Another great summer season of Yellowstone visitation is coming to a close today, as November temperatures drop and deep snow soon arrives. I spent Friday doing a bit of Geyser gazing in the western part of the park. It’s been awhile since I enjoyed this popular activity. I joined a friend and colleague for the day bouncing around the Upper Geyser Basin looking for the next semi-predictable eruption. The weather was awesome, with blue skies and warm temperatures.  Castle Geyser was spectacular, with a small crowd of on-lookers enjoying a beautiful rainbow in the geyser mist.

We closed the day where we began, at Great Fountain Geyser on Firehole Lake Drive. We hoped to see an eruption there in the early morning, but all was quiet then. When we visited again shortly before sunset, hot water was trickling over the natural berm walls indicating an eruption was not long off.  It wasn’t clear if the imminent eruption would occur before or after the sun dipped beneath the horizon, but we got lucky as the eruption began with the warm sunlight near the horizon illuminating the exploding water, making it seem to glow.

It was a great day, and indeed a great year in the park. I can’t wait for a winter visit to the northern part of the park which still remains open!