Was in the process of doing a final backup of a computer that I bought in 2006 and is having problems restarting. I keep it around mostly to run a few programs that won't run on newer machines because those programs only work on a PowerPC processor.
Was looking through a directory of photos and came across a few that I'd forgotten about. I believe these came to me via Rocco Paperiello back in late 2008, and are part of a package of documents he found concerning the building of the first boardwalks in the Upper Geyser Basin. So they date back to the early 1950s or so.
This one of Grand and vicinity is interesting for a number of reason. In the background is the new boardwalk, pretty much at its current position. You can see a pile of lumber and a couple of people working on it.
In the lower left are a couple of craters which I believe are North Triplet on the right, and East Triplet on the left. These would correspond the Grand Sputs of today, with Sput D/Delta on the right and Sputnik/Sput B on the left. It looks like Percolator can be seen as a dark spot if one draws a line between the leftmost crater and the pile of lumber. Note that the feature we called East Triplet in the early 1980s would have been located above and to the left of the vent here.
But also note the number of posts in the ground around the area, and the directions they face. Not just the ones by North Triplet and Grand, but behind the latter sign, beyond Turban, is another post. There's also a fourth, short post between the right most North Triplet vent and Percolator. Also of interest is that the Grand sign is positioned to be read by a person on the hillside, while the North Triplet side faces away.
A second photo is a slide that was probably made a few years later. Notice style of the West Triplet sign hasn't changed much. But also, there was a little boardwalk spur leading out toward Grand with another sign log at its end.
For our latest trip to the Island of Hawaii, Kilauea was quiet, and we didn't expect to spend much time in the vicinity. We did spend several days staying at Volcano, where, surprisingly, we never got any rain lasting more than a few minutes. Most of the time spent in the Volcanoes National Park was to see some nene who were frequenting the Pu'upua'i parking lot.
So it was a complete surprise when, on 23 Dec, our next to last day of the trip, we were awakened in the early hours by reports of new erupting activity. Unfortunately, we were staying in Kohala, well over a two hour drive from Kilauea. We got organized as best we could, and headed out just before dawn, at which point the eruption had been going for at least four hours. We took a break in Hilo to fill the gas tank on the car, then made a decision to try and stay an extra day. Turned out to be easier than expected. From the Safeway parking lot, we were able to get a flight out corresponding to our original flight, just 24 hours later. The auto rental company had an automated system that quickly allowed the addition of an extra day. As for where to stay, we'd worry about that later.
As we approached Volcano, we could see the smoke plume from the crater directly in front of us.
We arrived at the Devastation trailhead parking lot around 09:00, where there were still a few open parking spaces. A few days earlier that lot was empty (including nene). Hiked out to the overlook, passing a number of people who were headed in. Practically from the parking lot we could hear the sound of the eruption. At the overlook there wasn't much of a crowd, and there were spaces available for viewing along the rope line.
On the far wall (I later determined this to be about 2.4km/1.5 miles away) were three large lava fountains. Based on the time it took for rocks to fall from their peak, we estimated the activity was at least 80m/275ft high. The lava was bright orange, but the lava lake was mostly crusted over and black. There were a few red crack visible. These kept changing throughout our time there, and occasionally there was small spurts of red from one of them.
Kilauea eruption 2024 Dec 23
The roaring from the vents varied, and with the distance, it was almost impossible to correlate the activity with the sound.
By the time we left, about six hours later, the weather had deteriorated a bit. It was getting windy and damp, and it was also time to visit the vault at the trailhead. The hike takes about 20-25 minutes, and by the time we go to the car, it had started to actually rain a bit. Not sure what to do, we decided that the rain would be less at the overlook, and while that was true, it was still we. We headed back to the overlook. The rain and humidity also meant that the crater was now a bit foggy. The activity also seems to have gotten smaller.
By then we had to make some decisions. Mostly where to stay and how to check out of our place in Kohala. We decided that it made sense to drive back then, pack up and then drive back for some nighttime observations. We could be checked out at least, and worst case, end up sleeping in the car.
As it turned out, the eruptive activity quieted down by the time we reached Hilo, about a half hour later. That was a bit of a relief, as the pressure to put in a lot of driving was now gone, and we knew we weren't missing anything (except seeing the end). We made it back to our place around sunset, and found out that our hosts did not have anyone staying the next night, and were willing to extend us a day, into Christmas. (They also helped our food situation with a gift of some of the day's fish catch, which grilled up nicely.)
