Geyser Notes

Grotto continued through the night. I was pretty sure it was still active for the middle of the night Grand, and the way the Amfac louts illuminated it seemed to confirm that. It was seen to send around 06:15, meaning that it had been erupting for at least 25 hours.

In the dark of the night, one can't observe Grand's pools or much of anything that's going on. Instead, one must rely on hearing. One thing that I've noticed is how many of the Turban eruptions on which Grand starts sound decidedly different. More vigorous, noisier and not as slow starting as other Turban eruptions. This applies even to those eruptions where there's a considerable lag time between Turban's start and Grand's. I would supposed this isn't as noticeable during the day because of all the background noise, but if you listen for it, you'll hear it.

The morning Grand gave us the last three burst eruption Grand will ever have (the last was back in May.) Instead of quitting, Vent and Turban continued, but there was no attempt by Grand to have afterplay until much to late for a fourth burst.

So the afternoon and early evening were spent at Giant, to see what the post-marathon hot period would be like. There were about a dozen people in the monkey cage, and late in the evening we had to endure a series of small showers and hailstorms. But Giant cooperated and the hot period took place after the weather had passed.

This hot period seemed a daylight version of the one I saw earlier this week in the middle of the night, 24 hours before the actual eruption. It lasted even longer, 16m50s, and the late surging from Giant seemed even stronger. (My photos didn't capture any of the big surges.) But like then, things just sort of died down. Now the hope is that it'll take Giant about eighteen to twenty-four hours to try again, and get out of this nighttime eruption mode.

Thanks to the person who made a donation. Much appreciated, including the fact that I know now that that button really works! But when I saw the confirmation email, I almost tossed it because I thought it was another one of those scams to try and get my passwords.

Other Geyser Times

16 June 2007

• Giant hot period 19:26 d=16m50s