Hot Stuff

I wasn’t with the boys yesterday the two times that they saw Old Faithful go off, so I was determined to catch it this morning. True to its name, within five minutes of the predicted time…

Thar' she blows!

We spent the rest of the morning exploring the Upper Geyser Basin, the area surrounding the Old Faithful Inn. In addition to the Jr. Ranger program, the Old Faithful Visitor Education Center offers a Young Scientist workbook for $5, which helps the kids think through the scientific method to answer the question whether or not the thermal features here in Yellowstone are alive. We also checked out a backpack which contained items to help them answer their questions, the coolest of which were an infrared thermometer to measure temperature and a stopwatch to time eruptions.

One of the questions J had to answer was, “What is the name of a scientist that you know?” He picked my co-worker, SC.

Me: What about me?

J: That's kind of weird to put "my mom" down as an answer.

Me: Gee, thanks a lot. 

As we made our way around the basin, we saw several of the geysers erupt…

Beehive

Castle

Grand

 

…as well as many colorful (and smelly) hot springs.

Beauty Pool

Morning Glory Pool

J and K put their stopwatches to use to see how long they could go without talking. 

J lasted for 2 hours! Can I just say how much I really enjoyed hiking with him?! Although playing charades with a 9.5 year-old can be tough – poor guy was so frustrated that no one could guess what he was trying to say!

So, are the thermal features alive? Yes and no. While the geysers and springs themselves are not, there are bacteria which are capable of living in this harsh environment. These are the things which give the pools their color and me a job! Geek alert: an enzyme from these bacteria is used in the polymerase chain reaction (PCR), the technique which revolutionized molecular biology!

Bacteria mats
(thermo = heat, phile = loving)

After returning the backpack and receiving their patches, we had a quick lunch back in our room (the boys thought picnicking on the floor was fun) and then we were on our way again to see more stuff. Our next stop was the Midway Geyser Basin. Excelsior Geyser (now dormant, more like a hot spring) dumps boiling water into the Firehole River…

And the Grand Prismatic Spring is absolutely stunning…

This picture doesn't do the Grand Prismatic justice

Both boys enjoyed getting “steamed” by the springs, alternating with being cooled off by the breeze. Whose weird children are these?

From there, we continued on towards Madison (another passport stamp for me!)



Madison River

And then on to Norris Geyser Basin. But by the time we had gotten there, J had fallen asleep in the car. Rather than wake him up, we turned around and went back towards Old Faithful.

Just past Madison we took Firehole Canyon Dive, a one-way loop off the main road, to see Firehole Falls.

We also stopped at the Fountain Paint Pot area for more mudpots, fumaroles, and geysers.

Spasm Geyser

When we arrived back at Old Faithful, we headed over to the lodge cafeteria, where we were meeting our friends for dinner. Old Faithful was about to blow, so there was a big crowd gathered to watch. However, no one seemed to notice the bison that was right there.

Once Old Faithful started erupting, the bison immediately stood up, did his "business", and started walking around. That's when people started to pay attention, some people more than others...

These people shouldn't contribute to the gene pool.

This is our last night at Old Faithful – tomorrow we’ll be heading to Canyon.