Last Day at Yellowstone: Biscuit Basin and Lower Geyser Basin

Sapphire Pool is the star attraction at Biscuit Basin

On my third and final day within Yellowstone, I am picking up the sights that were missed on the southwestern segment of the Figure 8 driving loop within the park.  Next stop:  Biscuit Basin.

To get there, you have to cross the Firehole River, the river that meanders alongside Old Faithful.

First attraction:  the Black Opal Spring:

Then the Black Diamond Pool:

And this little rivulet coming from the Black Diamond Pool deserves its own theme music.

The walking loop at Biscuit Basin is only a half of a mile.  Here is the Sapphire Pool.  Digital photography from my small camera does not do justice to the deep sapphire blue of the pool's water:

There was a stain in the corner:

This was a sad sight:

Shell Spring.  Apparently corporate sponsorship has come to the national park system.  And named for an oil company no less!

Moving along:

And this too apparently has a corporate sponsor:

Mustard Spring.  Sponsored by America's third favorite condiment (after ketchup and mayonnaise).

I am kidding about the corporate sponsorship thing.  Next stop:  Midway Geyser Basin brought to you by General Motors.  Just kidding.  Unfortunately, Midway Geyser Basin might as well have been sponsored by a car company as there was a traffic jam to get in.  First time in Yellowstone I saw overwhelming crowds.  I skipped it.  I will save the most photographed sight in Yellowstone, the giant Grand Prismatic Spring, for the next trip.  On to the Lower Geyser Basin:

This is the Celestine Pool, so named because of the sky blue color.  Someone had to dig deep to come up with words for "blue" to name all the pools of water in the geyser basin.

This is Silex Spring.  Corporate sponsorship by half of Proctor Silex Company.  It would make sense for the maker of toasters to sponsor hot springs, but in actuality "silex" is a synonym for silica.

Next up, what was supposed to be the star attraction of Lower Geyser Basin:

Fountain Paint Pots.

Lower Geyser Basin is quite impressive.  Fountain Paint Pots?  Not so much.

Fumarole:

Next up:  Spasm Geyser:

And it was having a spasm!

I got there just in time for the unscheduled show:

Not all of the geysers go off like clockwork.  In fact, only one does, which is why it is world famous.

And once more past the Celestine Pool.

One last planned stop before checking out of Yellowstone:  Artist's Paint Pots.