To view the animated Gif, click here
The story behind the photo: Photo three of the series of photos comprising the animated GIF on the home page taken in 1993 at the very beginning of my experiences in Yellowstone (my first full day in fact) shows Old Faithful near its full height. In the old days people used to go have their pictures taken right in front of the geyser, but not any more. The crust of the earth in the geyser basin is very thin and one can fall through the earth at any time being horribly scalded or killed by the boiling water underneath. Geysers arise because of a very specific natural plumbing system that allows the water to rise faster than the temperature decreases through a fairly narrow opening in the system. Old Faithful is a cone geyser contradistinguished from a fountain geyser in that Old Faithful's eruptions occur through a cone created over time by (I believe alkaline) deposits. While some geysers are much higher and some even more "faithful" and some more spectacular and maybe some deserving of more fame, I can say with certainty that I can never forget what it was like to see Old Faithful erupt.
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