So we got a good night's sleep, and the next morning found that there was still no activity. That being the case, we went ahead with what were our plans for yesterday, which also meant going to a location with poor to no cell service, where Suzanne went snorkeling. The day was hazy from the smoke and particles put out by Kilauea, in contrast to the nice clear skies we'd had for the past two weeks. We did get a bit more organized, just in case.
It was there shortly after noon that we learned that the activity had restarted. Time for another change of plans. We went back to our accommodations, about twenty minutes away, and packed up as if we were checking out. If the activity died down again, we could always drive back for a nap, but we believed we were not going to be back, and would be spending the night at the volcano. We were packed up and on the road by 15:00
We arrived back at sunset (about 17:30) and things had changed. The parking lots were jammed, but fortunately we were able to park alongside the road just outside the Devastation parking lot. (As long as you weren't over the white fog line, the NPS didn't care. On the other hand, did see a few citations handed out to cars blocking the lane.)
The crowd was four deep this time, and spilling over beyond the rope line. I decided that I wanted to see something and joined them for a short time. By then, someone shout out that the NPS was ticketing people, and the crowd quickly got legal, at least for a while.
The activity was comparable to the previous day, but different vents were activity. The most active the previous day was now quiet, with only the middle vent jetting to about 60 meters high. As it got darker, the crowd thinned enough that we were able to finally end up on the rope line and not be blocked in our views.
Kilauea eruption 2024 Dec 25
A lot of people sitting on chairs, for example, left about then, which I found surprising, as nighttime can be fairly spectacular. Only once did we have Skype calls inflicted on us, and a couple had to call all their family members, it being Christmas eve. There were also a lot of people who force their way over the rope line, snap their selfies (using a flash to make sure their pose was visible) and then leave. Later in the night there was one couple who spent the better part of half an hour getting that perfect pose.
The wind started out pretty calm, but picked up once it got completely dark. With the temperature in the low 50s, it made for some discomfort at times.
By midnight things had quieted down a lot, although there was a sudden uptick in people about a half hour later. Probably residents driving up for a quick selfie. In any case, by about two we decided we needed to visit the vault. On the walk out, we got to dodge people on skateboard and bicycles, and people playing loud music. On the way back, it appeared we got to encounter these same people a second time. I suppose they stayed out just long enough for that all-important self.
Or maybe not. We also discovered that finding the turnoff from the old, paved road to the gravel walkway was not easy in the dark. We missed it and continued on for a bout 50 yards. We could see fountaining, but not the activity at the base. What helped fool us were the number of lights on the old road beyond the junction. A lot of people were missing that cutoff, it seems.
With a little effort we found the trail, and arrived back to find maybe a dozen people at the overlook. No one else showed up for quite a while, despite all the light on the roadway. Not that I minded too much. This group was mostly quiet and spread out, which was similar to our experiences when we visited several years ago.
We set a hard deadline of 03:30 for leaving. That left enough time to walk to the car and drive to one of the empty non-overlook parking lots to remove excess clothing and otherwise reconfigure. There seemed to be a lot of traffic coming in from Hilo as we left, especially for early on Christmas morning. The drive back over the Saddle Road was a bit of an adventure, as we were both overly tired, and that road, in the dark, is boring, and with little to no traffic this time. But we made it to Kona around dawn. (According to the car thermometer, it was 36°F at the summit rest stop, at 6000ft elevation).
Back in Kona, we found out the hard way that when Costco says they are closed on a holiday, that includes the gas pumps. But fortunately, there was a relatively cheap self-serve station in the same industrial park. We'd intended to pull into the Costco lot to reconfigure our luggage for the flight out, but instead ended up at the parking lot of Subway we'd remembered from an earlier trip. We also used their picnic table to eat the last of our groceries. That put us at the rental agency almost exactly two hours before our 10:00 flight departure, which meant our deadline at Kilauea was a good one.
It turns out that about the time we left, that eruption ended. So our hope of seeing a final smoke plume south beyond Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea (which were visible above the clouds and volcanic haze) didn't happen.
Along with a lot of bug fixes, this version contains Notebook Pages — creating, saving and displaying notes and eruption information locally on the device, without having to use GeyserTimes as a substitute notebook.
The interface for Notebook Pages is mostly compete, but there are inconsistencies that will be addressed in a future release. Also, I'm actually working on documentation for the app.
