An overcast night turned into a gray, dull morning. Grand was there, somewhere, inside all that steam, and Castle would have been much nicer if it had been backlit by the rising sun. But there's no rain with these clouds, which is an improvement over many Memorial Day weekends I remember.
In the dark I thought I heard frogs croaking off in the distance, north of Castle. Years ago that swampy area north of the lift station was their home. The racket they made would cease when people got close, and then one year they just disappeared completely. Would be nice to get them back.
Also, I noticed how it is possible for things around here to improve instead of get worse. Years ago there were problems with the lights from the buildings and parking lots. Over the years it was the Lodge, or the Inn parking lot, or Lower Ham's or the gas station. One year it was so bad that I could see my shadow on the trees by the trail at Rift. That's no longer a problem. There are still lights in from all those areas, but they are unobtrusive and do not detract from the nighttime experience. (Although I must admit I don't know if that's also the case on Geyser Hill, with it's direct exposure to the developments.) I hope the new Visitor's Temple creators resisted the temptation to illuminate their masterpiece, although I have my doubts about that cupola on the top.
Until around noon or so it was a dull, gray day. Then the hints at dawn that the clouds might break became reality. Sort of. At least the sun came out and things warmed up, but also got windy. It only lasted an hour or so, and then it was back to dull gray, but the wind didn't go away. After the mid afternoon Beehive eruption, the promised afternoon showers finally materialized. Enough to dampen the roads and walkways, but not much else. And even that didn't matter as by then there wasn't anything much going on. (Well, unless you had an uncontrollable urge to see Oblong or Grotto start.) Besides, it's not a Memorial Day weekend if there's not at least some rain.
The rains appeared ended by the time Castle was due, and the weather radar maps showed that there should not be any more heavy showers after that. Unfortunately, because of the rain I was a bit slow getting out to Castle, and saw the start from the parking lot. I got there just in time to get a duration on the minor eruption.
The weather radars were wrong, as there was one last shower as I arrived at Grand as the last light faded. Just enough to wet things down one last time and to make sure I had to put on all the rain gear. A West Triplet eruption with neither Grand or Rift accompanying it let me know I'd be there a while too. Was there long enough to catch the next eruption of Castle just before Grand, at least I thought it was Castle.
So after a long string of steady Turban intervals, suddenly Turban starts when I was expecting to hear the first trickles of overflow. Yep, Grand is reaching into the past and letting me know that it can still have sub-sixteen minutes Turban intervals that lead to an eruption. Because of the dark, I have no idea what went on out there, but assume it was a very good, early fill. Then one more reminder of who is in charge-- a two burst eruption lasting less than nine minutes. After all that wait, I really wanted that third burst. But that also meant that Vent and Turban never stopped, so I was back at the parking lot within half an hour.
As for Castle, I'm not sure what I saw. It sure looked like major activity in the three or so minutes before Grand, but when I walked by, it was quiet. I may have got to witness a pair of minor eruptions in a row.