West Thumb
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This is really an impressive, scary
area. The bubbling, boiling hot springs continually billow clouds of
rotten-egg stinky steam. Everywhere signs warn you not to step off
the path because the crust is thin and you can fall thru and be cooked.
Along the top of the photo, you can see part of Yellowstone Lake, which
is like a cold benign neighbor to these hot springs. |
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It's amazing that grass & wildflowers grow
right up to the edge of these features.
"Life will find a way," Lou quoted from Jurassic Park as we
strolled by. |
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I guess we were there at a nice time, because
the boardwalk was not always jammed with people. |
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Stinky stinky steam cloud. Hold your
breath and walk faster... but gosh with this elevation, don't walk too
fast. |
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I've cooked spaghetti in a pot of boiling
water that didn't roil and roll and splash as much as this little hole in
the ground. |
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The cloud here obscures the totally unexpected
Caribbean blues and greens of these deep hot springs. We could see
quite a way down into the spring.
The walls are lined with white lumpy rock, deposited as the water comes
up thru the underlying rock which it has dissolved of minerals. |
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More of the same, but with orange areas which
remind us of the kitchen counters in our first house. The orange is
either minerals (iron) or a bacterial mat. We both sort of zoned out
during part of the tour. |
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You look off into the grassy treed area and
think, "I could stroll thru there nicely," but then you notice
the death steam clouds... |
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Take me back to Aruba for some snorkeling,
man!
The white along the edge reminds Lou of the salt around a margarita. |
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Great shot of that lumpy white rock that lines
the pools. |
Our guide Kevin said he had never seen this
geyser go off during his three summers of leading tours. Could not
name it. It really blew! |
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We are looking at Yellowstone Lake, very close
to the shore.
People used to catch fish and without even taking them off the hook,
dangle them into this boiling water (dark circle) to cook the fish.
Really wore down the cone around the dark circle, plus they tested and
found an unhealthy concentration of arsenic there... |
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Another hot spot in the lake near the shore. |
