Why is it called Black Pool when it’s blue?
One of the most often asked questions at West Thumb Geyser Basin is, “Why is it called Black Pool when it’s blue?” This NPS photo from 1978 shows how it used to look, which is black. The microbes lining the surface of the crater were said to be a dark orange or brown...
Late March 2017 Phenology Report
It’s been a gray, drizzly day today as I write this and the driveway is full of fallen catkins from the neighbor’s aspen trees. Tomorrow has the forecast of snow showers followed by a day of sun and yet another system to move in after that. Daffodils and crocuses are...
March 11 – Saturday Phenology Drive
The bluebirds are back! The image above comes from a friend of mine out in Wapiti who reported seeing the first ones arrive on March 10 this year. Often it’s just the males first, but this year quite a few pairs showed up together and already house hunting. So...
Looking for Bluebirds on South Fork
Starting a phenology journal is as simple as noting when you observe the firsts of the year. And the Mountain Bluebirds should show up in the greater Yellowstone area anytime in the next week or so. Each year you make notes of the firsts, you go back through and start...
Seeing Signs of Spring
They’re coming! The Mountain Bluebirds are on their way. It’s the surest sign of spring we all look for out here and an email list came through today saying they saw the first ones outside of Laramie. Next they should be seen in the Casper area and then the...
Where have all the rabbits gone?
11 Feb 2017 | Ever since the last few snow storms that moved through, the rabbits we would regularly see have all disappeared. In fact, the past few days, I continually look specifically for them and find none. Then last night while taking Rhad out (my corgi that’s...
Looking For Spring
The chinook winds are (still) blowing this morning as I write and the streets in town that were full of water yesterday are drying out. The winds have melted the 8″ or so we got from the last storm and are working on the snow left from December. Friends mentioned...
Giant Geyser Awakening?
Geyser Gazers in Yellowstone yesterday had a great kick off to 2017 with a Hot Period from Giant Geyser. They noticed Grotto Geyser was recovering from a “marathon” eruption – one that lasts a long time and drains the system enough to give Giant Geyser an opportunity...
Mastering the Art of Focus
“If you are interested in something, you will focus on it, and if you focus attention on anything, it is likely that you will become interested in it. Many of the things we find interesting are not so by nature, but because we took the trouble of paying attention to...
2016 – My Year of YES
As the year winds down, I find myself in transition from this year’s word of YES to next year’s word of FLOW (more on that to come). I want to share how this process works simply because I encourage you to try finding a word to guide you. The depth of this practice...
How to be outside more
As you start to think about what you want your 2017 to look like, you might want to add in more time outside. Being outside is healthy for us on many levels. Connecting with nature has been proven to have multiple health and mental well being benefits. One of the...
Watching “N.O.T. Geyser” Grow at West Thumb
UPDATE: This thermal feature has a new nickname of "Waterfall Geyser" given due to the fact that numerous visitors when seeing this geyser in eruption commented about the waterfall of water from this geyser into Thumb Geyser's crater. This summer a new geyser broke...