A good day to do something other than watch One Burst Grand Eruptions. Since the parking was surprisingly easy, stopped into Norris to watch New Crater/Steamboat for half an hour. Nothing to get excited about that I could see.
Did go out after sunset. Looked like West Triplet had finished erupting recently, which could mean Grand would wait the two hours for the next West Triplet eruption. Got the expected early Turban delay interval, but Turban was strong and sustained. It was just light enough to see Grand booping well after the two minute mark, so the start of Grand's eruption wasn't a surprise.
The first burst lasted 7-3/4 minutes, so not surprised that there was a second burst. The surprise was that the second burst lasted less than a minute, and at that point the whole eruption was just over nine minutes long. The third burst made sure that Vent & Turban would quit, and fairly quickly. West Triplet did nothing during or after Grand's eruption.
After a string of long intervals, Grand had some shorter ones. The first was during the foggy dawn, and I was just getting ready to head out when it started. The next was midday.
Spent an hour down at Fan & Mortar because there wasn't much else to do. If there is any cycling, it's so short as to be wishful thinking by the observer. Also checked out Daisy, which had an interval of 110 minutes.
So of course the next Grand interval was longer. No Turban delay intervals while I waited, just a nearly eight hour Grand interval that seemed to be waiting for West Triplet to get ready. Eight Turban eruption intervals all about 18 minutes long with a 3-1/2m duration eruption. The Turban eruption after sunset, Grand erupted followed almost immediately by West Triplet.
It also seemed to be "take your dog through the basin" day. I counted at least five around Castle and Grand during the day.
The sky was mostly clear when we went out at 02:00, but as the wait progressed, the moon slowly disappeared. West Triplet was erupting as we arrived at Grand, and when West Triplet ended without Grand eruption, knew that there was going to be a wait. During the next three hours, we saw pretty much everything except Grand-- Castle and a couple of Daisy eruptions and even a nice Oblong.
Grand finally erupted as the sky was starting to lighten up and the moon almost invisible behind the clouds. We lit up the eruption, but after the first couple of minutes, the lack of wind meant that not much could be seen of the One Burst Eruption. West Triplet started during that eruption, but we didn't stick around to see if Rift followed.
Rift waited for the next West Triplet before erupting. The Rift eruption lasted almost three hours, and we ended up with an interval almost as long as yesterday's. There were no delays, just a long series of short Turban eruptions. Once again, we got a One Burst Grand Eruption.
Beehive's Indicator was called just before Grand's eruption, and the two of them erupted at the same time. Due to the boardwalk between Sawmill and Lion being blocked by a bison closure, several people who wanted to be on Geyser Hill were forced to see Grand instead.
Before the next Grand we finally got a real thunderstorm, which started with hail. It was late enough in the day that everything stayed wet after sunset. Went out to Grand at around the 6-1/2 hour mark, and waited a little over an hour for a steamy, foggy One Burst Grand eruption that took place just before moonrise.
It's beginning to appear that unless Grand erupts on a Turban Delay interval around the 6-1/2 hour mark, it will not erupt until after eight hours or so. When there is a Turban Delay interval, the days of a quick two or three Turban interval wait are also long gone.
Woke up to report of West Triplet and Grand with an interval over seven hours. The expected eruption of Rift didn't happen, and neither was there a Turban delay interval. Five Turban eruption intervals we did get a delay, but fortunately Grand did erupt.
There was a relatively short first burst under nine minutes long, but was did get a second burst. one that lasted two and a quarter minutes.
Midday there was a Beehive eruption with an indicator long enough to get me from the cabin to near Plume.. Decided to wait there based on the wind. Of course it shifted and I needed the umbrella.
Came on out to Grand on a warm, sunny afternoon. Half hour later, right after an eruption of Oblong, we got a Turban delay interval that included a small Grand boop about five minutes before the pool dropped.
