Old Faithful
North America | Ricky | June 10, 2010 at 4:03 amThe large geyser of Yellowstone National Park was in the news recently; for all the wrong reasons.
On the 2nd of June, 2010, a lightning strike at the venue injured nine people who were waiting to watch the predictable geyser eruption. One man was hit directly by the bolt and had to be hospitalized.
But before you let this piece of information scare you, let’s be clear about one thing – If you let this remote incident keep you away from Old Faithful, then you’re missing out on a trip of a lifetime.
What is Old Faithful?
Old Faithful is one of the most popular tourist attractions of the Yellowstone National Park. It may not be the biggest geyser of the most regular one amongst the various options that Yellowstone has to offer; but it definitely is the biggest regular geyser.
What is a geyser?
Geysers are the natural versions of a fountain. They throw up jets of steam and water at regular (or irregular sometimes) through a vent that exists on the surface.
Rainwater seeps through the cracks and crevices in the rocks, and it gets drained to crevices that lay deep down. It is said to be so low down that the volcanic heat boils the water in these crevices, and the steam thus created builds up the pressure of the surrounding areas. The pressure finally becomes strong enough to shoot the water upwards through the vent.
History of Old Faithful, Yellowstone
Old Faithful got its name from the first official expedition to Yellowstone – the Washburn Expedition of 1870. When Nathaniel P. Langford and his men landed at the basin for the first time, they were astonished to see jets of water and steam gushing out from the ground. One of them shouted ‘Geyser!’ That’s exactly what it turned out to be.
This good old geyser has been erupting in the same fashion for years now. Given the fact that its eruptions are predictable, it’s easy to plan a trip to watch it in all its glory.
How do they predict the Old Faithful?
The time until the next eruption depends on how long the current eruption lasts. From the time of the first heavy surge to the last small splash, the time is recorded. The longer an eruption lasts, the longer the interval between the eruption that just ended and the next one.
For instance, if the current eruption lasts for 3 minutes, it would mean that the next one will come after 71 minutes; and if the current one ended in 2 minutes, the next one will happen in 57 minutes.
Bottom-line is this, more than one eruption cannot be predicted in advance.
What to look out for:
- Old Faithful has a pre-play of around twenty minutes. It would include some splashing and jetting.
- The actual eruption will start from what looks like another pre-play jet.
- The jetting will continue to grow in height once the eruption begins in its full fledged glory.
- It will take around 10 – 20 seconds to achieve the maximum height that it is going to in that particular eruption.
- The eruption starts waning within a minute.
Regardless of what height the eruption reaches when you’re watching it, it remains to be a sight to see. The magnificence of those water jets, coupled with all that steam makes for a mind-boggling visual.
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The old faithful geyser is indeed a once in a lifetime experience and is a must watch for someone who likes the unpredictable yet utterly amazing sights and scenes! cheers!
even if you miss all the places here, this place is not to be missed, people..
it is a very rare site, so i suggest all to just hav a look at the geyser what yellowstone offers u.,