Saturday, October 12, 2019

Steamboat Geyser at night, Norris Geyer Basin, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming


This is a shot of Steamboat Geyser in the middle of the night.  Steamboat Geyser is the world's tallest active geyser and starting in the spring of 2018, it has entered a very active phase where the interval between eruptions is averaging about a week or so.

We went to Yellowstone at the end of July to early August 2019 to try to see a major eruption of Steamboat.  This photo was taken during the night of July 29th to July 30th while we waited overnight to make sure we didn't miss seeing it erupt.

Steamboat Geyser is in the Norris Geyser Basin in the northwestern central part of Yellowstone National Park.  This basin is considered to be the hottest and most acidic of Yellowstone's thermal basins.

While we waited overnight, Steamboat just steamed away and splashed water out once in a while, but didn't erupt that night.  However, our waiting did pay off after the sun rose, since it finally did erupt at 7:20 AM on July 30th. It continued erupting for much of the day, but we left after two hours and it was still going strong.

Remember, it's not just a picture, it's a story.