A geyser that needs no introduction, the world famous Old Faithful Geyser never ceases to amaze! Does Old Faithful Geyser of the Upper Geyser Basin in Yellowstone National Park of Wyoming deserve all of the attention and praise that it receives? Absolutely. Why? Because it is easily the tallest, most predictable, and most frequent geyser in the world. It is not the tallest geyser in the world, that title belongs to the mighty Steamboat Geyser in the Norris Geyser of Yellowstone National Park. It is not the most predictable geyser in the world, that belongs to Daisy Geyser in the Upper Geyser Basin of Yellowstone National Park. It is not the most frequent geyser in the world, there are some that erupt every few seconds or are perpetual spouters, geysers that never cease erupting at all. But among the tallest geysers in the world, Old Faithful Geyser is the most frequent performer and the most predictable. As its name suggests, it is very faithful to its timely eruption schedule and it erupts very frequently. Its eruptions occur almost like clockwork, but in what is known as a bimodal distribution schedule, where the interval between eruptions can be one of two possibilities, either 65 minutes or 90 minutes. The duration of the previous eruption will determine which of the two intervals it will follow for the subsequent eruption. The eruption can last anywhere between 1.5 minutes and 5 minutes. Those that last less than 2.5 minutes will predict the next eruption to be 65 minutes later give or take about 10 minutes, and those that last more than 2.5 minutes will predict the next eruption to be 90 minutes later give or take about 10 minutes. Before it erupts, it will begin throwing bursts of water out of its cone. Sometimes it will rise up several tens of feet, before dropping back down again. Eventually it will lock into an eruption, and the water column will rise up to at least 150 feet, often times reaching up to 200 feet, and hold there for several minutes. After this, its height will slowly diminish until it becomes a gently steaming cone. It is a surprisingly difficult geyser to produce a great photograph during the height of its eruption due to the enormous amount of steam that envelops the superheated water column. Most photos of Old Faithful Geyser will appear as just a flat mass of steam. But with the right time of day, usually late afternoon at the earliest though closer to sunset is often the best, coupled with a beautiful sky can create a great setting as viewed from the west side of the geyser. But most importantly, and the one that is often not present, a stiff westerly wind must be present to blow away the steam curtain and expose the fine details of its water layers as seen in the above image and also in this absolutely gorgeous sister image captured moments before that is available for sale in our store. This blog post represents our final entry (though it will appear at the top due to the reverse order) in the Geysers of Yellowstone National Park series that we have been writing over the last several months. In this series we have covered the details of many geyser eruptions that we have had the privilege to observe and photograph while spending several months in Yellowstone National Park each season over the span of 5 years. The Wild Images Team has captured many other photos in Yellowstone National Park including a Beehive Geyser eruption with a massive rainbow, the world famous Old Faithful Geyser with water textures, a towering Grand Geyser pause burst eruption, a sunset Castle Geyser eruption with a bright rainbow, an afternoon Riverside Geyser eruption with a rainbow, an early morning Lion Geyser eruption with a rainbow, a very difficult to catch Oblong Geyser blue burst eruption, the extremely powerful Artemisia Geyser eruption with deep bursts, the very moment of waves from a Great Fountain Geyser initial eruption, an iconic White Dome Geyser eruption at sunset, the large bursts of a Fountain Geyser eruption in steam, the delicate red light on a Grotto Fountain Geyser eruption at sunset, the defining moment of a Rocket Geyser eruption at sunset, the extremely brief Aurum Geyser eruption with colors, a view through a Cliff Geyser eruption of Black Sand Basin, the colorful patterns of bacterial mats in Midway Geyser Basin, the changing conditions that cause a rainbow to parallel the Snow Lodge, the Biscuit Basin duo of Black Diamond Pool and Opal Pool, the colorfully pock marked waterways of the erupting Blood Geyser, the active steppes of the Mineral Terraces of Mammoth Hot Springs, the distant double rainbow over the Lewis River Canyon, the before eruption reflections of sunset over the terraces of Great Fountain Geyser, the deep colors of sky reflections over Beauty Pool, the thermally induced sunset light filters through the steamy trees, the intense moment of mammatus clouds over the Firehole River, the very early morning fog surrounding Lower Yellowstone Falls, the runoff created reflections over the colorful runoff pan of Constant Geyser, the unworldly terrain of the extensive Porcelain Geyser Basin in Norris, the deeply hued steam over colorful bacterial mat reflections of Grand Prismatic Spring, the contrast of runoff channels surrounding the blue superheated water of Sapphire Pool, differing wave patterns created by the colorful submerged Fishing Cone Geyser, the strong green created by the record depths of mysterious Abyss Pool, the moment the full moon rises over the Grant Village Lakehouse, the cloud symmetry of a sunset reflection over a calm Yellowstone Lake, and moments earlier with a cloud shelf reflection over a calm Yellowstone Lake, each of which are available for sale in our store. Blog posts from Yellowstone National Park have documented the Old Faithful Geyser eruptions, the steamy Oblong Geyser eruptions, the deep drain Uncertain Geyser eruptions, the steep crater Depression Geyser eruptions, the amphitheater Grand Geyser eruptions, the impressive Fan and Mortar Geyser eruptions, the very quick Aurum Geyser eruptions, the rooster tail Whirligig Geyser eruptions, the series type Lion Geyser eruptions, the tall grotto White Dome Geyser eruptions, the frequent Sawmill Geyser eruptions, the double cone Atomizer Geyser eruptions, the nozzled Beehive Geyser eruptions, the cratered Fountain Geyser eruptions, the deep pool Artemisia Geyser eruptions, the playful Vixen Geyser eruptions, the scenic Riverside Geyser eruptions, the very rare Ledge Geyser eruptions from above, the very rare Ledge Geyser eruptions from below, the gurgling Tilt’s Baby Geyser eruptions, the bursts of Great Fountain Geyser eruptions, the hidden Dome Geyser eruptions, the tilted Daisy Geyser eruptions, the remote Pink Cone Geyser eruptions, the long Castle Geyser eruption water phases, the loud Castle Geyser eruption steam phases, the stark Constant Geyser eruptions, the rim wall Cliff Geyser eruptions, the initiation from Grotto Fountain Geyser eruptions, the continuation of Grotto Geyser eruptions, the defining moment of Rocket Geyser eruptions, the marathon Spa Geyser eruptions, the blue waters of a Spouter Geyser eruption, the isolated Artist Paint Pots throwing mud, the little seen intricate burst of a mud volcano, a view of a dozen visitors under a Beehive Geyser rainbow, the eruption through numerous vents of Fan and Mortar Geysers, the enormous amount of water through the runoff channels of Excelsior Geyser, the otherworldly view of cloudy blue runoff pools in the Porcelain Basin, the moment that a large bison bull rolled in his claimed dirt pile, the rule for the right of way wildlife, the high altitudes where a large raven that perches over the Dunraven Pass, the the day that a phoenix streaked across the backcountry sky, the trail from Grant Village that crosses over this suspended bridge, The Wild Images Team in the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, our Photographer Jeremy Robinson shadowed in Morning Glory Pool, and The Wild Images Team Travel Gnome at the Yellowstone National Park entrance sign.
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