Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
or, when the cone reached a certain height, perhaps the water pressure was insufficient to lift
the hot water to the top.
Another extinct cone to the left up the walkway is named
Devil's Thumb.
Not long ago a
small boy commented as he passed, “Devil's Big Toe would be a better name!”
Adjacent to Devil's Thumb is
Palette Spring.
Active in recent years, this colorful spring has
been so vigorously active since 2006 that part of the boardwalk had to be removed. Perhaps it
will engulf Devil's Thumb in a decade or less.
As you observe Palette Spring's terrace building, note that behind where you now stand
was
Hymen Terrace,
named for the Greek god of marriage, below on the north (right). Dor-
mant since 1936, its upper section has crumbled to become unrecognizable as a terrace. The
Haynes Guide
for 1912 stated prophetically: “Hymen Terrace is growing fast; in fact, it is
gravely feared that the openings may become choked from the abundance of depositing lime.
If this should happen, it would be a matter of but a few days until the coloring would have
disappeared, leaving the travertine rock bare and exposed to the destructive forces of the ele-
ments.”
Palette Spring's array of colors (2012)
The next stairway south climbs to
Minerva Terrace,
named for the Roman goddess of wis-
dom and the arts. Minerva was very active and beautiful for most of the 1990s but sometimes
inactive from late 1998 on. The boardwalk has to be changed whenever and wherever the ter-
race builds up too high. This boardwalk also goes past Mound and Jupiter Terraces, described
in
Part II
.
At Mammoth's springs, particularly at Minerva Spring, enterprising early residents sold
coated specimens to the tourists. Any item kept in this water was nicely coated in about four
days or completely buried by calcium carbonate deposits in eleven days.
Lower Terrace Boardwalk,
Part II
This hike starts from the next parking area south of Liberty Cap.
