Geyser Notes

A fourth day like the third, although this time there were a couple of moments when it appears that there was going to be an eruption. But in the end, it was another day wasted.

Did get to see a bear on the drive up. It was walking up the road toward Gibbon Falls. I saw this dark lump there, and wondered if it was a small bison. Then it started running and was obviously not a bison. It kept running as we approached, then jumped over the rock wall and was running up the fenced in path. Last we saw of it, it was still running on that walkway.

Posted by HKoenig at 10:07 AM | Permalink

A third day of things looking better at Norris, but not looking good enough. At 13:28 there was an unexpected push that sure looked like New Crater/Steamboat was starting, but after about 30 seconds, it died down. Nothing much the rest of the day other than a couple of vertical episoded early and a couple near the time we were leaving.

The bison were really out in force. Near Tuff Cliff was a herd of about a dozen cows, each it seemed with a calf. Several other places along the way we had to slow down or stop for bison on or near the road.

Posted by HKoenig at 04:15 AM | Permalink

A second day at Norris pretty much like the first. The activity was a bit stronger, especially from the South vent where there were numerous bursts to 10meters putting out lots of water. But until 1903, nothing much out of the North vent. Then there was the usual increase in activity just as we were leaving. This time there was a sustained minor with some North vent vertical. Then nothing much for 20 minutes.

The drive back was amusing. Between Madison Jct and Biscuit Basin, encounter a bison in the exact center of the road. Then beyond Midway were flashing lights and someone talking to a ranger. Around the curve were more flashing lights, and a semi-tractor trailer. Then just before Biscuit, just as the sun was about to set, were two bicyclists headed north. And it looks the the one lane restriction on the overpass at Old Faithful is about to start.

Posted by HKoenig at 04:15 AM | Permalink

A day spent at Norris, where nothing much happened. Steamboat/New Crater looked pretty much the same when we left at 19:20 as when we arrived at 05:50. Seemed like good water coming from the South vent, but North vent was initiating most of the activity, and only once, in the middle of the day, did we see anything approaching vertical.

Posted by HKoenig at 04:07 AM | Permalink

Had decided to not come out for the pre-dawn Grand eruption, so it was a bit of a surprise to find it erupting shortly ater 08:00. That meant that most likely that there were two long intervals overnight. It also meant that I wouldn't be getting out until later.

Did go out after noon, and watched a series of similar Turban eruption intervals. Unlike previous days, there was no hint of any sort of delay. So it was nice to also be rewarded with a second burst, although the eruption was just under ten minutes long and Vent & Turban did quit.

Went on over to Geyser Hill again, to check on Beehive but not stay. It was having minor splashes, but nothing that looked imminent. Over by Aurum and watched and felt a episode of thumping by Doublet Pool. With few people on the boardwalks, it was easy to feel them. Then Aurum erupted just as I was getting ready to leave. Better behaved than in my previous attempt at seeing an eruption.

The day ended with a report of Beehive's Indicator starting. It was a long one, giving us plenty of time to get within view. And again, the area was far quieter than usual. Old Faithful had just erupted, so there were a few families wandering about

Posted by HKoenig at 04:11 AM | Permalink

The weather was finally clear and sunny. So went down basin to watch and wait for something. Ended up being Daisy, where it was the middle of the interval. Splendid was calm for the hour or so I waited there. I did see a couple of Pyramid eruptions, too. The duration of the Daisy eruption was only 3m10s, which seems to be continuing the trend of shorter durations. In years past it seemed like Daisy was regularly 3m40s.

After that, it was to Castle, since it was well over 13 hours since the major eruption last night. Only waited about five minutes for a start. It was strong the whole time, except for a series of pauses between four and six minutes.

Then it was over to Grand. Arrived to a full, steamy pool that slowly dropped. The Turban duration was well over six minutes, which makes me suspect we missed a Delay. That the next Turban interval had almost no overflow tends to confirm that.

Grand erupted on the next opportunity, with Turban taking almost a minute to join in. After yesterday, we couldn't be sure what would happen when Grand quit after 9-1/4 minutes, but through the steam we could see the water over the vent, and we were finally, on the tenth try, rewarded with a second burst. Of course that meant that Vent & Turban had to quit.

