Day 58 - Saturday, September 13, 1997

We drove into Yellowstoe and hit the geysers today!! The roads in the park suck raw eggs, hence they are being rebuilt. When originally built they just paved over the ground. That means that frost heaves have simply ruined much of it. It also means that they must tear up the entire road so they can build a foundation to lay the new road. So once again we found ourselves following a pilot car and driving on gravel and dirt (after waiting about 30 minutes while the other side go to go). But enough of that!

We saw Old Faithful today. Marci watched it from ground level while Jim hiked up to Observation Point about 200 feet up and 1/2 mile away to watch the gusher. It's really quite spectacular. Old Faithful is located in the Lower Geyser Basin, which contains numerous other geysers and fumaroles (another thermal feature). We hiked around to see them.

We then stopped in Midway Geyser Basin and saw Excelsior Geyser, which once erupted for two days straight. We didn't see it erupt. We then cruised around Fire Hole Lake, which is a lake fed by geysers and fumaroles. The water here is hot, hot, hot! Our final stop was at the Fountain Paint Pots, which are geysers that, for various reasons, are really just bubbling cauldrons of mud. The chemicals make them colorful, hence the name Paint Pots. They smell great - sorta like my father did after eating chicken for dinner!