RUSTIC FALLS, GOLDEN GATE ROAD.
After two days spent among the Upper and Lower Basin Geysers, with our cameras in constant service, for the sun shone brightly, we went a few miles further down to Lone Star Geyser, Hot Springs, and to the high lands above Grant’s Pass. From this latter point of observation a magnificent view was had and photographs obtained of the Great Teton Mountains and Snake River Valley, which fill the distance with lines of hazy grandeur. Turning then towards the east we crossed Norris Pass (8,350 feet altitude), and after twenty miles of travel emerged from the forest and reached the Thumb of Yellowstone Lake, as it is called. This magnificent body of water is fifteen miles wide by twenty-five in length, and is a basin of wonderful beauty, thus described by Mr. Langford:
“Secluded amid the loftiest peaks of the Rocky Mountains, possessing strange peculiarities of form and beauty, this watery solitude is one of the most attractive objects in the world. Its southern shore, indented with long, narrow islets, not unlike the frequent fiords of Iceland, bears testimony to the awful upheaval and tremendous force of the elements which resulted in its creation. Islands of emerald hue dot its surface, and a margin of sparkling sands forms its setting. The winds, compressed in their passage through the mountain gorges, lash it into a sea as terrible as the fretted ocean, covering it with foam.”
In several places along the shore, and even projecting from the lake, are several boiling hot springs, which flowing with clear water holding lime in solution, pyramidal cones are thus built around their outlets, giving to them the appearance of ant-mounds when seen at a distance. Professor Hayden startles us with the statement that he has caught fish from the ice-cold lake while standing on these mounds, and dropping them into the craters of hot water, had the novel experience of cooking the fish without removing them from the hook.
FISHING FROM YELLOWSTONE LAKE, AND COOKING FISH IN THE CONE OF AN ACTIVE GEYSER.—The cruelty of this scene detracts very much from its interest, and it is only for its scientific interest that it can be tolerated. There are several hot springs cones in the lake, containing water that is constantly at the boiling point. This water is separated from the lake by the solid walls of the cone, so that a person feeling so disposed may catch fish from the lake, as shown in the photograph, and boil them in the hot spring without removing them from the hook or changing his position. We are glad to say that the man in the picture who is performing this cruel feat did not belong to our photographing party.
BEAUTY SPRING FORMATION.