to indicate the pool had overflowed or erupted sometime 
recently.   
 
The last spring by Ferris Fork and the most upstream is on the east  bank 
farther back from the river.  The spring and runoff channel had sinter that was 
black when wet and grey when dry.  It bubbles or boils constantly.  The runoff 
channel has some interesting scalloped sinter rims and islands.  

 
From here I climbed up the hill to the east.  There I found a flat swampy meadow 
that looked like it had some warm thermal springs in it.  I decided not to enter 
this area.  The runoff from this are curved down and became the stream that 
enters Dyslexic Spring.  

 
Since then I looked at the area on Google Maps and found I apparently missed at 
least two features and perhaps three features.  

 
http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=44.287025,-110.878615&spn=0.003717,0.009624&t=h&z=17

 
Google maps appears to show another thermal area about three to four hundred 
feet to the south-east of the swampy meadow area I found on the southeast 
boarder of the thermal area.  I saw nothing on the ground to indicate it was 
there but it could be over the rise.  

 
The other feature I missed is a pool about 30 by 40 meters that is on the West 
bank of Ferris Fork about 150 meters West-South-West of Mr. Bubbles or about the 
same distance South-west of Zealous Spring.  It may be an old spring or large 
explosion crater.  Then again, it may be a big beaver pond.  

 
There may also be an area of thermal ground just as you first enter the first 
thermal area.  If you cross Ferris Fork then go about 100 meters south there 
appears to be some thermal ground (or at least lighter patches of ground) on the 
Google map picture.  But at least these are things to look at or look for the 
next time I’m in the area.  

 
Only 41 days until spring opening (if Congress allows)
 
Stephen J. Eide


      
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