Category: 2018

Another day started with a wait at Norris. After seven hours we left having seen one event worth getting the least excited about.

Back in the Upper Basin, went out to Grand. Earlier, while we were at Norris, it had the first three burst eruption since we got here. The eruption we saw was the first sub-nine minute eruption since we got here.

Then spent some time down in the Bijou Cage. Saw a couple of Grotto starts, but nothing much else happened. Never saw water in Mastiff, and never saw the Southwest Vents even try to start. While waiting, suddenly smelled smoke, and could see the plumes to the west.

Finally it was time for Grand. Originally was hoping for a nice moonlight eruption, but thanks to the smoke, the moon was a dark red ball on the horizon shedding no light. Had just walked up, after seeing Bulger's Hole fill but not erupt, when Grand started explosively. This interval was 5h34m, which is the shortest interval since we got here. It also lasted less than ten minutes, so not having to wait was nice.

The day started at Norris. Spent about seven hours watching nothing much happen. We were intending to leave at noon, but that's when something finally did happen. It was the first and only time during the day, it turns out, that New Crater/Steamboat gave any sign of an impending eruption. As it was, we waited an additional hour and a half.

Back in the Upper Basin, did get a two burst Grand eruption right after we got back. Later went down to Bijou Cage and saw a 4-1/2 minute Bijou pause where nothing else happened. The day ended with the rising full moon illuminating a One Burst Grand eruption.

I also did discover that the phone in the Norris parking lot works. There is a dial tone, and I was able to make an 800 call. This means that someone could buy a calling card can be able to call someone somewhere else who could rely information.

With all the charismatic megafeatures not due for attention for a couple of days, was another opportune time to leave the basin. Rode out to Lone Star in the morning, after catching another One Burst Grand.

Arrive with Lone Pine quiet. According to the log book, we had at least two hours to kill, but that was okay. We'd brought things to do. The mosquitoes weren't too bad, compared to what I've experience there in other years. Black Hole was active for the first half hour or so, with frequent, short eruptions. At some point before the overflow from Lone Start started, it quit.

The minor was earlier than we expected. After the minor, I noticed that the Perforated Cone was making lots of noise, and even showing a droplet or two every so often.

If the time of the previous major in the log book is to be believed, the interval between major eruptions was about 2-1/2 hours.

We got back in time for the next One Burst Grand eruption. After that, there wasn't really anything to do. Decided to forego the next, post-sunset Grand as it was cloudy and there was no moonlight.

Updated: 2018 Aug 08: Uploaded video at Giant Eruption 2018 Jul 24.

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This is the time of the month to go out for moonlight Grand eruptions. So we were out for a steamy one burst that really didn't have much to recommend it. Then Beehive erupted without an indicator, so we didn't even get to see that.

Today's plan was to wait in the Bijou Cage for a hot period, probably the first since the previous Giant eruption. I arrived around 08:30 after a steamy Grand eruption. The platform looked much like it did yesterday morning. There was obvious runoff down from Mastiff. All the catch pools by the Southwest Vents were wet, which implied that there had at least been a long Bijou pause. The only anomaly was there was quite a bit of wetness around Feather and friends, implying, perhaps, a weak hot period.

The weather was mostly cloudy, and felt a bit humid. When the sun showed through gaps in the clouds, it felt hot and uncomfortable. I deployed an umbrella to make it easier to read a book on the iPad screen and to keep the sun off of me.

Grotto started right after Grand, before I could get to the cage. Within twenty minutes of arriving, there was a four minute pause that turned into a bathtub with some Southwest vent activity. Like yesterday, Bijou went into a noisy steam-phase, but it wasn't as powerful as the one yesterday.

After Rocket and Grotto shutting down, the next Bijou was at 10:07. This started a series of short pauses, durations about a minute every fifteen minutes or so.

Then, at 11:42, we had a nice 6 minute bathtub pause where Feather overflowed but didn't try to erupt. That was my cue to take a break, as previous experience said that it would probably be about an hour before the next platform event.

I took longer than that to get back, so I missed the Grotto start and the subsequent medium length (3 minute) Bijou pause at 12:41. I chose to skip the Grand eruption, which meant I missed a two burst eruption at 13:51. Rocket had a major eruption just before Grand, and Grotto was off by 14:01.

