CHAPTER XVI.

A TOUR OF THE PARK.

_Lower Geyser Basin to Upper Geyser Basin._

Distance, nine miles. Road follows the Firehole River. Midway Geyser Basin, already described, is passed four miles out. No other object of interest is met until the visitor actually arrives at the _Upper Basin_.

This locality is probably the most popular with the tourist of any in the Park. Its two rivals, the Grand Cañon and the Yellowstone Lake, are so unlike it as not to admit of any comparison. It is the home of the genus _geyser_, as seen in its highest development. There are fifteen examples of the first magnitude and scores of less important ones.[BC] The quiescent pools and springs are also numerous and of great beauty.

[BC] For list of names of geysers, with heights of eruptions, see Appendix A, VII.

The first important feature _en route_ is the _Biscuit Basin_, which is reached by a side road leading to the west bank of the Firehole River. It contains a fine geyser and several beautiful springs. The most interesting are the _Jewell Geyser_ and the _Sapphire Pool_. Near this locality is the _Mystic Falls_, a fine cascade, on the Little Firehole River.

_Artemesia Geyser_ comes next to the attention of the tourist. It has been known as a geyser only since 1886. It is on the right of the roadway, at a considerably lower level.

The _Morning Glory_ is a little further up stream. In this beautiful object the quiescent pool is at its best. Its exquisite bordering and the deep cerulean hue of its transparent waters make it, and others like it, objects of ceaseless admiration.

The _Fan Geyser_ is close by the Firehole on the east bank, not far above the Morning Glory. The _Riverside_ is also on the east bank at the point where the road crosses the river. It is an inconspicuous object when not in eruption, and one would scarcely suspect it of being a geyser. It spouts obliquely across the river, and not, like most geysers, vertically.

Next in order, after crossing the river to the Westbank, is the _Grotto_, remarkable for its irregular and cavernous crater. A little further on, close to the river, stands the broken crater of one of the Park's greatest geysers, the _Giant_. Lieutenant Doane compared its crater to a "huge shattered horn."

A few hundred feet further up stream, still close to the river, is the _Oblong_. Directly across the road, but a short distance away, is the _Splendid_, well worthy of its name; and near it, sometimes playing simultaneously, is the _Comet_.

To the westward from the Firehole, nearly on the divide between it and Iron Creek, is a lovely spring, called the _Punch-bowl_. Across the divide in the _Iron Creek_ valley is the _Black Sand Basin_, a unique but beautiful pool. Near it is another attraction, _Specimen Lake_, so named from an abundance of specimens of partly petrified wood. The limit of curiosities in this direction is _Emerald Pool_, which competent judges pronounce to be the finest quiescent spring in the Park.

Returning to the Firehole by a different route, we pass a large spring or geyser known as the _Three Crater Spring_. Its three craters are connected by narrow water ways, making one continuous pool, though fed from three sources.

A thousand feet to the north, stands the most imposing crater in the Park, that of the _Castle_ geyser. It is frequently seen in moderate eruption, but rarely when doing its best. As ordinarily seen, it throws a column of water only 50 or 60 feet, but at times it plays as high as 150 or 200 feet.

Castle Geyser Cone.]

[BD] See foot note, page 168.

Crossing the river to its right bank, nearly opposite the Castle, there are found within a narrow compass three noted geysers, the _Sawmill_, _Turban_, and _Grand_. Of these, the last is by far the finest, and ranks among the very greatest geysers in the world. It was not seen by the Washburn Party, in 1870, but it seems to have been the first geyser to welcome to the Upper Basin the Hayden and Barlow parties in 1871. Captain Barlow says of its eruption:[BE]

"This grand fountain continued to play for several minutes. When dying down, I approached to obtain a closer view of the aperture whence had issued such a powerful stream. A sudden gush of steam drove me away, following which the water was again impelled upward and upward, far above the steam, till it seemed to have lost the controlling force of gravity, and that it would never cease to rise. The roar was like the sound of a tornado, but there was no apparent effort; a steady stream, very graceful and perfectly vertical, except as a slight breeze may have waved it to and fro. Strong and smooth, it continued to ascend like the stream from a powerful steam fire-engine. We were all lost in astonishment at the sudden and marvelous spectacle. The proportions of the fountain were perfect. The enthusiasm of the party was manifested in shouts of delight. Under the excitement of the moment, it was estimated to be from three to five hundred feet in height."

[BE] Page 25, "Reconnaissance of the Yellowstone River."--See Appendix E.

Further up the river on the same side and at some distance back, are the _Lion_, _Lioness_ and the two _Cubs_, an interesting group, including one notable geyser. Half way up a high mound of geyserite which covers a large area on the north side of the river, is an exquisitely beautiful formation called, from its appearance, the _Sponge_.

