Biscuit Basin – Before The Explosion

Sapphire Pool at Biscuit Basin, Yellowstone National Park

Imagine our surprise when we read that a “hydrothermal explosion” had occurred at Biscuit Basin in Yellowstone on July 23. We had visited just two months prior, and the news photos of the devastation were incredible. All of our tour guides had joked about how Yellowstone sits on a huge underground volcano, and “you never know….” It’s well known that violent eruptions can happen at any time, and sometimes they actually do. Yikes! Fortunately no one was injured, and damage appears to be mostly limited to the boardwalk. And of course the size and shapes of several of the pools were dramatically altered.

Biscuit Basin, Yellowstone National Park

Our visit was in an evening and the sky was overcast. As a result a lot of the colors are quite muted. But the various colors of the pools and the surrounding bacterial mats are quite evident.

Biscuit Basin, Yellowstone National Park
Jewel Geyser at Biscuit Basin, Yellowstone National Park
Bacterial mats add interesting colors and textures to hot pools and geysers. Biscuit Basin, Yellowstone National Park
Bacterial mats add interesting colors and textures to hot pools and geysers. Biscuit Basin, Yellowstone National Park
Bacterial mats add interesting colors and textures to hot pools and geysers. Biscuit Basin, Yellowstone National Park

And gnarly trees! 🙂

Biscuit Basin, Yellowstone National Park
Biscuit Basin, Yellowstone National Park

2 thoughts on “Biscuit Basin – Before The Explosion”

  1. When I was younger we made a vacation trip to Yellowstone with grandparents and and uncle. What I remember the most was the bears we saw. But, a couple weeks after we returned they had the earthquake that really did some damage. I like your series of images but where’s the snow?

    1. Oh, there was snow and I have the images to prove it! Bears, too! But the areas around the geysers were warmer and there was no snow there. I’m still sifting through thousands of photos and posting out of order. 😉

Comments are closed.