Observations for 16 July 2013


The next Grand interval was a little bit longer,but still indicating a possible shortening. It was nice to go out at night and actually see an eruption in the dark. Getting a second burst was a nice bonus.

But before I went out, I was awakened by someone hitting their radio "call" button. It was about a half hour before the alarm was supposed to go off, so I was a bit annoyed. But then a couple of minutes later,that changed to gratitude. Kit Barger announced the time of the latest Fountain eruption, 21:52, and that the duration was 40 minutes. So far this season, an eruption that long has implied a chance of a Morning Geyser eruption. So as I went out to Grand, I was running the times trying to figure out when I needed to set the alarm and head out. No excuse to not go to the Lower Basin, as traffic would be minimal and parking easy.

So easy that I was the first there.So I set up my chair down on the boardwalk next to Fountain, got out the iPad and started to read. All time I waited,Jet never erupted, just huffed and rumbled. Finally we got a real eruption. A few minutes later, so did Morning.

This was my third attempt to see an eruption of Morning, and resulted in my first one since 1991. Behaved much as I remembered. It's not the size or the height that is impressive. I mentally placed an eruption of Grand out there, at a similar distance, and only once or twice did I see anything even approaching the start of a Grand burst. Anyone talking about height is missing the point of the activity. It's the power of the water being thrown in all directions, almost noiselessly. It was nice that it was dead calm, and well before the herds of people tromping through began, as it made it just a little easier to hear and appreciate the bursts.

The eruption of Morning ended just at the six hour mark for Grand, so I hurried back to the Upper Basin, and got out by the 6h30m mark. And then waited for three hours. Again, no delays, nothing to indicate why it was taking so long. We did get an eruption of West Triplet, but that didn't seem to push Grand any. The wait wasn't so bad, because while it had been clear and sunny for Morning, by now it was overcast and distinctly cool. The biggest annoyance was that I had planned on a quick Grand and then head in for breakfast. That'll teach me.

So the string so shorter intervals and two burst eruptions ended. The rest of the day consisted of another of longer Grand intervals and another one burst eruption.Otherwise I kept trying to make up for missed sleep, without much success.