Sunday I got home and it had been almost a week since I last looked at GeyserTimes. On the latest Grand entry, there was a comment that the entrant said that they didn't know what Grand code to use since they started together. User34 replied to the effect that "ties go to Grand." I also posted a comment noting that User34 was correct, that the code corresponds to the difference in start times, with "T" being negative, while "G" is non-negative, and that zero is not negative.
This was the second time this year that i had to make that clarification to someone, and it occurred to me that I should write up and document exactly what and how a Grand eruption gets recorded, or at least how I do it.
Perhaps it was the residue of the anesthetics and other drugs in my system, but I quickly prepared an entry that covered most of the important points. Best of all, when I re-read it a couple of days later, it still made sense. I noticed a few things I missed, but added them and finally posted it a few days ago.
During the last week it became obvious that a Klaque of Kewl Kidz were posting to GeyserTimes, especially in note entries. These consisted of jargon and jibberish and were obviously intended to be cryptic and useless as descriptions or of any help to others. But since the owners of GeyserTimes seem to tolerate that sort of abuse, I try to ignore it.
Then this morning KCooper posted this note, which got flagged by Udo
"Ernesto is somewhat beefy but inconsistent (strong and variable)".
At first I was tempted to double flag it, but decided I really shouldn't, since I don't like it when others do that. But when I looked again a few hours later, the flag was still there, with an expanded note attempting to explain away the jargon being used. There was also a smarmy, insulting comment added by SantaFe108.
That's when I decided to have a little fun. I opened a flagentry , and wrote up the following:
"if you flag this one might aswell [sic] flag most CCI notes on here, and many other features." - SantaFe108
Good idea. Maybe a general cleanup and reduction of noise would be appropriate.
If notes are not clear as to what they are describing, then they are inappropriate and should be removed. What terms mean should not be defined in the comments as is being done here. Even then there is still no objective description as to what constitutes "weak" vs. "withering" or all the other gibberish.
As it is too many of these notes and comments are noise that only serve to inflate the egos of the persons reporting them, or farming to add to their already inflated GeyserGamer score.
Then I hit the "submit" button and waited to see what would happen next.
It took a few hours, but at some point people figured out what had happened. Now this evening, I see everything but my lock comment has been restored. But I've also heard it got the attention of a few people, too.
This behavior is too often typical of GeyserTimes, where jerk-like behavior is tolerated to the point that it becomes overwhelming and a bit repulsive. Especially from GeyserGamers who think their subjective opinions are of lasting value, or who use the database as their personal logbook.
Update 2024 Oct 18 evening
Well, "Ernesto" made another overnight appearance. It appears that KCooper has decided that since his inappropriate notes were restored yesterday by the owners of GeyserTimes, he and the other Kewl Kidz have unlimited license to be jerks, and engaged in a little victory celebration.
This whole episode has given me a greater appreciation and understanding as to why the NPS prohibits the entry of any electronic data into GeyserTimes. And re-inforces my decision to limit my participation. Until the owners of GeyserTimes clean up their act, it's only going to get worse.
When I first started watching geysers in the early 1980's, all that was recorded for Grand in the green logbooks was the start time and the number of bursts. As I started to watch Grand more closely, I thought that there were several other items of interest that could be easily recorded, and that didn't require precise timing.
If you record start times to the second, and you make a point of getting both Grand and Turban, you will then have a good idea of the interval of time between the two geyser starts. Noting such starts to only the minute is just an exercise in generating noise, as you won't see enough eruptions for statistics to sort those starts into enough bins that any sort of analysis will be useful. (The same goes for recording Vent starts, other than to definitely say that Vent started. Since I know of only three eruptions of Grand in a close to half century where Vent did not start until near the end of Grand, it would be better to loudly note that Vent did something unusual, not that it behaved normally.)
But most people don't need to record times to the second. But knowing which geyser started the eruption could still be statistically interesting, so I came up with the "T" and "G" prefix. Technically, the time between the start of Turban and the start of Grand determines which to use. If the number is negative, then that is a Turban Start. If non-negative, it's a Grand Start. Since zero is a non-negative number, this means that Grand gets the ties.
Since I started video recording Grand starts, I've noticed that I'm not always accurate with the exact second that a geyser start. Sometimes off by a couple of seconds, which can add when events are spaced closely together. But getting which geyser actually initiated the eruption is reliable, so I'll leave it to someone else to go through all my posted videos and come up with more accurate start times. So G vs. T is still a good measure.
