Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Visiting Geyserland
    Visiting Geyserland
    Visiting Geyserland
    Ebook92 pages1 hour

    Visiting Geyserland

    By Janet Chapple

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    This ebook helps you find and appreciate the geysers and hot springs in the ten Yellowstone geyser basins and other hydrothermal areas that are convenient to the roads. The descriptions are excerpted from Yellowstone Treasures: The Traveler's Companion to the National Park (2013), a full-color, 400-page guidebook to the entire park. Throughout the book you'll find clear maps and anecdotes relating historical experiences with the geyser eruptions. At the front is a list of precautions to take near the dangerous hot water, as well as reminders about drinking water and other amenities you will need. At the end are resources to explore if you want to learn more about geysers, and the search function allows you to look up the description of any geyser or hot spring you encounter in the ten hydrothermal areas.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherGranite Peak Publications
    Release dateOct 15, 2014
    ISBN9780985818241
    Visiting Geyserland

    Read more from Janet Chapple

    Related to Visiting Geyserland

    Related ebooks

    United States Travel For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      Striper Island

      Oct 5, 2021

      I’ve always had a thing for islands. I fished five islands in the North-east, by boat and from shore, for so many years that I consider them home waters. Most of the large stripers I’ve taken have come off four of those islands, which are swept daily

      4 min read

    • Article

      Searching For Victorio

      May 11, 2021

      Searching For Victorio
      6 min read

    • Article

      John Zada Is Still Searching for Sasquatch

      Jul 17, 2019

      The journalist and photographer on how a boyhood preoccupation turned into a book-length adventure story about the American Bigfoot, in all of its forms. The post John Zada Is Still Searching for Sasquatch appeared first on The Millions.

      9 min read

    • Article

      RV Storage

      May 6, 2020

      RV Storage
      5 min read

    • Article

      Leave No Trace

      Apr 1, 2021

      Leave No Trace
      8 min read

    • Article

      Notorious Norfolk

      Feb 9, 2022

      Notorious Norfolk
      17 min read

    • Article

      People Of The Plains

      Oct 1, 2021

      People Of The Plains
      3 min read

    • Article

      Fish Funnel

      Oct 3, 2017

      Fish Funnel
      8 min read

    • Article

      Deep Dives

      Aug 12, 2021

      Deep Dives
      4 min read

    • Article

      Living It Up In Death Valley

      Jul 1, 2022

      Living It Up In Death Valley
      2 min read

    • Article

      Rocking The Pilbara

      Mar 17, 2020

      Rocking The Pilbara
      7 min read

    • Article

      Depths of Wonder

      Mar 28, 2023

      Depths of Wonder
      5 min read

    • Article

      Surf And Turf

      Nov 16, 2023

      Surf And Turf
      7 min read

    • Article

      Australia’s 10 Best Public Pools – Sorted

      Mar 13, 2022

      Australia is internationally renowned for its beaches and (dying) coral reefs, but, for those not fortunate enough to live by the sea, the public pool is an institution. In my early 20s, I developed what would become a chronic back condition that kic

      6 min read

    • Article

      In The Solomons’ Caverns

      Sep 10, 2018

      In The Solomons’ Caverns
      3 min read

    • Article

      Take A Hike

      Jul 29, 2022

      Take A Hike
      6 min read

    • Article

      Top End Adventure

      Feb 27, 2024

      Top End Adventure
      6 min read

    • Article

      The Land Of Fire And Ice

      Sep 10, 2018

      The Land Of Fire And Ice
      6 min read

    • Article

      A Lake Of Superlatives

      Jun 1, 2019

      A Lake Of Superlatives
      4 min read

    • Article

      Places They Swam

      Jan 2, 2019

      Places They Swam
      3 min read

    • Article

      Desert River

      Oct 17, 2019

      Desert River
      7 min read

    • Article

      The World In A Grain Of Sand

      Sep 2, 2020

      The World In A Grain Of Sand
      6 min read

    • Article

      Remote Rudall River Run

      Mar 26, 2024

      Remote Rudall River Run
      6 min read

    • Article

      Harbour Highlights

      Sep 23, 2019

      Harbour Highlights
      5 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for Visiting Geyserland

    0 ratings

    0 ratings0 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

      Book preview

      Visiting Geyserland - Janet Chapple

      www.yellowstonetreasures.com

      INTRODUCTION

      Yellowstone Park has some 10,000 hydrothermal features or hot water phenomena, more than any other place in the world. A frequent nickname for Yellowstone in its early years was Geyserland. Visiting Geyserland will help you find and appreciate the geysers and hot springs that are convenient to the roads.

      Here you’ll find excerpts from the Yellowstone Treasures guidebook’s descriptions of the park’s ten hydrothermal areas that are easy to visit, listed alphabetically. Three areas divide neatly in half so you can shorten the walks: Upper Geyser Basin, Norris Geyser Basin, and Mammoth Hot Springs. Two areas, Firehole Lake Drive on the road from Old Faithful Village to Madison Junction and Upper Terrace Drive at Mammoth, are accessible to cars, allowing you to enjoy their most outstanding features without much walking. Always check at visitor centers for recent geyser activity.