Four Turban eruption intervals later, we got a West Triplet eruption. but it took a total of eleven Turban intervals before we got an attempt at erupting by Grand. During that time it clouded up, got quite windy, and there were even some sprinkles. Like the night before, there was a late fill by Grand. Unlike the night before, Grand didn't erupt.
Finally , two Turban eruption intervals later, Grand finally had the One Burst Eruption. It lasted almost twelve minutes, and the final five minutes or so consisted of Big Sawmill.
After last night's fiasco, decided to not try too hard for a short interval. Woke up to a report of West Triplet in eruption at about seven hours into Grand's interval. So went on out, and finally rewarded with a short wait. The sun was high enough that the top of the water column of the One Burst Eruption was backlit.
After that, decided a trip to Norris made sense. The activity at New Crater/Steamboat was uninspiring, but did spend some time in Porcelain and saw eruptions of Constant and Whirligig.
After a return trip where it took 45 minutes to get from north of Fountain Paint Pots back to the cabin, went out to Grand in time for the Turban Delay Eruption. Shortly after, West Triplet started, and at the half-hour mark, Rift joined in. By then, we'd had a thunderstorm scare, but that had passed by with only a few drops. So right after Rift we got another One Burst Grand Eruption.
Back at the cabin, I headed over to the indoor plumbing. As I always do, I look over the thermal area across the river, and saw a black bear there. Went back to the cabin, got my camera and found that it had moved across the river and was just below the housing cabins along the river. After a few minutes, it wandered off upriver. Nearby, next to the river, was also a bison engaged in some digestive relief.
The moon had just risen as I went out for the next Grand. It was hidden behind a bank of clouds, but as it got higher, the clouds disappeared. There was heavy overflow from Grand when I arrived, and for the next Turban eruption Grand had no overflow, so I might have just missed a Turban Delay interval. In any case, it was only two more Turban eruption intervals later that Grand started to overflow heavily at the 25 minute point. The moon was still low, but positioned such that it was directly behind Grand's vent if one was standing at the northernmost bench. The start was tall, but quickly the slight breeze hid the water column.
It was an eleven minute long One Burst Grand eruption that never showed any signs of wanting to stop. The moonlight was too low for any moonbows, too.
Woke up about 6-1/2 hours after the previous Grand eruption to see a report that Turban had erupted about a half hour earlier. Made the assumption that this meant that Turban was in the middle of a Delay interval. Had earlier decided that it made sense to skip a short interval. But with the delay , it mean that we had plenty of time to get out to Grand and see the eruption.
Turned out that could've slept in another hour or more, because it took nine Turban eruption intervals before Grand finally erupted. Another One Burst Grand that lasted just under ten minutes.
Did get a bonus, as Castle started while untying the bikes. The first few minutes of the eruption were filled with pauses, then around the six minute mark the play became continuous, and we got a nice major eruption.
The next Grand interval did not have a Turban delay that anyone observed. But it still took almost two hours of Turban eruptions that never looked promising. Then we got an early fill and a One Burst Grand eruption that lasted 8m16s. After the burst, the pool held water for maybe ten or fifteen seconds, then drained. At least Vent & Turban made no attempt to slow down and stop.
Next it was over to Geyser Hill to see what Beehive might do. Waited about 45 minutes, and there were a few nice splashes from Beehive, but nothing much to get excited about. Then there was a large surge, maybe 5 meters high, followed immediately by another surge that lifted into a full eruption. The water column for the first 20 seconds or so appeared to be shorter than most starts I've seen, then it climbed up to full height.
The Indicator joined in briefly during the middle of the eruption, and the duration was longer than normal, perhaps because of the less powerful start.
During the wait, Lion had made several weak surges. It was about time for another series to start, so headed in that direction. Got to Lion just as the initial eruption of the series started, and had to make sure to not be downwind.
