Fly Geyser is a
rainbow of color: reds, greens, yellows and brown and an amazing sight to
behold.
It’s not
all together a natural phenomenon. Seems it was created quite by accident in
1964. Drillers were searching for
geothermal energy and when they had finished exploring, they left the site and
evidently they either didn't do a good enough job of capping the well, or they
simply didn’t cap it at all. Dissolved minerals began rising up. The scalding
hot water spews out of the geyser bringing with it calcium carbonate, which
forms the visible portion. The brilliant colors come from thermophilic algae
that thrive in the extreme heat. Over time the calcium carbonate has created a
travertine mound with the peculiar shaped geyser sitting on top of it. It
continues to grow several inches each year.
The
equally peculiar name comes from the Fly Ranch, upon which it sits.
Unfortunately, the ranch is not open to the public, although the landowner has
in the past allowed a few folks each year to come through his gate and
photograph this truly marvelous geyser.
But all
that has recently changed. The Burning Man Project acquired the property and is
in the preliminary stages of development. They hope to create an artistic and
ecological community, founded on the Ten Principles of Burning Man. The
organization states the following, “... this 4,000 acre site contains an abundance of natural resources
and wonders that will serve as a world class ecological heritage site and
living arts community.”
By the way, I’ve never seen Fly Geyser up
close and personal, so I did what any enterprising blogger might do I pulled the
photograph from the Internet. Before any of you get all hot and bothered
because you think I might have violated copyright privileges, this photograph
is in the public domain, so it’s free from all that legal stuff.
Fly
Geyser is located in northern Nevada on Fly Ranch, 21 miles
north of Gerlach.
k
