Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1905-08-19
of Russian teapot, done In snow.
Truly this is a land of extremes.
A Balance Point of Elements.

Truly this is land of extremes.
A Balance Point of Elements.
According to the names applied, the
devil must have had great deal to do
with Yellowstone park But surely the
gods did also. 1t is like junction of
heaven and hell, OF Olympia's heights
and Inferno's depths. could think of
it as nothing less than balance point
of the elements.
Steam Geysers.
This idea comes as one reaches Nor
ris. the halfway station where the
coaches stop for lunch In front of
the Norris lunch room lies the Nor
ris Geyser Basin, where are seen the
only steam geysers in the park. We
walked over this basin, the formation
of which is q peculiar whitish sub
stance with hot water pools and bub-
bling springs breaking forth on every
side. A narrow plank walk was fol-
lowed across it's deepest part with the
hot water overlooking 1t at various
points. Then a climb up to the left
and we looked into a ferocious steam
geyser called the "Black Growler," a
deep, shaggy opening in the ground,
from which steam issues constantly in
heavy volume with terrific force and
a deep growing roar. Beyond Is the
Hurricane, another on the same order
spouting steam Bare tree trunks and
shrub branches in this vicinity are
covered with heavy lime-like coat
ing, perfectly white, and look weirdly
unnatural in the brilliant light. To the
right, down the road, are hot water
pools, whose waters are of clear
blue coloring running the entire
gauntlet Of the bluis'l shades. The
coloring of Norris Basin is something
to rave over, too. Deep, vivid car
mines vie with Heavens own blues,
and all the varying tints of greens
against the somber browns and soft
grays. Here is masterpiece of the
great Master Artist
Through Groves OF Pines.
Just beyond Norris we paused for
moment to see the Minute Man a
small geyser which plays some six
feet high. Looking back over the bas-
in we watched the little jets of steam
rising all over the plateau. "That is
'Hells Half Acre." said the driver.
"a good name,' we promptly agreed
From Norris to the Fountain hotel
our first nights stop, we drove
through magnificent groves of pine
spruce, pausing to admire Sleeps
Head Rock in the Cascades of the
Gibbon river Here was the phe-
nomenon of little pools and springs
of boiling water in the midst of a
stream Of perfectly cold water. The
mountains rose sheer and high on ev-
cry side covered with frs and sweet
scented spruce, making poetic back
ground. The road follows the Glib
bon river, descending further on into
Gibbon Canon. About two miles be-
yond this we came to Beryl Spring one
Of the loveliest boiling springs in the
park. 1t gushes furiously out of a
rock shaped like a dragons head and
beside it is pool of boiling water
Here was another popularity worth
noting. A small steam geyser was
directly under the road and spouted
out steam at the side like an exhaust
pipe.
Gibbon Canon is grand. It's walls
rise perpendicularly about 300 feet
above the road which follows the de-
vious windings Of the river with it's
roaring cascades. These towering
cliffs are majestic and awesome Here
we came to the Iron Spring, it's waters
of deep red, rusty color. The Glib
bons Falls in the Canon are wonder
fully picturesque, the water dropping
about eighty feet into jagged gulch.
Further on we descended into the
valley Of the Fire Hole river and on to
it's junction with Nez Perez creek, so
waged by General Howard against
Chief Joseph of that tribe and arrived
late in the afternoon at the Fountain
hotel
Fountain Hotel.
Here the chief attractions are the
Fountain Geyser and the bears. We
walked to what Is known as lower
Geyser Basin and watched the Foun-
tain Geyser, but it refused to play
while was there. We saw the GRAFT
er slowly filled with boiling water but
before each eruption.
The Mammoth Paint Pots are a
feature here. These are odd mushy
pulls OF springs Oh various COlOfS. pink
and white predominatilg, within a
crater about 40 feet wide. 1t looks
like thick paint and bubbles up with
a peculiar popping sound only to fall
back into curious flower shapes.
To Old Faithful Inn.
The next morning we started early
for the nine mile drive to Old Faith
full Inn. The road was across a fiat
geyserite plain, at first to opposite Elk
celsior Geyser, where halt was made
and the entire party left the vehicles.
In this geyser group was the Excel
sior, said to be the largest in the
world, but aside from a short interval
in 1890 1t has not played since 1888,
SO we decided we would not wait
This is the territory that is generally
called "Hell's Half Acre" Here we
saw Turquoise Spring, a limpid pool
Of intensely blue water and Prismat-
ic lake Of marvellous coloring. This is
where adjectives are weak and stood
mute In wonder and admiration. The