Five in One

What an exciting day!  We - Rose, Steve and myself, started out to see one of the biggest geysers today and ended up seeing 5 of the major geysers in one day.  We started out going to Grand Geyser, the tallest predictable geyser in the world.  Predictable to within 2 hours, plus or minus.  We picked the approximate middle of that time and waited, probably just about 30 minutes or so.  It was fabulous. There was a group of about 100 people sitting around waiting, and when it did finally erupt, folks cheered and oowed and aahed. It is a fountain geyser meaning that it erupts with bursts, some up to 200 feet, unlike Old Faithful that is a steady column.  It lasted about 12 minutes, at times the 2 smaller geyers that accompany it also erupting.  After that we wondered over to Riverside Geyser, not knowing when it was suppose to erupt, but luckily it was estimated to go off within an hour.  After about 45 minutes, we were rewarded.  It was so cool.  More of a column that shot over the Firehole River and lasted about 20 minutes.  On the way there, we found that Grotto Geyser was erupting.  That crazy geyser erupts from 1 1/2 hours to 24 hours.  Again, just amazing.  At one time, there was a grove of trees in that location, so when the geyser started, thousands of years ago, it covered the trees with a coating of the silicone like substance.  Finally heading home,  we passed by Castle Geyser and saw that it was expected to erupt at any time, we were withing the 4 hour give or take time.  After about 15-20 minutes, it erupted and again, incredible.  It is one of the largest siliceous sinter formations in the world.  Pleased with our day, we headed back to the residence and as luck has it, Old Faithful  erupted as we were walking by it.  It only lasts 2 to 5 minutes, so compared to the others, it was the least spectacular.  Not to mention that I must have seen it erupt a couple dozen times.  As I said before, what a day.

After supper, Rose and I went to the Ranger presentation at the visitors center.  The topic was Poop in the Park and dealt with the various scat in the park.  The ranger made the strange topic so interesting, giving great explanations about why certain poop looked the way it did.  At the end of it, he pulls out his ukulele and put the words to a song he made up quickly summarizing what he just spent 45 minutes explaining.  Sorry, I can't remember any of they for you.

I have tomorrow, Saturday, off.  We're planning to go to Black Sand Basin, Biscuit Basin and off to Mystic Falls trail off of Biscuit Basin. There are boardwalks around the first two places so it's easy walking.  Mystic falls is more challenging, but we're getting pretty confident about some of these hikes.

Sunday, four of us are heading to the Cowboy Cookout in Roosevelt.  A horse drawn wagon takes us to the cookout location where we get steaks cooked to order, and a great selection of sides and entertainment.  I'm not sure what kind. Rose is vegetarian, but didn't want to order the vegetarian meal so Brenda, Steve and I will share her steak.

My phone quit in the middle of todays adventure so I hope it's just out of power.  Sometimes when I run it way down, it takes awhile to regenerate.  keep your fingers crossed for me.

I'm sitting in the Snowlodge because I can't get wifi in Obsidian again.  Sitting next to me are 4 hikers who are hiking the continental divide.  Yellowstone is a common resting place for them. They are full of stories about their adventures.  Can't help thinking about Heeso and his hikes.  More later.