Yellowstone - Old Faithful

A jaunt along the Biscuit Basin Trail led me to the mesmerising Sapphire Pool. The sapphire colour is almost magical and the water is so crystal-clear, I could see to the very depths of the pool. The hot pool was once placid, until an earthquake in 1959 caused it to start erupting every two hours reaching 150ft (46m) in height. The force of the eruption doubled the size of the crater and the water became murky until it settled down again and by 1971 it returned to its once clear blue colour. 

Crossing Firehole River, I took the Artemisia Trailhead and trekked along a wooded trail until it opened up to Grotto Geyser, which is part of a group of five geysers that erupt in a particular sequence. The Grotto has an odd shape as the sinter (solid mass that formed during heat without melting) most likely accumulated over dead tree stumps. Erupting every six hours up to 15ft (5m) high, the Grotto often erupts in tandem with the nearby Rocket Geyser. When the Grotto erupts, Rocket is usually splashing. A couple of hours after the eruption, the energy may shift to Rocket erupting and Grotto splashing. Rocket’s eruption may reach as high as 50ft (15m).

Whilst there are many geysers in this area and I could spend several days exploring each one of them, the main attraction here is Old Faithful. Discovered in 1870, it was the first geyser to be named. Exploding every 90 minutes to a height of 106-185ft (32-56m), Old Faithful has a record 1,000,000+ eruptions. A predictable geothermal feature, its eruptions can be predicted within a ten-minute variation. During these eruptions, Old Faithful expels anywhere from 3,700-8,400 gallons (14,000-32,000 litres) of water.

One quirky story is from the late 1800s when Old Faithful was used as a laundry. During its quiet time, garments would be placed in the crater. When Old Faithful would erupt, the clothes would be ejected, washed, clean as a whistle. However, that depended on whether the clothes were made of cotton or linen, which would survive the ‘wash and hurl’, but if it was wool, chances are the clothes would end up torn to shreds.

Wrapping it up, I retired for the day at the luxurious Old Faithful Inn. A log structure, the hotel was built with locally sourced lodgepole pine and rhyolite stone. The first stage was built between 1903-04 and has since been expanded and renovated many times. The centrepiece is a stone fireplace that weighs 450-metric-tonnes with an 85ft (26m) diameter. It is the largest log hotel in the world. Designated a National Historic Landmark, the hotel and the geyser are part of the Old Faithful Historic District.



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