Sort
of a frozen waterfall at Mammoth Hot Springs, early winter. The springs
at Mammoth deposit a mineral called travertine, a form of calcium carbonate.
Because of this the formations here are very different than in most of
Yellowstone's other thermal areas. They grow much more rapidly than
in the geyser basins, and have a tendency to form a series of pools - the
"terraces".
Some
frosty grass and twigs beside a hot spring runoff channel, Mammoth, December
'95.
Minerva
Terrace, Mammoth Hot Springs. In recent years Minerva has been one
of the more active springs at Mammoth, but activity here shifts around
frequently.
Looking
up at the Main Terrace, Mammoth Hot Springs. This particular portion
of the terrace has no hot water flowing over it, no colorful hot spring
algae, so it looks gray and dull (the white is snow). I liked the
formations though. Kind of reminds me of the painting "The Scream".
Orange
Mound Spring, on the Upper Terrace Drive at Mammoth. No elaborate
series of terraces here, just a big steep mound, probably built up by a
small steady flow of hot water, something like the Liberty
Cap. The upper Terrace drive is a narrow one way loop road through
the upper portion of Mammoth Hot Springs. You get around the lower
portion by way of boardwalks.
Looking
back toward Mammoth Hot Springs with the sun lighting up the steam columns.
The
Boiling River, a few miles from Mammoth. Not actually boiling, but
pretty hot. This big hot spring rises from a sort of sinkhole in
some old travertine deposits, flows as a good size stream maybe 100 yards
or so, and pours in groups of short hot water falls and cascades into the
Gardner River.
Near
Indian Creek campground, Yellowstone National Park. This was the
first cross country ski trip I ever took. My first winter working
in the park I arrived a few days late, after the main group of workers
went to Snowlodge. While I was riding the bus to Yellowstone the
government had run out of money or something, so the park was shut down,
so I was stuck in Mammoth with a bunch of unemployed employees with not
much to do. To entice us to stay they gave the people in Mammoth
free ski lessons and ski rentals, free snowmobile time, and free hot tub
time. Pretty nice while it lasted. The people at Snowlodge
got none of this - probably the company figured they were pretty much stranded
down there with no easy way to leave.
Roaring
Mountain, on the road south of Mammoth. The side of the mountain
here is covered with steam vents (a.k.a. fumaroles), some of which used
to roar in the old days. This was taken on one of those free snowmobile
trips.
I
did eventually make it to Old Faithful Snowlodge that first winter.
This is Old Faithful Geyser. It's a big, impressive sight.
Even after working in the area and seeing it hundreds of times I would
still stop what I was doing and watch it go off.back to the Yellowstone Pictures Page