During the eruption, I saw something which may or may not be normal. In Big Cub, I caught on video a blip of water, maybe a few cm high. It was not any higher than the back rim of the vent. A review of the video shows that I wasn't imagining things, but it lasted only a few frames.
Big Cub blip
Saw the next One Burst Grand as I was passing the Inn on my bike. Watched the rest of the One Burst eruption from Castle.
After the quick wait last night, it was disappointing that in the morning Grand had a ten Turban interval delay. Got out at sunrise and was three hours later when Grand finally erupted. Several of the Turban eruptions were not preceded by any overflow from Grand.
The pool finally filled nicely, with Vent overflowing before Grand initiated the eruption, with Turban following a second later. The burst duration of 9m20s was short enough for a One Burst Grand, but after about 80 seconds, with lots of sloshing about at the end, we got a second burst. That burst lasted two minutes.
I've noticed that when Vent & Turban quit at the end of an eruption, as in this case, the pause before the restart is fairly short. And the activity quickly become quite vigorous. In this case, it took quite a bit of heavy steam before water started jetting in Turban.
Six hours later, I was back out at Grand. This was the short interval that was expected in the morning. Grand's pool was filling nicely, and completely full, but waves or other variations. Then suddenly, we got a 10 meter boop to start the eruption. Was the most sudden start that I've seen in a while. It then took Turban a minute to start, and Vent almost four minutes before it joined in. This One Burst Grand eruption, at least, lasted about 10m20s.
There was still a bit of glow in the sky when we headed out again. After a couple of Turban eruptions, we got a delay interval. It was interesting in that the overflow didn't start to really pick up until about 22 minutes after the previous Turban start.
Three Turban intervals later we got another interesting delay interval. The overflow could be heard at around the fifteen minute mark, but then decreased a few minutes later. But Turban did not erupt, and around the 23 minute mark, the overflow picked up again. When Turban started at 33 minutes, it started out strong, but Grand didn't follow through. It finally started 68 seconds later.
The burst lasted only 8-1/2 minutes. So it was a relief to get a second strong burst, nicely lit by the moon. After that, Vent & Turban tried to quit, but over the course of the next few minutes, the activity picked back up and by then, Vent was roaring away.
Got out to Grand just before midnight. Riding past the lift station on the bikes we could feel the temperature suddenly drop. Daisy was erupting as we started the walk down from Castle. Over in the Sawmill Group, it appeared that nothing much had appened since the evening. Based on the twenty minute wait we had before Turban finally erupted, and the copious overflow in the middle of the interval, we got there just in time for the Turban delay interval.
Sawmill had a brief two minute eruption during our wait, but for the next five Turban intervals, the durations of Turban eruption slows decreased from five minutes to well under four. Daisy had an interval well under two hours, and then Grand finally erupted. A long one burst eruption at the last possible time. If it had waited one more Turvan interval, the moon would have set.
Slept in a little bit longer on the assumption that the next interval wouldn't be excessively short. Which turned out to be the case. Grand took its time after a Turban Delay interval that happened while we were still back in the cabin. The eruption had a nice build up to a Turban start, but it was another One Burst Grand. Afterwards, West Triplet had a strong overflow with a couple of splashes to qualify as an eruption.
Check on Fan & Mortar, where Angle mode continues. Went on to East Sentinel for a quick check. Arrived to see some activity along the north rim, along with heavy overflow. That activity increased for a while to include superheated boilin over the near part of the pool and splashing along the entire rim. Then the activity died down and the overflow stopped for a couple of minutes. Then activity resumed as before, with some minor cycling in the amount of boiling. Only spent about 15 minutes there.
Of course the call for Beehive's Indicator came over the radio just as we'd finished the preparation of lunch and started to eat. Quite windy, but still a nice tall eruption under excellent conditions. Afterwards there was a preplay from Old Faithful that lasted for at least 30 seconds and was huge. It took it almost a half hour to recover from that. In the cabin we heard the cheering when it finally erupted.
