From West Yellowstone, the route follows the Madison through Christmas
Tree Park, and then down the lovely valley of the Firehole River into
geyserland. There are more geysers in Yellowstone than in all the rest
of the world, and the greatest of them are here in the Lower and Upper
Basins. The hiss of steam, low, subterranean mutterings and the roar of
geysers in action make this landscape a scene from the Inferno. You see
Fountain, Great Fountain, Riverside and Giant geysers, Morning Glory
Pool and Fountain Paint Pot, and reach Old Faithful for dinner and the
night.
The most famous geyser in the world, Old Faithful may be depended upon
to stage its almost hourly shows for your special benefit. Approximately
every sixty-five minutes it growls and hisses for a moment, and then
leaps into action sending its glorious plume of boiling water 120 or
more feet into the sky.
Old Faithful is a perfect spot for your first stay in Yellowstone and
offers a variety of attractions that will make your time here seem all
too short. Besides the many nearby geysers, you will see the iridescent
turquoise of Morning Glory Pool with its flower-tinted cone ... Black
Sand Pool and Sapphire Springs ... Firehole Lake with its flame-like
streamers of gas bubbling to the surface, Chinaman Pool and numerous
other steaming pools and springs.
[Illustration: Yellowstone’s Ranger-Naturalists are always on hand to
give interesting explanations of the numberless wonders of the Park.]
[Illustration: Shopping for souvenirs.]
[Illustration: Giant Geyser, though an irregular performer, is the
largest in the Park. At full discharge it sends its huge stream of
boiling water and steam from 200 to 250 feet in the air. The rumble and
roar of the geysers can be heard for long distances in the clear
mountain air.]
[Illustration: Across the Firehole River clouds of drifting steam mark
the Firehole Geyser Basin—another reason why beautiful Yellowstone is
the most photographed of our National Parks.]
There is an enclosed swimming pool and a museum. A variety of short
walking trips may be taken with the ranger-naturalists, and longer trips
made on horseback with colorful wranglers who know the phenomena of the
Park.
Old Faithful Inn itself is built wholly of native materials. Within its
friendly walls, you dine, dance, play and meet congenial fellow
travelers before the great open fireplace.
The following day, your caravan moves on from Old Faithful past the
beautiful Kepler Cascades of the Firehole, and over the Continental
Divide. Here is the Rocky Mountain watershed that sends the rivers on
one side flowing down to the Atlantic and the Gulf of Mexico, and on the
other side, to the Pacific. To the south lie Shoshone Lake and the snowy
peaks of the Teton range.