Yellowstone - Nick and Andi

Old Faithful erupting on schedule

Enjoying Yellowstone

9/12/17

Andi really liked Opal Pool because she loves Opals!

Andi: Over the past 2 days we got up early and moved campsites. We went to Yellowstone and saw Old Faithful erupt. We saw the geyser basins. Geysers are heated from the magma 2-8 miles below Yellowstone that erupt every so often or once a few years. In 2 days we saw Grand Geyser, Old Faithful, Grand Prismatic Springs, Morning Glory Pool, Beehive Geyser, Castle Geyser and many more. Some of the springs had red, orange, yellow, green, blue and probably many colors we can’t see. Some geysers were just pools that shot water and some were like towers. Some geysers bubbled and some shot water. They had different colors that represent the temperature of it. It happens because the bacteria can grow in temperatures that are hot. If I got to see one erupt it would be Grand Geyser.

Riverside Geyser erupting with a rainbow in the spray

Nick: Over the past two days we drove to Yellowstone National Park and spent a lot of time in the geyser areas around Old Faithful. We saw a ton of geysers, pools, and springs. Some of my favorites were Old Faithful, Grand Prismatic Spring, Grand Geyser, Morning Glory Pool, and Riverside Geyser. Old Faithful is a 150 foot tall geyser that was very predictable. It went off about every 1 and a half hours. Old Faithful was my number 1 favorite. Grand Prismatic Spring was a huge multicolored pool of boiling water. The outside was red, then there was a ring of dark orange, a ring of yellow, a ring of green, and the middle was dark blue. It was really pretty. Grand Geyser was a three hundred foot tall geyser that erupted about every 6 and a half hours. The eruption lasted about 10 minutes. It was the highest geyser we saw. Morning Glory Pool was a multi colored pool that was kind of like Grand Prismatic but smaller, but you could see down more than 40 feet. The last thing on my list of favorites was Riverside Geyser. It was a big geyser on the side of a river. It erupted in an arc 75 feet high over the river. While we were watching it there was a rainbow in the mist. We also saw a bison while we were watching. It was my second favorite out of everything. The reason a lot of the springs were multicolored was there are tiny microorganisms that live in the super hot water. The reason that the water was hot is that under Yellowstone there is a huge volcano that could destroy all of the continent. The pools all smelled really bad also because of sulfur-dioxide.

Yellowstone is almost otherworldly with the steam everywhere

The beautiful Grand Prismatic spring
It was a bit of a hike to get this picture!

Sometimes we had to wait for a geyser to erupt

9/14/17

Andi: Yesterday we went to Norris Geyser Basin. We saw a couple more springs and geysers. I was the tour guide and mapper. Then we walked around the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. Most of the trails were closed but we did get to see a waterfall from two angles. Then we moved our camper to a campsite with lots of elk. Then we went to Mammoth Hot Springs. Everything was huge. It started raining so we went to Boiling River. In Boiling River, you could move an inch and your tummy would be hot and your back would be cold. Then we went home and went to bed. The hot water was coming from a hot spring that was actually the Boiling River dumping into the Gardener River where we were swimming.

Nick: Yesterday we saw some more geysers in the morning. We also saw more pools and springs. I don’t remember the names of most of them except Puff ‘N Stuff Geyser. It was called that because it let off a ton of steam. We also saw a geyser erupt that very rarely erupts. It went about 20 feet high. Then we saw the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. It can be 800 to 1200 feet deep. There was a big river flowing in the bottom of the canyon. We also saw a really pretty waterfall that fell over the side of the canyon. It was really cool. Then we swam in the Boiling River. The Boiling River is a very hot river that would burn you, but it mixes with the Gardener River which is really cold. There was an area where the water was like a bathtub. It was really nice. You could have your back freezing and your chest really hot in some places. It was really weird.

9/15/17

Andi: Yesterday we went on the Lamar Valley Drive. We saw lots of bison. Then we came to our next campsite and played on the playground. Then we came home and watched a movie.

Nick: Yesterday we woke up really early in the morning and did the Lamar Valley Drive. You were supposed to be able to see a lot of wildlife it you did it early in the morning. We saw a ton of bison herds. Some of the bison even crossed the road. We also saw a lot of pronghorn. We saw the pronghorn in herds too. We saw a few of them run and they were really fast. We also saw a few huge elk right in the road. After that we did a really long drive to our next campsite. When we got there Andi and I played at the park for a while. Then we had dinner and watched a movie.

We enjoyed the Junior Ranger program at Yellowstone.
We were able to use an infrared thermometer for some of the tasks.
Mom and Dad liked that part too!