Old Faithful and Upper Geyser Basin - Yellowstone itinerary Day #2

Read this post to plan the Yellowstone Vacation with kids - How to Plan Vacation to Yellowstone

Our Day #1 itinerary covering Yellowstone Waterfalls - The Grand Canyon of Yellowstone

Our Day #2 itinerary covering the mid-way geyser basin - The Grand Prismatic Spring

 On Day #2, we covered the midway geyser basin in the morning and Upper and Lower geyser basins in the evening.

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Upper Geyser Basin:

The upper geyser basin is composed of multiple paved paths and boardwalks which allows us to see many geysers from nearer. 

This is the place with the highest concentration of geysers. As we all know, Old faithful is the popular geyser in this area.

The Upper geyser basin loop is 3 miles and can be reached from Old faithful inn. 

Upper Geyser basin Trail

The old faithful inn was designed by Robert Reamer in 1903 which is a historic building with lodge pines. The architecture inside is beautiful and the place on the roof with seating to view the Old faithful erupt is well designed.

Old Faithful Inn

We started our trail for the Upper geyser basin from the Old faithful inn parking lot. There are many Bison happily resting near Old faithful inn and rolling in the dust.

The trail starts at the castle geyser. Castle geyser is a big cone and one of the oldest geysers in the basin. As of now, it's erupting every 10 to 12 hrs and the National park service displays the approximate eruption time for all the geysers.

We cross through the crested pool along a bridge and the other side has 3 geysers - Spasmodic, Grand, and Turban geysers. They all erupt at once every 1 to 3 hrs. This is fascinating to watch. The water rises above 10 ft.

The heat in this area comes from Yellowstone Volcano which is inactive. The molten lava or magma is as close as 3 to 8 miles underground in the Upper geyser basin. So, as close as we can get to danger :-)

The beauty pool is colorful to watch. Then we pass through several geysers like Giant geyser, Grotto geyser, and riverside geyser. We saw Grotto geyser erupting venting off a lot of steam and making loud sounds. There is a bench to sit on just before Grotto geyser. We also saw an Elk in this area up close!

Morning Glory Pool:

But, the highlight of this trail is Morning Glory Pool which is one of the not-to-miss locations.

The photos don't do much justice here and you should definitely watch this pool.

Morning Glory Pool

Unfortunately, this pool has become a victim of Vandalism. Since people dropped coins and trash in the pool, steaming vents closed making the temperature drop, blocking the natural spring water.

Orange and Yellow bacteria give the color to the spring that we see now. It would have been magnificent before the steam vents were closed. 

After this trail, we had dinner in Old faithful Inn watching the Old faithful erupt from the roof. This is an amazing view!

Old Faithful Geyser:

What's so special about this geyser that it has become an icon in Yellowstone?

Old Faithful has been faithfully erupting at regular intervals since 1872. The water can rise to 180 ft max when it erupts and it erupts every 60 -110 mins. The eruption might last between 1.5 to 5 mins.

Old Faithful Geyser

The national park service predicts the eruption to the exact hours and mins. Since it erupts almost every 1 hr / 1.5 hrs, it is easy to catch it erupt. We had dinner every day at Old faithful inn and watched the eruption at least 2 to 3 times in those 4 days that we spent in Yellowstone. 

Watch the video of the Old Faithful eruption.

This is the second not-to-miss location in Yellowstone in the Upper geyser basin.

During the eruption, the temperature of water in the Old faithful may reach 204 F. It releases around 3700 to 8400 gallons of water for each eruption!

Old faithful Observation Point:

We were too tired to walk to the observation point, but the trail to the Observation point is around 1.3 miles. From there, you can watch the complete upper geyser basin and the Old faithful.

Lower Geyser Basin:

The lower geyser basin covers all types of hydrothermal features like geysers, hot springs, fumaroles, and mud pots.

We took the trail to the fountain paint pots only as we were tired by that time. The fountain geyser in this area seemed to be most impressive when it erupts. It is the most predictable geyser it seems.

Fountain paint pots are formed by mud pots bubbling and popping mud. They look a little pink and other colors which gave the name Fountain paint pots.

Fountain Paint Pots

Red Spouter is interesting to watch in that area. It is like a hot spring in winter, a muddy reddish pool in spring, and fumarole steam venting out in summer and fall. Isn't it amazing how it changes with seasons?

One more place to watch is Biscuit Basin. We couldn't stop there due to a time crunch. Biscuit Basin loop is a 2/3 of a mile hike that covers some colorful hot springs and geysers. This area is unpredictable and volatile. It recorded an earthquake at 7.5 on the Richter scale in 1959 it seems.

We wrapped up that day and returned to the hotel. The next day we covered Norris geyser basin, Mammoth hot springs, and Roosevelt Arch. Watch out for the next travelogue soon!

