West Thumb Geyser Basin

Trip Start Aug 30, 2008
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Trip End Sep 13, 2008


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Flag of United States  , Wyoming,
Monday, September 1, 2008

We woke up early to have the breakfast buffet at Grant Village with our friends from Ohio. Paul, Will and Kevin really got their money's worth. Our friends set off on their way visiting Old Faithful, Jackson Hole and Salt Lake City. Will, Kevin and I decided to go to the West Thumb Geyser Basin, which was very close to Grant Village. The weather was very cold it was overcast, rainy and spitting snow. The West Thumb Geyser Basin sits right on Lake Yellowstone. The lake it's self was very impressive with 136 square miles. The lake is about 20 miles long and 14 miles wide. It is almost twice as big as the 69 square miles in Washington, D.C. The elevation of Yellowstone Lake is 7733 feet and it is about 140 feet deep but the maximum depth is 390 feet.  This geyser basin dumps 3100 gallons of hot water into the lake every day. But even here, the lake's average summer temperature is 45 degrees F. Cutthroat trout are very common in these cool waters. This geyser basin is actually a caldera within a larger caldera. When a large volcano erupts such as it happened in Yellowstone some 160,000 years ago, the volcano was such a massive explosion that the entire top was blown off. The land then sank and over the years with earthquakes and erosion the landscape is what it is today. All the underground piping from the volcano still exists hence the hot springs, geysers and furmaroles. Yellowstone has the largest concentration of geothermal features than anywhere else in the world. The landscape of Yellowstone is ever changing due to these geothermal features. West Thumb Basin
West Thumb Basin
 The park ranger told us that the active volcano under Yellowstone erupts once every 160,000 years and it has been 169,000 years since the last large eruption. Talk about feeling vulnerable. He said that there are small earthquakes every day in Yellowstone that are monitored by the park service and USGS. Hot Springs have temperatures below boiling and they can occur anywhere that water is able to penetrate deeply within the earth's crust. Geysers and high temperature hot springs are not as common (but you could fool me with all the geysers I have seen throughout  Yellowstone). These features require large volumes of boiling water and rock rich in silicon dioxide. Fumaroles are considered hot springs and they are called "steam vents" when little water comes to the surface because it is boiled away. This steam that is left mixes with other gases specifically hydrogen sulfide and carbon dioxide this causes the rotten egg smell. Mud pots are fumaroles that have been drowned in surface water. The water keeps the steam  from being released into the atmosphere. The water mixes with hydrogen sulfide and bacteria to form sulfuric acid. This acid is as strong as battery acid and disintegrates the rock to form the boiling mud. Pools are hot springs that have enough water coming to the surface that it will not boil away. It also prevents mud from filling the crater. The temperature is so close to boiling that it will not support algae or bacteria. The water is so very clear that you can see far into the crater. 1-West Thumb Basin
1-West Thumb Basin
 The water is not safe to drink because of the arsenic and sulfur. Each geyser has it's own schedule for erupting. They have different intervals, heights and duration of eruption. You could just be walking along the boardwalk and a geyser will erupt right next to you. We saw many fascinating hot springs and geysers in the West Thumb Basin. Right off the shore of the Yellowstone Lake in the West Thumb Geyser Basin there is an unusual geyser cone called the Fishing Cone. During the early 1900's mountain men would stand on the cone and fish for the cutthroat trout. Once they caught one they would just put the fish in the opening of the cone and boil the fish at 199 degrees. Of course this practice is no longer allowed. There are many different colors in the pools throughout the park and they are created by thermophiles (heat-loving microorganisms). When the water is green or brown this indicates that the organisms are in cooler water. The orange and yellow colors indicate those organisms that live in hotter water. Very few can live in boiling water so the water is clear or blue. Water absorbs all wavelengths of light except blue, which the pool reflects. From here Will, Kevin and I drove to the Old Faithful Area. The drive was beautiful as we drove over Craig's Pass at 8262 feet. At this point the weather worsened and the snow was falling harder but not really sticking to the ground. We reached Old Faithful Inn and checked into our room. We set out to do some geyser watching and the first being of course Old Faithful. It was a spectacular display as usual. Old Faithful erupts about every 75 minutes but the interval can range between 45-100 minutes. The eruption lasts about 1 ½ - 5 minutes expelling 3700-8400 gallons of boiling water and it reachs heights of 100-180 feet. It was amazing! At this point my lame foot due to surgery was hurting so I returned to the room and Will and Kevin set out to do some more geyser watching. The weather was getting cooler it was about 34 degrees with wind by this time. They were back after an hour or so. We will spend the day tomorrow visiting the geysers in all the surrounding basins.
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