This was the moment that we had been waiting for. And waiting. And more waiting. What was so special about this moment? An eruption of Ledge Geyser of course, and under ideal photography conditions on top of that. So why the wait? Well, like the vast majority of the geysers around Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming, Ledge Geyser is not predictable. It also does become completely dormant for several years at a time, during which no eruptions occur at all. Even during the times when it is active, it has infrequent eruptions. All of this translates into a rare eruption at any given time, let alone on a day that happens to have nice weather, good lighting, and a great background sky. After having been dormant for 7 years, Ledge Geyser suddenly sprang back to life in 2015 when it started having regular eruptions. Regular is a relative term though. It would erupt once every 3 to 9 days, so it had an eruption window of 6 days. At any point during those 6 days, it could erupt without warning. And it was just as likely to happen overnight or in bad weather common to the area at the altitude of Yellowstone, around 8000 feet. Over 5 days before this eruption, its previous eruption occurred overnight and therefore was not under ideal conditions. And over 7 days after this eruption and then again over 5 days after that, its successive eruptions happened early in the morning and were heavily steamed over, again not under ideal conditions. As a matter of fact, the only other one that happened under any sort of ideal conditions was not for three weeks later, and it was plagued by false starts. After a couple more overnight eruptions beyond this, Ledge Geyser went completely dormant for 4 more years, and has had only a couple of sporadic eruptions since. So this was the day. And nicely The Wild Images Team was there to capture an entire series of photos during this particular eruption, a sister image of which is found for sale in our store. Besides being a rare geyser to witness, Ledge Geyser has a few characteristics that make it really stand out. It is the second largest geyser in the Norris Geyser Basin, which is quite an honor considering that the largest geyser there, Steamboat Geyser, is also the largest geyser in the world. Ledge Geyser can reach heights of 120 or more feet above its elevated location on its namesake ledge. It has one of the longest eruptions for any intermittent geyser, lasting for over 6 hours! It is also one of the loudest eruptions to hear, as during the entirety of its eruption, it sound like the hum of a jet engine. Actually, The Wild Images Team took an opportunity to capture some images from another viewpoint during the lengthy eruption, and we were struck by how quiet it seemed once we moved even a short distance away. And then there is the steam. As may be apparent from the various photos of Ledge Geyser, it puts out an enormous amount of steam. It does transition into a steam phase, when most of its output is purely steam with very little water. But even during its water phase, various other vents provide a thick curtain of steam that is usually carried up the hill by the prevailing winds and rains down on the trail above, often times preventing other visitors from accessing views of Ledge Geyser during the entire course of its eruption. It is clear that very few visitors brave the soaking steam rain to come down the trail after a Ledge Geyser eruption begins. But we were there ready for it on this day, and we were very happy with the images that we captured. 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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