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Observations for 2018 September 10


Beehive had a reasonable 15 hour interval, but a one minute indicator was enough time for me to grab what I needed and start to shut the cabin door. I just went back to what I was doing. Probably a good thing, as it was so windy that I couldn't have gotten closer than Sulphide Spring without getting drenched.

Saw two Grand eruptions. The later one was a One Burst Grand, but the first was more interesting. The first burst lasted a bit over ten minutes, which usually means that that's it. But this time the water stayed up, and even though it took a while to get going, we got a second. Then it turned into a long second, with a total duration of almost 13-1/4 minutes. It looked like Turban had quit before Grand did, and during the last minute of the eruption Vent was nothing but steam.

Spent some time watching weak activity at Fan & Mortar. It looked a lot like when it is dormant and you know the cycles aren't going to be strong and there's not going to be an eruption, no matter how good they look when Gold comes on. But during that sort time, there was quite a bit of stupidity.

First there was the European couple who not once, but twice had to get pictures of Norris Pool from beyond the railings.

Then there was the guy who sat down next to me and saw a "frog" in the formations around Mortar. He was going to show his family where it was by bending over and picking up a rock and throwing it. I stopped him before the rock flew. He insisted he wasn't going to do that, but he never once looked at the rock he did pick up and let the rock fall out of his hand.

Then there were the Earth Units (probably American) who first had to get a picture of one of their group straddling Link's runoff at the bridge during a minor eruption. They then went on down south, near to where the runoff first enters the gutter and one of the group jumped across the runoff. That finally got a reaction, and he immediately leaped back over the runoff.

Then there were the two Chinese women who thought it would be a great idea to do a stupid pose using the bikes in the bike rack. I heard a lot of rattling noise back there, and in no uncertain terms told them leave my stuff alone. Instead of the usual Asian giggle, one of them actually tried to excuse their behavior with "it's not hurting anyone." Yeah, right, you let people mess with your stuff all the time.

They got down to Norris pool, and the objector immediately heads off around the railing. That got them even more berating. How much stupidity did those two engage in while getting that far down basin? I don't wanna know...

It's almost like there is a constant number of stupid people visiting the area, and now that most of those who can behave themselves are gone for the season, the stupidity become even more intrusive.

Later on, decided that it would be a good night to see Grand, which haven't done in a while. It was actually a fairly warm night, with no wind. The lack of wind meant that the two bursts were pretty much obscured by their steam and that from the runoff.