The other item of interest was how the eruption ended, and for that, we have Continue and Quit. What constitutes a Continue is pretty easy to define-- it's when Vent and Turban don't stop. (And I have never seen just one quit and the other continue, but I never expected to see a second Grand burst before Vent starting…)
As a gross measure, Quit is also obvious, but timing it can be tricky, as which geyser quits first can vary a fair amount. (I've got video records if anyone wants to look at them…) Usually it means that it is the time when I notice that Vent has died down and I don't see any activity from Turban.
If you want to wait around from six to 25 minutes, you can catch the Restart time after a Quit eruption. The restart time is the time of the second surge coming from the empty Turban crater. The first surge can be small enough to be missed, but starting with the second Turban activity is becomes obvious and nearly continuous.
Back in the 1980s there was a lot more variation in Grand's burst activity, with multiple bursts expected. Sometime when we got only a Two Burst Eruption (calling it a "Double" means you are displaying your ignorance of the terminology), we noticed that that second burst lasted a long time. From the little bit of data I'd collected, I set an arbitrary limit of 75 seconds. Any burst lasting that long, or longer, was a "Long" burst. Since it was the start of using computers to record data, I decided to use the "*" character to denote that. Once again, it was one of those things that didn't need timing to the second to determine. (Maybe a 70 second burst got recorded as a long, or an 80 didn't get recorded, but that's not significant.)
Then of course we got a Long Burst on the third burst (if I remember correctly, it was also a Four Burst Eruption). So I used the "#" character to denote that. (If a long Fourth had ever happened some character would've had to volunteer to be used.) Back in May earlier this year several of us got to see a Grand eruption with both a Long Second and a Long Third burst.
Once Grand's pool drains it's still possible for there to be more bursts. These are Afterbursts, and can occur several minutes after the previous burst ends, as long as Vent & Turban continue. Normally it can take well over ten minutes for splashing from Grand's vent to start, but afterbursts start with splashing almost immediately. This splashing builds in intensity, and at some point becomes continuous with actual bursting and a full pool. The burst count of this activity is recorded separate from the main eruption burst total, using a "+" to denote the afterburst. Back in the early 1980s there were several Grand eruptions with a second afterburst observed.
Suzanne Strasser first noted the "Two Turban Delay" in the late 1970s. It was not unusual for Grand's pool to fill and then not have Turban erupt at its usual rhythm of 18-20 minutes. In 1983, we were getting these delays just about every Grand interval, and the delay wasn't for two Turban Eruption intervals but for five or more. So it seemed worthwhile to note when these happened, and how long the recovery took.
Since Grand had been observed to erupt as much as thirty minutes after the previous Turban eruption, came up with the idea of "Delay zero" being the Turban eruption following the Delay. If Grand erupted, that was a relief. If not, then the count began.
Every subsequent Turban eruption got the Delay number incremented by one, and it wasn't unknown for it to reach double digits (usually after midnight). But we also found that there could be multiple Turban Delay Intervals. Did that matter? Decided that it did, and to record that, we would restart the count. It seemed that the pattern of D3/D2 was fairly common, where if Grand tried to start on the third interval and failed, it would finally erupt two more Turban Eruption intervals later.
Once again came up with an arbitrary time interval definition. Turban intervals up to 23 minute long seemed to occur enough that they weren't noteworthy. But by 25 minutes, one could tell that Grand wasn't going to erupt and most delays were longer. And an arbitrary 25 minutes is easy to remember.
I noticed in the early 1980s that often Vent would overflow around the time that Turban started just before a Grand eruption. Because of its location, the start of overflow could be hard to see and was frequently overlooked. Then there were times that Vent would overflow, especially during a Turban delay interval, and Grand wouldn't erupt. So started noting that with a "V" delay code.
The term "boop" came from Bob Fittro, one of the gazers who was around during the late 1980's and early '90s. He was one of those people for whom "it's after 5 o'clock somewhere." So there's a small group of us sitting out on the old wooden boardwalk benches at Grand when he fumbles his drink and spills some. The immediate comment was, "my drink booped". It was around the time when the large boils on Grand that did not result in an eruption were becoming annoyingly noticeable. Almost immediately we started using that term, "boop" for one of those boils. It's quite possible that on the next Turban eruption that evening, that's what happened, hence the quick application of the term.
As with the Vent overflow, it was easy to note a Boop Delay and use a "B" as the delay code.
The Grand eruption itself doesn't start until Grand starts jetting. Some of those boop/boils can reach several meters high (I have a few on video) and come well before the actual start. It still amuses me when some newcomer, upon seeing such a boil, immediately announces over the radio that Grand has started. Fortunately for them, most of the time a subsequent boop will result in the eruption, so then don't need to retract their announcements. But as with "Waves on Grand", make that announcement at your own peril and be prepared to issue a correction.
