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Geysers, Bubbling Mud Pots, Fumaroles and Hot Springs

	I think the most colorful and texture rich part of Yellowstone were the hot springs, especially the ones situated around Old Faithful.  Before reaching the hot springs and fumaroles, one of the tree lined walks leading up to Old Faithful became a perfect framed shot of Old Faithful erupting.

There were a lot of fumaroles, hot springs and little bubbling geysers, along with much larger ones.  Colors and textures from mineral deposits and bacterial mats colorized the hot rock around some of them.  The most interesting of these colors were made by bacterium called Thermus Aquaticus, which is a particular interest to biologists who work with DNA samples, study diseases or genetic defects.

The area around all these hot springs was unsafe to walk on.  You never know where there was a thin covering of hard mud or crust that you could step through into scalding, and very acidic, water.  The pH of most hot springs is around 3-4, while the bubbling mud pots are a pH of 0, pictured below.  It was always wise to stick to the trails and boardwalks, and heed all warning signs. 

The bubbling mud pots area smelled of sulphur the worst, while around the Old Faithful area, there were no sulphur smells unless you go directly into some of the steam.  I would guess it's because of the burned out areas around Old Faithful, there was a better air exchange.  The bubbling mud pots has less burned, hence more living tress to cut down on air flow.

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