It was about this time that Mastiff's south vent (the one in the back) had one of its massive jetting surges. The kind of activity that seems to keep the water flowing all the way to the front of the platform.

The cloudiness had mostly disappeared by then, but the wind had picked up.

I've got to the point were I expect good things to happen soon after Grotto quits, and this was no exception. Bijou paused at 14:21, and water finally appeared in Mastiff about two minutes later. About 30 seconds later the Southwest Vents started to put out water. This was a slow start, and I was assuming (hoping) that we'd get Feather so we could finally have our first hot period.

It wasn't until 14:26 that Feather, which had been overflowing and burbling for several minutes, finally started up. Almost immediately, the Satellite and Cave started erupting. Mastiff was surging to several feet, wide thick boils like the ones before an eruption. Bijou turned back on at 14:28, which seemed a bit early. It was about that point that I realized that I might want to start recording the hot period, as it seemed like it was going to be a good one, perhaps similar to the one a week ago that should've started an eruption.

Even with all that activity, it was hard to believe that this was going to be more than just the first hot period in the series leading up to an eruption. I was already trying to figure out how much time I would have before getting back out-- would it be 6 hours for a minor, or could I risk waiting until tomorrow morning?

At this point I can refer to the video for events. (Posting will have to wait until I get home for the proper bandwidth.) As Mastiff dropped, Giant started to surge. The first couple of surges were angled, then the activity died down. Giant started surging again when Feather's Satellite shut down and Feather tried to stop. But then switched to vertical as Feather built up again. At times it looked like the entire contents of Giant's vent were lifting as a unit.

By this point, many of the vents on the platform had restarted, and Mastiff was having powerful "depth-charging" bursts. The entire platform was active again.

Then the cone filled with water several times, each time a bit higher. The surges started shooting the subsiding previous surge, with each surge higher. It was a surge that was at least twice as high as the cone that appeared to start the eruption, and even that had another, higher jet come through it to finally start the continuous activity.

After a couple of minutes, I went back to the 60 meter baseline marker to take a height measurement. It was quite windy, so the tops of jets were being pushed away from me. Because of all that, the best reading I got was 60%, which translates into 36 meters or about 120 feet. It was probably higher, maybe 150 feet, about as tall as a good start of a Grand eruption.

There was quite a crowd gathered there. Since the activity proceeded slowly, it allowed a number of gazers to join us for the start, or at least to be within sight of the start. The only problem was that once again, the NPS personnel kept breaking in and making it difficult for those in the cabin area to hear what was going on.

None of the signs moved. Obviously a few of them are too well situated.

After we return home, I should be able to make video of this start available.

The rest of the day was kinda anti-climatic. Did go out for the sunset Grand, but while the clouds to the west were pretty colors from an incoming thunderstorm, the one burst Grand itself was gray on gray.

Spent four hours, up 'til noon, in the Bijou Cage. Bijou paused twice, both times for about 4 minutes. Water rose in Mastiff, but not even enough to be considered a bathtub. (My definition of a bathtub is when there is water visible in Mastiff while seated at the bench. It's a lot more objective since eye level for most people is within a inches of the same height back there.) The second long pause happened just about the time Grotto quit, without having an eruption of Rocket.

During all that time Mastiff was surging nicely from the southern/back vent. Enough to keep a trickle of water running down the front of the platform. On several occasions, it looked like Posthole and Feather had water visible in them. I'm taking all this, especially the lack of frequent one minute long Bijou pauses, as a sign Giant is several days away from the first hot period this interval.

It was such a dull day that the mornings thermal activity consisted of doing laundry and a walk through the West Thumb Geyser Basin. The only geyser we saw was a small one when we stopped at the Potts overlook.

Other than that, there was a couple of Grand eruptions, one in the evening and another just after midnight. Now is the quiet time to enjoy a few moonlight Grand (or Beehive) eruptions before the waits for New Crater/Steamboat and Giant begin.

Since there was no reason to go to Norris, and we were wide awake, decided to go out into the basin and check a few things out.

Biking in front of the Inn I encountered a coyote on the biketrail. It skittered off toward Old Faithful. Castle was in eruption, and defintely a major. We stayed there for a while, as even though the moon was only a quarter, there were nice moonbows in the steam.