A "Boop Delay" or "Vent Delay" doesn't need to last the full 25 minutes of a Turban Delay. The fact that Grand made an attempt (which are what the vent overflows and boops are) was good enough.
There are other times that could be recorded as part of the whole Grand eruption cycle. The start of overflow from Grand is one. It's best seen on a warm afternoon where the terraces dry out. As the pool rises, suddenly a patch of sinter on the front left side starts to change color as water starts to flow over it. Within a few minutes, water is visibly trickling out over a broad front, so it's not really necessary to get an exact timing. But when I've measured it over the years, the time has been fairly consistent, around 4h20 to 4h10, despite all the variations in Grand's eruption interval. It's only when Rift erupts that the first overflow time can be delayed, sometimes for several hours.
Noting the activity of all the other features might be useful. Until this year, the sequence of event leading to the start of Rift erupting was fairly well known and consistent, with West Triplet and Percolator playing their parts. This past year, however, no one ever saw the start of Rift. Other than the West Triplet runoff being dry, which would indicate no eruption there.
Before sunrise I was over by Castle and started to feel droplets. Despite the weather forecast of clear, the clouds overhead were more than just keeping it dark. Didn't have a long wait for the Grand eruption, and once again it was a short two burst eruption that seems to have made no attempt at a third burst. At least Vent & Turban didn't quit.
With time to kill, went over to Geyser Hill as it had been sixteen hours since the previous Beehive eruption. Didn't have a chance to start reading a book when the Indicator started. This was also a relatively short Indicator, with a duration under 20 minutes.
It was also windy up there, and I thought at times I could smell the breakfast odors coming from the Lower Store, as it would have been directly upwind. With is more interesting as during the Beehive eruption they had a fire alarm over there go off.
Later it was another short wait for another One Burst Grand Eruption. The wind had not improved and the smoke seemed stronger by then. After the eruption West Triplet came up to overflow. It had some heavy convection but no thumps or splashes.
Mid-afternoon was the time to check out Fountain, based on its earlier activity. Arrived just in time to see the start, a 4-1/2 hour interval, along with a couple of Morning's Thief eruptions.
At sunset walked up to a Turban Delay Interval, but fortunately, we got the One Burst Eruption instead of a couple of hours of a delay. The eruption itself lasted 12-1/2 minutes, with Vent & Turban quitting within seconds of Grand's end.
Shortly after that, several of us sitting on the benches felt a sharp thump, much like the ones you get at Oblong or Artemisia. Have no idea what caused it, as there wasn't anyone near us on the boardwalk. As we left, we saw West Triplet overflow, but it didn't have any convection or thumping.
From there, went directly out to Fountain Group, on the off chance that we might get another Morning eruption. After about two hours of waiting, we got an eruption of Morning's Thief. That was followed within a minute or so of the start of Fountain.
For a double interval, the wait for the One Burst Grand eruption wasn't too long or cold. The eruption itself was nicely backlit but otherwise undistinguished.
Decided to ride the bike over to Biscuit Basin for some photos. There were a fair number of people pulling up to the close entrance road while I was there. None of them actually got out of their vehicles or even turned off the engine.
Biscuit Basin, 2024 September 08
Sawmill was in eruption when I went out to see Grand, and was still in eruption over five hours later. With a deep drain in progress, I started taking some videos of the area. Got Oval Spring having constant low pool surging, some Spasmodic northwest vent activity, and a Penta steamphase minor. By that time Sawmill finally stopped, so it was time to transfer attention to Uncertain, which started looking good during the Penta activity. Fortunately, it took its time. During the wait, I managed to record a couple of low pool, no overflow eruptions of Sawmill, and finally got Uncertain erupting.
By the time Uncertain had finished, it was time to move over to Grand. We were over 7-1/2 hours into the interval when Beehive's Indicator was noticed by the NPS. So once again, the benches at Grand emptied. The Grand eruption started right after the end of Beehive's eruption, but it was a nice but short two burst eruption, so most who had went to Beehive made it back. The eruption lasted less than ten minutes, and there was no attempt at a third burst.
When we arrived at the Fountain Paint Pots parking lot, there weren't any lights in the distance. We quickly got our gear together, and were about to leave when sudden there were lights and the sounds of people yelling. We hurried over and caught about two-thirds of the second Morning eruption of the year. It was nicely illuminated by several torches, and there was no wind, so Morning was not hidden behind Fountain and Clepsydra steam clouds. After Morning ended we stuck around for the Fountain eruption, which lasted about three quarters of an hour.
