Great boiling spring on the Jupiter Terrace, Mammoth Hot Springs, Yellowstone Park, U.S.A., The

Publication

Great boiling spring on the Jupiter Terrace, Mammoth Hot Springs, Yellowstone Park, U.S.A., The

Description

The terraces, or the stairway of the Gods as they are often called, form one of the most beautiful and interesting attractions of the Park. As the name indicates, they are huge stair-like structures of geyserite-hydrated silica, a mineral of the same composition as opal; and, certainly, the visitor will agree that the terraces fully equal that gem in beauty. The geyserite is deposited from the hot water of the spring, which always occurs at the summit of a terrace. The trip which the tourist takes from Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel to Terrace Mountain is over a winding road of exceeding beauty. In this vicinity are found a number of terraces, some in the process of formation, and others whose springs have dried up. Jupiter terrace is the largest one of the group, extending over an area some thirty rods square. At the top is an immense sping of boiling water, 100 feet in diameter, which, as the stereograph indicates, is covered by a veil of steam. From this huge caldron the water pours over the terraces, depositing its mantle of opal from year to year. In the foreground are two of Uncle Sam's faithful guards ever on the alert to prevent acts of vandalism, such as writing names upon the geyserite, or soaping of geysers, etc., throughout the Park. In the background of our view is one of those charming cloud effects so often seen in the Yellowstone region. On the eastern side of Jupiter Terrace, are several exceedingly beautiful smaller terraces, one called the Pulpit from the resemblance to a church pulpit. To the west we shall find the Narrow Gauge Terrace covered with little geysers or really, at present, mere boiling springs of great beauty, one of them, the Orange Geyser, though small, excells all others of the Park in its beautiful color effects.