The wait for the next One Burst Grand eruption was only an hour this time. As earlier, it started with Turban. One thing I noticed is that the start of Vent still took over three minutes from the Grand start, when it should have been much shorter. Castle started shortly after Grand, and it was a major eruption.
It was fairly windy by now, but decided to check out he Daisy Group. As it turned out, the Daisy interval was still only two hours. The duration was short at 3m16s. After the eruption Splendid did show some nice boiling from both Side Boiler and the Main Vent, but there is no evidence of any increase in discharge from the pool.
Went out to Grand just before midnight with the expectation of another long wait. Stopped at Belgian Pool when I noticed that the water level was pushing into the side lobe. That's when I heard Turban erupting, and within seconds, so was Grand.
It was nicely lit by the moon, and there were hints of moonbows, but the eruption lasted, at most, 8m40s, which was quite disappointing. But almost immediately after we figured out that the eruption was over, I noticed the steam building up down basin. Just after midnight, and Oblong had just started. So we headed down that way to get a closer look. I got as far as Chromatic, but by then the eruption was being illuminated.
(While we were at Oblong, and it was lit up, someone drove down basin and then turned around and drove back. I assume it was NPS looking for someone or something else, because they didn't stop.)
Went out to Grand early. It was a nice clear, and relatively warm morning, and after yesterday's short interval, seemed like a worthwhile place to be. Arrive during a Turban delay eruption, so at least that was out of the way. I prefer the early delays. Since it occurs when Grand is highly unlikely to actually erupt, it doesn't seem to do any sort of reset on the system the way the later delays behave.
And that was pretty much the case here. The next Turban, as expected, was quick with no Grand overflow. The next few Turban eruptions were short intervals, and Grand finally erupted on D4. Turban started strongly, and the waves building up to a huge boil. No chance of any boops. The eruption was a typical short one burst, with Vent & Turban continuing.
West Triplet started shortly after. Those who have been here a while were surpised with the eruption did not stop after a few minutes. Instead, we got what I consider the normal sequence of activity-- Percolator rising and starting, and at about the half hour mark, Rift beginning to erupt. West Triplet lasted about 45 minutes.
After a few hours, still hadn't heard that Rift had quit, which was disappointing. So decided to go on out and wait for the end and for Grand's first overflow. Rift had just quit as I was tying down my bike over at Castle, for a duration of three hours. The first overflow was at 4h50m, which seemed to be a bit longer, but not excessive. Expected the eruption of Rift to have had an effect, and perhaps the effect on the rest of the interval would be minimal.
With a little time to kill, I went over to Giant, where I saw a platform that looked like it did in the early 1980s. The only water visible was some damp areas around Mastiff towards Giant.
Today I noticed for the first time that Solstice is actually visible from the benches at Grand. I do not remember seeing the obvious steam and spray in previous years, which leads me to believe that Solistice has become stronger and taller, or that maybe a blocking tree has fallen.
Back at Grand it was around the seven hour mark, we got a Turban Delay interval. After six more undistiguished Turban eruption intervals, we finally got good overflow from Grand. Grand started immediately after Turban. The eruption lasted over eleven minutes, and the last minute consisted mostly of large boils and weak jetting.
Sawmill had been erupting most of the day, with a perhaps one hour pause while we waiting for Grand's first overflow. So wasn't surprised to see that the Sawill Group was in a deep drain. What was surprising was how far down Belgian Pool and Crystal Springs were. Both were down 20 to 25cm from their respective rims. Oval Spring did not have any visible water, other than an ocassional splash coming from the northern vent.
Went out to Grand with the expectation of having to wait until dark for the eruption. The pack had nighttime gear, including a light, and dinner. As it turned out, saw Grand start while standing at Sawmill. It was a nice tall start, and noisy. Two bursts but the total duration was under 10 minutes.
Since it was still going to be daylight for over an hour, went down to Fan & Mortar to kill some time. Definitely in a garbage mode, as within a minute or two of River starting, Gold and High were getting continuously with some power. Then it all died down.
