Faithful

Day 34, Monday July 20, 2015
Start Upper Firehole Campsite 0A2 21-208WT, mile 2005.3
End Summit Lake Campsite OE1 22-112CG, mile 2019.7

Going down towards Old Faithful Village in the morning, the first thing to notice is how many steam plumes can be counted.

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I had to stop by Old Faithful Inn, a historic and eccentric building my family visited many years ago.

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I will have to edit this photo to show the post and beam construction.

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See how bent branches are used as detail, giving the impression the building was grown, not built.

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Old Faithful gave a show at 11:20AM.

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I fooled around in the village sucking up wifi and snacking entirely too long, so this is a later eruption at 2:20PM.

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A boardwalk allows us to tour the many geysers, pools, and hot springs.

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Some geysers are erratic in timing and height.

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Different colors in the chromatic pools are caused by cyanobacteria and other organisms.

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Sapphire pool looks sapphire.

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So many wonders are here to be discovered, one gets mentally overloaded.
Someone forgot a perfectly good stroller along the trail.

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Tri Bhu is a thru-hiker who flipped up to Glacier an is headed south. He hiked the Appalachian Trail in 2012, my year, but we did not meet. He has already done the PCT.

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Later on I meet Buck-Thirty, who also flipped to Glacier and heads south.

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He hiked the Appalachian Trail in 2012, same as me, but at an unusual start date so missed meeting people I know.
Taking a photo through the bug mesh of my tent at dusk, the moon peaks out over Summit Lake.

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Tomorrow I leave the park.

Author: Jim, Sagebrush

Jim (trail-name Sagebrush) codes audio software for Windows, Linux, Android, and embedded systems. When not working at sagebrush.com, he enjoys backpacking, which this blog is about.