Until next time,

Midway Geyser Basin - Grand Prismatic Spring - Yellowstone Itinerary Day #2

 Read the Yellowstone itinerary of Day #1 here. 

On Day #2, we covered the most important and vibrant places in Yellowstone. 

We started after 11 am to avoid traffic as we are going to visit the popular sites that day. We directly reached to Mid-way geyser basin first. 

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Midway geyser basin:

Midway geyser basin is actually a part of the lower geyser basin, but due to its isolated location, and being between lower and upper geyser basins, it's called the midway geyser basin.

The parking area at the midway geyser basin is not very big and so we parked the car on the side of the road just near midway geyser basin. For me, this is one of the not-to-miss locations.

The midway geyser basin trail is a 0.8-mile Broadwalk that passes through multiple hot spring pools like Excelsior geyser, Grand prismatic Spring, and turquoise pool. 

First, we passed through a wooden bridge and we saw the hot water with steam rushing to the Firehole River. This was pretty amazing to watch. It was very windy on that day and the heat from the Excelsior geyser was pretty evident.

Boiling water gushing to Firehole river

Excelsior geyser was once the largest geyser in the world. After its eruption in 1880, it became a thermal spring now discharging 4050 gallons of boiling water per minute. The temperature of the water would be around 199 F. The bright blue color is amazing to watch.

Excelsior geyser

Bacteria Mat and colors!

Here comes the most colorful spring in Yellowstone - The Grand Prismatic Spring. The temperature of the water ranges from 147 to 188 F. This trail is one sure way to walk near the bright blue, green, red, and turquoise colors. But, the best way to watch the colors is through the Fairy falls trail from up!

The trail passes through 2 beautiful, yet small pools - Opal pool and turquoise pool. 

As I mentioned before, the best way to experience the vibrant colors of Grand Prismatic Spring is to watch it from the top. We had a quick picnic lunch and We drove to Fairy falls trail, which is the next stop.

Fairy Falls trail / Grand Prismatic overlook:

This trail gives access to 2 trails - Grand Prismatic overlook and Fairy falls.

An easy 1.2-mile hike takes us through Grand Prismatic spring overlook. Even though the trail is easy, it climbs around 105 ft in 0.6 miles which makes it a bit tough on a sunny day. This hike even on a sunny day is 100% worth of your time.

The Grand Prismatic shows up bright with its blue, red, orange hues letting off steam into the air. This is the largest spring in Yellowstone and the third-largest in the world. This is also one of the most photogenic places in Yellowstone. The various colors of the Grand Prismatic Spring are due to the presence of microbes and due to the sunlight being scattered by mineral particles in water. 

From Overlook

Fairy falls trail is 4.8 miles out and back trail. We couldn't do this trial as we were tired by that time. Fairy Falls is 200m high and one of the spectacular waterfalls of Yellowstone.

We visited the Upper geyser basin which is the home of Old Faithful and the Lower Geyser Basin on the same day evening. But, since this travelogue is becoming too lengthy, will cover them in my next blog post.

Until next time,

Yellowstone Itinerary #Day1

Time is just flying by and I couldn't get enough time to come to this blog post till now. 

Yellowstone National park with geothermal wonders and geysers is the first national park designated in the world. Yellowstone is not just an inactive volcano with hot springs and geysers, but a wonderful ecosystem with waterfalls, forests, mountains around, and a variety of wildlife. 

I am sure Yellowstone National park is a great place to visit for all ages and will meet the expectations of visitors. But, the traffic might be more than expected at most of the places. The trip becomes a bit overwhelming with a lot of places to cover and hike. So, it is recommended to plan the trip better and choose places to visit as per your interest. Check this post about the Travel guide to Yellowstone. 

We reached Yellowstone by evening from Jackson, Wyoming. Grand Teton National park near Wyoming is another beautiful park with zig-zagged majestic mountains which is worth a visit. Read the Grand Teton travelogue here. 

We took the accommodation in West Gate hotel in West Yellowstone near the West entrance. So many Wests :p The hotel is clean and great to stay with kids. The pool is well maintained and free breakfast options are great. 

This post covers the places covered in 1.5 days. On the first day, by the time we reached South Entrance, it's around 4 PM. On the way to the West thumb geyser basin, we saw beautiful waterfalls on the way. 

West Thumb Geyser Basin:

West thumb geyser basin is unique as the hot springs and geysers are on the banks of West thumb lake. The scenery is pretty amazing while walking on this boardwalk trail as we can see the vast lake and mountains too. 

The inner-loop trail is around 0.3 miles and the outer loop 0.5 miles. This trail is on Broadwalk and covers many hot spring pools, fumaroles, and geysers.

