"Boiler" and the "Black Growler" steam vents whose roar may be heard 1-2 mile, Yellowstone Park, U.S.A., The

Publication

"Boiler" and the "Black Growler" steam vents whose roar may be heard 1-2 mile, Yellowstone Park, U.S.A., The

Description

One of the most popular regions of the Park is the Norris Geyser Basin, the highest geyser basin in the Park. Though the geysers of this basin are smaller than those farther south they are, in many ways, as interesting. The water of many of the geysers is impregnated with sulphur, giving them a milky, turbid appearance; unless they come in contact with iron when a black precipitate of iron sulphide is formed, making, at times, the water of some geysers as black as ink. The "Black Growler" is such a geyser. It does not throw out much water but keeps up a rumbling and spluttering, throwing out little splashes of inky liquid and strong sulphurous odors, reminding one of descriptions in Dante's "Inferno." The "Boiler" is a steam vent which emits enough steam to supply many engines. The roar of these steam vents can be heard fully a half mile. Not all of the springs of this region are of the kind described above, however, for some are as clear as crysal and we can see to great depths in them. Just north of the Norris Basin a branch road, New Canyon Road, (No. 11), runs from the main line of travel eastward to the Grand Canyon region. Around the Norris Basin much of the vegetation is destroyed by the sulphurous fumes which are poured forth from the many steam vents of the region. The whole basin, in fact, presents an appearance conductive to anything but life. In truth, the rumbling sounds from beneath the surface, the hissing and spluttering of the many steam vents, together with the inky liquid and sulphurous odors, tends to make the more timid hesitate about entering the region.