Yellowstone's Upper Geyser Basin

Our warm, sunny, spring-like weather has been replaced with windy, snowy, and overcast days...typical spring weather in Yellowstone. Since it was too windy & cold for a hike, we decided to visit the Upper Geyser Basin, home to the world's most famous geyser, Old Faithful.

So many visitors to Yellowstone make a huge mistake. Of course, they must see Old Faithful, but what they don't realize is right there in the same geyser basin, there are hundreds of other geothermal features to check out, many even more spectacular than Old Faithful.

Although today was more of a "geothermal" day, the park's wildlife is never too far away. During today's drive we were lucky to see baby bison. As you would expect, the babies are never far away from Mama.

Once at the geyser basin, we were fortunate to see a few eruptions. The first one we came across was Castle Geyser.

The steam from the geysers collects on the nearby trees and freezes on the branches.

One of the many hot springs in the Upper Geyser Basin. This one is called Shield Spring.

Here is a picture of the benches around Old Faithful. During the busy summer months, it is standing room only. Today, if you want to sit, you had better have a snow shovel with you.


We were able to capture another eruption. This time, it is Grotto. With the temperature hovering around 35 degrees, the geyser creates so much steam, it is hard to see the water gushing out.


We had heard that quite a few grizzlies had been hanging around the Upper Geyser Basin. We did not see a bear, but we did see evidence they had been there. Here is a picture of one of the many bear tracks we came across.
You probably noticed there is no picture of Old Faithful erupting. That's because we didn't see it. Well, we saw it above the trees, but were too far away to get any kind of photo. So, the main reason for today's entry: you can easily spend a couple of hours in the Upper Geyser Basin, see some fascinating geothermal features, and not even see Old Faithful.