A Hot Time at Yellowstone

                                   

            Cold weather is still killing us, so let’s go where it’s really-really warm, OK? Or hot, actually.

            Yellowstone National Park’s geyser Old Faithful is one of the most treasured and heavily visited natural wonders in the nation. But Ruthie and I had never seen it, so while driving toward Montana we cut off on one of our larger detours and went there.

            When we arrived at the visitor center the attendant grinned hugely, “Get ready to see the most spectacular geyser in the world! It’s due to erupt at exactly 11:09…just a few minutes from now!”

            As we headed for the observation area, I laughed off the attendant’s remark. “She said…”exactly”? Like a train schedule? Come on!” Having studied geology, I knew better. I thought.

            Less skeptical, Ruthie shushed me with a laugh of her own. “Well, Geology Boy, you never know. You might be surprised this time.”

            We quickly joined the sizable crowd of spectators at the handrail and stared expectantly at the broad mound of mineral deposits hundreds of feet away. Out there the geyser was still only venting up little puffs of steam. Those around us were getting restless. Someone beat me to the punch, grousing impatiently, “Well, is it going to blow or what!?”

            All of a sudden I thought those puffs were speeding up. “Ruthie, you set with the camera!?”       

            She was peering through the viewfinder. “I’m focusing, dear! I… OH!!”      

            The geyser jetted skyward and as it shot ever higher we all broke out in cheers! After gaping at it, I glanced at my watch and saw…it was right on-time!

            When it subsided we were pumped up enough to drive to another viewing area, Midpoint Geyser Basin. Here, visitors get a close-up look at steaming fumaroles of the non-erupting variety, mini-geysers spouting only as high as your head, and aquamarine pools simmering at near boiling. Following the boardwalk, we were struck by the mineral deposit’s array of colors, a painter’s palate of iridescent yellows, oranges, and reds.

Standing behind the guardrail amid the acrid reek of sulfur, we peered down into a deep pool of steaming water. A gorgeous phosphorescent blue-green, it tempted us to reach down and touch it. A sign explained we were seeing vividly colored microorganisms which thrive in these super heated pools. Another sign, one of many in intervals all along the boardwalk cautioned visitors: “Do not touch the water! Serious injury could result!”

So help us, a guy walking past and clutching his hand gave us a pained pout and whined, “When I reached in, I got burned!”

As we continued around, the gusty wind made us hold onto our hats. Others had not, as seen by all the head gear scattered out beyond the walkway. Park workers used long extension poles to gather up the litter. Meantime, signs warned, “Under no circumstances must one leave the boardwalk to retrieve personal items!”  As if the hot springs all around weren’t explanation enough, the sign said the mineral crust was so thin in places that people could break through into scalding-hot pools. We winced at thinking of lobsters tossed into boiling pots.

We stopped to look into a dark hole in whose depths was a whitish, frothy stew of bubbly boiling water. When it suddenly vented up, we yelled-“Whoa!” and jumped back. Barely higher than us, the geyser quickly subsided to resume its bubbling. Keeping our distance, we watched until it soon shot up again and quickly retreated. We laughed at ourselves for being so jumpy about something so small.

We had nearly circled the walkway when, inspired by her inner artist, Ruthie stopped for some final close-ups of another steaming pool. Clicking away, she enthused, “See? At this angle the water color is sapphire?” Shuffling sideways, she went on, “But over here it shifts to deep green!” Click-click!  True, the wide variety of color schemes here seemed to change as you looked at them.                                                    

Not to brag, but all our travels had convinced me that I was one adventurous guy. Yet, I was getting jittery about the mighty dynamics at work all around us. My old studies had taught that huge hot zones of molten magma were seething and churning this instant directly beneath our feet. In fact, the entire Yellowstone basin was a vast caldera left 600,000 years ago after a super volcano had erupted. Worse, all these venting geysers and steaming pools said it was still very, very active. The people at the Yellowstone Volcanic Observatory had assured that this place was not going to blow itself up anytime soon.

I thought-Swell, but what if…? “Sweetie, this place really is stunning, but let’s hit the road for Montana, OK?” Over there, at least, the parks wouldn’t explode.         

We left thinking we’d return someday to see more of this wondrous place. We had sure experienced some heatedly exciting moments. But if we did come back, I’d keep a quick escape route in mind.