New Crater/Steamboat Geyser, 2019 May 20
New Crater/Steamboat Geyser, 2019 May 20. Video by H.Koenig.
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New Crater/Steamboat Geyser, 2019 May 20. Video by H.Koenig.
Since is was the day to leave, there wasn't much time spent in the thermal areas. Set a deadline for Beehive though, and it cooperated.
There was a report of the South Bubblers, so we went out to wait until the deadline. Then nothing happened for quite a while, maybe half an hour. At about 15 minutes before the deadline, there was a huge surge from Beehive, as if it was about to start, but nothing came of it.
But when the indicator did start, it was only 1m02s before Beehive itself started. Of course the wind shifted, so we had to dodge the water or start the drive home wet. And the duration of Beehive was much longer than I've seen recently, 5m17s, when most are well under five minutes.
Yet another nice day which started with a Grand eruption. But before that, I found the Sawmill Group with water levels high enough that Sawmill was within millimeters of overflow. But about ten minutes later it was obvious that it was dropping.
Also of note is that during an eruption of West Triplet I saw Sputnik (or one of its associated vents) bubbling. At the same time Rift was steaming heavily, but it never did erupt, with the steam dying down after West Triplet quit. West Triplet erupted again after the One Burst Grand eruption, for an interval of about 2-1/4 hours.
After that, made one last visit to the Lower Geyser Basin. Arrived at Fountain about half an hour after Fountain had completed an eruption on a four hour interval. So went over to Great Fountain, where the water in the crater was at least 25cm below overflow. So that was a complete waste of time.
The next Grand eruption was another One Burst Grand, with nothing much to distinguish it other than all of the afternoon eruptions have had sunlight on them, enhancing the contrast with the gray clouds forming the background.
Down at Grotto waited for a start, and saw first a powerful Central Vent delay, and then a small Grotto Fountain which preceeded Grotto. Also this was the first time this year that the mosquito repellent became necessary, as I killed several of the little monsters while waiting there.
Going out to Grand in the morning and we got Castle starting right as we walked past Crested. Stopped to enjoy a major eruption under excellent conditions. Over in the Sawmill Group, there were eruptions of Bulger and Old Tardy before we continued on in that direction.
Rift started just as we walked up, so spent a little time watching the water creep down the runoff channel and under the walkway. After several decades, that runoff channel looks the same despite every eruption moving a bit of gravel closer to the river.
Waited for a couple of non-descript Turban eruptions then got a strong Grand start. It also gave us a sudden stop at a little over nine minutes. Perfect duration for a possible second burst, or long enough for one burst. But over the next minute the pool did fill and we got a sun-lit second burst. That lasted nearly three minutes, turning a short eruption into a long eruption.
For the first time in quite a while, stuck around to see the restart of Vent and Turban, which took nearly 22 minutes. From there, did a quick survey of the northern end of the basin, noting that Solstice was still in eruption.
In the afternoon, we got a Turban Delay that included a half-meter Grand Boop about four minutes before the Turban start, It took two Turban interval to recover from that, and this time the burst lasted over 11 minutes, so there was no chance of a second burst.
The day ended with it getting cloudy, but still fairly comfortable. Went out at sunset and caught West Triplet and then Castle. Stopped paying attention, so it was about twelve minutes later that we all noticed it was far too quiet, that Castle had had a minor and we missed the end. During part of that time, there were quite a few flashes of lightning, and some thunder, but nothing came of it.
It started to sprinkle a bit just around the time Grand started. The wind also did its shift so that the central part of the benches got a spray soaking too. Another one burst eruption, illuminated by several bright lights.
The day pretty much started out the same as yesterday. Nice and sunny, so went out to Grand where it started to cloud up. After the One Burst Grand, went to the Lower Basin to see what might be going on at Fountain.
Unlike yesterday, we got there after Fountain had a short interval, and with a short duration of 29m, there was no reason to stick around, or even head back later in the day. The only noteworthy thing is that there was a bison blocking the boardwald between Silex and the Paint Pots, and the warmer weather is bringing out the aroma of the buildings next to the parking lot.
Back in the Upper Basin, at least, we arrived just in time to head for Geyser Hill for a Beehive eruption. Nothing out of the ordinary there, either.
Later in the afternoon went out to Grand for another One Burst Eruption. Nice conditions, but the wind shifted at the last moment to obscure Turban and Vent when before the wind was headed toward Rift.
After that, realized that a Daisy eruption had probably been missed, and we were about an hour or so from an eruption. Which was good, because I wanted to see what Splendid might do (if anything) well before an eruption. There was water coming out a lobe to the north, enought to support orange slime, which was an improvement over previous years, when the water didn't even exit the rim.
What it did was nothing, until after Daisy. Around the eight minute mark or so, the Side Boiler did make an appearance, and a few minutes later we saw the Main Vent. The latter reached perhaps a meter high boil, which was actually about the best I've seen from it in years. At about the twenty minute mark, Main Vent died down and all we saw for a few minutes was the Side Boiler, getting a bit less vigorout. So Splendid is a long way from being active again, but at least it's slowed it's evolution into a hot spring.