Yellowstone National Park v.1

I've been to Yellowstone 3 times, once in the summer (sunny), once in the fall (rainy), and once in the winter (snowy). Stll, I've probably seen only half of what there is to see and photographed even less. Not to worry though. I did take hundreds of photos in my time there, and I've spread them out over three presentations. Yellowstone v.1 covers south Yellowstone and the Old Faithful Area, including most of Upper Geyser Basin. Volume 2 travels the Grand Loop Road from Old Faithful to Mammoth Hot Springs, stopping at various points of interest along the way. Volume three covers most of the rest of the Grand Loop from Mammoth Hot Springs to West Thumb. This presentation (v.1) is loaded with short videos that take a minute or so to load.

South Entrance Sign

Lewis River
South Yellowstone

Lewis Falls

Kepler Cascades

Eagle with a snack

Grant Village Restaurant

1936 White Model 706 Tour Bus

Milton's Store

Conference

Old Faithful Inn

The Old Faithful Inn is the largest log hotel in the world and is an example of rustic resort architecture (also known as National Park Service Rustic). Initial construction of the Old Faithful Inn was done in 1903-1904. The Inn has a multi-story log lobby that features a massive 500 ton fireplace. Wings on either side of the lobby contain guestrooms. The Inn was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1987.

Old Faithful Inn

Lobby 1991

Lobby 2014

Lobby

2nd Floor Lobby Panorama
Old Faithful Inn

Fireplace and Clock 1991

Fireplace and Clock 2014

Dining Room

Bar

Outdoor Balcony

Old Faithful Inn Panorama
Old Faithful Geyser in background

Old Faithful Visitor Education Center

The Old Faithful Visitor Education Center opened in August of 2010. It has an exhibit hall that features interactive displays and videos about the 4 types of hydrothermal features found in the Park: geysers, hot springs, mud pots, and fumaroles. Predicted eruption times for Old Faithful, Grand, Castle, Daisy, and Riverside Geysers are posted at the Center. Of course the Center also contains a well stocked gift shop.

Old Faithful Visitor Education Center

Lobby

Exhibit Hall Entrance

Exhibit Hall

Exhibit

Old Faithful Snow Lodge

The Snow Lodge was completed in 1999 and is open year round, although accessible only by snowcoach or snowmobile in the winter. The lodge also has cabins very nice cabins (I stayed in one).

Old Faithful Snow Lodge

Upper Geyser Basin

Upper Geyser Basin is one of three large geyser basins along the Firehole River, and has by far the greatest number of geysers. We will go on a loop tour of most of the geysers in Upper Geyser Basin. The first half of the tour will be along a paved trail (Continental Divide Trail) that starts at Old Faithful Inn and ends at Morning Glory Pool. Then we'll backtrack a short way and return on a boardwalk that crosses the Firehole River and ends at Old Faithful Geyser. Refer to the map for various hydrothermal features along the way.

Tour Map

First part of the Trail

There are not many hydrothermal features on the trail from the Old Faithful Area to the Daisy Geyser Group. The main feature is Castle Geyser. The terrain to the southwest is fairly open and very colorful. The trail passes through some trees, and it's a good section to do some wildlife spotting.

Geyser Hill viewed form Continental Divide Trail
Upper Geyser Basin

Bison in the Woods

Blackbirds near Castle Geyser
Upper Geyser Basin

Castle Geyser
Upper Geyser Basin

Shield Spring
Upper Geyser Basin

Terrain southwest of Continental Divide Trail leading to Morning Glory Pool

Old Faithful Inn from across Upper Geyser Basin

Daisy Geyser Group

The Daisy Geyser Group can be accessed by a loop trail off the main paved trail. This group includes Daisy, Comet, and Splendid Geysers. Daisy Geyser is easy to spot because it erupts at an angle.

Daisy Geyser
Upper Geyser Basin

Daisy Geyser

Splendid Geyser
Upper Geyser Basin

Gaggle of Geese near Daisy Geyser Group

Comet Geyser
Upper Geyser Basin

Back on the trail to Morning Glory Pool. Rocket and Grotto Geysers are up next. This pair of geysers usually erupt together (they are probably connected).

Rocket Geyser
Upper Geyser Basin

Rocket and Grotto Geysers in Winter
Upper Geyser Basin

Grotto Geyser

Riverside Geyser
Upper Geyser Basin

Spiteful Geyser
Upper Geyser Basin

Now we've come to the end of the outbound trail leading to Morning Glory Pool, and here it is. But we're going to travel a little bit further on a dirt path to Artemisia Geyser before turning back. (Stop your complaining - it's not that far.) Artemisia Geyser erupts once or twice a day with durations of 15-30 minutes. Artemisia is a beautiful geyser with its deep blue pool and all of the whitish-gray sinter that rings it.

Morning Glory Pool 1991
Upper Geyser Basin

Morning Glory Pool 2014
Upper Geyser Basin

Morning Glory Pool

Artemisia Geyser
Upper Geyser Basin

After visiting Artemisia Geyser we'll retrace our route back to Grotto Geyser where we turn left onto the boardwalk that will take us back to Old Faithful Geyser. We will cross the Firehole river twice along the way. There is lots to see on this section of the tour.

Runoff into the Firehole River

Mastiff Geyser
Upper Geyser Basin

Bijou and Mastiff Geysers
Upper Geyser Basin

Giant Geyser
Upper Geyser Basin

Firehole River
Upper Geyser Basin

Chromatic Spring (Chromatic Pool)
Upper Geyser Basin

Beauty Pool
Upper Geyser Basin

Marmots near Beauty Pool
Upper Geyser Basin

Grand Geyser
Upper Geyser Basin

West Tripplet Geyser
Upper Geyser Basin

South Scalloped Spring
Upper Geyser Basin

Belgian Pool
Upper Geyser Basin

Sawmill Geyser
Upper Geyser Basin

Upper Geyser Basin Panorama

Hydrothermal Feature
Upper Geyser Basin

Geyser Hill

Geyser Hill is near the end of our loop tour and just north of Old Faithful Geyser. The hill contains some 40 hydrothermal features. There is a 1.3 mile loop trail around Geyser Hill, and a 0.6 mile loop boardwalk for those who are less adventurous. We'll take the boardwalk.

Ear Spring

Beach Spring
Geyser Hill

Aurum Geyser
Geyser Hill

Aurum Geyser

Doublet Pool - Geyser Hill
Upper Geyser Basin

Doublet Pool
Geyser Hill

Sponge Geyser
Geyser Hill

Pump Geyser
Geyser Hill

Infant Geyser

Old Faithful Geyser

We end our tour of Upper Geyser Basin at Old Faithful Geyser. Old Faithful Geyser is undoubtedly the most famous geyser in Yellowstone. It was so named in 1870 during the Washburn-Langford-Doane Expedition because of its predictable, periodic eruptions. Old Faithful averages 90 minutes between eruptions.

Old Faithful Geyser

Old Faithful Eruption

Bonus - Yellowstone Textures and Tapestries

Thanks to Wikipedia and the National Park Service for much of the content in this presentation. Map courtsey of the Yellowstone Association.
Use the form on the Home Page to submit comments, questions, or suggestions. TD Productions Copyright © 2018