Observations for 2019 September 12


Because Grand had some long overnight intervals, didn't get out and about until almost noon. Arrived at the Grand Group to find Belgian and Crystal back to normal. Ended up waiting for quite a while, with occasional activity from Sput D, but not every Turban interval. Then there was a Turban Delay, and we had to wait three more Turban intervals before we finally got the eruption.

It turned out to be a nice three burst eruption. It started out nicely, with the wind pushing the steam toward the south, giving us a clear view of the eruption. The first burst ended at about eight minutes, which was so sort we were almost guaranteed a second burst. But when that one ended just a minute later, the question of getting a third became obvious. Because of the breeze, we could see the pool fill and slosh about. Based on past experience, that doesn't mean anything until the bursting started. Even then, it took several large surges to get the burst started. There was no attempt to fill following that.

The long interval and Delay ended up pushing the next eruption into the dark, which was actually good. It's full moon time, and the moon had cleared the trees by the time we got the eruption. Best of all, the crowd of a couple of dozen people behaved themselves, and no one tried to light it up. It was only one burst, but the breeze again cooperated to make the water column visible the whole time. Even the arm-carried doglet seemed to enjoy it.