Geyser Notes

After the Beehive eruption, which I heard from my cabin as getting ready to go out to Grand, it was time to actually go out. I went out to with Suzanne. The sky was not dark because of all the stars, and the Milky Way near the horizon looked like the lights of a distant town. It was dead calm, not even the slight breeze going downstream. Because of this, was able to see Grand’s eruption from the northwest. Using Suzanne’s new light, we were able to see all the details of the eruption, including Vent starting. Then the wind shifted and our stuff got a bit wet. Grand lasted almost exactly 10 minutes, and was another one burst eruption.

At dawn, the walkways were frosty, and the ones at Grand were icy with droplets from the previous eruption. We could also see the shadows where our stuff got wet. But we didn’t have to wait more than ten minutes before the eruption. It was one of those where a little breeze would have actually helped. The jets were hidden by all the steam from the various runoff channels. The pause before the second burst was short, and not enough time for the steam to clear and allow us to see much of the actual eruption.

There was an actual wait for the noontime Grand, and it was entertaining in a perverse way. Shortly after most people had arrived and settled in for the wait, it was announced that there was splashing in Fan & Mortar’s main vent during a pause. This situation lasted for quite a while, so when the pause ended most of the people there started abandoning Grand. After another Turban interval, I was the only one of that group left at Grand. It was mildly frustrating, as Grand was obviously in a mode where all the Turban eruptions were the same— about 5-1/2 minutes long with 20 minute intervals. When that changed, we would quickly get the eruption.

As it was, Fan & Mortar looked almost good enough to erupt, but they didn’t, and Turban didn’t change during that time. The allowed all those who had earlier abandoned Grand to return with time to spare. Finally, we got a short, powerful Turban eruption that drained Grand down. Grand followed up with its own eruption two Turban intervals later.

This eruption was against a clear, deep blue sky with a wind that cooperated. So much so that the people down by West Triplet and Rift got a bit of a shower near the start of the eruption. Grand also cooperated by having a short burst. It took Grand what seemed like a long time to bring itself to start the second burst. The pool slowly refilled while sloshing around. Then the burst just kept on going, so we ended up with an eruption that lasted for a bit over 12-1/2 minutes.

I finally got to see Beehive when I heard the radio call while I was in my cabin. Here the wind also cooperated, as for the first three minutes or so, none of the walkways got wet at all. It wasn’t until late before the people who wanted a geyser shower got their wish, and even then they had to be at the corner by Plume.

Since it was also my first visit to Geyser Hill, I got to see the dormant Plume. What surprised me is that the front vent is splashing around at depth, but hight enough that some of the jetting is visible. An interesting switch, since the water jets of the eruptions used to come from the other vents, especially the vent at the other end of Plume’s crater.

Got out for the next Grand eruption around sunset. Based on the window, it was decided that the eruption was going to be illuminated by five very powerful lights. Grand cooperated and it was completely dark by the time it erupted. It was impressive to be able to see Vent overflow and Grand’s waves before the eruption even started. With that many lights, the entire column was illuminated the whole time. The only disappointment was that we didn’t get a second burst.