Here is Old Faithful Geyser. I just saved you a trip. Just kidding. The area around Old Faithful has dozens of other geysers and is quite surreal to be surrounded by such unique "thermal features" as they are often called. Yellowstone is in the middle of an old volcano which means the region accumulates a lot of water underground with hot magma very close to the surface. This creates a lot of these features including half of the world's geysers.
I stayed at the Old Faithful Inn which is right next to its namesake. It's not the oldest lodge in the park, but it is beautiful looking like a massive log cabin. The interior has lots of gnarled pine and extreme character, not to mention a prime rib buffet. The room was small with a shared bathroom, but fortunately a break in the weather made the non air conditioned room a little easier to bear. Ice cream helps too.
This pool is part of the extensive thermal features surrounding Old Faithful. The colors come from the minerals dissolved in the spring water coming to the surface. The smell is quite repulsive, although early advertisements encouraged tourists to wash their laundry in the pools. After many people fell into the scalding water, park officials stopped this activity.
As you can see, there are also many bears in Yellowstone including grizzlies. I highly recommend taking ranger led tours while in the national parks; I took several during my trip. They are a great way to meet fellow visitors and get free insight from the rangers about the area. It adds a fun dimension to your trip if you can accommodate the schedules.
This picture was just too cool to not include. You can easily see the number of thermal features steaming along the river surrounding the Old Faithful area. It was one of the most impressive parts of the park, especially since the features are constantly changing and may erupt at any time! Below are the rest of my photos from Old Faithful.
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