West Triplet was overflowing heavily by then, and I did catch weak eruption, with lots of thumps, that lasted five minutes. Then it was a Bulger major eruption, and by the time that finished, it was only a few minutes until Vent & Turban restarted.

So because of that, I ended up seeing Beehive start as I passed by Sawmill. I didn't notice any steam to the left as Beehive was climbing in height, so I'm almost certain there was no Indicator. What isn't know is was that really an interval pushing four days, or were there some missed nighttime eruptions? In any case, the days of multiple Beehive eruptions in a day seem to gone for a while.

Purple Spasmodic Geyser vent

The wait for the next Grand eruption was similiar to the morning. Arrived to a heavily overflowing pool and the subsequent Turban eruption was a long one. The next Turban eruption had no overflow. Unfortunately, the One Burst Grand eruption lasted just under 10 minutes.

Posted by HKoenig at 07:53 AM | Permalink

No new snow overnight, and since it didn't clear, the temperature stayed just below freezing. So the snow on the walkway out to Grand was mushy and sloppy from all the footsteps from yesterday, most of them being ours.

For the first time it appeared that the water level in Belgian was at the rim, instead of being just below it (or even lower). West Triplet was in intermittent overflow. No delays, but we did end up waiting an hour for a double interval of just under 12-1/2 hours, which isn't at all bad.

The eruption of Grand ended at 8m36s, and didn't even try for a second burst, so that made for the eighth consecutive One Burst Grand of the trip. As we left, West Triplet started to actually burst, but weakly. Then as we passed Bulger, Churn started. I managed to get the rest of the eruption on video. It was a nice solid, typical Churn that resulted in the pool dropping about 5cm or so. It took about fifteen minutes to get back to overflow, and we finally left after twentyfive when the occasion boils didn't result in anything looking like an eruption.

Since was early and nice, for once, decided to visit the Lower Geyser Basin. The Firehole Lake Drive was two grooves of pavement in the snow much of the way. Great Fountain wasn't anywhere near overflow, and Fountain didn't look interested either.

At Fountain Paint Pots there were two sets of footprints leading out and back. A Fumarole was completely drown by a large pool, and just bubbling, and not vigorously. Red Spouter was impressively throwing brown soupy mud all over the place. The Paint Pots themselves were so wet that there were bluish pools over some of the area where the mudpots would normally be active.

There were people at the next eruption of Grand, along with some of the Naturalist staff.The wait started out nice, then the snow showers began. They ended well before another One Burst Eruption.

Afterwards another walk around Geyser Hill showed that Beehive was a bit noiser than yesterday, and that there was some slopping, but it just didn't look interested in erupting. Infant Pool being well above the rim was about the only other interesting thing noticed.

Posted by HKoenig at 07:40 AM | Permalink

The snow started just about the time we needed to go out for the morning Grand. We trudged on out there, into the north wind. The temperature was right at freezing, so instead of bouncing off, the snow stuck and accumulated to gloves, hats, coats and packs.

The wait at Grand was uneventful. I did watch a West Triplet overflow early in the wait, then went on down to the main runoff. just before Grand started, a small bird flew up from the runoff channel and tried to land on my notebook pouch. I shooed it away.Because of the wind, the pool was easily visible. Turban Geyser's intervals were consistently about 21 minutes, and the durations just under five minutes.

Then we got a nice fill, and the 21 minute mark passed. At 24-1/2 minutes, Turban started and Grand quickly followed. Thanks to the wind, there wasn't much height to this One Burst Grand eruption which lasted about 10-1/2 minutes.

West Triplet was overflowing as we were leaving, and started to well up and burst. Didn't stay around for the duration, and what we saw of the bursts were pretty weak, so it might have been a short eruption. Bulger did nothing the whole time we were out there.

On the way out, at Castle, we encountered two other people. The guy was wearing shorts, and I overheard him say they wanted to go to Grand.

The snow continued during the day, so when we went back out for the mid-day One Burst Grand, the tracks from our previous visit (and of the other two people) were just barely visible. Again the wind was from the north, so we were able to easily see the water level in the pool.

