Month: September 2021

This eruption of Grand Geyser makes the surrounding pine trees look tiny. But they are fully grown pine trees of significant height. It is just that Grand Geyser is that large, dwarfing everything else around it. As one of the largest geysers in the world, it is located on a large siliceous sinter platform abutting a tall ridge that forms a natural amphitheater with runoff channels emanating in all directions away from the ridge to accommodate the significant output of water from its eruptions. It is a fountain type of geyser, with the eruption emanating from a vent located under feet of water in its filled pool. Actually, Grand Geyser is technically comprised of three separately named geysers that contribute to its eruption, either before, during, or after its main bursts. In the above photo, captured by The Wild Images Team during a late afternoon eruption, the other two geysers are completely hidden in the sheer scale of the water burst and accompanying steam coming from Grand Geyser. But believe it or not, on its left side sits a higher pool, with beautiful light blue water ringed by bright yellow geyserite, with its own submerged vent. Also a fountain type of geyser, it is named Turban Geyser, and it is a very frequent active geyser that can reach up to 20 feet in height. Before an eruption of Grand Geyser, it will be found passing through cycles of eruption activity, where it is bursting for about five minutes, followed by about fifteen minutes of calm, after which it will begin bursting yet again for another five minutes, followed by yet another fifteen minutes of calm. This will continue for the hours leading up to the eruption of Grand Geyser. During and after the eruption of Grand Geyser itself, Turban Geyser will be found in continuous bursting activity, with no calm pauses. It only becomes quiet for an extended period about an hour after Grand Geyser has ceased its eruption, though it begins its cycle of eruptions again about an hour later and will continue up to, during, and for an hour after the successive Grand Geyser eruption. In front of the raised ringed platform enclosing the pool of Turban Geyser sits an opening in the geyserite that is named Vent Geyser. It begins to erupt only after Grand Geyser has itself been erupting for several minutes, and it tends to build up height as Grand Geyser diminishes, reaching up to over 70 feet. As a vent type geyser, it does not burst like Turban Geyser, but instead holds a steady stream of water. Like Turban Geyser, Vent Geyser will also continue for about an hour after Grand Geyser ceases its eruption. You would think that such an awesome display of geysers would be rare and unpredictable. However, it is exactly the opposite. Grand Geyser erupts up to four times a day, and the window of eruption is only about an hour and a half. So while it is not nearly as predictable as Old Faithful Geyser or Daisy Geyser, the beauty of it makes it worth the short wait required. While it technically erupt anywhere between four hours to eight hours after the previous eruption, it is much more likely to be between five and a half hours to seven hours, narrowing the eruption window significantly. And more than just that, it will almost certainly initiate within minutes of one of the starts of Turban Geyser. The pool of Grand Geyser pulses in height following the exact cycle of Turban Geyser. Every twenty minutes or so, the pool of Grand Geyser pushes itself up to slight overflow. Shortly thereafter, Turban Geyser begins its next round of bursting activity. Within a minute after that, the pool of Grand Geyser will do one of two things: either drop back down, meaning no eruption will occur this time and not until it at least rises again twenty minutes later, or subtle wave ripples will start to form on its surface. Nearby observers, often using binoculars, may call out “waves on Grand”, indicating an imminent eruption. The pool of Grand Geyser will suddenly burst upward into the sky, reaching up to and over 200 feet, hold there for a brief period, before dropping back and bursting upward again almost immediately. As a general rule, the longer the pause before the next burst, the larger the next burst will be. So The Wild Images Team strategically captured the above photo after one such pause, and shortly thereafter this gorgeous sister image of a large burst available for sale in our store after a successive pause. Eventually the bursts of Grand Geyser will lower down in height until it stops. As this happens, Turban Geyser and Vent Geyser will start to become more noticeable as they emerge from the massive flow of Grand Geyser and themselves continuously erupt for the next hour. This will be featured in a future blog post. However, within the next few seconds up to minute Grand Geyser can surprise by suddenly bursting upward in a massive pause burst, reaching very large heights. And then after this, it is possible to happen a second time. If a few minutes have passed with nothing happening, it is likely done. Turban Geyser and Vent Geyser will then own the show. 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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Fan and Mortar Geysers are a very infrequent erupting pair of geysers, but when they do erupt, they are extremely impressive. The are not the largest geysers in the world, nor do they output the largest volume of water. They are not the loudest geysers, nor are they the most explosive. Eruptions do not last exceptionally long. They are very infrequent, with an eruption once per every three days at best, sometimes as long as ten days between eruptions. During many seasons they will remain completely dormant with no eruptions at all. And yet, they will be observed constantly for days on end, often even by a few hardcore individuals through the night, just to have a chance to catch an eruption. So why are Fan and Mortar Geysers such a desired eruption? It is all about their structure. Fan Geyser is comprised of at least seven vents. And Mortar Geyser has its own three vents in and around a siliceous sinter cone on the left. Fan and Mortar Geysers are located on a shared geyserite platform along the Firehole River, but far down towards the end of the Upper Geyser Basin of Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming. They are located on the left side of the trail, after crossing the Firehole River, just before Morning Glory Pool, documented in this blog entry, that will sometimes draw visitors this far down and who may just happen to end up in the right place at the right time for an eruption. The odds of this are very low, of course, so usually it requires patience and close observation. While the eruptions can happen as short as three days apart or as long as ten days apart, they are most likely to happen around four to seven days apart, but this is by no means a guarantee. And of course this is assuming that they are active at all. Many summer seasons they will remain dormant for either the entire season or until early to late fall. It is thought that this may happen when the Firehole River is higher and perhaps floods into its underground reservoir, rendering the water too cool to reach the steam flashpoint required for an eruption. By late season, the water level may have receded enough to stop the flooding that hinders the eruption. So if everything is going right for Fan and Mortar Geysers, and they are active, their shared reservoir will slowly fill up and begin to heat up. During these days, they will appear as gently steaming and splashing such as in this phenomenal image of mammatus clouds in a nearby passing storm, taken over the Fan and Mortar geyserite platform during their gently splashing phase, with the Firehole River and a distant ridge also included, available for sale in our store. After the reservoir fills up and heats up, Fan and Mortar Geysers will begin to display cycles of activity, the most notable of which are named the event cycles. The reason these are the most notable is that an eruption of Fan and Mortar Geysers will almost always initiate during an event cycle. The event cycle involves splashing from possibly all seven vents of Fan Geyser, though only four are used to define it. The seven vents of Fan Geyser starting from nearest to the Firehole River are River Vent (nearest the river), High Vent (the highest one), Gold Vent (yellow colored geyserite), Gold 2 Vent (also yellow colored geyserite), Angle Vent (water exits diagonally), Main Vent (the largest), and finally East Vent (the most east or away from the river). The event cycle begins with the start of splashing from River Vent, followed by the start of splashing from High Vent, followed by the start of splashing from Gold Vent, followed by the start of splashing from Angle Vent. If River Vents stops splashing before Angle Vent starts, it is known as a river pause, and if High Vent and Gold Vent stop splashing before Angle Vent starts, it is known as a gold pause. But if both High Vent and Gold Vent continue splashing and reach to heights of at least five feet, it is known as a lock, and the eruption is almost definitely imminent. Within minutes, the entire set of vents in Fan Geyser and Mortar Geyser rise up simultaneously over a large area, with Angle Vent launching water up to and clean over the trail, creating the fan shape that lends its name to the geyser. The view of all vents simultaneously erupting is absolutely breathtaking and worth the effort. The water will hold for several minutes before dying down back into the vents, defining its first pause. Minutes later, all vents will once again simultaneously erupt for several more minutes before dying back down into the vents. It will repeat this for a few more times before transitioning into a short puffing steam phase. In the above photo, The Wild Images Team captures Fan and Mortar Geysers as they begin their initial eruption, with the scene being dominated by the diagonally launched water from Angle Vent, captured at the moment of sunset. 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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This is Aurum Geyser, which is found on the eastern edge of Geyser Hill, which itself is in the Upper Geyser Basin of Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming. Blink and you will miss it. Alright, it is not quite that short lived! But walk away and you will miss it. Literally. This geyser sits almost completely by itself, with just a few bubbling hot springs nearby to keep it company, so not too much is happening in the area until it erupts. And it erupts only about once, at most twice, a day during the short summer season in the altitudes of Yellowstone. The time of the eruption is completely unpredictable, it will usually be at least 10 hours or more until the next eruption; often it may not happen for 24 hours or more. When it does finally erupt, it lasts for only 80 seconds at most! It is over almost before it even began. So Aurum Geyser is an extremely difficult one to observe and photograph, at the very best. Its nearest regularly erupting neighbors of significant size are Lion Geyser, the series erupting geyser of which was written about extensively in an earlier blog post and of which a beautiful early morning rainbow photo is available for sale in our store, and Beehive Geyser which was also written about extensively in an earlier blog post during which the small group of observers were captured under the rainbow in this iconic blog entry image, and of which this enormous sunset rainbow photo is also available for sale in our store. However, each of these geysers are quite distant away from the solitude of Aurum Geyser, so that even running at full speed will not reach Aurum Geyser in time to see even the end of an eruption. In the very far distance, Old Faithful Geyser can be seen when it erupts, though it will appear small, very different from this gorgeous closeup photo captured at sunset and available for sale in our store. Considerably more nearby is the best viewpoint of Dome Geyser as detailed in this previous blog entry, but will require turning away from the direction of Aurum Geyser and it may erupt before turning back. As The Wild Images Team has learned from experience, it will do this often. We have spent hours waiting for it to erupt, only to have it happen as soon as we turn our back on it and walk away to watch one of the other geysers erupt. We have found that it is best to pair off Aurum Geyser with Lion Geyser, which has a large initial eruption, followed by a second eruption a little over an hour later, followed by a third eruption about an hour after that, and this pattern can continue with up to nine total eruptions each about an hour apart. This will allow a chance to get away when a nearby geyser is somewhat predictable, yet still keep a good percentage of the time devoted in the vicinity of Aurum Geyser. As we have already mentioned though, it will often erupt just after you walk away. So the only way to guarantee observing an eruption is to remain next to it for how ever many hours it may require. This can be up to an entire day spent in just this area, so patience is required and this is not recommended for those with limited time in Yellowstone National Park. Is this worth the wait? Absolutely, if you have the time. Aurum Geyser is named for the yellow colored geyserite surrounding its small cone, with Aurum being the Latin word for gold, hence it being designated as Au in the periodic table. Combine this with the surrounding orange geyserite, the yellow, orange, and red background grasses, the green pine trees, and the bright blue sky dotted by white clouds, and this is a perfect setting to capture a beautiful photo, such as this very stunning sister image taken just moments before and which is available for sale in our store. Its eruption can reach heights approaching 30 feet, and observed from such close proximity can be quite impressive. Just after a previous eruption, Aurum Geyser will be very briefly quiet. Within a few minutes, however, it will fill back up and begin gurgling and splashing from its main vent. Unfortunately, it will look essentially the same for the next 10 or more hours, so it is not possible to determine if an eruption is imminent. If it is seen splashing and gurgling, it may erupt within seconds or it may erupt 24 hours later, there is not much of a way to determine. The splashes do tend to become slightly larger as the hours go by, and there are two small side vents that tend to splash more as the hours go by, so very close observation can help to narrow down the interval to within perhaps 6 hours or so if you are lucky. The Wild Images Team has devoted many hours to photograph several eruptions of Aurum Geyser, and the series represented by the above photo is our favorite. Sadly, Aurum Geyser has appeared to have gone dormant this season, not having erupted in over four months. Only time will tell if this will end up being a long term dormancy. But at least you can enjoy the above photo and the link to the image available for sale in our store, with no wait required. Oh, and as an extra advantage, you can either blink or walk away and it will still be there! 