Old Faithful, other Geysers and Springs

One of the “must see” places in Yellowstone is, of course, Old Faithful.  We did stop and see it erupt (is that the word for what geysers do?), and we also walked along a nearby trail to see the other geysers and springs located in the immediate Old Faithful area. Take a look –

 

Here is an iconic shot of the geyser that Yellowstone is famous for.  I was very lucky on this day because when Old Faithful erupted, there was one cloud overhead and as Old Faithful grew in size, I noticed that the cloud began to look like it was part of the geyser!  It isn’t, but this shot looks somewhat like Old Faithful has produced a mushroom cloud!

Isn’t this a cool shot?  I just love it!  The colors are absolutely real – meaning not enhanced by me at all!  You are probably asking what this is – well, it’s a form of bacteria, based on the signs in the immediate area.  I know, sounds kind of yucky, but this does look really cool!  Of course, it’s sitting in some incredibly HOT spring water, so you can’t reach it and touch it  to see how it feels…….not that I would do that with strange bacteria…..

One of the things I love about the springs (and about having a polarizing filter on my lens) is that the water is so clear, you can look into them and really see the depth for oneself!  This also doesn’t really look like it has any water in it, but trust me, it does!  And, it was steaming quite a bit!!

 

One of the things that really struck me here was that the geysers and springs were surrounded by green grassy meadows.  This image really captured that.  It looks sort of surreal to see all the colors of the oxide in the springs and geysers as they meet up in this sort of stream, with green grass just beyond them.

 

This image is taken in an area that isn’t technical part of the Old Faithful area, I did include it in this posting because it is a cool collection of springs.  It’s called Artist Paintpots, and I think if one saw it from the overlook above, one could really see all the striking colors.  We did not climb to the top to the overlook, but I think we got a nice idea of how pretty it looked from higher up.

Enjoy!