When we returned to the cabin, it was time for Grand. We had just arrived when Castle started to erupt. A few minutes later I heard some booping, and we got the One Burst Grand eruption. There was a slight breeze which helped move the steam away from our view. Unfortunately, it was another short eruption with no attempt at a second burst.
The call for Beehive's Indicator went out around 23:00. With all the long durations, that meant plenty of time to get properly dressed and prepared for a calm, well lighted eruption. Little Squirt was also active at that time.
I missed it, but it turns out that at the same time, Rift was erupting. Not sure when it started, or for how long it erupted, but the next morning at dawn I found Grand an empty crater, and Turban had what appeared to be a normal eruption, so the previous interval wasn't excessively long.
Came back out about 2-1/2 hours later and Grand was well into overflow. Then proceeded to wait for nearly four hours for the mid-day One Burst Grand Eruption. As with many recent eruptions, this one started with a series of boops over a period of about ten seconds.
After lunch, caught the mid-day Beehive eruption. For some reason, the boardwalk was nearly empty, despite (or because) an Old Faithful eruption being due. Old Faithful had a large preplay midway during the eruption of the Indicator, which ended up causing both geysers to start erupting within moments of each other.
The Sawmill eruption I saw start in the morning finally ended shortly after Grand, so after about 2-1/2 hours, I went out to wait for Uncertain. Sawmill was first rising, then started to drop. About this time Uncertain began to splash up, and we could see the water level in the vent. This level kept getting higher as Sawmill dropped. Finally Uncertain started to overflow. This lasted about 15 seconds, at which point the eruption finally began.
The next interval for the One Burst Grand eruption was surprisingly short. I expected it in the dark, but it was light enough to record video of the eruption, which once again started with a prolonged series of boops.
As I was leaving Uncertain earlier in the day, I heard the radio call announcing that Morning Geyser had erupted. With Grand erupting sooner than expected, we decided that it made sense to at least head out there and see what might be happening. There was a small group of people who had heard of the eruption and were hanging around there. Waited for the crescent moon to set, about 45 minutes, during which time nothing happened. Water level was out of sight in Fountain.
As we were leaving, we saw a light approach from the Paint Pots. Suddenly the light veered off the boardwalk at the Volcanic Tablelands sign and headed north toward the trees. I had the powerful flashlight and lit the person up. He immediately and quickly headed back to the walkway, then continued toward us. For the next half hour, he wandered around the area as if wanted us to ignore him. In any case, he finally drove off.
It's true that we harassed him, but I would have ignored him completely if he had stayed on the walkway. As it was, I wonder if he had a campsite over behind that sign. Too bad for him Morning erupted.
Was quite surprised to learn that Grand erupted shortly before dawn. Had expected (and planned) on it erupting several hours earlier. The interval was so long that I suspected a Rift eruption, but when I got out there, it was obvious that Rift had not erupted overnight.
So instead I spent some time taking videos in the Sawmill Group. Got to see heavy bursting from Spasmodic as it dropped, Oval Spring having good size bursting from the north (front) vent, multiple eruptions of Tardy, the end of a Sawmill eruption, and a Penta steamphase minor.
Missed the start of the last item, as I was set up to record Bulger and Old Tardy (which ended up doing little to nothing), but quickly moved the camera over to Penta. Once that was over, it seemed like activity in Bulger did pickup a little.
