All of the geysers found within Yellowstone National Park of Wyoming have their own unique characteristics before, during, and after their eruptions. One of these characteristics is the design of the geyser landscape itself. Castle Geyser is a good example of this. The eruptions emanate from a massive geyserite sinter deposit cone, whose crenelated structure resembles that of a castle and was thus named by Lt. Gustavus Cheyney Doane, the head of the U.S. Army escort that accompanied the Washburn-Langford-Doane expedition of the year 1870 into the region of northwest Wyoming that two years later would become designated as Yellowstone National Park. Another of these characteristics is the duration and style of its eruption. Castle Geyser has the longest eruption of any of the regular and predictable large geysers. It only erupts about every 14 hours on average, so it usually has only one eruption in the light of day with the other generally occurring sometime overnight. However, its exact time of eruption is impossible to predict. Its window of eruption, the time interval during which the eruption is almost certain to occur, is about 3 hours long. So it does require some waiting time. Even then, it may instead enter into a much smaller minor eruption causing all future predictions to be completely uncertain until has its next major eruption. But assuming this doesn’t happen, it will have a major eruption at some point during the eruption window. A major eruption begins with some violent splashing and large quantities of water being thrown up and out of the sinter cone. A beautiful image of this complete with a bright rainbow is available for sale in our store. This will continue on for 20 minutes or more until finally a constant column of water will come bursting out of the cone, reaching heights of up to 90 feet and holding steady for several minutes. This is known as the water phase and indicates the defined beginning of a major eruption. The water phase will continue to hold a steady column of water that will slowly decrease in height until it changes over to bursts of water in between bouts of steam, which itself will occur for about 15 minutes. This is known as the mixed water-steam phase. As the quantity of water being thrown out in bursts begins to diminish, the eruption begins to evolve into the steam phase. Unfortunately, many visitors walk away believing the eruption is over and missing what is arguably the best part of a Castle Geyser eruption to witness. During its steam phase, which lasts for up to 45 minutes, steam comes roaring out of the sinter cone, sounding reminiscent of a jet engine. The steam is pushed through so rapidly that it forms an easily visible, massive steam vortex spiraling upward. It is something worth hearing and seeing. Here The Wild Images Team captured an image of Castle Geyser during its mixed water-steam phase. 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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