Yellowstone’s most photographed feature is the rainbow colored Grand Prismatic spring. So obviously we went to see it first. The other basins there weren’t as colorful, but they were still pretty.
The blue pools spouted steam, and the land around was splotched red and orange. These colors are made by bacteria. The Grand Prismatic spring’s colors were neater, the blue in the middle surrounded by rings of yellow, orange, and red, just like in a rainbow.
The hot springs have no constrictions, unlike geysers, so the hot water is able to rise, cool, and sink freely. Some of the springs leak into the Firehole river, making the place where the hot water meets the cold river water like a jacuzzi. We swam there for a bit, then went to the lower geyser basin right near by.
Celestine Pool was my favorite there because of its saturated blue color. We then moved on to the Fountain Paint Pots. The Fountain Paint Pots are an area where you can observe mud pots. Mud pots are acidic features with a small supply of water.
Because of the very acidic steam the ground dissolves into clay. Before returning to our hotel we did some fishing and swimming in the Firehole river (but at a different spot with fewer people).