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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Whirligig Geyser is located in the heart of the beautifully exotic Porcelain Basin in Norris Geyser Basin of Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming. By being located in such a region, its surroundings are dominated by bright piles of geyserite gravel and large sheets of white siliceous sinter, from which the basin gets its name. Very little vegetation grows here due to the very high surface temperatures and high water acidity. Instead, the area is streaked through by runoff channels, colored orange and green by thermophile bacterial mats and red by iron oxide deposits, contrasted by various thermal features including several milky blue hot springs. Directly next to Whirligig Geyser is another similarly shaped pool, partially seen on the right side center of the above image, that is the location of Constant Geyser, of which a gorgeous eruption is written about extensively in a previous blog post. Also next to Whirligig Geyser is the runoff pan of Constant Geyser, of which The Wild images Team captured this absolutely breathtaking reflection photo that is available for sale in our store. The pool of Whirligig Geyser can be partially seen in each of those images on their left center. Close inspection of each of the photos will reveal very little vegetation in the basin itself; instead it is found only on the safer high ground of the surrounding hills and ridges, where the ground temperature is lower due to the additional insulation of the extra ground underneath and the water is much less acidic as it does not originate out of the thermal features nearly as much. However, there still are thermal features located in certain spots of the surrounding ridges, such as Ledge Geyser, an extremely rare eruption written about extensively from a viewpoint in the ridge in a previous blog post and from a viewpoint in the Porcelain Basin in a previous blog post. That same series of photos also produced this stunning image of Ledge Geyser, also available for sale in our store. One thing to notice in each of these images is the abundance of vegetation nearby, especially in the uphill direction where conditions are much more conducive for growth. Back down in the heart of the Porcelain Basin and its colorful yet barren ground, Whirligig Geyser and Constant Geyser usually appear as nearly identical twin pools, Whirligig Geyser on the left and Constant Geyser on the right. Their behavior leading up to an eruption is much the same as well. Neither of them are predictable, and both will spend years in dormancy. But during the seasons when they are active, each will begin with a pool that slowly fills up after a previous eruption. Their pools will appear calm, but closer observation will show that they pass through cycles of lower water and higher water. During the periods of lower water, some of the textured raised ridges of geyserite in each of the pools will protrude and become visible above the water level. An eruption will never initiate from a low water stage. Eventually the water will raise back up, covering over all of the raised ridges of geyserite and reaching to the noticeable pool edges. This is the high water stage, and significant water flow will be noticed in its runoff channels. An eruption will begin from one of the successive high water stages, but it is unpredictable during which high water stage it will occur. The only way to ensure seeing an eruption is to patiently wait as each passes through many cycles. Fortunately, each of these geysers have frequent eruptions during the seasons when they are active. It can be as short as 20 to 30 minutes until the next eruption, but it can also be up to 2 hours or more with no real observable explanation. In the seasons where both geysers are active, it is possible that either one will erupt, doubling the chances of witnessing an eruption. In the above image of Whirligig Geyser, The Wild Images Team waited until the very low setting sun created a deep red light over the landscape, highlighting the nearby iron oxide deposits on the side of the pool, while also drawing out the very dark red colors from the pool bottom, which are noticeable as the red colors in the water waves encircling the eruption. Whirligig Geyser is named after the swirling effect created in its pool during an eruption, making it a distinctive geyser that is enjoyable to watch. 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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This blog entry is dedicated to Gabby Petito. May her spirit shine on the peaks with the sunlight, pass through the trees with the winds, and run through the canyons with the rivers. The Wild Images would also like to acknowledge that there are many more individuals missing out there whose cases have not become so prominent in the media. May they never be forgotten! Everyone deserves a chance to be featured and be found, regardless of race or gender. While The Wild Images Team never knew Gabby Petito, her life really strikes a chord with us. We follow a similar path and dream as her. We want to document nature in its natural state. We have spent five months a year, out on the road, capturing our photos. Since 2013 we have explored the wide open wilderness to bring to you images and stories of the wild. Grand Teton National Park is one such place, known for its rugged peaks that literally rise above the Snake River Valley on the eastern side of the Teton Mountain Range. There is an obvious contrast from the gentle rolling hills and flatlands, covered with sagebrush fields and wildflowers, and through which the Snake River slowly meanders, to the steep, jagged, snow covered peaks that literally touch the sky by rising into the clouds. In the above photo, we wanted to capture all of this in one complete scene. This image is slated to be available for sale in our store in the near future, and marks the very first photo in what we will always remember as a special twenty four hours, where conditions came together to produce nothing less than a full ten images, captured in the short span of twenty four hours, that were deemed good enough to be featured for sale in our store! While this may or may not seem like much to the reader, we will point out that there can be times when weeks or even months can pass by without conditions being right for a great photo. But we had a great run of them during one of our visits to Wyoming. A quick glance at our images will show that we have a passion for the Grand Teton National Park, the Caribou-Targhee National Forest, and the Yellowstone National Park area. We started the day in Grand Teton National Park, where it all began by us taking the gorgeous photo seen above that focuses on the sun covered peaks above the wildflowers and sagebrush. A few minutes later, we captured a nearby beautiful picture that focuses on the grasslands with the jagged peaks of the Tetons as the backdrop. We had a hard time choosing between the two for our store, but we had opted to start with this on, only to decide later that the other one deserves to be included. About an hour later, we shot this incredible image of the changing landscape in the foothills around the peaks. About an hour after this, we encountered this beautiful elk scene while exploring the Targhee-Caribou National Forest. The next set did not happen for several more hours, as we had a destination of reaching Grant Village in Yellowstone National Park, which is a bit of a distance away. We arrived there in the evening, so there was not much time to head out anywhere. Instead, we stayed around the Grant Village lake shore when the clouds formed into an incredible shelf reflected in the lake, and then shortly thereafter reddened into a fantastic symmetry. Any visitors to Yellowstone Lake will tell you that it rarely takes on such a calm, mirror like reflecting surface. But that is how it appeared that night at sunset. Later that night, we photographed the moon rising over the Lake House in Grant Village, while the lake was still appearing mirror calm. The next day we visited the West Thumb Geyser Basin, catching this stunning image of Abyss Pool. This was followed about two hours later by this shot of the wave patterns around Fishing Cone Geyser, as the lake had returned to its typical rippled appearance sometime overnight. Three hours after this found us in the Upper Geyser Basin, where we captured our image of a massive Grand Geyser pause burst. Twenty four hours had produced ten phenomenal photos! It is important to note that this situation is highly unlikely, and cannot be expected on any given day. Many days have to be invested to find the right conditions and lighting. This was not our first time to the area, nor was it our last. As a matter of fact, we have spent several months worth of time in the area during our yearly stays there. It is also important to know that while we did capture ten amazing images, we also captured many other photos during that twenty four hour span that while also good, were not deemed store-worthy. We have several other images from the area in different years that are also found in our store, but so far we have not yet again encountered so many great opportunities in such a short span of time. The Wild Images Team has captured many other images from Wyoming such as the contrast found in the colorful grasslands and background Grand Teton National Park peaks, the varying landscape of Grand Teton National Park rocky peaks and clouds, the large antlers on display as an elk takes a look back in the Caribou-Targhee National Forest, the vertical abruptness as Devils Tower rises above the red rocks and green pines, and the many hues found as the colorful badlands cover over this very remote region, each of which are available for sale in our store. Blog posts from Wyoming have documented as the rugged snowy peaks rise above wildflowers, and as The Wild Images Team Travel Gnome poses for a picture at the Meeteetse “Where Chiefs Meet” welcome sign. In neighboring Montana, we have captured images such as a group of white mountain goats as they graze the highlands, an expansive view of rocky ridges extending to the horizon, the colorfully massive wall of Hidden Lake, high altitude view of tundra and glacial lakes, a very remote reflective alpine lake covered with rocks, and an ominously approaching heavy downpour over the green foothills, all of which are available for sale in our store. Blog posts from Montana have documented the very deep blue waters of McDonald Creek and the panoramic view of The Wild Images Team at Hidden Lake. In neighboring South Dakota we have captured images such as the bright flash of a colorful lightning strike over the badlands, the moment that a pronghorn displays its phenomenal physique, and the time that a massive bison bull came meandering past, each of which are available for sale in our store. Blog posts from South Dakota have documented the centuries long carving of the massive Crazy Horse Monument, the very majestic Mount Rushmore and the Avenue of Flags, the expansive view as wild burros walk through the rolling prairies, the ever wary prairie dog stands at attention in the prairie, the amazing location of the granite roadways through Custer State Park, when The Wild Images Team encountered a remote end of trail sign in the middle of nowhere, this close up image of textures in a colorful badlands mound, the interesting time when a flock of turkeys photobombed our image, and The Wild Images Team sunset shadows over Badlands National Park. In nearby North Dakota, we have captured images such as the contrast created by the horizontal color bands cross through yellow badlands and the entire herd as a group of wild horses cluster together on a hilltop, each of which are available for sale in our store. Blog posts of North Dakota have documented the herd of bison grazing in the grasslands and the ever changing colorful badland mound that caps a rolling ridge.

