Upper Geyser Basin
Monday morning, July 18, 2005: Having missed Daisy yesterday, I put it at the top of the priority list today. However, it wasn't predicted until 9:55, so I did a little birding early before settling in to wait at Daisy.
 |
 |
| Mountain Bluebird | Northern Flicker |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Spotted Sandpiper | |
Daisy Geyser: Locomotive Breath
It was a long wait for Daisy. It didn't erupt until 10:40 that it finally erupted. With Daisy, you should stay through the end of the eruption. When it's done, it make a sound like a steam locomotive.
 |
 |
 |
| Daisy Geyser | Morning Glory Pool | |
|---|---|---|
Still Grand!
After Daisy, it was a bit of a wait for the next major geyser. I walked to Morning Glory Pool, then over to Grand. Grand did not look promising as West Triplet was erupting and steam was coming out of Rift. I thought it would be a long wait. However, within seconds after Turban started, Grand started to show activity and quickly erupted. This time, the wind was calm and I didn't get soaked. Grand has a second phase (burst) to its eruption, with the second obviously higher than the first.
 |
 |
 |
| Grand Geyser | ||
|---|---|---|
Riverside Geysers and others
From Grand I walked to Riverside, passing Economic and Giant Geysers on the way. I also stopped to take some pictures of a friendly Golden-mantled Ground-Squirrel. Riverside was quiet when I arrived. Based on the water flowing out, Riverside was already in its pre-eruption state. It took it almost an hour before it actually erupted. It shoots out over the Firehole River.
 |
 |
 |
| Economic Geyser | Giant Geyser | Golden-mantled Ground-Squirrel |
|---|---|---|
 |
 |
 |
| Golden-mantled Ground-Squirrel | Riverside Geyser | |
Walking back toward Old Faithful, I saw Sawmill and Tardy erupting.
 |
 |
 |
| Riverside Geyser | Grotto Geyser | Sawmill Geyser |
|---|
Old Faithful Geyser
After spending most of the morning well away from Old Faithful, I was not mentally prepared for the crowd I saw. There were over a thousand people(!) around it waiting for the eruption. This time I watched it from the back side. Then I went for lunch.
 |
 |
| Old Faithful Geyser | |
|---|---|