We had a ten minute wait with a nice full pool when Grand had a boop. Then nothing for almost four minutes other than the pool slowly dropping. A long Turban eruption and this meant we were getting a delay. It was two Turban intervals, another ten minute long eruption where Vent & Turban quit. Afterward West Triplet was in heavy overflow, but all we saw was a single heavy upwelling, no eruption.

Decided that it was time to visit Geyser Hill, to see what it was like. Walk over to Lion under at least four inches of snow, and slow going as the temperature was also just at freezing, making everything mushy. When we got to Aurum, it was having a sequence of nice surges that sucked us in. It continued to do that for the next hour. At some point Castle started, but it was hard to see it. Mostly we could tell it was eruption by the sound.

I finally had enough, and left to look at the rest of Geyser Hill. Lion was quiet, as was Beehive. It was at Beehive where I turned around and saw the large Aurum eruption steamcloud. Went over to Anemone, and then returned back to the vehicle at the store lot via the Sawmill Group.

Went out in the evening and the snow was pretty much ended. There was even, once, a bright spot in the sky to the west where the sun should have been. Also arrived in time for a delay. This time, it took three Turban intervals for the One Burst Grand eruption. If the sun had been visible, it probably would have just set.

Posted by HKoenig at 01:52 PM | Permalink

There was at least an inch of snow that needed removal from the truck before I could drive over to the morning One Burst Grand eruption. But it wasn't cold, as the snow was melting, and the wind was much less than yesterday. But the weather was getting wet as we came back in.

Belgian Pool had recovered mostly, just slightly below the rim. I've seen that variation before.

Did a survey down basin later in the morning. There are new benches at Castle, Riverside and Fan & Mortar, replacing the old ones. Thirty at Riverside, so there will be much less excuse for people sitting on the bumper logs.

Fan & Mortar looked nice at the start of a cycle, with Bottom vent splashing away, and they all quickly died down as Angle started. I doubt there's been any eruption since last year.

Giant didn't look changed much, either. Didn't spend much time there, as the weather was starting to get wet. An extended observation period will have to wait for nicer weather. Oblong has thick black slime filling much of the runoff, so I doubt it has done anything in the last few months, either.

The mid-day One Burst Grand was during a period of snowing, and had a short interval, so we got to see the start from Castle. Waited through the West Triplet activity to catch the first Rift eruption of the season. Again, things seem unchanged there from last year, as Percolator and Sput D were also active until West Triplet ended as Rift started.

The weather cleared a few hours later, so went out to see the Three Sisters activity in person, instead of on the camera. Got confused by which was which, so initially reported Mugwump for what was actually Three Crater. (I think that pool of water has the highest concentration of less than obvious names.) Saw a couple of periods of intermittent splashes to about a foot. The first lasted a bit over 7 minutes, which the second was only four minutes long.

Then it was off to Grand, where we were treated to a 35 minute delay. It was too steamy to see the pool, but on the other hand, the steam was pouring off well below the rim of the crater. Finally, 20 seconds after a couple of boops, the One Burst eruption began. The steam direction was more up the hillside, so was able to catch the starts of Vent and Turban.

Bulger had been having frequent minors before Grand, and the webcam operators had mentioned it looked different. So after Grand, we stuck around for a while to catch one, with no success. The best we got was deep rumbling.

Posted by HKoenig at 09:15 AM | Permalink

The precipitation didn't start until we passed West Thumb, but before that it was gusty head-winds. The notification sign at the junction sound of Lander had "South Pass 50+mph winds".

But it wasn't wet when we went out for the first One Burst Grand of the year. The sun was actually trying to come out. The first geyser I saw was the end of a Tilt eruption. But the interesting thing was that Crystal Spring and Belgian Pool were down about 3cm, and that was higher than earlier. At the same time Slurp was having a wet steam phase eruption-- lots of wet droplets with a hint of the slurping sound.

On the way back, we did get to see the mule deer and bison who have been hanging around together. They were in the trees over by Oval Spring.

Posted by HKoenig at 05:27 PM | Permalink

Porkchop Geyser, Norris Geyser Basin, by Paul Strasser

Posted by HKoenig at 08:27 AM | Permalink