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What sounds like the horrors of a bad visit to the dentist and a crazy collection of buildings in some ancient man-made city is actually a crazy collection of natural monuments in an ancient geological formation. This is Zion National Park of Utah in all of its glory. Layers of sandstone have been slowly carved away by the silt heavy Virgin River in the valley floor, and its tributaries such as Oak Creek and Pine Creek. It is an amazing landscape of sheer cliffs, colorful and towering such as seen in this beautiful image from the valley floor, and covered with intricate patterns such as in this stunning image from the uplands beyond the Great Arch, both of which are available for sale in our store. However, perhaps one of the best viewpoints in the entire park and that which is shown in the above photo is the Pine Creek Canyon Overlook, located on the upper altitude land directly above the Great Arch. Some of the most famous named features of the park can be seen in this image, as it covers the entire span of The Towers of The Virgin plus so much more. Beyond the foreground sandstone platform, starting on the far left is the lower reaches of Bridge Mountain, whose peak is out of the view to the left. Behind this closer formation is a series of more distant formations, the leftmost of which is The West Temple, seen as the flat-topped red mesa left of center. It is the highest feature in the entire area, at an altitude of 7810 feet and towering a whopping 3800 feet above the valley floor. To the immediate right of it, in dazzling white, is The Sundial. Standing 3600 feet above the valley floor, its shadow was long used as a sundial to synchronize clocks by the residents of Grafton, a ghost town since 1944 found just south of Zion National Park. To the immediate right of The Sundial is a narrow, jagged peak, also in white, called The Witch Head. Standing 3300 feet above the valley floor, it is named for its resemblance to a pointy witches hat with a craggy face underneath. The smaller jagged white peak to the right of The Witch Head is known as Broken Tooth, named for its similarities to a broken molar. To the immediate right of Broken Tooth is yet a third jagged white peak, this one a bit more covered with dark vegetation, reminiscent of a cavitated tooth, for which it has been named Rotten Tooth. To the immediate right of Rotten Tooth, near the center of the photo, is the famous formation known as The Altar of Sacrifice. It is a prominent flat-topped mesa in contrast to its nearest neighbors The Witch Head, Broken Tooth, and Rotten Tooth. Standing at 3500 feet above the valley floor, it is one of the more prominent features from the valley floor, especially when viewed from the south. It is also colored in white, like its neighbors, but has two very dark red streaks dripping down its sides, evoking a gruesome image of blood pouring off of a table after a sacrifice, though in actuality created by dissolved iron oxides being deposited by runoff water. Though each of these named features look small from this distant viewpoint, to give a sense of the awesome scale here, the distance across The Sundial, The Witch Head, Broken Tooth, and Rotten Tooth is one whole mile! In front of The Altar of Sacrifice is shaded land sloping upward, which emerges from the cloud shade before topping out in a conical peak, a feature named Bee Hive for its resemblance to an old wicker hive. While from this perspective it appears that Bee Hive is taller than The Altar of Sacrifice, it is an illusion created by it being much closer; in reality The Altar of Sacrifice is actually a full 600 feet higher! Directly to the right of Bee Hive, behind the small curved depression can just be made out the top of Meridian Tower, while to the right of this depression the land rises up to the flat mesa that forms part of The Sentinel. Directly below Bee Hive is a sheer rock face covered by hundreds of dark vertical streaks, just to the right of the deep cloud shadow. This is the famous Streaked Wall. Finally, at the far right of the image, and much closer, rises the lower portions of The East Temple. Collectively these are some of the most well known and visible formations in Zion National Park. The Wild Images Team purposely captured shadows in this photo to give a sense of depth to the formations, and it further draws the focus on The Sundial, being the brightest feature towering above its u shaped opening, which itself stands above two shadows themselves forming parallel u shapes in the valley, broken up by the u shape created by Bridge Mountain, the sandstone platform, and the rise up to Streaked Wall. All of this is beyond the foreground u shaped sandstone platform. The Wild Images Team has captured many other photos in Utah including the competition between cliff colors and clouds in Zion National Park, the intricate designs of the high altitude patterned wall in Zion National Park, distant rain curtains over the colorful cliffs of Bryce Canyon National Park, cloud shadows defining the colorful pinnacles of Bryce Canyon National Park, the scenic view as the full moon rises over Red Canyon, the Goblin Valley State Park thunderstorm and lightning strike over goblins, the impenetrable colorful rim wall of Goblin Valley State Park, the gravity defying balanced rock with snow in Arches National Park, the moment in Arches National Park when a winter storm clears over pinnacles and the La Sal Mountains, the very bright but fleeting rainbow beyond The Hand in Arches National Park, the instance In Arches National Park when lightning strikes near the Three Gossips, the green slopes of Sandy Mountain guarded by red lichen rock sentinels, the wild clouds over the elevated plains of the Grand Staircase-Escalante, and finally in Midway where the five flags of the military fly over Memorial Hill, each of which are available for sale in our store. Blog posts documenting our time in Utah include the road towards the extremely remote Valley of the Gods, an expansive view of the major formations of Zion National Park, the road winding through Fremont cottonwoods in Zion National Park, the road through intricately carved highlands in Zion National Park, the road through red and white rock cliffs in Zion National Park, The Wild Images Team vehicle on a dirt road in Red Canyon, the high altitude scene where a thistle soaks up the brief summer season sunshine, the moment a snake slithers over water plants in Cascade Springs, The Wild Images Team Travel Gnome at the entrance to Cascade Springs, The Wild Images Team Travel Gnome standing proudly in Goblin Valley, The Wild Images Team Travel Gnome at The Brick Oven Restaurant, The Wild Images Team Travel Gnome at the entrance to Bryce Canyon National Park, The Wild Images Team Travel Gnome at an overlook of Bryce Canyon National Park, The Wild Images Team Travel Gnome in front of the rock pinnacles of Bryce Canyon National Park, The Wild Images Team Travel Gnome at the entrance of Zion National Park, and finally The Wild Images Team Travel Gnome in front of the cliffs of Zion National Park.

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This is a region known as Little Yosemite Valley, a river canyon formed by the wild upper portion of the Merced River just before it has Tenaya Creek and Yosemite Creek join it in the much flatter terrain of the main valley of Yosemite National Park in California. This image was captured by The Wild Images Team from arguably the best view in the entire park, Glacier Point. While most visitors are enraptured by the main Yosemite Valley floor that is dominated by El Capitan, Half Dome, Sentinel Dome, and North Dome, few realize that the dramatic cliffs and waterfalls are also found in some of the surrounding canyons as well, such as in the northern Grand Canyon of the Tuolumne River, and then in the Little Yosemite Valley. No roads lead into the upper portion of the Merced River and the Little Yosemite Valley, but there is Mist Trail, a hiking trail that will lead to each of the large waterfalls found in the canyon as well as connecting to other trails in the uplands network. The first waterfall encountered along the trail, found in the bottom center of the above image, is Vernal Fall. It drops in a single leap of 317 feet over the granite cliff wall, before landing in a jumble of fallen rocks below, kicking up enormous curtains of misty spray, after which the trail is named as it rains down on it in the area. Close inspection of the above photo will show the dark area just to the right of the base of Vernal Fall, right where the trail is located, that is continuously splashed with water spray. The Wild Images Team has hiked in the area, and you can end up soaked in this region. But the trail does continue into drier stretches beyond here, as it climbs out of the base of the falls and up into the portion of the Merced River just above the Vernal Fall. It is here that the Emerald Pool is located, and can be seen with its dark green color in the image as the pool partially obscured by trees just upriver from the cliff edge. Also located here is the Silver Apron, another waterfall that spreads out over a granite rock face that is gently sloped at about 20 degrees above horizontal, dropping down into Emerald Pool. It is more heavily obscured by trees, but is found just to the right of Emerald Pool. The trail continues onward from here, working its way toward Nevada Fall. While Vernal Fall was named for the heavy pour of water created by the runoff of snow melt in the spring (vernal) time, by contrast Nevada Fall was named for its similarity to a snow avalanche and its proximity to the snow-capped peaks of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Nevada Fall drops for a total of 594 feet, the first of which is a single leap of 200 feet before it slams against the steep rock wall before continuing the remainder of the way down as a turbulent white flow in contact with the rock face. The cliff over which Nevada Fall drops is more or less level to the left until it rises dramatically above the riverbed to become the most prominent feature in the photo, an enormous granite face known as Liberty Cap, rising an impressive 1700 feet above the valley floor in a near vertical cliff! To the immediate left and slightly in front of Liberty Cap is Mount Broderick. The two together completely dominate the top center portion of the image, while to the right of these the Merced River headwaters originate from off the top of the photo. All of this can be viewed from Glacier Point, an often overlooked grand viewpoint that is accessed by 20 mile long nondescript road that turns off the main Wawona Road near Indian Creek, and is often bypassed by visitors in their hurry to reach the Yosemite Valley. But the view is absolutely phenomenal from here, and is highly recommended during a visit to Yosemite National Park. The Wild Images Team has captured many other photos from California such as the scene of a blooming thunderstorm over Joshua Tree National Park, the lava flow created streaked ridge in Lassen Volcanic National Park, and the high altitudes where a giant sequoia is larger and redder than others, the steep Hyde Street view of Alcatraz Island and San Francisco Bay, the drastic slope of the abrupt drop off of Taylor Street, the Pine Street colorful terraced houses with background buildings, the historic looking beautiful terraced houses and a Classic VW Beetle, and the Asian inspired intricately ornate Chinatown scene, each of which are available for sale in our store. Blog posts from California have documented the long and winding road climb to the giants of Sequoia National Park, the size comparison of The Wild Images Team Coordinator Christina and the giant tree, the massive view where giant sequoias maintain their diameters over hundreds of feet, an overlook into the Merced River Valley with Liberty Cap, the road heading towards the sheer monolith of El Capitan, the road heading towards desolate ridges of Joshua Tree National Park, the location where the road rises out of Bumpass Hell, a beach dune covered view of the secret underground World War II bunker, the reflective tower of the Marriott Marquis over the Yerba Buena Gardens, the distinctively ornate Asian architecture and decor of Chinatown, the musically inspired melting records with album covers mural, the long strange trip of the Grateful Dead Jerry Garcia mural, the places where steep sidewalks have stairs cut into them, the street where a tree gives a sense of the steepness, the expansive view of Nob Hill from Telegraph Hill and the oppositely directed view from Telegraph Hill to the northeast, the descent in the upper portion of the Filbert Steps, followed by the middle portion of the Filbert Steps with a pose by The Wild Images Team Coordinator on the steps, followed by the lower portion of the Filbert Steps, and at the bottom a view up the Filbert Street steps again with a pose by The Wild Images Team Coordinator below the steps. From our travels in the nearby Oregon and Washington, we have captured photos such as the deep blue hues of swirled clouds and rim peaks reflected in Crater Lake, the Hoh Rainforest green moss covers every possible branch, and the right place at the right time rainbow over the Mt. St. Helens remnants, each of which are available for sale in our store. Blog posts from Oregon and Washington include the sharp looking view through the Lava Cast Forest, the optical illusion of blue waters and white streaks in Crater Lake, the starkly colorful rainbow rises over the devastation of Mt. St. Helens, the moment The Wild Images Team Coordinator Christina is imprisoned by rainforest tree roots, the interesting story of the Port Angeles waterfront Rocktopus Sculpture, and its accompanying bronze plaque of charitable organizations.

