When Old Faithful went back to its oft-interrupted nap, we walked over to the nearby visitors center to see what it had to offer.  But not long after we began perusing its various displays, we were interrupted by a park ranger’s announcement: the Beehive geyser was about to erupt.  We were unfamiliar with this particular geyser, but the ranger made it clear this was an event not to be missed, so we joined the mass exodus from the visitors center.

Much like Old Faithful, we saw only minor hissing and sputtering for a few minutes.  But before too long, the Beehive escalated to full strength, and we quickly decided the ranger wasn’t exaggerating its total awesomeness.

It’s hard to get a sense of the remarkable height of the Beehive in that photo, so here’s a photo that gives a bit of scale.

For those of you who like real numbers that signify real measurements and other absolute things: the Beehive eruption lasts for about five minutes and reaches heights of 200 feet.  (For comparison, Old Faithful’s eruptions can last anywhere from 1.5 to 5 minutes and rise anywhere from 90 to 184 feet.)  So if you stood a regulation NHL rink on end, it would be like a frozen Beehive geyser.  Well, it would be flat and smooth, it would look hilariously out of place and it would be ridiculously difficult to use for hockey, but it would be as tall as a Beehive eruption.

The Beehive gains both its height and its name from the cone through which the water is propelled into the air.

As one might expect, that much water being herded through that small an opening with enough force to push it 200 feet into the air produces a lot of noise.  The loud rumble isn’t get-the-earplugs noise, but it can be raise-your-voice noise.

We were fortunate enough to be there on a fairly calm day, but there was still just enough of a breeze to send the water across the boardwalk.  We thought we were being smart by observing the Beehive from a bit of a distance to stay dry, but as it turned out, we weren’t quite smart enough; as the geyser raged, the breeze shifted and sent the water directly at us.  We didn’t get anywhere near as wet as the adventurous tourists in the above picture, but we certainly didn’t stay dry.