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Observations for 2022 August 21


Probably waited about 15 minutes for a Turban Delay Interval. The lack of overflow from Grand for the next Turban eruption tends to confirm that. Shortly after that Turban eruption, Oblong erupted. A steamy eruption with several tall bursts on a fog-free, windless morning.

The third interval after the Turban Delay resulted in the One Burst Grand eruption.

From there, went on down to Fan & Mortar, where a couple of hours wait resulted in a weak cycle, followed by a stronger one. During the first cycle, High and Gold never looked even close to having that "is it trying to go into eruption" look that seems to occur during most cycles. Angle was off during most of that time, until the end stages.

The next cycle started quickly, with Angle on within minutes of the start of River, High and Gold. But they also had much higher water levels than before. Angle then quit, and wasn't active again until near the end of River activity.

While sitting back on the abutment in the shade, I had a weasel run across the bridge right in front of me and disappear down the slope. Might be related to the one I saw in the same location last year.

Early afternoon, and arrived at Grand with Turban erupting. Thirty minutes later, Grand was low as Turban started erupting. Grand's pool refilled, and Grand erupted about 55 seconds after Turban. During this One Burst Eruption, Grand had distinct slow-downs at around 7-1/2 and 9 minutes. They weren't quite false pauses, because there wasn't the usual tall jetting afterward.

Went back to Fan & Mortar for more observations, in which we saw a moderate cycle that included steaming from the frying pan areas near Lower Mortar. I left after an hour, only to get back to the cabin just in time for the radio call that there was a splash in Fan's Main Vent.

Got as far as Grotto when another call announced that that was the only splash, and the activity didn't look promising. As Grotto Fountain had just started, I watched it erupt along with the start of Grotto.

At Fan & Mortar, the unpromising start turned into a pause, with some more Main vent splashing. But when River and the rest of Fan started up, the activity died down. After that, suddenly the frying pans were quite steamy, with the Frying Pan vent pouring out water.

There as one more Grand eruption for the day, and it appears we arrived for another Turban Delay Interval. This time the delay was for only two Turban intervals. The first burst lasted 9m19s, which often results in a One Burst Eruption. But by bright light we could see the water sloshing around in Grand's vent. It took about 45 seconds for the second burst to start. The second burst could have stopped in time for a possible third, but the second half consisted of lethargic short jets.