Down at Fan & Mortar, we found that it still hadn't erupted. Riverside was also in eruption, so we briefly illuminated it from the bridge.

Then off to Grand. Where it had a delay that insured that the eruption would be after the moon set. So we provided our own illumination for a nice two burst eruption.

The next morning we overslept a bit, waking up when Grand was almost in the eruption window. It was a cool, overcast morning, and we didn't miss the eruption which went on the first Turban eruption after we arrived. On the Fan & Mortar where it still hadn't erupted. The sky threatened to rain, but never did more than a few drops.

The day at Fan & Mortar was the same as the previous few days-- no events, nothing to get excited about. It's almost like the geyser has gone dormant, or the next event is going to be the eruption event.

I'd already decided that tomorrow was going to be the day where I was going to start spending time in the Bijou Cage. None too soon, as there was some sort of minor hot period mid-afternoon. Probably just an eruption of Feather, as the runoff areas of both Mastiff and the Southwest Vents were mostly dry where there were definite puddles on the platform

Out for Grand at sunset for a moonlight eruption. That's when get yet another delay for the day. This time, the Turban interval was over 40 minutes, with audible boops from Grand around the 37 minute mark. Around the same time, the call came from Fan & Mortar that it was finally having some sort of event. As the delay wait continued, the event to the north kept getting better.

Grand erupted on the second Turban and I cleared out right as the eruption ended. I'd just gotten onto my bike at Castle when the call that "Upper Mortar is erupting" came through. So I missed the start, but did get down for most of the eruption. The moon was high and just past quarter, so it was well illuminated even when the spotlights were off.

This means that for the first two weeks we've been here, there have been five eruptions of the big geysers we wanted to see. All have been in the dark.

Another dull day where nothing much happened. Fan & Mortar didn't erupt overnight, and never made any attempt to erupt the rest of the day. While I'd like to see it, it appears there's not much reason to over-invest time in it. A couple of One Burst Grand eruptions and a nice Beehive eruption completed the day.

It also appears that the Giant signs still haven't been put back.

Then, late in the day, it was discovered that those waiting at Norris were seeing really good activity. The previous plan was to go there on Sunday, but with this new, we intended to get there before dawn on Saturday.

Unfortunately, New Crater/Steamboat had other ideas, and erupted a bit before midnight.

Today was a day to ignore New Crater/Steamboat. I gave it yesterday, but after several days of spending all day in the Bijou Cage, I needed a break. So it was personal matters and a couple of one burst Grand eruptions.

Did spend some time at Fan & Mortar, but they never looked good. With the lengthening interval, I did get sucked down into some extremely minor activity that I would normally ignore, but didn't want to miss it.

With most the geyser gazers gone to Norris, the Upper Basin is a very different place. The radio is mostly silent. There wasn't much of a crowd at either a late morning Grand or, as the photo shows, a mid-afternoon Beehive. The smaller crowds seems to indicate that it's gazers who cause the crowds at both places. Which is a bit ironic since there's a group of gazers who go out of there way to encourage visitors to gather at both geysers, while others (and sometimes the same people) complain about the crowding.

The time for moonlight Grand eruptions has begun, so we went out for the midnight Grand. Only one burst, as usual, but even with a quarter moon, we could see faint moonbows in the runoff channel steam.

I've updated the posting for 17 July 2018 to include a couple of photos of where two of the Giant Platform signs ended up. During the previous Giant activity, the signs used to get put back the same day, if not at the end of the eruption itself.

So after about 2-1/2 hours sleep, we headed to Norris. It was light, but because of the rains the previous day, the route was foggy the whole way there. At Norris, we learned that the activity for New Crater/Steamboat had improved since the previous day, but still wasn't up to the standard of the June eruption preliminaries.

There was a lot of water being put out by the South vent, reminding me of the floods we had seen back in May. After a couple of hours, it even that had regressed. Where we had been seeing some moderate concerted activity, by about 10:00 it seemed like either north or south, but not both, at least at the start. And the flood wasn't happening any more.

Things stayed that way until about 15:30, when the minor play started to pick up again. We left around 17:00. While we were getting floods down the runoff, the activity of the North vent seemed to be mostly unchanged.