Sawmill Group_2024-Sep-06_0910
---------------
2024-Sep-06
09:10:37 Start Observations Other Event
09:10:59ie >>>Eruption : d=35m44s Sawmill
09:11:08ie >>>Eruption : d=09s Tardy
09:11:17 End Eruption Tardy
09:11:35 Low, North vent active Oval Spring
09:12:22ie >>>Eruption Tardy
09:14:21 Dropping, active Spasmodic
09:17:02 >>>Eruption Tardy
09:18:00 >>>Eruption Tardy
09:18:17 >>>Eruption Tardy
09:18:44 >>>Eruption : d=01m59s Tardy
09:20:09 End Eruption Tardy
09:25:41 >>>Eruption Tardy
09:27:20 >>>Eruption : d=01m37s Tardy
09:28:57 End Eruption Tardy
09:32:06 Splashes Tardy
09:32:32 Frequent splashes Tardy
09:33:18 >>>Eruption : d=32s Tardy
09:34:23 Splashes Tardy
09:35:53 >>>Eruption : d=01m23s Tardy
09:37:16 End Eruption Tardy
09:40:06 Splashes Tardy
09:41:31 Frequent splashes Tardy
09:41:53 >>>Eruption : d=01m48s Tardy
09:43:41 End Eruption Tardy
09:45:44 Splashes Tardy
09:46:43 End eruption Sawmill
09:48:00 >>>Eruption Tardy
09:59:18 Below lobe level Belgian Pool
10:00:14 Splashes Bulger
10:12:24 >>>Eruption : d=16m02s,min Penta
10:19:09 Splashes Bulger
10:28:26 End eruption Penta
10:29:32 >>>Eruption : min Old Tardy
10:30:39 Heavy steam Penta
10:33:17 >>>Eruption Oval Spring
Low pool, north vent
10:45:10 Splashes Bulger
10:45:49 >>>Eruption Daisy
10:47:52 Splashes Bulger
10:59:08 Splashes Bulger
11:01:03 Splashes Bulger
11:06:04 >>>Eruption Sawmill
11:07:25 Start ovfl Sawmill
11:17:02 End Observations Other Event
After Sawmill restarted, I took a break, and got back in time to begin waiting for Uncertain. At first Uncertain was making lots of gurgling sounds, with an occasional visible splash. Then, quite quickly, Uncertain became quiet. That turned out to be due to it rising in the vent. We witnessed a couple of floods coming from the vent before one of them triggered the Uncertain eruption.
After that, it was a bit early, but still time to wait for Grand. I wasn't paying close attention when I realized that Grand's pool was full and having small waves at the six hour mark. Got the camera started in time to capture a couple of the strong boops. As expected, the pool level quickly dropped well before Turban finally erupted.
Three Turban eruption intervals later, we got a repeat of that performance. This time there were at least five boops, with several well over a meter high. Turban finally erupted just after the 25 minute mark.
So once again we had to wait three more Turban eruption intervals. This time the pool filled early, around the fifteen minute mark, but did start having wavelets until several minutes later. Again, there was some booping from Grand, but this time we finally got the One Burst Eruption, which lasted well over eleven minutes, with Vent & Turban quitting within a minute, and restarting within another six minutes.
The next Grand eruption would be in the dark. Unlike the last few intervals, however, the wait for this One Burst Grand was short, only 6-1/2 hours. The Turban eruption interval was not quite long enough to be a delay. Once again the eruption started with several boops. We heard the first one in the dark, 15 seconds before the eruption.
Did another half-hour video of Sawmill erupting, with Tardy frequently active. About a minute after I stopped recording, as I walked past Belgian Pool, Sawmill quit. Which was something I would've liked to have recorded.
The wait for the One Burst Grand Eruption was three hours of Turban intervals without any Turban Delay interval. Unlike so many one burst eruptions recently, this one lasted nearly eleven minutes.
Did not participate in the long wait for Beehive to erupt, but did get out for the 25 minute long indicator. Once again, it was a mostly windless eruption, although there was an attempt at the breeze moving the spray toward the boardwalk.
In the evening, Grand was set up again for a sunset eruption, but unfortunately there was a real Turban Delay interval of nearly 33 minutes. The One Burst Grand didn't occur until six more intervals had passed, but it was still light enough to see details in the pool. There was a sharp false pause just short of the eight minute mark, and the whole eruption lasted just nine minutes. There was no attempt at a second burst, but at least Vent & Turban continued.
It appears that overnight there was at least one long Grand eruption interval, since it was a double interval of sixteen hours. Otherwise the One Burst Grand was the common variety where it lasts less than 10-1/2 minutes. Vent & Turban seemed like they tried to quit, but then the activity picked up considerably, with Vent roaring as if something else could happen.
Spent some time in the Sawmill Group recording videos and doing some field testing. Nothing much interesting happened.
Sawmill Group 3_2024-Sep-04_1159
---------------
2024-Sep-04
11:59:40 Quiet, near ovfl Sawmill
12:06:53ie >>>Eruption Daisy
12:16:15 Peak, dropping Sawmill
12:16:49 Quiet, dropping Spasmodic
12:18:10 Splashes Bulger
12:27:17 Water not visible Sawmill
12:37:52 >>>Eruption : d=41s,min Bulger
12:52:40 >>>Eruption : min Bulger
12:54:44 End Observations Other Event
In the evening there was another long series of Turban eruptions without there being a Turban Delay interval. During that time we saw a couple of Daisy eruptions and a nice tall and wide Oblong eruption. Two Turban intervals before the Grand eruption, we had what appeared to be an attempt at an eruption. That eruption was also short and weak. The next Turban interval after that was one where Grand had little to no overflow.