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Mine! Mine! Mine! This singular word spoken in rapid succession by the seagulls in the Finding Nemo series of Pixar movies rings true to life in this image of a floating island of seagulls forming due to a feeding frenzy in the icy blue waters of Kenai Fjords National Park in Alaska. It is a scene that The Wild Images Team has observed and photographed on several occasions. To capture such a photo at such a low profile to the water and in such a state of action requires us to have the mobility and maneuverability that can only be provided by exploring Kenai Fjords in ocean kayaks. Kenai Fjords National Park is a section of the northern Pacific Ocean coastline and surrounding land in Alaska that maintains the Harding Icefield and the Kenai Mountains. The snowy mountains rise straight out of the ocean up to soaring heights among the clouds, as depicted in this beautiful image and also in this gorgeous shoreline photo, both of which were captured by The Wild images Team and are available for sale in our store. The icefield sends numerous outflowing glaciers carving through the coastal mountains, many of which still have their snouts directly contacting the ocean. The glaciers calve continuously into the ocean water during the short warm summer season, so that the water through the fjords is constantly filled with icebergs, such as captured in this stunning reflection photo, and therefore is a very suitable habitable for seals, such as in this very icy natural scene, in this gorgeous composed shot, or in this beautifully dynamic image, and is also a habitat for Dall’s Porpoises, all photographed by The Wild Images Team and found for sale in our store. The glaciers carve canyon rock down into microscopic particles known as glacial till or rock flour, which is deposited into the ocean through calving around the glacier fjords, imparting a milky blue color to the water. The minerals carried into the ocean ecosystem by the rock flour create a prime location for the proliferation of smaller ocean living organisms such as phytoplankton, which in turn bring in other species higher in the food chain, which in turn bring in other species yet even higher in the food chain. So it is very common to find many different types of sea birds that are adapted to a cooler northern climate, such as bald eagles, peregrine falcons, horned puffins, tufted puffins, common murres, thick-billed murres, marbled murrelets, and of course seagulls. These birds feed primarily on ocean life such as small fish, which are found in large groups known as schools that are almost always on the move. In times when the schools move closer to the surface, birds will suddenly swoop into the region, creating a chaotic scene of diving, splashing, flapping, and vocalizing. This particular day seemed very conducive for this behavior, as we encountered a dozen or more scenes just like this above and captured hundreds of images detailing their behavior. As a matter of fact, close inspection of the above photo will show another distant feeding frenzy occurring on the right center, appearing as a flat island of white but actually comprised of hundreds of seagulls, similar to the one shown here in the foreground. For this shot, we silently glided closer in our kayaks, and waited for the right moments to catch some of the birds in action above, as others float together in a large group.One thing that is very apparent while kayaking through glacial fjords is the awesome scale of everything. While the shoreline in the background appears nearby, it is actually an entire mountain that is miles away. The entire landscape is truly awe-inspiring, and the variety of wildlife are absolutely fascinating to watch in such a pristine environment. The Wild Images Team has captured many other images while in Alaska including the terminal moraines of a glacier winding down from the Chugach Mountains, the many splendid colors of the Sheep Mountain chromatic peaks in the Talkeetna Range, as a seal watches over the thick floating ice in Kenai Fjords National Park, as very fast moving seals cut tracks through the ice, as an entertaining seal strikes a pose on Northwestern Lagoon ice, the many miles of Northwestern Glacier reflecting over the turquoise waters, the awe inspiring rumble when a glacier calves of the cliffs in Kenai Fjords National Park, the moment when clouds crown a peak in Kenai Fjords National Park, the long summer days when fireweed enjoys the land of the midnight sun, and as a very playful Dall’s porpoise breaches the ocean surface in Aialik Bay, each of which are available for sale in our store. Blog posts from Alaska document the moment we realized that no bananas on a boat is a very serious rule, as our kayak carrying water taxi Michael A launches from Miller’s Landing, the chaotic scene during a feeding frenzy floating island of seagulls, the majestic bald eagle scanning the coastline from a tree, the expansive view of a colorfully banded rock island reflection, the chaotic jumble of very noticeable blue ice of Northwest Glacier, the reflective view over briefly calm waters of the far northern Pacific Ocean under the Harding Icefield, when The Wild Images Team was photographed at the mouth of a glacier draining tunnel, the intimidating view from the snout of a very large and very steep glacier, and when our Coordinator Christina Orban keeps tradition by kissing the snout of this glacier. The Wild Images Team has also captured many photos during our journey up to Alaska through western and northern Canada including colorful canoes standing at the edge of Moraine Lake in Banff National Park, a moment of isolation as a canoe crosses Moraine Lake in Banff National Park, the scene when a grizzly mother is grazing with two cubs, a practically newborn grizzly cub is shorter than the grass, near the Rancheria River where a massive blonde grizzly steps out of the brush, where the remote Liard River wanders through woods and mountains, an action shot when two bison calves are learning to spar, and another action shot as a large bull moose runs through the woods, each of which are available for sale in our store. Blog posts from our journey through Canada document the dark background storm clouds while the grain silos shine in the sunlight of Saskatchewan, the sheer terrain of Cascade Mountain towering over the Bow River valley, the velvet covered antlers of an elk as it passes by in Jasper National Park, the welcome sign declaring you are now entering the world famous Alaska Highway, the very iconic mile 0 signpost found at the start of the Alaska Highway, the desolate road of the Alaska Highway drops down into clouds of the Yukon Territory, the very remote road of the Alaska Highway rounds a mountain within clouds of the Yukon Territory, as the Alaska Highway heads straight towards a giant peak along Kluane Lake, the tall snow-capped peaks along the Alaska Highway west of Whitehorse, the shore lining patterned designs of mudflats from the missing A’ay Chu, as The Wild Images Team Photographer Jeremy Robinson hides in the Signpost Forest, and as The Wild Images Team Coordinator Christina hides in the Signpost Forest.

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Two unconnected major geysers in Yellowstone National Park of Wyoming are erupting in this image. The more prominent eruption seen in the foreground is that of Lion Geyser. Its early morning initial eruption is producing a vibrant double rainbow in the steam curtain. An absolutely stunning sister image, captured moments before in the same eruption, is available for sale in our store. That is how special this morning was. The Wild Images Team has observed and photographed dozens of Lion Geyser eruptions in a variety of different atmospheric conditions and at various times throughout the day. Unlike several other geysers in the area that have a more preferable time of day for lighting, Lion Geyser tends to be ideal all day long from sunrise through afternoon for front lighting shots, and from late afternoon until sunset for back lighting shots. Many of the photos have been considered as candidates for our store, but this set was our first choice. Lion Geyser is one of the largest geysers that has a series type of eruptions. Like most series type erupting geysers, its first eruption in the series is the largest, with the subsequent eruptions all being about the same size but lower in height and water output compared to the initial. However, all eruptions in the series can be amazing to watch. The Wild Images Team spent this entire day watching every single subsequent eruption, starting with the initial eruption which is shown above, through 8 more subsequent eruptions for a total of 9 in that series. We did take photos of all of the subsequent eruptions throughout the day as lighting, background sky, and weather conditions changed. And of course we have captured images of series on different days and different seasons, all of which will eventually be posted here. Lion Geyser is located on the northern end of Geyser Hill, just before it drops off into the lower fields and forests. Geyser Hill itself is barren, with little vegetation except for small patches of grass here or there, so no shade is available. We always have umbrellas in our gear, and will use these for shade during the long waits. Nearby are three other geysers in its group, the dormant Big Cub Geyser, the dormant Lioness Geyser, and the perpetually erupting Little Cub Geyser to provide something to watch. The eruption of Lion Geyser is unpredictable and does require a good deal of patience. It interval between eruptions can vary anywhere from 10 hours to 17 hours, and does require knowledge of its previous eruptions. But there is a small vent on its front face that will begin to spurt and bubble out water during the last few hours before an imminent eruption. If the vent is not yet bubbling, the eruption is no time soon. But if it is bubbling and gurgling, it is worth the wait. As the eruption is about to happen, Lion Geyser will start to throw water out of its large vent and a deep underground boiling can be heard, reminiscent of a teakettle. Its initial eruption will eventually burst upward out of the cone up to heights of 80, often raining down over the surrounding boardwalks. It will hold this height for several minutes before dying away into a short steam phase and then going quiet. However, a little over an hour later it will come back to life in its second eruption of the series. Before this second eruption happens, it will send out a loud huff of steam, similar to the sound of a lion’s roar, hence the name of the geyser. The second eruption will be a bit shorter, but still very impressive, and will also die down into a steam phase. About an hour later, the third eruption will occur, and each successive one will also be about an hour apart. Each eruption of Lion Geyser will also begin with a lion roar, followed by the water column reaching similar heights before dying down into the short steam phase. It generally will produce somewhere between 3 and 5 eruptions, though it can be as many as 9, such as what occurred on this day. The end of the series will often occur with several lion huffs of steam that diminish in loudness, before the geyser goes quiet. Close inspection of the above photo will also show a simultaneous eruption of distant and unconnected Castle Geyser, found between the Lion Geyser cone and the left side of the lower rainbow. A very beautiful image of Castle Geyser, captured on a different day, is also available for sale in our store. In the viewpoint of that image, a quiet Lion Geyser can be seen in the distance as the feature on the lower right with a small cluster of pine trees grouping around its base, while above it and to the right of it is a portion of Geyser Hill. Castle Geyser has also been written about extensively in the two different previous blog posts. 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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White Dome Geyser stands like a solitary beacon in the remote Tangled Creek region of the Lower Geyser Basin in Yellowstone National Park of Wyoming. About a half mile away from the nearest geysers in either direction, Great Fountain Geyser to the southwest, and Pink Cone Geyser to the northwest, it stands out in its isolation. While it technically does have four small companion geysers in its group, Pebble Geyser, Crack Geyser, Rejuvenated Geyser, and Gemini Geyser, White Dome Geyser is by far the most prominent feature in the area. Standing atop a ten foot tall mound of eroded geyserite, covered at a distance with grasses, is yet another fifteen foot tall mound of geyserite, this one more rugged and colorful, from which the geyser erupts and from which it has been named. The siliceous sinter geyserite composing its structure is very old; it has been estimated that White Dome Geyser has been erupting in this same location for tens of thousands of years at the very least. Over that lengthy span of time, it has been slowly adding to its geyserite formation by depositing thin layers, atom by atom, during each eruption. The tall formation that has resulted can now be seen from miles away. Since it is a very active geyser, thermophile bacteria has colonized over a substantial portion of its geyserite, adding the orange hues that are especially prominent near its top where water is more likely to splashdown. The eroded geyserite on which it stands is covered with yellow grasses to add further color to the scene. White Dome Geyser has been a favorite photographic target for The Wild Images Team. We have captured photos at different times of the day and in a variety of weather conditions. For this particular image, we waited for many days until several conditions combined together. We wanted to capture an eruption at sunset, so that the reddening light draws out the orange and yellow tones of the scene. But we also wanted a sky that had darker and denser water bearing clouds in the background of the vertical column of water, to greatly contrast its evening glow in the sunlight. All of these came together on this particular night! An absolutely breathtaking sister image of this above photo was captured in the same series and is available for sale in our store. This was a tall order for White Dome Geyser. While it is a very active geyser, not having any recorded periods of dormancy, it is also very unpredictable. It can have intervals between eruptions as short as 10 minutes, and as long as several hours. From our experience of observing many of its eruptions, it tends to have intervals between eruptions most commonly around 40 minutes, give or take about 20 minutes. The only way to be sure to see it is to patiently wait. But compared to the many other geysers that we have waited for, this one tends to be a short and manageable wait. As it approaches closer to an eruption, water will often start being thrown out of its opening on top of the sinter cone. This can happen for several minutes before that start of an eruption. Other times, however, it may just start erupting without any indication. The eruption start is obvious, as the vertical column of water rises up to about 30 feet above the top of the cone, and continues to be held for the next few minutes until it slowly dies down into a short steam phase. It is a beautiful eruption to witness, though few visitors take the time to watch it. The White Dome Geyser Group has a huge importance in modern science. A nearby thermal hot spring named the Mushroom Pool is where Thomas D. Brock and Hudson Freeze of Indiana University first discovered the thermus aquaticus bacteria that is the source of the heat resistant enzyme Taq DNA polymerase, one of the most important enzymes ever discovered. The heat-resistant enzyme Taq DNA polymerase is used in the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) DNA amplification technique, which has an enormous amount of applications including the monitoring of genetic disorders, the early detection of cancerous cells, the forensic science at crime scenes, the parentage testing and ancestry analysis, and the diagnosis of infectious diseases, not the least of which is the testing for COVID-19. 