Norris Geyser Basin - Yellowstone NP

Steamboat Geyser, the world's tallest active geyser, had recently erupted for the first time in more than a year.  This geyser is three times the size of Old Faithful, shooting scorching water, steam, and debris (sand & silica) more than 300 feet in the air.  A much bigger show, but unlike Old Faithful, Steamboat is completely unpredictable...one year or fifty years, no one knows when it will go off again...

The next best thing to seeing it erupt for ourselves would be hearing a first hand account from someone who was there.  That's exactly what the program was that we rushed over to catch...one ranger telling his story of a middle of the night dash to the geyser basin...

It was the middle of the night, so he was in his room when the structure started to shake...he got to the nearest doorway to brace himself for "the big one", sure that the Yellowstone caldera was about to blow, so strong were the quakes he was feeling...

Then he got a call, not the caldera amping up to burst, but Steamboat Geyser.  Like a freight train rumbling through the pipes of the park, it was getting ready to put on it's elusive show...

He said they raced to the Norris basin and as close as they could get to Steamboat...and it was blasting away.  They were in complete awe...

The spot where we were sitting during his talk...

...was drenched the night of the eruption.  Most of the evidence was gone, except under the benches there was still a layer of fine white dust.  Spewed forth from the depths of the earth by this strange pressure release valve of nature.

His story was excellent, totally worth the hustling to get there on time.  I'm so glad we made it (with only 1 minute to spare!).

He also told us about the building near the parking for the trails in that area.  Inside is a seismograph that records any and all rumblings in that particular portion of the park.  The data is transmitted to the University of Utah for further study and monitoring.  Well, he told us that it is so sensitive that even the footsteps along the paths register and are recorded.  Being the mature individuals that we are, ahem, we had the idea to leave our "seismic signature".  We all stood together right outside the building and in sync we jumped.  Kapow.  Seismic signature.  You're welcome University of Utah...puzzle that one out ;).

We checked out some other parts of that particular area...

beautiful, but deadly...look closely and you can see that the water is boiling...

...then we went over to the Artists' Paint Pots.  You follow a dirt/gravel trail through the woods...

...that ends in a clearing full of these little holes in the ground.  In each one is bubbling mud and water of different colors.  Like paint pots :)...

Very cool :).  Yellowstone is full of so many amazing things...