This is the Firehole River, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming. Elevation 8,200ft ASL. The river is fed by many hot springs and geysers as it winds it's way through the cracks and crags on its way to the Madison River. This raises the temperature to mid to high 60's (20 or more degrees higher than nearby bodies of water). This picture was taken from the road looking down on the dive site. This is what they call a Wyoming shore entry.
he he he. Actually the trail down to the river isn't that bad. Believe it or not this site actually sees a lot of diver traffic. We met 4 other divers while we were there. Some enter downstream a bit further at the slow/shallow park "swim area" , but some enter above at the area pictured. This is what we chose to do, entering at the narrow point at the base of the rapids. The rapids terminate at the narrowest section in this picture. The white-water extending beyond the narrow section is aerated, but otherwise smooth. Pretty swift though. This picture is looking upstream toward the entry point.
Here's a view looking downstream. Exit point is just beyond the upper-right-hand corner of the frame.
Here's what water looks like coming off a section of rapids. It's strange to have crystal-clear water but 3ft vis because it's so full of bubbles.
Downstream from the rapids the bubbles start to clear and vis improves dramatically. The current, however, was RIPPING! Here's my little Bro, hanging onto the rocks (and a passing trout). Notice all the white streaks going every which way? That's a combination of swirling current, bubbles, and slow shutter. If not for the bubbles the vis was probably 50ft. Current was like a washing-machine! We were flipped and spun multiple times. Jam-and-twist rock-climbing holds were a must to keep from being blown out. If you do this dive be sure you really cinch down that mask strap!
It was fun watching trout swimming in the current. This guy was work'n that tail like it was on fire. We saw large numbers of Cutthroat, Brown, and Rainbow. In all my life this is the closest I've gotten to fresh-water sport fish while diving. It was spectacular!
Brown trout.
A little further downstream we found lots of interesting topography. There were overhangs, bowls, spires, and some spots sheltered from the current. Here's a "bowl of trout".
Here are some spires. This was looking up from 32ft.
One of the great things about this dive is that the roar of the rapids and bubble-saturated water makes the fish very approachable. It's easy to get close to fish in a marine environment, as you all know, but for whatever reason I've never been able to get very close to fresh water fish. Until now.
The further downstream from the rapids the better the visibility got. Here's a trout at about 12ft. near the exit at the park swim area.
I had calculated an altitude-adjusted 35ft no-deco bottom time of 105 minutes. We had the gas to do it, but planned on 60-90min depending on how interesting it was and whether or not we would get blown downstream into the swim area. Unfortunately the dive was terminated due to injury. Because of the warm water Jake decided to dive without a hood. I've never considered a hood "safety equipment" but in this case it would have been. 20 minutes in we were at 30ft and climbing a chute carved into the rock. The current was very strong because the water was being pinched between the sides of the chute. As we were climbing up the chute Jake turned his head. As the side of his head faced into the oncoming rush it perforated his eardrum!
Who knew. 
He managed to keep his mask, signaled ear trouble and asked me to lead an ascent. I took him by the arm, got off the rocks, drifted downstream a short distance where the river widened/slowed, and did a normal ascent in the slower/calmer water. He had a lot of pain for about 12 hours, but was pain free 24 hours after the event. Dr. prescribed antibiotics. Now he's just bummed that he can't dive for a few months but otherwise doing fine.This was a very exciting dive. Kind of like rock-climbing in a hurricane. If you take a trip through Yellowstone it's definitely an interesting and fun thing to do while you're there. A lot of people do this dive, and I've read quite a few reviews. I'm surprised, however, that the reviews are not more cautionary because this dive was pretty intense upstream from the swim area. It was a RIOT though. Up until Jake's injury we were laughing through our regulators the whole time. I know a dive like this probably isn't for everyone, but if you like variety it's definitely different. I wouldn't take a trip just to do this dive, but if you ever find yourself near Old Faithful and happen to have your gear with you...
-Ben
