Norris Geyser basin was the first Geyser basin we visited. We were greeted by two magnificent giant fumeroles (steam vents) emitting hot steam that smelled of egg but which also had lovely rainbows.
We wandered around the small boardwalk fascinated at the landscape – we could have been on the moon!
We walked over streams of coloured water which might look like we are downstream from a nuclear plant or similar, but actually is due to a combination of coloured minerals and thermophilic bacteria (bacteria that likes heat) so you can apparently tell the heat of the water due to the different colours!
It was super hot here so we could only manage a stroll around here (under my umbrella which I use as a sun shade, much to the amusement of my BF) before heading back to the shade of the visitors centre to buy bottles of water and have a browse around the museum-like exhibits, which were very good.
There were park rangers stationed here so we were able to ask him about the burgeoning wildfire, but he said it was nothing to worry about. There was also a longer walk to see more pools and geysers, but we were too hot to do it.
Travel Tips:
- This was a good stop-off but despite the name, there weren’t
manyany geysers erupting when we went. It was worth a stop-off to see the bizarre multicoloured landscape, and the angry fumaroles were worth seeing, but if you want geysers, the Upper Geyser Basin is the place!
Next blog: Old Faithful and Upper Geyser Basin, Yellowstone, WY, USA
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