Yellowstone Pt. 3 – Old Geezers.

The next day was decided to be dedicated to Geysers. In particular, we thought that we’d set out to see Old Faithful. After all, how could one travel all the way to Yellowstone and not see the world’s most famous geyser.

There’s a lot of geysers in the park, but the most notable fact about Old Faithful is the regularity with which it erupts and the fact that they can predict the eruption to within about 20 minutes. The guy that took us fishing recommended going to the visitor’s centre first and see when some of the other geysers were likely to erupt as many of them would likely only go off once a day, whilst you could come back and see Old Faithful anytime given its approximate 90 minute interval between eruptions.

We timed our arrival nicely so that it was due to go off in approximately 5 minutes, so we didn’t rush off to see any of the others (some of which had times posted like ‘within 2 hours of 6pm’). We joined the throng of people sitting to wait for the eruption, listened to a talk by one of the rangers about the geyser, its history and its mechanics (I won’t bother explaining, if you want more information, go here)and waited. And waited. It seemed that we managed to pick one of those days where the old geezer was feeling its years and waited until well past the time that it was supposed to erupt.

This of course gave the kids plenty of time to talk about how boring the whole thing was. Sam in particular really wasn’t all that impressed with the steaming hole in the ground that would occasionally spit and bubble in a teasing, preemptory show only to settle back down again.





But with a little more patience, the geyser did indeed do its thing, spouting a vent of hot water and steam impressively high into the air for about 4 minutes. After about 1 of those 4 minutes, Sam was certainly ready to leave.



Following the eruption, we force marched took the kids for a stroll on a walk around the geysers and hot pools in the area of Old faithful. There were some spectacular formations and pools, some of which looked like incredibly inviting spas whilst others looked like festering sulphurous death traps. It was quite frightening to read that a number of people had died in the area in the park’s history as the crust over some areas can be quite thin and it doesn’t take much to crack through it and descend rapidly into your own little lobster pot. Fortunately there is a wooden walkway these days.



The only time we came close to danger was when my hat decided to fly from me head, past the safety railing and onto the – no trespass zone. With some judicious climbing and delicate balance I managed to hang from the support structure for the walk way and retrieve it without even touching the ground.



I won’t write too much more about this part as I think the photos really describe the place more adequately than I can with words.



Let’s just say that after a long walk with tired kids and without seeing any other geysers erupting, the ice cream that the kids were allowed at the end of it was probably the thing that they’ll remember most!