YELL Day 36

Thursday 08/01/2013

This was one of my field trip days so I headed back to Old Faithful for some unfinished business. I went on a ranger-led walk in the Upper Geyser Basin and learned so much! I can't even begin to tell you the fascinating things I learned. Anyway, the ranger said he had a secret to share and that he wanted to build suspense during the tour. Well. That didn't last. At the second stop he blurted out, "I can't stand it anymore!!! Steamboat Geyser erupted LAST NIGHT!!!"

Okay, if you're not a geyser gazer then you may not know that this is RARE. It was 2005 the last time it happened. We were told it could steam anywhere from 10 hours to 40 days after an eruption, so the Old Faithful rangers were spreading the news and telling us to head over there just to see the after steam. So I did. The road was closed off. Turns out no one got hurt (even though visitors were running pell mell toward Steamboat when it started to go), but the geyser is so big and usually spits out rocks to the point that cars in the parking lot get damaged. I could have hiked in (probably) from Norris Campground, but decided to go home knowing that K would have heard the news at work. He was already eating lunch when I arrived so I had a big smile on my face when I walked in. I didn't get a smile back. He just looked at me with a mixture of jealousy and disappointment saying, "Heavenly Father loves you so much. You get to see EVERYTHING! You get geysers and grizzlies and all sorts of happy surprises." I answered, "Relax. The road to Norris was closed--they wouldn't let me in." So we drove over there in the evening, together, after K got off duty. I packed a picnic supper and drove while he ate his chicken salad sandwich. I parked the car and he jumped out and ran off. I didn't see him again for another twenty minutes or so. He couldn't wait! This is the proof he really was so terribly excited: he REQUESTED to have his picture taken in front of it!!!