Here are a series of stereoviews taken of New Zealand geysers taken around the start of the 20th Century.
Cooking eggs at a boiling spring B.W.Kilburn #15743
This is a view of Kereru Geyser and the Geyser Flat mound where Pohutu Geyser is located. Kereru is the low, darker mound along the stream bank. When we visited in 2019, the area where the cooking is occurring was an area with numerous frying pans, but no distinct erupting features that I could see.
Papakeura Geyser L.Hanlon, Whangarei
Now called Papakura Geyser, this feature was a large perpetual spouter upstream from Pohutu Geyser along Puarenga Stream at Whakarewarewa. The activity ended in 1979, and that cessation lead to the campaign to limit the use of geothermal bores within 1.5 kilometers of Pohutu. Papakura did erupt for a couple of days in 2015.
The Champagne Cauldron, Wairakei Underwood & Underwood
With the production wells for the Wairakei powerplants nearby, this feature is now a hole in the hillside filled with vegetation.
Where the world's fiery heart still burns — boiling pool of Pohutu Geyser Underwood & Underwood #10316
The large vent in the center seems to actually be the vent of Te Horu, which in years past would show sympathetic responses to Pohutu's activity. I believe Pohotu is actually the mound cut off by the right edge of the photo.
Waikorohihi Geyser spouting boiling water 30 feet in air Underwood & Underwood #10317
This feature is located near Pohutu, and has underground connections to it. It has been occasionally active the last few decades. When we visited in 2019, that was not one of those times, as it and nearby Mahanga were steaming and depositing sulfur around the vents.
The geyser basin and Rotorua Lake from the mountain at Whakarewarewa Underwood & Underwood #10315
This is probably near the overlook we hiked to when visiting in 2019. On the left side Fenton Street is visible. Fenton was laid out to point directly toward Waikite Geyser, which is located in the bare area behind the standing woman. Pohutu Geyser and the Geyser Flat is the bare area above and to the right of that. Off in the distance, Sulphur Bay of Rotorua Lake is visible. The Whakarewarewa village is in the steaming area to the left of the center of the view. Note that today, the whole area beyond the thermal areas is the city of Rotorua. Much of the hillside to the right is now covered in trees.
For some reason, the same Haynes photo of an eruption of Excelsior was used exclusively for years, as if it was the only known photo of Excelsior in eruption.
Maybe it was the only or best one he had, but there are others. Here's that photo, tinted for a postcard.
Here's a slightly different stereoview.
Next are a couple of Haynes cabinet prints. These were photographs larger than a postcard mounted to cardboard backing.
Finally, here's another eruption view, taken by Ingersoll.
Here are a series of prints and photographs showing bridges in the Upper Geyser Basin that no longer exist.
First are a couple of series of lithographs. The Haynes "Souvenirs of Yellowstone" and W.C.Riley's "The World's Wonderland" are similar and different. Both contain many of the same pictures, some of which are still commonly recognizable. Other pictures are unique to that particular publication. Both are fanfolded-- a long strip folded to look like pages, but the Riley is in "landscape" format, wider than it is high, which the Haynes is in "portrait". The Riley was published in 1889, while the Haynes is undated, but was from Fargo, D.T.
Souvenir of Yellowstone - Haynes
The World's Wonderland - Riley
Souvenir of Yellowstone - Haynes
The World's Wonderland - Riley
Stereoviews document the wide variety of bridges in the Upper Basin.
Firehole River and Bridge [Fan & Mortar activity in background] O.W.Watson
Our Cook at the Hot Springs [Terra Cotta Geysers] T.W.Ingersoll (from M.A.Bellingham collection)
Beehive Geyser and Old Faithful Inn, Co-operative View Co.
Footbridge over Firehole River back of Old Faithful Geyser Stereo-Travel Co.
