Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Crested Pool has an almost perfectly symmetrical ten-sided rim.
Before you reach the path to Daisy Geyser, the Round Spring Group of springs and occa-
sional spouters to the west makes the idea of cutting across this open space very unwise (as
well as forbidden!).
If you started from the visitor center, you will have traveled a little more than a mile (1.8
km) by the time you reach the first (southern) path to Daisy and the sign: “Daisy Geyser may
erupt within
x
minutes of y.” The time is posted both here and at the visitor center after the
first eruption or two of the day. The path to the west here and the bicycle path a short distance
north both pass the Daisy Group of geysers. They rejoin west of those geysers to become one
path toward Black Sand Basin.
To your east you can see the distinctive cone of Giant Geyser. It's described on
page 92
.
In the group at the top of the small hill, Daisy Geyser is the only regularly and predictably
active geyser, but about ten features here are closely related. Two of the geysers have interest-
ing names. Park geologist George Marler named
Radiator Geyser
for sounding like a boiling
car radiator. Its eruptions are mostly subterranean when Daisy is active, but above ground
when Splendid is active.
Daisy's Thief Geyser,
when it first appeared in 1942, used to erupt
occasionally
instead of
Daisy, lowering the water in Daisy and preventing its normal eruption.
Later, it seemed to serve as a precursor to Daisy. The Thief has now been dormant for many
years and is hard to see. Sometimes, nearby
Bonita Pool
would overflow and Daisy would be-
come dormant.
Daisy Geyser*
erupts as high as 75 feet (21 m). Its eruption interval was about two-and-a-
half hours in 2012. The eruption lasts three or four minutes, always followed by a steam phase
with a roar like that of an old steam engine.
Geologist Marler proved by experiment that Daisy's eruptions would be much longer if so
much cooled water did not flow back into the crater. Daisy's intervals react to windy condi-
tions, becoming longer when the wind is strong. Note the wind direction while waiting for
Daisy to erupt, or you may be the recipient of a “geyser kiss” from Daisy's water.
