Observations for 2020 June 03


Was thinking about going out to Grand in the night, but while the moon was bright, it looked like the clouds were coming. Decided to not go out. I woke up again about the time of the eruption, and that proved correct. And the interval was closer to seven hours, which would have made for a long wait.

It was a short wait at Grand. The eruption was perhaps the best of the trip, with what little wind there was pushing the steam up the hillside, so all the vents were visible and the water column and jets were nicely backlit. In addition, there was a second burst.

I couldn't go up on the south side of Daisy as there were five bison bedded down in the area near the trail between Bank Geyser and Bonita Pool. After the Daisy eruption, I watch Splendid for a while. After about four minutes from the end of Daisy, the Side Boiler finally started small. With twenty seconds or so, the activity shifed to Main Vent and stayed there. After a few minutes there were even a few strong surges to about a meter.

The best Grand eruption of the trip had to be followed by the worst. It was still partly sunny when we got out there, but we could see the clouds building to the west and north. It got progressively cooler and windier until we could hear some thunder.
By that time Beehive's Indicator started. By the time Beehive erupted, Turban had some sort of delay eruption. It was hard to tell through the steam, but it was probably a Vent Overflow delay. Turban started strong and vigorous, but lasted less than 3-1/2 minutes. Grand's pool level dropped more than normal.

By then, the rain started, and the wind really picked up. It was two Turban intervals later that Grand finally did erupt. A One Burst Grand lasting 8m53s. It was around that time that the wind died down and the rain slowed to a shower.