Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Porcelain Springs (beyond the end of the boardwalk) broke out on the west slope of Por-
celain Terrace in 1971. As with most features at Norris, these springs change unpredictably
from geysers to pools and back again. Sinter buildup—the most rapid in the park— has filled
in some previously important springs in the basin below.
West of Basin Vista the opaque blue water of Sunday Geyser dominates the scene (2012).
Returning from Porcelain Terrace, if you bear right at the trail junction, you'll find a bench
where you might rest a bit and admire the unusual and beautiful basin vista*. In the nearby
collection of pools, each manages somehow to have a different color. The murky pools and
stained sinter may be green, blue, aqua, yellow, yellow-green, reddish orange, mustard, or
beige, due to different temperatures, chemical compositions, and degrees of turbidity of the
water. The effect is like small jewels in the midst of desolation.
Before the intersection of walkways, you'll come to Hurricane Vent, above the path. Now
usually just a deep hole in the hillside that emits a strong odor and sometimes splashes a bit
of water, for a couple of years in the 1880s it played as a geyser that whirled the water about in
its crater during eruptions. At other times it was a “prodigious steam vent whose violent gusts
bear a striking resemblance to the driving blasts of a tempest,” according to historian Hiram
Chittenden.
Colloidal Pool is a large, shallow, funnel-shaped pool (or three or four smaller pools when
the water level is low). In the past it has erupted muddy water as high as 30 feet (10 m). A col-
loid is a substance so fine grained that it is suspended indefinitely within another substance.
In this case, silica and clay are suspended in water, as can be found in pools throughout Por-
celain Basin.
The last interesting feature before the trail junction is the long narrow pool of Sunday Gey-
ser, named in response to its large initial eruption on Sunday, July 12, 1964, but since then
erupting rarely.
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