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Observations for 22 July 2012

Nice to see that some things don't change. Early morning was sitting in the parking lot typing up some notes whenI noticed a car on the bike trail, coming down from the Inn. I was a little late in getting to the camera app on my phone to take a better picture.

Headed out to Grand to see what had happened overnight I approached and there was no activity visible. Which meant that probably I was either arriving well after the afterplay had finished, or it really was a 9-1/2 hour interval Turns out the pool was about an hour from filling, so it was definitely a short interval. So headed in for breakfast and to wait several hours.

Headed back out for another short interval, and another one burst eruption. Went downbasin for the first time this trip, and then waited for an Oblong eruption. The thumps were noticeable only because I was trying to hear and feel them, and the eruption probably would have been more impressive from Grand as the breeze, what little there was, pushed the steam toward the walkway. Also, passing by Giant, I noticed that at a couple of gravelly places there was grass starting to grow.

The day had been semi-overcast and a bit humid, so not surprised that the sky suddenly thickened and turned gray as the afternoon Grand window approached. (It was also time to start watching for Beehive's Indicator). Went out to Grand with the expectation of getting wet, and making sure that all the rain gear was in the pack.

Turns out I needed it. The wind picked up and the droplets started about a half hour after I got there, at about the time that Beehive erupted. During the next half hour the wind was strong out of the southeast and the rain kept coming down harder. Then just as it reached a downpour in whichI was expecting hail, Grand erupted. The first burst lasted about ten minutes, and by that time the rain had let up quite a bit, and the wind had died down. So it was possible to see the water of the second burst.

It was still pretty damp when I went out for the next eruption. There was still a bit of glow in the sky, and it was pretty clear, but also quite foggy down basin. Oblong erupted, and I couldn't see much more than the tower of steam it was putting out. But after about an hour, it seemed that much of the fog had dissipated.

Grand itself was another one burst. The only interesting thing about the wait was the the prior Turban interval was well over 23 minutes long, with considerable overflow. There's a good chance there was some attempt at Vent overflowing, and it could easily be considered to have been a one Turban delay.