Through the long deep canyon of the Gibbon River, and up over the
mountain top, giving a distant view of the Gibbon Falls, a cataract of
eighty feet far down in the valley, the road crosses another divide to
a stream in the worst portion of this Satanic domain, which has not
been inappropriately named the Firehole River. This unites with the
Gibbon to form the Madison River, one of the sources of the Missouri.
Miles ahead, the steam from the Firehole Geyser Basins can be seen
rising in clouds among the distant hills. Beyond, the view is closed
by the Teton Mountains, far to the southwest, rising fourteen thousand
feet, the Continental divide and backbone of North America, the
highest Rocky Mountain range, on the other side of which is the Snake
River, whose waters go off to the Pacific. The Firehole River is a
stream of ample current, with beautifully transparent blue water
bubbling over a bed of discolored stones and lava. Its waters are all
the outflow of geysers and hot springs, impregnated with everything
this forbidding region produces; pretty to look at, but bitter as the
waters of Marah. Along this river, geysers are liberally distributed
at intervals for ten miles, being, for convenience of description,
divided into the Lower, Middle and Upper Geyser Basins. The Lower
Basin, the first reached, has myriads of steam jets rising from a
surface of some three square miles of desolate geyserite deposits.
There are about seven hundred springs and geysers here, most of them
small. The Fountain Geyser throws a broad low stream of many
interlacing jets every two to three hours, lasting about fifteen
minutes. The "Thud" Geyser has a crater one hundred and fifty feet in
diameter, having a smaller rim inside, within which the geyser
operates, throwing a column of sixty feet with a heavy and regular
"thud" underground, though it has no fixed period, and is irregular in
action. This basin has a generous supply of mud geysers, known as the
"paint pots," which eject brilliantly colored muds with the
consistency and look of paint, the prevailing hues being red, white,
yellow and pink.
About three miles to the southwest, farther up the Firehole River, is
the Middle Geyser Basin. It is a locality covering some fifty acres,
close to the river, and contains the greatest geyser in the world. The
name of Hell's Half Acre was given this place in the early
explorations, and still sticks. The surface is composed mainly of hot
ashes, with streams of boiling water running over it. The whole basin
is filled with hot springs, and surrounded by timbered hills, at the
foot of which is the Prismatic Lake, its beautiful green and blue
waters shading off into a deposit of bright red paint running down to
the river. The great Excelsior Geyser is a fountain of enormous power
but uncertain periods, which when at work throws out such immense
amounts of water as to double the flow of the river. Its crater is a
hundred yards wide, with water violently boiling in the centre all the
time and a steady outflow. The sides of the crater are beautifully
colored by the deposits, which are largely of sulphur. It is a geyser
of modern origin, having developed from a hot spring within the memory
of Park denizens. It throws a column over two hundred feet high, and
while quiet at times for years, occasionally bursts forth, though
having no fixed period. In close connection to the westward is the
seething cauldron which is the immediate Hell's Half Acre, that being
about its area--a beautiful but terrible lake, steam constantly rising
from the surface, which boils furiously and sends copious streams
over the edges. This is an uncanny spot, with treacherous footing
around, and about the hottest place in the Park.