After getting back to the Upper Basin, we got sucked into a weak Fan & Mortar event.

Updated: 2018 Jul 19: Added photos of where the signs ended up.

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It's been a decade since I last spent time in the Bijou Cage in the dark. With all the noise coming from Giant, it can be hard to tell what Bijou is doing. But after a while, I got used to catching the faint sound of Bijou stopping. Caught the end of a Grotto eruption (no Rocket) and then had to wait out the interval until the next Grotto start. Right after that happened, I got the expected weak Feather-only Hot Period. Then it was back in to get some sleep.

Woke up to the sound of rain. Looked at a weather map and it showed that the main band was an hour away. This was all well before I had planned to be out again for the next hot period, one I expected to be really good. So waited where it was dry before heading out. The weather map said that there was another band coming in the next hour, but it never materialized.

Up at Norris, New Crater/Steamboat was starting to look good, so most of the basin was deserted.

At Giant Bijou had a fairly long pause of about 3 minutes just before Grotto started. During that eruption, there were frequent short pauses and slowdowns. After the hour and a half Grotto, which ended with a Rocket eruption, the slowdowns continued for the next hour, until 10:19, when we finally got a true pause. Water appeared in Mastiff within a couple of minutes, but it wasn't until five minutes into the pause before Feather started. The hot period then progressed fairly rapidly, with all the platform vents in action at some point. (At least it seemed that way.) Feather never quit, but did drop as Bijou restarted.

At that point, Giant started surging and Feather rose back to full height. There were several heavy surges in Giant, at least one that looked like it should have been the start of the eruption. But after a couple of minutes, the activity died down. By that time the Bijou cage was full of everyone who hadn't (or couldn't) go to Norris, there was a lot of disappointment. It was the best hot period up to that point, though. So good that Norris gained more gazers willing to make the drive there.

The past few days we have been having alternating hot periods. A good one, like the one we had just witnessed. Then about 6 to 8 hours later there would be a short eruption of just Feather, with none of the other vents in action. The major hot periods were coming about 16 to 22 hours apart. (I'd noticed this sort of pattern during the previous leadup to the 05 July eruption). So my plan was to return to the cage in about 5 hours and wait for the next weak one, then come out in the early morning hours the next day for the hot period that could result in an eruption.

I returned to the cage around 14:00. At 15:38 Grotto erupted. About 20 minutes in, Bijou had a long pause (5m52) where water was visible in Mastiff, but nothing much else happened. Grotto lasted a little over an hour, ending with Rocket. There were no more pauses until almost an hour after Grotto ended, when a similar 6 minute pause happened.

By then, had experienced a short rain shower, for which I wasn't totally prepared. So far, these long pauses were followed by at least an hour of Bijou splashing, so I decided to take advantage and go back to the cabin and be prepared for the next shower.

I arrived back to alternating short pauses and slowdowns until a third long pause two hours after the previous. By now I realized I needed to change plans. It had been nine hours since the hot period, and no minor. No idea how long it might be, or if it would even happen. So I returned one more time to change into my nighttime cold clothes.

About an hour after the previous long pause, Bijou had a sort of intermediate one, lasting 3m40s. With the Southwest Vents active, this was the first activity of the afternoon meriting a radio call. Shortly afterward, Grotto started again.

Then nothing. The first slowdown may have happened about 2-1/2 hours later, but it was hard to tell in the dark. Grotto was still active. At this point I was not about to leave. In years past, this sort of behavior-- Bijou continuously erupting for hours -- was a really good sign of an imminent eruption. (Or at least a major hot period). Grotto not wanting to stop (or be stopped by Rocket) also seemed good.

Suzanne had been at Norris all day, and arrived back at the cabin just as I made the radio call for the pause. Because she had gotten ready for going out in the dark, she decided to continue on to Grand on the chance that I would have gone there for a few Turbans. But I wasn't there, so eventually she bailed out on a long interval and joined me in the Cage. Upon hearing about the Bijou/Grotto behavior, despite the coldness, she didn't want to leave either.

Five minutes before midnight, Bijou finally paused. Grotto was still active. Even with the bright flashlight, we couldn't determine if Mastiff was showing water. After a couple of minutes, the Southwest Vents finally started erupting, and that was good enough to start sending out another radio call. By then it looked like Mastiff was near overflow.