The Grand eruption started at about the last possible moment. It was two bursts, with the second burst starting with Grand's pool in the shadows. A faint rainbow was visible near the top of the water column, which shows how low the sun was. That burst also lasted almost 2-1/2 minutes, with much of that time taken up with Big Sawmill mode.
For the morning Grand, once again had a short wait for the One Burst Grand eruption. West Triplet did overflow for a while after the eruption, but this time there wasn't any convection or thumping.
Going out for the next Grand eruption, as I passed Crested Pool I noticed that it seemed the ospreys were making a bit of noise. Then I saw the reason-- there was an eagle flying low headed upstream.
The wait at Grand was a long one. As we approached the eight hour mark, Grand finally looked like it might erupt, only to suddenly drop and then sit for long enough for it to be a Turban Delay interval. As expected, Grand finally had it's One Burst Eruption four Turban eruption intervals later. After the eruption, I noticed that the runoff from West Triplet was wet, indicating that West Triplet probably had a decent overflow during the Grand eruption.
Before the Turban Delay, Beehive's Indicator was called over the radio. Not only did this cause a mass evacuation of most of the gazers who had been waiting, but it appeared that many of the visitors followed them, as the benches seemed empty.
After Grand erupted the Sawmill Group was in the proper state for an Uncertain eruption. Uncertain was noisy, but there wasn't much splashing. After waiting about half an hour, suddenly Uncertain's vent filled with water, and with 15 or so seconds, the eruption started. As the Uncertain eruption was ending, Sawmill started to erupt. That eruption lasted for about 50 seconds, and then all was quiet.
Once again out at dawn in case Grand ignored the Rift eruption and had another shorter interval. There were three bison grazing on both sides of the bike trail just across from the store as I rode out. It was warm enough that there wasn't any ice on the walkways, and the sky had cleared enough that the sunrise wasn't brownish-orange. Didn't have to wait long for the Grand erupion. While the first burst was moderatly long, the second wasn't totally unexpected.
Spent the rest of the morning at Artemisia, which showed no signs of trying to erupt.
The afternoon Grand also had a short wait. Despite the One Burst Grand lasting over ten minutes, the pool refilled enough to be seen sloshing about for about fifteen seconds before finally draining.
It was not quite dark when I pulled up to the bike rack and Castle started to erupt. Unfortunately, it was a six minute minor.
So went over to Grand where I noticed that West Triplet had a wet runoff channel. Then waited one Turban interval for the Grand eruption. Turban started the eruption, but with the bright lights deployed, we could easily see the strong waves and boops. It had two bursts, and lasted just under ten minutes, with no attempt at a third burst. It's interesting how these short two burst eruptions cause Vent & Turban to quit.
Got out early because there were no reports of any activity overnight. Arrived at Grand near the six hour mark, and the pool was full, indicating it had been more than a few hours since the previous eruption.
Caught a Castile minor eruption, then two Turban eruption intervals later got the One Burst Grand eruption. When I arrived at Grand, the boardwalks were clear, but were slippery with ice by the time Grand erupted.
Then it was time to revisit Artemisia to look for a part from my camera tripod that was last seen after yesterday's eruption. (I found it.) Also took the opportunity to record some video of East Sentinal boiling heavily.
By the time I arrived back in the cabin, the start of Beehive's Indicator was announced over the radios. So went out for a nice eruption with calm winds and a double rainbow.
Early afternoon I arrived at Grand to what was probably a Turban Delay interval. I didn't see enough of that interval to be sure, but all the other indications (long Turban eruption, no overflow from Grand on the next Turban eruption) were there. The Grand eruption may then have been the fourth after a Turban Delay. Turned out to be the first observed two burst eruption since the three burst eruption. The duration was less than ten minutes, and Grand made no attempt to have a third burst.
With Rift erupting, decided there was no point in going out for the next Grand eruption early. I finally arrived at about the eight hour mark, just after the end of the Rift eruption. The Turban intervals and durations were both short. Ten minutes before midnight, Grand suddenly erupted. The eruption was over before midnight. It appeared that there was no attempt at refilling and having a third burst.
On the way out to Grand, in the trees across from the signs near the store, was a bison. I didn't see it until I passed it on my bike. The bison never looked up, as far as I could tell.