      Icons in the text and on the maps indicate bicycling trails, parking, restrooms, wheelchair access, and the following:

        Recommended short walk or part of walk

        Recommended short walk with pamphlet available

        Self-guiding trail with Yellowstone Association pamphlet available

        Trailhead

          Worth making time for

      Don’t miss!

      For four idyllic summers of her childhood, author Janet Chapple lived near Old Faithful Inn, where her father was transportation agent. Janet’s Visiting Geyserland, based on her many years of thorough research for the guidebook, is intended to be a totally portable guide to the geyser basins during your visit.

      Of the many people who have contributed in some way to her guidebook, the author would especially like to thank the following for making Visiting Geyserland possible: T. Scott Bryan and the Geyser Observation and Study Association, especially Tara Cross, for the majority of the geyser information; Beth Chapple, editor; Marie Weiler, typesetter; and Linton A. Brown, mapmaker.

      Precautions for Your Geyser Walks

      Bring drinking water, sunscreen, and a hat for protection from the extra UV radiation at the park’s high altitudes.

      The only restroom in Upper Geyser Basin is a chemical toilet near Morning Glory Pool. No restrooms at Biscuit Basin or Firehole Lake Drive; at Mammoth Upper Terrace Drive, the restroom is at the outer parking area.

      Stay on the walkways and watch children vigilantly; the water is hot and the crust near the hot springs and geysers is thin and brittle.

      Do not touch the water. You can be scalded at 120°F (49°C); the pools and geysers range in temperature from 142° to 205°F (61–96°C).

      Always wipe off geyser spray from eyeglasses and camera lenses, since the silicon dioxide can leave permanent spots.

      Biscuit Basin Loop Walk

      This hot spring area is accessible to wheelchairs, but has no curb cut. See the map on page 28.

      The first area after the footbridge has been surprisingly active since 2006. Black Opal Pool erupted explosively in May 2009, causing geologists who happened to be present to debate whether it had an especially forceful eruption or a hydrothermal explosion. Late in the 2012 season Black Opal and the next two pools, Black Diamond and Wall, had merged into one large pool, at least temporarily.

      In the distance near the river is a relatively new perpetual spouter informally called Salt and Pepper for its early tendency to throw out dark rocks in addition to water.

      The once crystal-clear Sapphire Pool was delightful to watch. Visitors stood transfixed, watching a string of bubbles from far below, followed by an overall sizzling, and then a surging boil that engulfed the whole spring. Then, due to the 1959 Hebgen Lake earthquake, Sapphire began erupting 125 feet (38 m). These violent eruptions increased the size of Sapphire’s crater, destroyed its unique biscuits, and changed its shape from circular to oval. By 1964, the eruptions were much smaller, and a few years later it ceased any significant activity.

      Take the boardwalk loop to the right beyond Sapphire to see several other features, including the deep cavernous vent of Black Pearl Geyser. Black Pearl was thickly studded with quarter-inch black knobs when it was named in the first part of the twentieth century. At the boardwalk curve is Mustard Spring, really two small geysers connected underground.

      Avoca Spring is the grotto-like cone located near Mystic Falls Trailhead. Avoca was a boiling spring until 1959, when it developed into an erratic geyser.

      Silver Globe Geyser, next to Avoca and connected to it, can mesmerize you when it has silvery white bubbles rising from deep within its clear pool. Here’s proof of the erudition of early Yellowstone namers, especially of tour guide George Henderson: he called the geyserite arch in and over Silver Globe Geyser the Zygomatic Arch, because it reminded him of a human cheekbone.

      A number of very hot features (including Avoca Spring and others to its south) are grouped into the Silver Globe Complex. Geyser expert T. Scott Bryan has suggested that a marked increase in activity here beginning in 1983 was linked to an Idaho earthquake of that year centered 150 miles (240 km) away at Borah Peak (Idaho’s highest point).

      Continuing around the boardwalk, you find Shell Spring (actually a small geyser). It has an irregular crater that may remind you of a clamshell. The crater has a mustard-colored lining from sulfurous deposits splashed on during its very frequent small eruptions.

      Chances are good that Jewel Geyser (at the boardwalk junction) will erupt for you. Jewel generally erupts every seven to nine minutes, sometimes to 20 feet (6 m) high. In the 1930s, rangers found that Jewel would draw down a handkerchief placed in one vent and expel it from another during an eruption, but this practice was stopped when injuries occurred. (See Black Sand Basin Walk for the original Handkerchief Pool.)

      Two more very active geysers are located near the Biscuit Basin parking area. Out on an island in the Firehole River to the south is Island Geyser, which erupts most of the time. Near the road is Rusty Geyser, with an iron-oxide-stained crater.

      Black Sand Basin Walk

      This hot spring area is accessible to wheelchairs, but has no curb cut. You can see all its features by walking less than a mile (1.6 km). See the map on page 28.

      If you take the sidewalk

      Enjoying the preview?
      Page 1 of 1