Things started getting a little hectic when Feather started at midnight. Almost immediately its satellite began. Then several of the other platform vents. We could tell that Mastiff was pouring off water, even though we couldn't see what it was doing through the fog. Feather never really tried to stop. Finally, only 6 minutes into the hot period, Giant had a huge surge. Moments later, it had another one, this one up to the top of the cone. The third surge was higher, and didn't stop. Suddenly Giant began to climb, and the eruption started. And the wind direction was toward the cage.

And that's when the real fun began. Because I was trying to take notes and talk into the radio, I was juggling too many different things (radio, phone, notebook, pen, red flashlight). I shoved things into pockets without thinking, then tried to move to a location where I might see something illuminated by the super-powerful flashlight. That's when I remember that we still had our packs and blankets and other stuff still on the benches in the cage. Too late, they were soaked. We moved them well back on the boardwalk, getting drenched in the process, and that when the real horror hit. I couldn't find my phone.

It's hard to enjoy a nighttime eruption when you can only hear it and when you think you have done something incredibly stupid. Instead of trying to watch the eruption, we repeatedly scanned the area looking for the phone without success for far too long. Finally I realized that my watch, tied to the phone, was still working, no matter where I was. That mean I had to be carrying it. I finally realized that it was in a pocket that I have never, ever used for any geyser gazing instrument (just my wallet). My relief finally allowed me to enjoy what was left of the eruption.

The radio call, at least, wasn't a waste of time. Several people heard it and got out to see the start, or got there early in the eruption. Maybe ten or a dozen in all.

The eruption was noisy and wet. The boardwalk as far as Grotto was soaked, as were our bikes tied up on the recently appearing bike rack. The bright flashlight, thanks to an extra battery pack, was the one thing that worked right, as it never dimmed. We were able to see the ending of the eruption pretty well because of it. The Giant sign had rolled well down the runoff, on the far side near to Turtle. The highly reflective "Keep Off" also rolled down several terraces. There was also a bit of the "catfish" or "low tide" smell as more plantlife got cooked.

Grotto quit sometime during the eruption.

For most of the eruption, we didn't feel the cold (and wet). The excitement, despite my problems, took care of that. But we still had to bike back to the cabin. I found that my bike light needed a recharge, so I had to rely on Suzanne's on the way back. In the cabin, we spent the better part of an hour taking apart our packs to dry things out.

That's when the horrible night hit Suzanne. She discovered that her needlepoint instructions (something she hadn't worked on since the previous Giant activity in 2007) had become wet. And so did her phone. It would no longer charge up. (That problem is going to last for a while, as so far all our attempts to fix it haven't worked.)

So while we did see another eruption of Giant, our first in 11 years, it is a bit hard to be happy about the experience. I think it's going to take a daylight eruption, with lots of gazers present, to make this one a bit more bearable, and turn it into something to laugh about.

Another day of getting up early in order to spend the day in the Bijou Cage. It was an overcast day, with lightning in the clouds to the north. Turns out not quite early enough, as the call that a hot period was starting was made as I passed the Inn. It ended up being another of those short, weak ones with only Feather active. So after a while, I headed back in to get a bite to eat and prepare for a long wait.

Which it was. I did manage to fit in a Grand eruption, but otherwise is was a long day of long pauses and Bijou slowdowns. Finally, a bit over twelve hours after the previous hot period, there was another long, vigorous one. It seemed like Giant never really tried hard to erupt, unfortunately, as there were only a few surges that looked like they could sustain and build.

That activity did come at the right time, as a band of thunderstorms was building to the west. Headed back in expecting rain, but we never got any. Just lots of lightning and thunder.

Got out to Giant at 03:15. Grotto was in eruption, and there had been some long Bijou pauses, but no Feather activity. The weak hot period the previous evening may have had an effect, in that the interval here between Giant eruption attempts was almost 22 hours, putting it after dawn. This hot period was even stronger that the one the previous day. This time feature never quit, so there wasn't a really a restart. Cave Vent and a lot of the other sputs were stronger than before, too. But once again, while the surging in Giant was nice, it didn't result in an eruption.

