Observations for 2021 May 13


Another slippery walk out to Grand, although this time it was just frost. I think my boot soles have become as polished as the walkway.

Only had to wait for a couple of Turban intervals for a nice backlit eruption. Activity was easily visible from the northern benches.

Unlike last night, this time the first burst was long. A total of 13m20s long (over twice as long as last evening's first burst). The last three minutes were Big Sawmill, where I thought several times it had quit, only to spike up and start sloshing around again. Near the end West Triplet finally started to erupt, after having overflowed heavily for much of the eruption.

Went over to Geyser Hill to try and get some videos, but nothing much there cooperated. Finally gave up after two hours of sitting in the wind out there.

Down at Fan & Mortar, there was an event cycle, so joined in on the fun there. The Fan vents did look nice for a couple of minutes at the start. But nothing came of it, other than once again, Bottom Vent did not take over the activity and prolong things. I do believe this is a good sign, or at least a welcome change from what's been seen the last couple of years where Bottom Vent eruptions led to no Fan activity.

The mid-afternoon One Burst Grand eruption was nice and sunny, and the wind wasn't quite as obnoxious. Nice lighting, but otherwise ordinary. Again, West Triplet started at the end of Grand.

And since there was a report on Fountain, decided it was time to try and see an eruption. Didn't have to wait long, but the wind shifted such that the steam was parallel to the walkway, blocking the view of Morning. Which made the two eruptions of Morning's Thief hard to see.

Back in the Upper Basin, there was going to be one more Grand eruption in daylight. Arrived out there with both West Triplet and Turban erupting. Saw a normal Turban eruption, then West Triplet ended. Castle started shortly thereafter. For the next expected Turban eruption, the pool was full with waves just after 20 minutes. It took another minute before Grand started.

The erupting stopped around the 8-1/2 minute mark. It looked like it was going to be another short One Burst Grand eruption, but then about a minute later, water appeared in the pool. At the same time, Vent started to blast out, usually a bad sign. But the pool filled, and 1m24s into the pause, Grand started a second burst. This burst seemed slow to develop, and the height wasn't the best, but it was better than no second burst.

By that time, Castle had gone into steam, unlike last night where we missed the whole minor eruption. And it was time to come in, because we could hear thunder off to the southwest.