Yellowstone: Norris

After Artist Paintpots, our next stop was Norris. This is the hottest section of the park and there are a lot of thermal features! We first went to Porcelain Basin (most of which was closed due to work on the boardwalks) and then to Back Basin. We enjoyed walking around although it was quite stinky!

U and Me with Porcelain Basin in the background.

Lizzie and Megan stuck together a lot of the time.

Matthew with a fumarole behind him.

Love all the steam.

View at the bottom of Porcelain Basin.

Me and Sarah in Porcelain Basin.

Such color! The color is determined by the microorganisms that live in the water at that temperature.

The water is such a pretty blue color.

Sarah giving her brother a ride on our way to Back Basin.

Emerald Spring.

Chipmunk!

Matthew, U and Me in front of Steamboat Geyser. Steamboat Geyser is the tallest geyser in the world and is generally unpredictable in terms of when it erupts, often going years between eruptions. However, since March of this year, it has been erupting fairly often. It erupted the day before we visited and was still giving off lots of steam. The park rangers said that seeing the steam plume is the next best thing to seeing the eruption. (We actually saw the plume quite a ways off in the car as we were approaching and wondered what it was.)

Steamboat's steam plume.

Megan, Lizzie, Ben and Matthew a bit farther down the trail with Steamboat's steam plume seen in the background.

Echinus Geyser. This geyser used to erupt regularly but no longer does so. It's very colorful.

Matthew looking at Echinus Geyser.

We loved seeing all the different colors.

Matthew with Crater Spring.

At Green Dragon Spring.

Close up of where the steam is coming out so you can see the green.

Vixen Geyser. This was one of our favorite geysers as it erupted almost continuously but at different heights. Some would be quite small whereas others would be several feet high. It was entertaining to watch!