The hot period came at the right time, too. Had come out dressed for the cold and dark, but by then it was clear and rapidly getting warmer. Stripped down as much as possible, but still a bit overdressed for the occasion. The back going back to the cabin was stuffed full of all the nighttime gear, including flashlights. Also, hadn't brought any food, so was really getting hungry.

After another one burst Grand eruption, and lunch, went back to the Bijou Cage. Was thinking that there might be an interesting followup to the hot period. And there was. Wanted to get there for the start of Grotto, but it was already in eruption. But about an hour and a half after I arrived, there was a weak, Feather-only hot period that lasted 1m22s. By that time Grotto had been in eruption about 1h40m, so I went over to see if I could catch the end.

While sitting there, suddenly there was a puff of steam from behind the trees to the north. Not Riverside, but it was Spa. Got down there in time to see that the water was just starting to head down the runoff channel, so what we saw was probably the first burst. Watched the activity there for about an hour. Finally there was a Rocket major eruption, and Grotto shut down. The duration was nearly three hours.

The last activity of the day was supposed to be Grand. It had a short 7m20s first burst, but of course followed that up with a long second burst. Of interest was that Vent and Turban didn't even quit after that. So time to get some sleep.

Wanted to get out in the dark well before dawn to try and catch the next hot period. Didn't work out that way. Instead had just fallen asleep when hear the call that Feather had just started. There wasn't any call about Mastiff being full, so that meant little time to get down basin. I had arranged my gear just in case there was such a call, so was able to quickly get ready and head out. Hearing that Feather was restarted as I passed by the Inn got me moving just a little faster. Got down to the curve by Oblong when I heard that Feather had quit again. So I didn't see anything, but was able to learn that it was possible for me to get from the cabin to a point where I could see the start. (And I learned that I was really overdressed for such concentrated exertion.

Out at dawn to wait for the next Giant Hot Period. I expected it to be late in the morning, but wasn't about to take chances when there was no good reason to not be there. As it turned out, I was pretty much right, as we got the expected hot period at 11:55. As far as I could tell, the only difference from last night was it started a little slower, with Mastiff taking its usual two minutes to rise.

I also skipped the Grand eruption at 10:15. Turns out it had two bursts, which was a bit annoying. I played the odds and lost. But still the right decision, as there no point in seeing yet another one burst Grand in the middle of the day in the middle of a crowd.

Later in the day did go to the Grand eruption. It didn't have an official delay, but the one burst eruption was preceeded by a good 15 to 20 seconds of booping. I really thought that it would fail to erupt, and we'd have to wait several more Turban intervals.

While having dinner, there was a short, weak hot period that wasn't quite expected. Not sure what to make of it, other than a guess that it might delay the next, strong one.

That was about it for the day. Did go to Grotto a little later, trying to see Rocket, but it turned into a long eruption instead, and finally gave up to prepare for tomorrow's Giant wait.

Having Fan & Mortar erupt during the night was disappointing. But the intervals have shortened nicely, and that means several more opportuities this month.

But the day was spent waiting at Giant. There was a weak hot period in the middle of the day, and then a strong one in the early evening. That one was a classic Feather Restart, with lots of nice surging from Giant at that point, some filling the cone. But nothing came of it.

At sunset, Grand had an extremely long Turban interval. It was at least 25 minutes from the time we arrived. During that time Grand booped, and the duration for the Turban eruption was well over 7 minutes. That was right at sunset, and it would have been an eruption with nice rainbows. But Grand managed to delay only one interval, while it was still light.

And then we returned to the cabin just in time for a radio announcement that Beehive's Indicator was in eruption. Turns out no one was out on Geyser Hill, so it was up to the webcam viewers and operators to let people know to get out there. We headed right out, but Beehive was already erupting as we crossed the bridge

Today Grand decided that it needed to put in some longer intervals. Had no intention of going out in the middle of the night, so relieved to discover that would have had to wait a couple of extra hours, until dawn. In the middle of the day the interval was almost as long, which allowed a huge accumulation of people.

Again, another day of waiting for Giant. At least there was a hot period during the night, and then another one near sunset. I didn't see that one, but nice to know that they can happen more than once a day. In this case, appeared to be about 16 to 18 hours between them, which seems to fit the pattern established during the buildup to the last eruption.