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Trees absorb the minerals and die, slowly turning to stone
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The water is mostly just below the boiling point
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That's one tenacious pine tree!
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The mud pots make these gloopy bloopy sounds as the bubbles burst
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Different color clays make different color mud
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Some geysers erupt almost continuously
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Sometimes, nearby geysers are hydrologically linked
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The runoff makes for a weird landscape
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Water colors reflect the minerals in it
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The colors often accurately indicate water temperature
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The White Dome Geyser erupts about every 24 minutes. We waited . . .
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. . . and voila! The geyser reaches about 30ft and lasts for about 2 minutes
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The sounds of an eruption add a lot to the visuals
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Pink Cone Geyser erupts about every 11 hours
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The eruption reaches about 25ft and lasts about 45 minutes
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Firehole Lake contributes water to the Firehole River
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Crowds gathered to witness an Old Faithful eruption
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Old Faithful isn't the most regular geyser in the park
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But it's certainly the most popular and most predictable
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Some geysers erupt from within springs or ponds
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They often throw a lot of water around
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Almost all of them smell strongly of sulphur
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Cliff Geyser is a tease - it splashes a lot but rarely goes full height
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Bacterial mats grow in the runoff - the temperature determines the type of bacteria
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Some hot pools get very large
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Some have spectacular coloring
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You can see why early reports of these things were not believed
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Cliff Geyser teasing again. Never did see a 40ft eruption
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There was one Japanese family that kept posing with the geyser
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They never did get an eruption and smiles at the same time
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It's bacteria, not gold - but ain't it purty?
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Most water is so clear you can see deep into the pool
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And some just spit steam at you
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Yellowstone has more geysers than all the rest of the world combined
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Some of them are very dramatic
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More gorgeous colors
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Great Fountain Geyser erupts every 10 hours or so
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Eruptions start about an hour after the crater spills onto the terraces
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Good eruptions can reach 150ft. This one got half that
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Hot water flows into the Firehole River
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Slow moving runoff makes terraces that are very complex
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The colored bacteria stain the rocks beautifully
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People can't walk in the water, but the elk and bison do
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We were told by a frequent visitor that this dragonfly fell into the water at least four years ago. Well preserved.
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Spectacular
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Some of these sights are absolutely unique on this planet
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Kids hurrying to an Old Faithful eruption - or maybe ice cream.
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Some of us exploit the shade when possible
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Old Faithful may be predictable, but it's still spectacular
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Very few plants can grow where the acid content is highest
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Cool colors
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It's like you can see forever down there
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Yellowstone is at about 7,000 ft - water boils at about 206 degrees
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The camera in the cell phone is our backup camera
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Judy uses the real camera most of the time
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The West Thumb Geyser Basin adjoins Yellowstone Lake
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The geysers and the lake are not hydrologically connected
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Some geyser water runs into the lake, but not enough to affect it much
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Fishing Hole Geyser is in the lake; folks used to cook their fish in there
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More great colors
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Takes a lot of energy to move that mud
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This is NOT a dinosaur footprint.
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Mud Volcano - you can see why it's named that
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These trees died after a 1959 earthquake raised the soil temp to 180 degrees
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Gee that's nice
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Bacteria mats are living pool covers
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Steamboat Geyser is the tallest geyser in the world
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It erupts to heights of 330 feet or more every few years. Today it sputtered
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Look! Natural carbonation. Call Perrier!
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Echinus Geyser erupts once the crater is full
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The explosive eruptions reach 50 to 100ft
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It goes off every couple of hours. We both sunburned waiting for it
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After the eruption, the crater drains, then the process repeats
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That those trees ever grew at all shows how the thermal activity changes
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The terraces at Mammoth Hot Springs
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Looking down at the "village" of Mammoth from the top of the terrace
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Earlier in the day, there's more steam
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Some geysers are small (and usually noisy)
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Shelves inside pools show previous water levels
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Looks like the inside of some caves we've seen
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This is Ear Spring, named for its shape
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Castle Geyser is usually one of the most predictable geysers
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Marvelous colors and formations
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Almost looks like the rocks are alive
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Water is lethally hot
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Castle Geyser nomally erupts to 80 ft every 10 hrs. But not today
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Grand Geyser can hit 200 ft. It went off just as we were leaving.