Yellowstone Adventure: Upper Geyser Basin

Another day off and another day to find a hike to go on that wouldn't end in me getting eaten by a grizzly.  I found a flyer the other day on the Upper Geyser Basin trails.  This is in the Old Faithful area.  As many times as I've stopped at Old Faithful I did not realize that there are literally miles of trails and boardwalks to the north of Old Faithful.

I started off on the overcrowded boardwalks and quickly came to my first trail.  I wanted to go to Observation Point which on top of a mountain behind Old Faithful.

 

The trail marker warned of a 200 foot elevation gain which apparently deters the average Old Faithful visitor.  I'm from Colorado and I am only deterred by elevation gains of a thousand feet or more.   These fields of wild flowers were beautiful!

 

There were other people on the trail, but much of the time I was by myself (with bear spray in hand).

 

Here's the view from the top.  That's Old Faithful below with the crowds lined up on the boardwalk that surrounds the geyser.

 

After leaving Observation Point I came to Solitary Geyser.  Way back they tried to pipe hot water from here to a nearby hotel.  Apparently it didn't work so well so they restored it to how nature built it.  This geyser erupts about every 5-7 minutes so I waited.  Then I missed getting a shot of the eruption.  It was quick and beautiful and best of all it was just me and four others there to watch it. 

 

Eventually I made my way back down to the boardwalk.  This is a couple miles out and you can see that not many people venture this far.

 

I passed some beautiful pools.

 

This is Giant Geyser.  Its eruptions are as high as 200-250 feet.  It last erupted on September 28, 2015.  I decided not to wait around for it.

 

This is the Grotto Geyser.  This is the one I most wanted to see on this hike.

It's really unusual and doesn't look like the other geysers I've seen.  At this point I decided to turn around because I could see the weather was about to change.

Around all these geysers the trees are all white and dead.  I assume the sulfur  kills them.  They are kind of creepy looking.

 The only wildlife I saw was a couple chipmunks, a beautiful hawk, and the above lone bison.  Yes, the one that the dad above has his children near on bicycles (far in the distance from where I am).

I took the loop around to Daisy Geyser.  It only erupts once a day and I missed. it.

Then there was Castle Geyser.  Castle Geyser is shaped this way because of old age.  It has been erupting for thousands of years and erupts twice per day.  I didn't hang around because I wanted to make it back to Old Faithful in time for its eruption, but I did see it erupt from Old Faithful.

 

More pools which I think are intriguing.  By this time I needed to hustle to make it to Old Faithful by its next predicted eruption time.

While waiting for Old Faithful I was treated to an eruption of the Castle Geyser.  All these geysers are interconnected so when one erupts in an area, it won't be long until the next one erupts.  These geysers change over time due to seismic activity.  An earthquake can awaken a geyser or put one to sleep forever.

 

See the ridge at the top of the mountain?  That's where I was about three hours prior at the Observation Point. 

I waited for about 15 minutes and then Old Faithful put on its show.  Amazing!

After the six mile loop that I completed I treated myself to a greasy hamburger from the grill at the General Store.  It started raining and thundering when I left so the timing for the day was perfect.

I know I've said this before, but I'm going to keep saying it.  The only way to truly see the beauty of Yellowstone is to get out of the car and onto the trails.  There are so many hidden gems that 90% of the visitors never see.  I know because up until a few years ago I used to be one of those visitors.

Living the dream!