Periodic Springs

October 9, 2008 We got away later than we'd wanted to for our vacation at Teton Village, WY, but we still decided to do this hike I'd discovered online. In Afton, WY, we got off the highway and headed East up a side canyon to hike to (we hoped) Periodic Springs, also called Intermittent Springs. According to what I read online (and we all know we can all trust whatever we read online), there are only two other springs like this (springs that naturally turn off and on--one place called them cold-water geysers)--one in Nepal and the other in the Alps. The hike was rather cold, we didn't get to our hotel until about 8 pm, but Periodic Springs ended up being a really great detour for us.

This is looking up the ravine where the spring begins. At this point, it was flowing, obviously.

Pictures from the top of the ravine at the source of the spring

While we wait for the spring to begin to flow (or to see if we've been punked), Guy explains the science behind the periodic nature of this spring.

Before

After

Before

After

There is a very real possibility that we're all just a family of geeks, because all of us (except maybe Mitchell) got a real kick out of watching this spring do its thing (there was jumping and cheering involved, even).

Caleb explains this hydro-geologic phenomenon.

What happens when I hand the camera off to someone else. . .

Here, Caleb shows off the fossil he found in a rock near the trail head. I'm just noticing in these pictures, that this must have been the weekend when Caleb (for reasons unknown) decided that he must make this face in every picture I take of him.