Old Faithful – Up to the Geyser/ Yellowstone hot springs
Old Faithful, the reliable geyser in Yellowstone, has reliably spewed its steamy waters to the delight of the tourists. Early explorers in the area would get up close to the geyser’s opening to toss their clothes in the hole. The 350F (176.6C) steam and 204F (95.5C) would steam clean the clothes, launching them out of the geyser during its eruption. But one thing tourists forget about geysers like Old Faithful and Yellowstone hot springs is that they are, in fact, geothermal land features. They are literally heated by subsurface magma. After years of people falling into geysers and hot springs, scalding them to death and dissolving their flesh, the National Park Service constructed dedicated paths and a viewing platform for these features including Old Faithful. Visitors are repeatedly instructed to stay on the path to avoid a painful, burning or dissolving death.
