Minute Geyser, Yellowstone National Park

We stopped and enjoyed this smaller geyser for about half and hour while it erupted just like in the video. I am trying to figure out time to get back to Yellowstone. I think going when it is very cold and just before the snow comes is the best time.

Castle Geyser -- Yellowstone National Park

This is a video. Located in the North Section of the Upper Geyser Basin in Yellowstone National Park, Castle Geyser has a distinctive shape made up of geyerserite sinter deposits. It erupts about every 10 to 12 hours for about 20 minutes to a height of 90 feet. We watched this geyser through its whole cycle of eruption.

A Geyser Rainbow

The steam and condensation from the geyser formed a close-to-the-ground rainbow. Conditions for this have to be perfect, with sunlight at the right angle and you have to be standing in just the right spot to see the color. The geyser is Castle Geyser in the Yellowstone National Park, Upper Geyser Basin. Castle Geyser only erupts every 9 to 11 hours.

Boiling Pools

Thermal pools are relatively rare. But this is only part of their attraction. A trip to Yellowstone National Park puts you in hot pool overload. You can walk by a dozen of them in a matter of a few minutes. It is sort of like being in an art museum. One or two catch your eye but the rest fade into the numbers in the background. It is only when you take a photo and later look at each photo that you can begin to appreciate what you saw at the time. This particular pool probably has a name but did not merit a sign.

Watching the Geyser

It is really hard to get a sense of scale in photos of things like a geyser. This long shot of people watching the eruption of Grand Geyser in Yellowstone National Park gives you an idea of how large all of this country really is. Other areas where the scale of the view becomes lost are the Grand Canyon and any of the mountains in the Rocky Mountains.

Morning Frost

Some of the benefits of moving further north from our traditional desert home, are the new opportunities to see the effects of frost, ice and snow. We did have a few frosty days in the Arizona-Sonora Desert around Mesa and Phoenix, but further north the effects are more dramatic. In this image, the contrast of the white frost against the pastel colors of the plants is exquisite. You may need to click on the image to enlarge it to see all the detail.

White with Foam

With Spring right around the corner, it is time to start thinking of Summer and places to go. I guess there are places, like Alaska, where you can get high mountains and the ocean at the same time. But here along the Wasatch Front, we have high mountains and the only ocean-like thing we have is the Great Salt Lake. This photo is from the real ocean, the Pacific to be exact. But the photo did get me thinking of warmer weather and the ocean again.