Monday, August 4, 2014

Day 56: Firehole Creek to Old Faithful

Beep beep beep!  Beep beep beep!  For almost two months now, we've slept when we were tired and woken up with the sun. But this morning we planned to visit the Lonestar Geyser, which only erupts every three hours, so we wanted to get there as early as possible. 

Within minutes after we arrived at the geyser, it began rumbling and splashing water. By 6:45 am, torrents of water were shooting up 30 feet, accompanied by a cloud of steam, lasting about five or six minutes, a "minor" eruption for Lonestar. We stayed afterward for hot chocolate and coffee, and Soulshine joined us. At 7:30 the geyser erupted again, shooting torrents of water up to 40 feet, accompanied by a huge cloud of steam. Water and steam continued to shoot out of the geyser for 20 minutes. Then the geyser settled back down, with smaller clouds of steam emerging from it. 

Gray clouds blanketed the sky, and a slow, steady drizzle began just before the second geyser eruption. We hiked on in the rain, reaching Old Faithful with plenty of time to get settled before its next eruption. 

Right on schedule, Old Faithful shot a large jet of water into the sky. The eruption was significantly shorter than the Lonestar Geyser, lasting only a few minutes. Then we were off to the Old Faithful Lodge for ice cream. 

Despite the dreary day, we spent a little more time exploring the area around Old Faithful.  Although we feel the strong pull to keep heading north on the CDT, for us summer is over, duty calls, and it is time to go home.










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