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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If there is one thing constant in Yellowstone National Park of Wyoming, it is change. thermal features will suddenly open up in the ground, while others will suddenly go quiet even after centuries of activity. It is this consistent change that makes the park such an enticing place for photography. Sawmill Geyser is one of the many thermal features found in the Upper Geyser Basin, and has been around for a long time, nearby to the mighty Grand Geyser, a stunning image of which is available for sale in our store. Sawmill Geyser is loved by all. As a matter if fact, there is an entire network of nearby geysers that are collectively called the Sawmill Group. All of the geysers in the Sawmill Group seem to be interconnected underground, as their eruptions are at the very least influenced by each other in some type of complex pattern, while some of the geysers will not erupt at all until the others are quiet. Sawmill Geyser was named during the Hayden Geological Expedition of 1871 by Antoine Schoenborn for two of its unique characteristics: due to its vent shape, bursts of water are sent upward in a rotating fashion, while the sputtering of water in its filled pool produces a constant background whirring sound. Put the two together, and it is reminiscent of the sights and sounds found in sawmills that were prominent in the country at the time. And through recorded history since the early surveys, Sawmill Geyser has continued to be a frequent performer, with long eruption intervals followed by quiet periods of only 1 to 3 hours. Like a reliable friend, Sawmill Geyser could always be counted on to be putting on a display. That is why it caught everyone by surprise when during the winter of 2016-2017, it just ceased erupting altogether. Sometime in very late January or very early February of 2017, Sawmill Geyser had one final eruption and just went dormant. The Wild Images Team visited Yellowstone National Park that 2017 season, and already the difference in the region around the Sawmill Group was apparent. The vibrant colors created by the extremophile bacteria were no longer present, as water was no longer running off of most of the geysers in the group, and the bacterial mats had dried up leaving a stark gray and white landscape. Sawmill Geyser would have a partially filled pool at most, never high enough for overflow, and it would just gently bubble. Nearby Penta Geyser, Churn Geyser, and Old Tardy Geyser were also completely silent. Spasmodic Geyser and Tardy Geyser were both very subdued. It was a sad sight, shutting down an entire section of thermal activity in the central part of the Upper Geyser Basin. But then just this past summer season, on June 24, 2021 sometime around 2 AM, Sawmill Geyser suddenly sprang back to life after four and a half years of dormancy! And furthermore, it has continued to erupt regularly since then almost as if the previous four and a half years never happened. But we say almost, because it still was not quite the same. On the same siliceous sinter platform of Sawmill Geyser is a small opening that drops rapidly down into the depths of the earth. Only during the times when Sawmill Geyser is not only quiet, but is in a deep drain characterized by no visible water in its pool, this small opening can rarely and unpredictably erupt in what as known as Uncertain Geyser. However, Uncertain Geyser had gone dormant before Sawmill Geyser did, and did not return when Sawmill Geyser started erupting again. That is until July 31, 2021, when out of nowhere it erupted again. Now that everything seems more or less back to normal there, Spasmodic Geyser initiates the system, by starting to spout through all of its crazy vents and pools, followed by Sawmill Geyser erupting most of the time, though rarely it will instead remain quiet while nearby Penta Geyser and Churn Geyser take over the eruption duties in what is known as the rare Penta-Churn mode. The Wild Images Team captured this image of Sawmill Geyser bursting from its colorful pool before it went dormant. 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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On the western flanks along the extensive runoff channels surrounding Artemisia Geyser in Yellowstone National Park of Wyoming are found two siliceous sinter mounds a few feet apart. These two mounds comprise Atomizer Geyser, which despite its proximity to such a large geyser as Artemisia, is actually an independently erupting geyser with no influence from Artemisia. It is also a much more frequent performer than Artemisia Geyser, and is often the focus of attention during the long intervals of time between Artemisia eruptions. While the unpredictable Artemisia Geyser generally erupts once per day at most, Atomizer Geyser is a series type of geyser, where the eruptions happen in regular intervals until it eventually goes quiet for an extended period of time before repeating the whole process all over again. In the case of Atomizer Geyser, it all begins with its pool in the west cone overflowing into the runoff channels every few minutes. This will continue for the next few hours until it finally has its initial eruption. Unlike other series type geysers where the initial eruption is often the largest, for Atomizer Geyser it is one of the smallest. Its initial eruption will only last for about a minute or so, and will be characterized by water jetting out of the west cone up to heights of about 30 feet, while the east cone will send up a fine spray mist reminiscent of a perfume atomizer bottle from which it earned its name. After the initial eruption, it will remain quiet for the next hour, until it will suddenly burst to life in its second eruption of the series. Again, this will last for about a minute or so. It will continue in this pattern for the next 6 to 8 hours. All of these eruptions are known as minor eruptions, as its largest, known as the major eruption, is always its very last. At some point after it has performed 6 to 8 minor eruptions, it will erupt with all of its remaining energy in a single, final, major eruption. It can occur anywhere between 15 and 90 minutes after the previous minor eruption, and it is never certain which minor eruption is the final one before the major eruption, so it requires patience to observe a major eruption. When an Atomizer Geyser major eruption does occur, it is unmistakable, as the water column reaches much higher to about 50 feet, but even more noticeable is the duration of the eruption which 8 to 10 minutes in length, many times longer than any of its previous minor eruptions. Following the large output of water during the major eruption, it will then enter into an extended steam phase from both sinter cone vents, another characteristic unique to the major eruption. After this grand finale, and fully exhausted of energy, it goes quiet for the next 6 hours while it slowly fills its reservoir and pool. So while it does spend a large amount of quiet time during its refill and its subsequent overflow, once it does begin to erupt, you can be sure of several hours worth of eruptions from Atomizer Geyser. The Wild Images Team has observed and photographed many eruptions of Atomizer Geyser, sometimes while waiting for an eruption of Artemisia Geyser, such as the one in which we captured this absolutely beautiful image for sale in our store, and other times while Artemisia is just a quietly steaming turquoise pool. In the above photo of Atomizer Geyser, we used a telephoto lens to capture a detailed image of an eruption. Close inspection will reveal the fine spray mist emanating from the east cone. 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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The Wild Images Team is going to try an experiment with this photo. We would like to find this couple who were married on the day this picture was taken, May 30, 2015. We would like to send them a copy of this image, printed on our top-quality fine art photo paper, fully matted and framed, in a size of their choosing for free, along with electronic copies of this and the various other photos that we captured of them along the way. We do not know if it will be possible to ever find them or not, but we are hoping you can help us by sharing this post on any social media channels and wherever else. You can even make use of the convenient share buttons below for both Twitter and Facebook. We thank you in advance for your help. While most readers will not know them, if enough people hear about this and share it likewise, we just might be able to locate them. On May 30, 2015, we were wandering the streets of the French Quarter in New Orleans, Louisiana, something we have done on numerous occasions as part of our photographic expedition. We were walking along the 500 block of Chartres Street when we heard the sound of music behind us. The sound of music is very common in New Orleans of course, there are street musicians on pretty much every block of the French Quarter and throughout Jackson Square on any given day, but this was different. We turned around to see a procession being led by a newly married couple, the husband in a dark gray tux carrying a black parasol and the wife in a white dress carrying an ornate white parasol. Behind them marched a five piece jazz band, followed by the bridesmaids, then the groomsmen, then the parents of the happy couple, and finally a long line of wedding attendees. We are not sure exactly where they originated from, but it appears to have been in the vicinity of the above photo, perhaps from the Sonder-St. Helene or the Napolean House, both of which are seen in the background as the buildings with the balconies and attached flags in front of it or the off-white building beyond the flags, respectively. The procession continued on towards Jackson Square, turned left onto St. Peter for a block, then turned right on Royal St. for several more blocks. They had quite a crowd forming on both sides of the street further down, that cheered them on as they passed. We had our photographic equipment ready, and The Wild Images Team Photographer, Jeremy Robinson, took an entire series of photos from which this one is our favorite, while The Wild Images Team Coordinator, Christina Orban, helped guide him past the growing crowds. Our Photographer purposely chose this side of the street for two reasons: he wanted the beautiful bride to be the center of attention while still maintaining the balance of the scene with people on both sides of her, and to capture the background buildings that are darkened by overhead balconies, allowing the bride to stand out even more in contrast while wearing a white dress. And then at the moment this was taken, the groom happened to be looking over at his bride, further bringing attention towards her. It did not appear that they had another photographer following them for this part of the celebration, so this may be a great addition to their other photos. This image was captured early in their route as we believe they were exiting a building on the 500 block of Chartres St., in case this helps narrow down who these two may be. Please help us find them, it would finish out a great story! The Wild Images Team has captured many other images in New Orleans including the prominent Hotel Monteleone and surrounding buildings, beautiful French Quarter ironwork view through the cornstalk fence, intricate designs of a house facade and lamp shadows, nice reflection of a bridge in the Louis Armstrong Park, dynamic view as a Canal Line streetcar passes a St. Charles Line streetcar, the eerie nighttime view of Pirates Alley of the French Quarter, an example of an urban art sign stenciled on the wall, the distant building and colorful lights of the French Market, chance encounter with a teddy bear silhouette in French Market window, more north can be found an ornate mausoleum of Greenwood Cemetery, elsewhere is a heavenly scene over Cypress Grove Cemetery, more south was a sunset over the Mississippi River delta, all of which are available for sale in our store. Our blog posts of New Orleans document the midnight crowd at always busy Cafe du Monde, the dimly lit stocked shelves of Loa Bar in the International House Hotel, the colorful French Quarter Wedding Chapel at night, the happy couple leading a wedding procession on Chartres Street, far down the French Quarter where intricately colorful balconies stand above Chartres Street, the moment when entertainers welcomed crowds to the Jax Brewery, the street performer human statue Uncle Louis poses with a visitor, the pink hues of a rare colorful mausoleum in Greenwood Cemetery, the long shadows of bikes chained to old pump lamp posts, reflections of the bus commuters in front of a St. Charles Line Streetcar, a view of the city reflected in the Steamboat Natchez searchlight, the nighttime view of lighted tugboats along the Mississippi River, the steampunk view of the PBF Petroleum Refinery along the Mississippi River, the St. Charles Avenue Irish House Guinness Toucan Time For A Pint clock, the humorous but serious condominium listing warning that the place for lease is haunted, the listing that creates relief by being not haunted, our always entertaining Team Coordinator Christina in Cafe Maspero, and again our Team Coordinator under the Guinness Toucan clock. A distance away from New Orleans to the west are the enormous swamps of the Atchafalaya Basin, where we have captured numerous great photos such as the alligator with cypress tree reflections, a group of alligators with dragonflies, a very large cypress tree and Spanish moss, a thick cypress tree grove reflects in the still water, a large swarm of dragonflies congregate on a marsh plant, a very red sunset through the cypress trees, and a reflective sunset through the Spanish moss, each of which is available for sale in our store. Another image captured much further away to the west along the Gulf of Mexico coast is this very remote cemetery near Cote Blanche Bay, and much further away to the north up the Mississippi River is the Myrtles Plantation front yard walkway, each of which are available for sale in our store. We have also documented much of our time in Louisiana in many different blog posts such as in the Atchafalaya Basin where we encountered an open style honeybee hive and Spanish moss and down near the gulf coast with another view of the remote cemetery near Cote Blanche Bay.

