Why they make us wear gaitors...

The photos can't capture the noise. Imagine yourself standing in an open basin, maybe a few acres in size, surrounded by pine trees. All around you, hundreds of hydrothermal features, ranging in size from hundreds of feet in diamater to tiny holes in the ground, are gurgling, hissing, bubbling, burping and growling. As you move around, the cacauphony evolves (I'm going to try to buy a recorder so I can share it with you). Steam billows over the larger pools and blows in your face when the wind changes direction, the heat and odor forcing you to turn. It's like standing on a doily over a pot of boiling water.