On the top of the mound is another of the great geysers, thought by the Washburn Party to be the greatest in the world, the _Giantess_. It belongs to the class of fountain geysers, and when not in action strongly resembles a quiescent spring. Its eruptions are infrequent and irregular, but when it does play it is a sight not to be forgotten. Mr. Langford thus describes the first eruption known to have been seen by white men:[BF]

"We were standing on the side of the geyser nearest the sun, the gleams of which filled the sparkling columns of water and spray with myriad rainbows, whose arches were constantly changing--dipping and fluttering hither and thither, and disappearing only to be succeeded by others, again and again, amid the aqueous column, while the minute globules, into which the spent jets were diffused when falling, sparkled like a shower of diamonds, and around every shadow which the denser clouds of vapor, interrupting the sun's rays, cast upon the column, could be seen a luminous circle, radiant with all the colors of the prism, and resembling the halo of glory represented in paintings as encircling the head of Divinity. All that we had previously witnessed seemed tame in comparison with the perfect grandeur and beauty of this display."

[BF] "The Wonders of the Yellowstone." See Appendix E.

Between the Giantess and the river is the _Bee Hive_, also one of the most prominent geysers. The symmetry of its cone is only surpassed by the regularity of its water column. From an artistic point of view it is the most perfect geyser in the Park. Its slender jet attains a great height and is vertical and symmetrical throughout.

Crossing again to the west bank of the stream and ascending to the very head of the basin, we come to the last and most important of the geysers, _Old Faithful_. Any other geyser, any five other geysers, could be erased from the list better than part with Old Faithful. The Giant, Giantess, Grand, Splendid, and Excelsior, have more powerful eruptions. The Bee Hive is more artistic. The Great Fountain has a more wonderful formation. But Old Faithful partakes in a high degree of all these characteristics, and, in addition, has the invaluable quality of uniform periodicity of action. It is in fact the most perfect of all known geysers.

To it fell the honor of welcoming civilized man to this region. It was the first geyser named. It stands at the head of the basin and has been happily called "The Guardian of the Valley."

It is located in the center of an oblong mound, 145 by 215 feet at the base, 20 by 54 feet at the summit, and about 12 feet high. The tube, which seems to have originated in a fissure in the rock, has an inside measurement of 2 by 6 feet.

The ornamentation about the crater, though limited in extent, is nowhere surpassed for beauty of form and color. In particular, the three small pools on the north side of the crater and very close to it are specimens of the most remarkable handiwork which Nature has lavished upon this region. A singular fact is that the waters in these three pools, although so close together as apparently to be subject to the same conditions, are of different colors. Speaking of these marvelous appearances, Lieutenant Doane says: [BG]

"One instinctively touches the hot ledges with his hands, and sounds with a stick the depths of the cavities in the slope, in utter doubt of the evidence of his own eyes.... It is the most lovely inanimate object in existence."

[BG] Page 29, "Yellowstone Expedition of 1870." See Appendix E.

In its eruption this geyser is equally fascinating. It always gives ample warning, and visitors have time to station themselves where the view will be most perfect. The graceful column rises, at first with apparent effort, but later with evident ease, to a height of 150 feet. The noise is simply that of a jet of water from an ordinary hose, only in intensity corresponding to the greater flow. The steam, when carried laterally by a gentle breeze, unfurls itself like an enormous flag from its watery standard. The water is of crystal clearness and the myriad drops float in the air with all manner of brilliant effects. To quote Lieutenant Doane again:

"Rainbows play around the tremendous fountain, the waters of which fall about the basin in showers of brilliants, and then rush steaming down the slopes to the river."

The uniform periodicity of this geyser is its most wonderful and most useful characteristic. It never fails the tourist. With an average interval of sixty-five minutes, it varies but little either way. Night and day, winter and summer, seen or unseen, this "tremendous fountain" has been playing for untold ages. Only in thousands of years can its lifetime be reckoned; for the visible work it has wrought, and its present infinitely slow rate of progress, fairly appall the inquirer who seeks to learn its real age.

It is worth while, however, to note the enormous work which this geyser daily performs. A conservative estimate, based upon an extended series of observations made in 1878 by the United States Geological Survey, shows that the outpour for an average eruption is not less 1,500,000 gallons, which gives 33,225,000 gallons per day. This would supply a city of 300,000 inhabitants. The combination of conditions by which the supply of heat and water, and the form of tube, are so perfectly adapted to their work, that even a chronometer is scarcely more regular in its action, is one of the miracles of nature.