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On May 18, 1980 an extraordinary event occurred. Mt St. Helens, in the U.S. state of Washington, erupted in a giant plume of ash and rocks. Everyone has heard of this event. It is the only volcano to erupt on the continental United States in almost 70 years. But this is not what made the eruption so historic. Volcanic eruptions occur yearly in Alaska, and daily in Hawaii. What made this eruption so extraordinary is the way that it initiated, as the largest debris avalanche in recorded history. The best way to see this is through the stunning video clip of its eruption, less than two minutes in length, which was not captured by The Wild Images Team but rather by amateur photographer Keith Ronnholm. On that fateful morning, Keith was positioned at Bear Meadow, only about ten miles from what would become the laterally directed volcanic eruption. In the video, the entire 5000 foot tall north quadrant and the peak of the mountain can be seen sloughing off the rest of the massif in one fluid motion before the large lateral blast breaches through the weakened surface. It is unlike anything else we have ever seen, and wanted to direct readers to this clip to show the circumstances that have led up to the above iconic image that was captured by The Wild Images Team on a recent visit through the state of Washington. A beautiful sister image of this, titled Rainbow Over The Remnants, is available for sale in our store. As can be seen in both photos, the north face and the peak of the mountain are now gone, such that the mountain now exists as a horseshoe shaped peak with a large opening on its north flank, to the right of the rainbow. Under the rainbow, is found much of the rock and soil that at what time comprised the north quadrant and peak of Mt. St. Helens, which immediately became 1300 feet less in height after the debris avalanche and eruption. Closer inspection of the photos will show the Toutle River, running from left to right. On the day of the eruption, the entire ice cap and glaciers on Mt. St. Helens were instantly melted by the intense heat, and came pouring down the Toutle River as billions of gallons of muddy water that tore down hundreds of acres of standing trees, to add their trunks and branches into the roiling and deadly torrent. Unlike the many people who were in the vicinity of the volcano to observe it, two campers from Tacoma, 19 year old Roald Reitan and 20 year old Venus Dergan, were twenty miles down the Toutle River, not even within view of the mountain, when the volcano erupted. Their idyllic campsite in the morning sun was suddenly under a wall of water. They attempted to drive away in their vehicle, but the river rose so fast that they became just another floating object in the tumbling mass of mud and logs. Realizing their only chance of survival was to leave the vehicle, Roald jumped out of his door and landed on a large log. Venus was not so lucky, as she jumped out and landed between two large logs that immediately closed in on each other, crushing her arm and head. She fought to stay above the waves and debris, and Roald was able to grab her by the hair at first, and then by the arm to hoist her onto the log as well, after which they rode another couple of harrowing miles through the rapids before log hopping to safety. Their car ended up many more miles downriver from there, almost completely buried in mud and logs. What a story! Mt. St. Helens is still considered an active volcano, and continues to have magma domes pushed up in and around its crater. It has had several minor eruptions, and it is expected to have an even more powerful major eruption in the future. The Wild Images Team has captured many other photos in Washington and neighboring Oregon such as the deep blue hues of swirled clouds and rim peaks reflected in Crater Lake, the Hoh Rainforest green moss covers every possible branch, and the right place at the right time rainbow over the Mt. St. Helens remnants, each of which are available for sale in our store. Blog posts from Washington and Oregon include the sharp looking view through the Lava Cast Forest, the optical illusion of blue waters and white streaks in Crater Lake, the starkly colorful rainbow rises over the devastation of Mt. St. Helens, the moment The Wild Images Team Coordinator Christina is imprisoned by rainforest tree roots, the interesting story of the Port Angeles waterfront Rocktopus Sculpture, and its accompanying bronze plaque of charitable organizations. The Wild Images Team has also captured many other photos in nearby California such as the scene of a blooming thunderstorm over Joshua Tree National Park, the lava flow created streaked ridge in Lassen Volcanic National Park, and the high altitudes where a giant sequoia is larger and redder than others, the steep Hyde Street view of Alcatraz Island and San Francisco Bay, the drastic slope of the abrupt drop off of Taylor Street, the Pine Street colorful terraced houses with background buildings, the historic looking beautiful terraced houses and a Classic VW Beetle, and the Asian inspired intricately ornate Chinatown scene, each of which are available for sale in our store. Blog posts from California have documented the long and winding road climb to the giants of Sequoia National Park, the size comparison of The Wild Images Team Coordinator Christina and the giant tree, the massive view where giant sequoias maintain their diameters over hundreds of feet, an overlook into the Merced River Valley with Liberty Cap, the road heading towards the sheer monolith of El Capitan, the road heading towards desolate ridges of Joshua Tree National Park, the location where the road rises out of Bumpass Hell, a beach dune covered view of the secret underground World War II bunker, the reflective tower of the Marriott Marquis over the Yerba Buena Gardens, the distinctively ornate Asian architecture and decor of Chinatown, the musically inspired melting records with album covers mural, the long strange trip of the Grateful Dead Jerry Garcia mural, the places where steep sidewalks have stairs cut into them, the street where a tree gives a sense of the steepness, the expansive view of Nob Hill from Telegraph Hill and the oppositely directed view from Telegraph Hill to the northeast, the descent in the upper portion of the Filbert Steps, followed by the middle portion of the Filbert Steps with a pose by The Wild Images Team Coordinator on the steps, followed by the lower portion of the Filbert Steps, and at the bottom a view up the Filbert Street steps again with a pose by The Wild Images Team Coordinator below the steps.

