Page:A Guide to the National Parks of America (1915).djvu/82

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Yellowstone National Park
55

Devils Ear, and a little farther on is the Doublet, both quiet boiling springs. Then the path turns to the south to the Sponge Geyser, remarkable for the color and texture of its formation and the explosiveness of its eruptions, although it only throws its water two or three feet.

Next a low mound to the south is ascended, and on it are located three open pools, some- times quiet, sometimes boiling, and sometimes in action. The connection between all three is very close. The first pool with the raised rim is the Teakettle; the second, the smaller of the rimless pools, is the Vault; the largest pool is the crater of the Giantess, a large, powerful, and uncertain geyser. It is just as well not to approach the Giantess too close; she has not much consideration for the safety of her visitors, and has been known to break forth into eruption with no warning whatever from its quiet, smiling crater. When this geyser does start, the vast masses of erupted water are wonderful to behold.

Now the path turns south and then down toward the river, but the tourist should keep far enough to the south to avoid the small