Although Yellowstone is famous for its geysers, the brilliant colors associated with the geysers, pools and hot springs are often mesmerizing. According to the park website, it was Walter H. Weed who in 1889 first recognized that the colorful deposits of Yellowstone hot springs were microbial, officially called thermophiles.
The presence of living creatures in water too hot to touch -- almost at its boiling point -- is really amazing! But even more impressive is the fact that the organisms of hot springs are not only living, but thriving. In fact, they are so perfectly adapted to these hot environments that they can live no where else.
My family and I visited Yellowstone last summer and were truly amazed by these nature wonders. I like the words on the park web site, "These incredible heat-loving microbes literally put the yellow into Yellowstone"!
The following photos show some of the remarkable colors of the pools and waters of Yellowstone National Park -- truly a unique and very recommended place to visit.
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