Yellowstone National Park: Grand Prismatic Spring
Have you ever seen a landscape so foreign that you feel like you’re on another planet? The Grand Prismatic Spring at Yellowstone was just that otherworldly and mesmerizing! It’s what you could imagine the surface of Venus or Mars to be like, or given the presence of liquid pools, perhaps one of Saturn’s moons. In any case, this was the feature of Yellowstone we were most looking forward to seeing, and it certainly lived up to the hype!
The Grand Prismatic Spring is located in Yellowstone’s Midway Geyser Basin. It has the honor of being the largest hot spring in the United States, and the third largest in the world following first runner up Boiling Lake in Dominica (which I got to see back in 2006!) and the winner, Frying Pan Lake in New Zealand (it’s on the list!).
As you may have guessed, the springs are famous for their vibrant colors… bright turquoise and teal to deep rust and orange! These gorgeous colors are created by pigmented thermophilic bacteria that grow on the perimeter of the mineral-rich pools. The specific colors are influenced by the ratio of chlorophyll to carotenoids present, and by the temperature of the water, which promotes certain bacteria over others. Isn’t science amazing?! Charles was in heaven!
As were we! It was one stunning photo op after another.
We almost didn’t want to leave, but we had another Yellowstone adventure on our list. The Grand Prismatic Spring a must see at Yellowstone – don’t miss it!
Kavi360 
Stunning pictures – the colours look amazing!
Thanks Joy! The colors were even more vibrant in real life. National Geographic did a pretty good job of capturing that 😉 http://travel.nationalgeographic.com/travel/national-parks/yellowstone-photos/