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John Heath became a victim of vigilante justice. The event that led up to this was the Bisbee Massacre. John Heath had moved from Texas to Clifton, Arizona where he met James “Tex” Howard. Shortly thereafter, the two men moved on to the Cochise County town of Bisbee, Arizona, a boomtown built around the Copper Queen Mine and its riches produced from extracting an extraordinarily high grade of copper ore. While in Bisbee, James “Tex” Howard introduced John Heath to his associates: Dan “Big Dan” Dowd, Omer “Red” Sample, Daniel “York” Kelly, and William “Billy” Delaney, all of whom were members of the Cochise County Cowboys. The title of cowboy at the time was not an honor, as it was synonymous with the title of cattle rustler, a person who would steal cattle in one place to sell at another place, pocketing all of the profits without doing any of the work of raising the herd. This activity became so common that cattle ranchers began branding their cattle as a type of identifier to their ownership in the chance that they are stolen and attempted to be sold elsewhere. The Cochise County Cowboys are considered one of the earliest organized crime syndicates, who were notorious for stealing cattle in nearby Mexico, driving the herd north, and selling them in the Arizona Territory. The Mexican Government soon erected forts along the border, making this activity much more dangerous. At this point, the Cochise County Cowboys focused their attention on rustling cattle from ranches in the states as well as holding up stagecoaches. This activity became so common that stagecoach companies such as Wells Fargo would have a guard armed with a shotgun accompany the stagecoach driver, leading to the term of “riding shotgun”, which also made this activity become much more dangerous. The Cowboys then began to plan a robbery of the Copper Queen Mine payroll. The Copper Queen Mine company payday was on the 10th of each month, and the Cowboys learned that the payroll arrived two days in advance to the Goldwater & Castaneda Mercantile in downtown Bisbee, Arizona, since Bisbee did not have a bank at the time. On the morning December 8, 1883, John Heath opened a dance hall adjacent to the Goldwater & Castaneda Mercantile. That evening, the five other Cowboys, Tex Howard, Big Dan Dowd, Red Sample, York Kelly, and Billy Delaney rode from the nearby Buckles’ Ranch into town, posted two men at the entrance of the mercantile, and the three remaining men entered with guns drawn demanding the payroll from the mercantile safe. However, the payroll had not arrived yet, foiling their plan. Their suspicious activity caught the attention of several people in the area, each of whom they shot and killed including assayer J.C. Tappenier as he exited the Bon Ton Saloon and refused to go back in, Cochise County Deputy Sheriff D. Tom Smith as he saw the robbery in progress while dining with his wife across the street at the Bisbee House Restaurant and attempted to intervene, pregnant woman Annie Roberts simply because she peered out of a doorway from the same restaurant, and freighter John Nolly as he witnessed the events from a nearby wagon. These men were now wanted for multiple murders, and posses were formed that eventually captured all of them including John Heath, who was accused of helping to plot the robbery. The other five men were tried and convicted to death by hanging. John Heath was convicted to a life sentence to be served in the nearby town of Tombstone, Arizona. People of Bisbee were angry at his lighter sentence, formed a large mob of mostly miners that overran the prison guards at Tombstone, and dragged John Heath out of town where they hung him from a telegraph pole even after he professed his innocence. The five other Cowboys were all hung days later, and each of them also proclaimed the innocence of John Heath (as well as their own) before being hung. Here The Wild Images Team captured an image of the grave marker to John Heath in Boothill Graveyard of Tombstone. The Wild Images Team has captured many other photos in Arizona, such as the colorful storm buildup in the painted desert, the stark view of an incredibly tall monsoon cloud over desert, the sky covering massive anvil cloud over the mountains, the isolation in the curtains of rain over the Navajo Nation, the deep red lightning scene in the Mazatzals, the moment Zeus throws a bolt over Cave Creek, the network of colorful bolts over the Sedona ridges, the rainfall created colorful dry wash in bloom, the dangerous stripe-tailed scorpion climbing plants, the deep desert late night glowing bark scorpions, the dynamic image of a honeybee on an exotic wildflower, the view of a hummingbird among the thick wildflowers, a lucky shot of a great horned owl roosting in mesquite tree, the evening view of an organ pipe cactus, the serene scene of ocotillos and saguaro cacti, the view from Bell Rock of scrub brush and phenomenally colorful cliffs, this precarious Wupatki box canyon dwelling, a look up at the very majestic Wukoki Pueblo ruins, a chance encounter with a thunderstorm through a Wukoki Pueblo window, and the spiny sharp glass sculpture with cacti, each of which are available for sale in our store. Our blog posts from Arizona have documented the close up of a large stripe-tailed scorpion, the animated behavior of a great horned owl, the nearly daily encounters with the multitude of rattlesnakes, the mysterious darkness created by a very prominent Alexander’s Band between two brilliant rainbows, the crazy late sunset when red rain fell over the Mazatzal Mountains, monsoon season forming rain curtains hanging in front of the sunset, the sunset moment when delicate rain curtains fell in front of a darkening sky, spring rainfall creating a colorful desert bloom in a dry wash, the dynamic view of a honeybee equipped with dual pollen baskets among the blooms, the red sunlit clouds with a rainbow over the foothills of Black Mountain, the massive spectacle of a giant spiderweb of lightning over Black Mountain, near Sedona where red cliffs are framed by cane chollas, the reddish glow of sunset lighting an organ pipe cactus, the precarious location of the cliff edge Box Canyon ruins, the strategic location of the majestic Montezuma Castle Sinagua dwellings, The Wild Images Team Coordinator Christina at a scenic Grand Canyon overlook, The Wild Images Team Coordinator Christina in front of the Wupatki Pueblo, The Wild Images Team Coordinator Christina at the Pima Air & Space Museum, Tombstone and the Original Bird Cage Theatre history, its interior eponymic Bird Cage balcony seats, its secretive hidden door beneath the stage, through which lies the underground hidden gambling room, next to a hidden room for a lady of the night, the OK Corral Morgan Earp, Doc Holliday, Virgil Earp and Wyatt Earp and their gun fight with Tom McClaury, Frank McClaury, and Billy Clanton, the Boothill Graveyard headstone of Lester Moore and the headstone of John Heath, the reflective multicolored boatload of glass, the mass of blue and white glass atop a wall, the lighted view of purple stem vegetation glass, the lighted view of red stem vegetation glass, the closer view of the textures and shapes of Chihuly glass, the overlook view of Comet Neowise with a saguaro, which was brightly shining over the town of Cave Creek, eventually with its bright green coma and tail, as it appears to drop down into a saguaro grove, the day when rare snow fell in the Sonoran Desert and covered Black Mountain in a white blanket, the weeks of a devastating large record setting Bush Fire that continuously raged through the Superstition Mountains, the day when the Aquila Fire burned through Desert Hills causing massive destruction to a few structures, the day that the East Desert Fire nearly burned into the Cave Creek area, and then two weeks later the day when the devastating Ocotillo Fire did burn down into and throughout the estates which were protected by spectacular firefighting around the town of Cave Creek leaving behind this iconic image.

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In Morrell Park along the Savannah River, in the port of Savannah, Georgia, stands a monument to a legend that few people know about: The Waving Girl Statue. Who is the Waving Girl? It is Florence Martus, someone very well known to the maritime trade. From 1887 to 1931, for 44 straight years, she waved at each and every ship that passed through the Port of Savannah, using a piece of cloth by day and a lantern by night. It didn’t take long for the word to spread to other ports throughout the entire world. Sailors would look forward to being greeted by Florence as they entered into the Port of Savannah along the Savannah River. They would all wave back or salute her, and the ships would often also blow their horns in greeting. It is estimated that the Waving Girl, Florence Martus, greeted over 50,000 ships during her 44 years, never missing a single one! She was born in 1869 on Cockspur Island in the middle of the Savannah River, five miles downriver from Savannah, Georgia, to a father who was employed with a crew on the island rebuilding Fort Pulaski following its heavy bombardment during the Civil War. After this occupation, her father became a lighthouse keeper for several years, and when he retired, he passed the job on to his son, Florence’s brother. The lighthouse was located on Elba Island, another island in the middle of the Savannah River. During this time on Elba Island, while she was a teenager, she began to wave at the passing ships, often accompanied by her pet collie, and the ship crew would respond back with waves, salutes, and horn blasts. It is believed that she did this to help her feel connected to the wider world, while being isolated on an island in the middle of a river for most of her life. But she certainly made an impact on the wider world, becoming famous for her simple daily acts of kindness. Florence lived on this island for 44 years, until her brother also retired from the job in 1931. On her seventieth birthday, in 1939, the Propeller Club of Savannah presented her with a memorial built in Morrell Park, the Waving Girl Statue. It depicts her waving to the passing ships with the traditional piece of cloth, while her faithful collie companion stands by next to her. That is quite an honor to have a memorial permanently erected in a prominent place on your behalf! The Waving Girl Statue was designed by Felix de Weldon, the same famous sculptor who also designed the United States Marine Corps War Memorial, also known as the Iwo Jima Memorial, found at the entrance of the Arlington National Cemetery, depicting the six Marines raising an American Flag over Mount Suribachi during the Battle of Iwo Jima during World War II. To this day, passing ships will still blow their horns and the crew will still salute or wave to the Waving Girl Statue, in memory of a woman who brought such a warm welcome to sailors after long trips at sea. The Wild Images Team waited for the right conditions to capture this image of The Waving Girl Statue. Once the sky was filled with a nice collection of clouds, and the foreground lighting became ideal, we set up from a vantage point such that her collie stands majestically above the flower bushes, while Florence Martus is framed perfectly by the trees and the clouds to make her waving cloth the centerpiece of attention. The Wild Images Team has captured many other images in the Historic District of Savannah such as the haunting photo of houses of Calhoun Square through Spanish moss, this view of an ornate house from Lafayette Square, and the mystical aura surrounding the Forsyth Fountain in Forsyth Park, each of which are available for sale in our store. Savannah blog posts have documented as a boat is dwarfed by the massive Hapag-Lloyd Budapest Express, an evening view of the Savannah River terminals and the Talmadge Memorial Bridge, the amazing story of the Florence Martus Waving Girl Statue, the very detailed National Maritime Day Monument and a photo of its associated Propeller Club Dedication plaque, the perfectly framed view of the William Jasper Monument, the very functional historic armillary sphere of Troup Square, a lucky shot of a ghostly woman in a green dress standing in the doorway, an image of the geometric spiral patterns that fill a stairwell, and The Wild Images Team Travel Gnome catching some rays and then doing the backstroke in the rooftop pool. In the nearby Historic District of Charleston, South Carolina, the Wild Images Team has captured many other images including the colorful walkway with lights through humidity, a photo of the ornate house through trees branches, and in the bay where the Schooner named Pride sailed through, each of which are available for sale in our store. Charleston blog posts have documented when The Wild Images Team sought refuge from a historic downpour, which subsequently flooded the Charleston streets, that led to the stranding of our Coordinator Christina, photographed on a humid night as Christina poses in the steamy view, and then on a drier day as Christina rides the ferry to Fort Sumter, which formed these reflective wake trails towards the fort, the Battery District where ornamental balustrades line the street along East Battery, a late night view through the back gate of a house in the Battery District, and then an image of decorative folk art in a courtyard. In the somewhat nearby North Carolina, The Wild Images Team has captured photos such as the Cape Lookout Island scenic backdoor view of the lightkeepers house which is available for sale in our store. Blog posts from North Carolina include the standard vegetation as Cape Lookout Lighthouse is framed by pine trees. In the somewhat nearby Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia, The Wild Images Team has captured images including the wispy clouds over ornate Front Gates of the Governor’s Palace and a night time view of Josiah Chowning’s Tavern with waitstaff, each of which are available for sale in our store. Colonial Williamsburg blog posts have documented where dianthus barbatus also known as Sweet William grows in the Governor’s Palace Gardens, the day our Travel Gnome jumped the Governor’s Palace wall, was quickly taken into custody by a guard, and sentenced to serve time in the stockade, to which The Wild Images Team was also sentenced thanks to our Travel Gnome, and during a freer time the moment that a couple is married in a jumping the broom ceremony.

