Morning Glory Pool, one of the "Must See" features in Yellowstone

Paved path to Morning Glory Pool and beyond

We have been to the Old Faithful area several times this month, and on Friday our goal was to walk the 1.6 mile path to Morning Glory Pool. Craig has a theory that whenever the posted distance for a trail or path in Yellowstone is more than a mile, the crowds thin out. This was certainly true here.

The walk was worth it.

In the past, Morning Glory Pool was a brilliant turquoise blue like many of the other pools and springs, but over the years people tossed coins and other things into it, partially blocking the water flow, which caused the water to cool enough that different organisms began to thrive and the water color turned to the green it is today. I'm sure the people did not intend to harm the pool, but now there are signs requesting tourists not to toss anything into this pool or into any other.  They are not wishing wells!

Morning Glory Pool looks like a huge flower and is very deep.

We then returned to our Jeep along the boardwalk that borders quite a few pools and geysers as it winds back behind Old Faithful and to the parking area. Our total walking distance for the afternoon was about three miles.

Here are some of the other neat things we saw in the area:

The built-up cones of these two geysers were pretty big, attesting to their great age. The deposits build at a rate of about one inch per 100 years.

There were many pools, both large and small throughout the area. This one was beautiful in the delicacy of the color. 

The water levels change in the geysers. Sometimes it goes way down and they only emit steam. 

One of two Chromatic pools, deep in the middle.

Splash

Blog note: reader statistics kept by Blogger suggest that we should be more careful with our titles.  It seems that twice as many of you decided to read a post with "Grand Prismatic" in the title, compared to a post about "Mud Volcano".  Who’d’ve thought?  :-)

Finally, I have to mention how absolutely wonderful the weather has been for the last three weeks. I don't like hot or humid weather, and for me the day temperatures in the low 70s has been perfect. When it does get a bit warmer there has been a nice breeze. It has rained in the mid afternoon some days, but mostly the daily rain has been very late in the day or early in the evening. The mornings have been delightfully cool and fresh.

I love this corner of Idaho-Montana-Wyoming in July (this year).