Old Faithful, finally!

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Ten years ago, I heard that there's a geyser in the Napa Valley region that erupts roughly every five minutes; however, it took me more than 10 years before I could go there to visit. Val, Anna, and I went there after our wine-tasting tour at Castello di Amorosa... it was so close!

Because this geyser erupts like clockwork, it's been tagged as "Old Faithful" geyser of California. Wait, what?!? There are other old faithful geysers in the USA?


The more famous and much bigger Old Faithful, of course, is located in Yellowstone National Park (which sits in Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming). 

The Old Faithful geyser in Napa is also known as "Little Old Faithful" because it's small. But we were warned by posters not to get fooled by the size. This tiny geyser can pack a painful punch because it's surrounded by boiling hot water, just like Mount Makiling's mud springs.


The area surrounding the geyser was turned into a picnic area indicating that the Old Faithful geyser is a popular tourist destination in Napa. People don't just watch the eruptions here. It's a great place to relax, have fun with family, or to have some quiet time with a great view of the geyser.


The geyser erupted several times when we were there. These were the highlights of any visit to the geyser. The most spectacular eruption blew water about 50 feet into the air. We excitedly shot four-minute videos and took a lot of photos of this particular eruption because we got there right in time to see this. The subsequent eruptions did not throw water that high and didn't last as long... seeing them eruptions became old very fast.  

But not for me.


For the microbiologist in me, though, I was drawn to the colours of the stones surrounding the geyser. The extreme heat in the area is ideal for the growth of thermophilic bacteria and algae, which lend the pink hue on the rocks above the water surface and the deep reds to the rocks below the water surface. This is so MCB 150!


Why is there a geyser in a location that doesn't seem to be volcanic? 

Apparently, a nearby dormant volcano (Mount Saint Helena) erupted millions of years ago, creating steam vents in the area; one of which is Little Old Faithful. This eruption also led to the development of California's petrified forest, a landmark I also would like to visit one day.

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