This is a good introduction to the park. Don't miss the abyss pool, Black Pool, and Fishing cone.

By the end of your trip, you will become familiar with these terms -

As per nps site,

This map is super useful to understand the places to visit and all the entrances. 

https://flic.kr/p/7JYsuX

After visiting West thumb, we turned left to follow the route to the West entrance. We drove through the famous geyser Old faithful in the Upper Geyser Basin, Midway geyser basin, Lower geyser basin, Madison junction, the west entrance to West Yellowstone. We had dinner at Old faithful inn on the way to West Yellowstone and watched the Old faithful erupt while eating. 

We didn't cover anything on that day, but I suggest you cover a small waterfall - Keppler cascades near the upper geyser basin (no hike required) and Firehole falls on Firehole canyon road if you have time. 

Day #1 itinerary:

The next day we started after breakfast and reached the west entrance around 11 am. The traffic was ok till Madison Junction, but from there it was going bumper to bumper. Since the west part is more popular this is expected at this time.

We quickly changed our plans ad turned left from Madison junction to cover Canyon. We didn't stop by Norrison Geyser basin as we plan to cover it later.

We reached Canyon by 2pm and we could do a small hike to Gibbon falls on the way. These falls are beautiful and the paved trail is only 0.5 miles.

Gibbon falls

Grand Canyon of Yellowstone:

One of the beautiful parts of Yellowstone is Canyon. We reached Lower falls road through North rim drive. 

Brink of lower falls is 0.7 miles out and back trail which is a must-visit! Don't miss this! It's amazing to see the rainbow while the water is gushing down. But, the trail is steep and it takes time with children to go down. Carry lots of water and snacks.

Rainbow

Lower falls is the largest waterfall in Yellowstone. This 308-ft waterfall is the most photographed location in Yellowstone. Lower falls can be seen from different viewpoints like Inspiration Point, Grand View, and Lookout Point.

Brink of Upper Falls is 0.3 miles out and back trail. Brink of Upper falls is not as steep as the brink of lower falls. Uncle Tom's trail is tough but provides beautiful views of upper falls. 

Upper falls is an 110 ft waterfall, not as majestic as lower falls, but is completely worth a visit. It can be reached by south rim drive. 

Artist Point:

Whatever I say in words, it is very less when compared to the grandeur of Artist point. I realized why it is called Artist point after watching the falls from the viewpoint. 

You need not be an artist to get inspired by nature, after all. If nature can impress a common man, an artist can paint a great painting, right? 

It is one of the not-to-miss locations in Yellowstone. 

Artist Point

If you feel hungry, don't forget to stop by Canyon village. There are several options to dine in there. 

After the canyon, we drove towards the West thumb geyser basin on Grand loop drive. We drove along Yellowstone lake. Yellowstone Lake is the largest high elevation lake in North America at 7000ft above sea level. The Yellowstone lake continues to West thumb lake where there are multiple underwater hotsprings, geysers, and fumaroles. 

Mud Volcano and Dragon's Mouth Hot spring: 

On the way to Lake village, you can stop by Hayden valley where you can spot wildlife in the evenings. We returned from Canyon in the evening and we spotted a lot of Bison, Elk, and Moose. We stopped at Mud Volcano near Hayden Valley.

Bison

Mud volcano is a 0.6-mile loop trail on Broadwalk. One of the most acidic features of the park known as Sulfur Caldron is here. The strong pungent odor of rotten eggs can be experienced here. 

Dragon's mouth spring is a highlight of this area. It is a hot spring with water bubbling out from a cave releasing gases. While it releases gases, it produces a booming and gurgling sound like the growling of an animal. Since there is a lot of pressure, steam also vents out from the cave at the same time. Pretty amazing to watch!

On the way to Lake village, you can hike to the Natural bridge if you have time. It is a 2.5-mile trail through the forest. 

We continued on the Grand loop drive crossing the west thumb geyser basin towards Old faithful. We stopped by Old faithful lodge for dinner. They have good veg dinner options as well.

It took around 45 mins to reach West Yellowstone from Old faithful. Thus we completed the lower loop of figure 8 in Yellowstone :-)

It is good that we changed our plan to cover Canyon on the first day instead of covering Old faithful and others that are busier in the mornings.

As usual, we got stuck in traffic for at least 30 mins while returning to West Yellowstone near Madison junction. Usually, people stop to look at a wildlife or for river access near madison causing traffic jams. Sometimes, animals cross the road and of course, they have the right of way :-)

Without knowing we easily hiked 7 miles on that day covering all the above places.

The next day's plan is to cover the most famous parts of the Yellowstone - Lower geyser basin, Midway geyser basin, Grand Prismatic Spring, and Old faithful inn in the Upper geyser basin. Stay tuned for the #Day 2 itinerary.

Until next time,

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