The geysers, particularly Old Faithful, was our destination for our first day of exploration at Yellowstone National Park. We went exploring a little bit, on arrival the day before, and saw some of the wildlife in the park. It was close to Madison Junction, a campground area, where the road intersected near the middle of the grand road loop that goes around the park. The grand loop forms a figure “8” that allowed for travel by vehicle to different areas of the park.

Most of the geysers were located in the southwest portion of the lower grand loop. Old Faithful, the most popular, was at the most southern portion of the lower grand loop.

We were stopping and viewing as many geysers as we could that were not congested. We thought that it would lessen the chance of exposure to the COVID19 virus. Our ultimate destination was still Old Faithful and we wouldn’t skip it.

Geysers can look very similar. There were signs though, posted at some sites, that gives a unique description of a particular site. Were it not for these signs, the untrained eye of the visitor would have had a perception of just looking at very similar geysers.

A considerable crowd was already gathering at the viewing area. We were wading through the crowd until we finally found a spot along the left side that was sparsely occupied. As we were wading through the crowd, I was overhearing comments that the geyser has not been as “faithful” as before. Apparently, a past earthquake was affecting its timing and the eruptions has been slightly less predictable. The crowd continued waiting patiently and was eventually rewarded with a show.

There were a lot of interesting areas in the geyser field. A boardwalk exists, one mile in length, looping around and allowing for views of the smaller geysers. A small group of bison, not a herd, shown above, has made this geyser field their territory. It was grazing, oblivious of human presence, but glaringly capable of dangerous interaction. There was even a hiking trail that provided access to an upper elevation called Inspiration Point. The view was spectacular.