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This was an evening to remember for The Wild Images Team. A very occurrence happened here. Not the eruption of Beehive Geyser itself, but rather when it happened: just minutes before the sun set over the distant ridges. How rare is this situation? That requires an understanding of Beehive Geyser, one of the tallest geysers in the world. While it is a regular erupting geyser, it erupts only once per day at most. The time of the eruption is just as likely to be overnight as it is to be during the day, let alone at the moment of sunset. A simple probability calculation will determine the likelihood of this occurring. The moment of sunset, that is the fifteen minutes leading up to sunset, is one quarter of an hour, or about 25%. Then it has to be the correct hour of the day, so divide this by the number of hours in a day, or twenty four. The result is approximately 1%, or just one out of a hundred. Given that the high altitude summer seasons of Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming are about 100 days a year, this exact situation should occur on average about once an entire summer season! This was a very special moment. So special that a breathtaking sister image captured moments before this is available for purchase in our store. Why is it important that the eruption happened just before sunset? The size of the rainbow, of course. Since rainbows occur by the reflection of sunlight through the back end of a small droplet of water, the lower the sun is in the sky, the higher the droplets of water can be that still are able to reflect the sunlight. So a lower sun relative to the horizon, closer to sunrise or sunset, will always produce the largest rainbows. So why did it need to be sunset and not sunrise? Its all about the viewpoint, and the direction of the prevailing winds. To capture the geyser at sunrise would require to be on the other side of it, which is almost always the direction that the steam is blown, which will result in a steamy photo with little texture detail. Furthermore, the sunrises over a ridge that sits near the location of the eruption, such that by the time it rises, it is already higher in the sky. Beehive Geyser is found on Geyser Hill, a section that rises above even the Upper Geyser Basin, a location that has the highest concentration of geysers in the world, including the most famous geyser in the world, Old Faithful Geyser, an image of which is also available for purchase in our store, captured on a different day in a different season. Actually, the start of the eruption of Beehive Geyser as seen in the image above occurred simultaneously with the eruption of Old Faithful Geyser this night, and close inspection of the background will show the steam remaining on the small hill of Old Faithful, in the background between the jet of water from Beehive Geyser and the rainbow. The Wild Images Team even captured a few images of the two erupting together that we may post on the blog at a future date. We weren’t alone there, but not many were there that evening. The small crowd that happened to be there to witness this particular eruption can be seen gathered below the massive rainbow in this previous blog entry. Beehive Geyser was given its name by the shape of its siliceous sinter cone that the eruption emanates from, which resembles the shape of the old wicker beehive, known as a skep, that beekeepers used before the development of the Langstroth beehive. The height of the sinter cone of Beehive Geyser is about 4 feet. Meanwhile, its eruption regularly reaches 200 feet in height due the water being passed through its sinter cone like a nozzle, yet as can be seen in the above photo, the rainbow is itself is rivaling the height of the geyser. Both of their tops are much higher than as seen in this image, even though it was taken using a ninety degree wide angle lens, that is how massive everything was this night. We will never forget it! 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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In the Lower Geyser Basin, north of the boardwalk to the east of the almost constant eruption of Clepsydra Geyser, lies two giant craters in the gray siliceous sinter, one beyond the other. These are both erupting geysers, one of the thousands that are found in Yellowstone National Park of Wyoming. However, they stand out as being some of the largest geysers in the world, and are next to each other. The more distant one, the larger of the two, is Morning Geyser. It is an infrequent erupting geyser even during active periods, and often goes through long periods of dormancy that will amount to years at a time. The large crater nearer to the boardwalk is Fountain Geyser. It is an active and very frequent performer, erupting once every 4.5 to 5.5 hours, for an eruption window of only an hour. It is most likely to erupt in the middle of the window for an interval around 5 hours, give or take ten minutes, but this is not always guaranteed. Both the Morning Geyser and Fountain Geyser craters are filled with water, but never all of the way to the rim. From the boardwalk, the water surface cannot be seen in either, and they appear to be empty craters. There is a nearby small ridge which will give a better vantage point to peer down into their craters. From here, their water surfaces can be seen, always a few feet below the surface. Even just before the eruption, the water still remains a few feet below the rim, just as it will be after and in between the eruptions. So the only way to predict the next eruption is to know the time of the previous eruption, add 4.5 hours, then wait for the next eruption to begin somewhere during the next hour or so. It begins without a warning, other than suddenly water begins to burst up out of the crater in a constant roiling action that will last for about thirty minutes. The eruption itself is being caused by water deep down and under great pressure in the plumbing tubes being heated to the boiling temperature, being converted to high pressure steam, that itself pushes upward and attempts to escape from the pool. In the process, surrounding water is heaved up to heights of about 80 feet as the steam releases. The forces created by the steam are so large that they will often grab stones from 30 feet below, carry them all the way up to the water surface, and throw them clean out of the crater to heights of 40 feet, before they crash down on the surrounding geyserite surface. The Wild Images Team has photographed many eruptions of Fountain Geyser in a variety of different conditions and different times of day, and we have captured moments of these stones being thrown out. Sometimes, the activity will pause for a moment, allowing the energy of the escaping steam to concentrate in a single burst of water that will often be higher than the others. It is during these moments that the often looked for blue bursts may occur, where the water being thrown out has not yet broken up into separate globules, but instead remains a large mass of water that reflects the blue color of the pool depths below. Close inspection of the above image will show that it is a result of a large blue burst, and the blue color can be seen in its lower portions, especially on the right side. Moments before this image was taken, The Wild Images Team captured this gorgeous blue burst of Fountain Geyser that is available for sale in our store. This particular eruption produced a series of photos that have remained our favorite set for Fountain Geyser. A combination of great afternoon lighting, blue sky streaked with cirrus clouds and dotted with nimbus clouds, westerly winds carrying the steam eastward to the right, the striking colors of the siliceous sinter mound surrounding Fountain Geyser, coupled with the yellow and orange hues of the distant background grasses surrounding Fountain Flats, add together for a great set of photos. 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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Miles away from Old Faithful Geyser, down a lonely dirt path that accesses the most northern reaches of the Upper Geyser Basin in Yellowstone National Park of Wyoming. It is along here that in a clearing can be found Artemisia Geyser. A regular, yet very infrequent erupting geyser, to the few visitors who make their way out here, it is found as a quietly steaming and very deep pool. It has a strong greenish blue color reminiscent of the Artemisia family of plants, which includes mugworts, wormwoods, and sagebrush. Even during its long quiet periods, it is an absolutely breathtaking pool lying below the trail, well worth the distance to reach it. With much patience, though, its powerful eruption is something to behold. It erupts just once in an interval anywhere between 14 hours and 34 hours, for an eruption window of 20 hours. It is not possible to predict precisely when the next eruption will occur, though close observation after the previous eruption when its rising waters eventually first fill some of the named geyserite features surrounding its pool, such as the duck, the mustache, or the boot, may help to narrow the eruption window a bit more. This is an imperfect science however, and the only way to ensure witnessing an eruption is to patiently wait. The Wild Images Team has watched numerous eruptions of Artemisia Geyser, and have had wait times as short as 5 minutes (sheer luck) and as long as 13 hours (dedication). We know to bring food with us during a trek out this far, as the uncertainty of the eruption can make for a long day. One thing is certain though: if the height of the pool is found to be anywhere below the edge of overflow, an eruption has happened within the last few hours and it will not happen again for quite a long time. But if the pool is overflowing, and has filled some of the named features around, all that is left to do is wait. Nicely there are plenty of trees around to provide shade, there are rocks or logs to sit on, and the entire location is peaceful and quiet. There is plenty of side entertainment to fill the time. The backdrop beyond the drainage channels is a common path for wildlife, especially bison, to travel between the lower grazing areas and the fields around the Upper Geyser Basin. Yellow bellied marmots live in the surrounding rocks and will occasionally make an appearance. In the early evening, coyotes will sometimes be seen following the dirt trail, coming within feet of you. And then there is Atomizer Geyser, seen as the small humps in a separated geyserite area at the far left center portion of the photo. It erupts in a series of five to eight minor eruptions about an hour apart, before eventually having a major eruption that reaches up to 50 feet and that lasts around 10 minutes. The major eruption completely depletes its reservoir water causing it to become quiet in a refill period that lasts at least six hours. Then there is Artemisia Geyser. At some point, without warning, the entire surrounding land will shake with loud thumping behavior. The eruption has begun. Within seconds, the entire large pool will rise up and start pouring water about a foot deep down all of the runoff channels, which nearly completely surround it. This enormous volume of runoff will continue for the entire eruption, outputting thousands of gallons of water. Massive bursts will rise up at the center of the pool, easily reaching heights of 30 feet. What was once a quiet, peacefully steaming pool has become a roiling, violent maelstrom. A stunning sister image of this same eruption, taken from a different angle, is available for purchase in our store. The eruption will last for about 30 minutes, after which, with all of its water and energy expended, it will once again become a quietly steaming pool, though now several feet lower. It will then slowly refill over the course of several hours before reaching overflow, and then for several more hours after this, slowly setting up the next eruption. 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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Norris Geyser Basin is found in an isolated area considerably more north of the other major geyser basins of Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming. In this region, conditions are very harsh. Surface temperatures are the highest in the park, and the water is acidic. These combine together to create the most dramatic thermal landscape found on earth, the low lying Porcelain Basin, an image of which is available for sale in our store. There the temperature is so high and the water is so acidic that the region is devoid of any vegetation other than that found in the safety of the surrounding ridges. Even the extreme thermophile bacteria has some trouble establishing a presence there. But Norris Geyser Basin is actually comprised of two different ecosystems. Besides the Porcelain Basin, there is another area known as the Back Basin. This remote area is somewhat higher in elevation, and separated from the more harsh conditions found in the Porcelain Basin. As such, the trees grow more thickly there and surround the pockets of thermal activity. Also, instead of being composed of a thick sheet of white siliceous sinter, there the ground is composed of tan geyserite broken into rocks and pebbles, a look that is more similar to the other geyser basins in Yellowstone. And scattered around the thermal areas of the Back Basin are numerous geysers of varying size and behavior. Arguably the most entertaining in the area, and one of the most observed is Vixen Geyser. It has earned its name through its eruption behavior. In a bit of mischievous action, it will become active with a fierce sputtering eruption one minute, then cease the next minute. And then again a minute later, it will refill and begin sputtering in an eruption again. The quiet modes rarely exceed more than a few minutes in length. Therefore, the likelihood of finding it in an eruption mode at least as much as it is to find it in a quiet mode, and even then a short wait is all that is required for the next eruption. The eruptions themselves vary in length, anywhere from about one minute up to almost a full hour. And the size of the eruptions also vary with the length of the eruptions. Those that are shorter in length are known as minor eruptions, usually reach up to about 15 feet in height, and generally last for a few minutes. They are the most common type of eruption to observe. However, it will occasionally have a major eruption. During a major eruption, which typically lasts much longer, the water will often blast out of the opening to heights of over 30 feet. Since it is a sputtering type of geyser, the water comes out in large, steaming hot globules. It is possible for the globules to rain down on the nearby trail, though they are launched high enough that they usually cool somewhat as they fall through the air so as to not cause burns. However, they do still feel hot to the touch! Regardless of the type of eruption, they begin the same way. The small pool surrounded by geyserite rocks fills very quickly, usually in a matter of seconds, and sputtering bursts begin launching the water up over the terrain of the Norris Geyser Basin. Near the end of the eruption, the burst energy quickly subsides, and then the entire pool drains away in seconds accompanied by a loud sucking noise. The Wild Images Team captured this image of Vixen Geyser during one of its major eruptions. The water globules are easily up to 20 feet high here, and still headed upward from the geyser blast, while in the background can be seen the nearby trees and a beautiful background sky complete with cumulonimbus clouds. We have taken hundreds of photos of Vixen Geyser, and this one is our favorite. 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.

To see more photos, please visit our store