General view of Upper Basin, looking down Firehole River Stereo-Travel Co.
Crowd coming from Geyser Hill to see Old Faithful Play Stereo-Travel Co.
Next are some photographs. The first two are postcards, while the last two are panoramas over a foot wide.
Wesley Andrews Postcard
Photo postcard, source unknown
Unpublished panorama
Unpublished panorama
As a bonus, here's a couple more images from "Souvenir", showing how different some features were back then.
Lithograph from "Souvenir Yellowstone National Park" by Haynes, 1879.
"Waiting for the Splendid" is something that neither I nor anyone else has done this century. While that sput up at Norris may be known for having intervals "from four days to fifty years", Splendid has had intervals from one hour to 25 years, a much larger range. And, unfortunately, it appears that the current 25 year interval is going to get longer.
What does one look for while waiting for Splendid, and what was it like?
Observations of Splendid's activity must be done from the northern walkway. The pool can't be seen from the southern. The only advantage the southern walkway has is that the Giant Platform is visible and any activity over there can be seen.
There are two runoff channels toward the north that pass under the boardwalk. Both would have a trickle of water coming out Splendid's pool. The western one was where Marie Wolf place her marker. Originally a pinecone, it became a stick once the pinecone disappeared. The stick was about 25cm long, and normally would be moved several meters down the runoff during an eruption. But on several occasions, it too would disappear, and need to be replaced.
There was a band of sputs between Comet and Splendid. At least two of them were within the crater itself, one along the wall, the other nearer to the vent. Their activity was only noticeable when the crater was drained. Over by Comet there was at least one good sized sput between the cone and the walkway. Many of these sputs are no longer visible, and the remaining activity seems to be decreased. No variations were ever noted in relation to Splendid and Daisy's eruption cycles. And except after concerted eruptions, Comet didn't show much variation in its activity either.
If those side vent sputs to the west of Splendid's crater ever got a name, I don't remember Marie Wolf ever using it. And they have never varied in activity either.
Activity for Daisy when Splendid wasn't active was fairly consistent. We joked that 3m43s was normal, and that any variation of more than a few seconds was noteworthy. The same held for intervals. Daisy intervals were around 80 to 85 minutes long. As short as 75 wouldn't be considered unusual, and over 90 could happen if it was windy. But consistent variation in interval could indicate that Splendid was perhaps preparing to erupt, especially if the barometer was dropping.
As Daisy erupted, the activity from Splendid calmed down, and the water level dropped. By the end of the eruption of Daisy, Splendid would be down about 30cm or so, and calm. Over the next few minutes, it might have an upwelling of water, but no boiling or bursting. After about five minutes, there would then be a large surge from the vent, as high as a meter, and the crater would quickly fill. Soon Splendid would be back into overflowing down those two runoff channels. As the next Daisy eruption approached, Splendid would drop slightly.
Splendid erupts in series. While some series could consist of a single eruption, it was more common to have about half a dozen eruptions over the next few hours. Some series could last as long as 36 hours.
When Splendid was in an active series, the activity of Daisy could change. Intervals could be as long as seven hours. Some of the solo eruptions during a series could be as short as two minutes, and short and weak, big minors. Or they could last up to five minutes and be quite powerful and tall, which was typical for the solo after a long interval.
There were two windows in which Splendid would erupt to start a series. The first one was about ten minutes after the start of an eruption of Daisy. This was a common time for a big surge as Splendid refilled, and it wasn't usual for there to be a false start during that time. And false starts could build into actual eruptions. Most of these initial eruptions immediately after Daisy lasted about two minutes, and were not known to be particularly tall.
The second window was about ten minutes prior to an eruption of Daisy. If you considered the average interval to be 80 minutes, then this meant that there could be an eruption about 70 minutes after a Daisy eruption. These tended to be stronger eruptions, with durations from three to five minutes.
After the initial eruption, both Splendid and Daisy would quickly refill and become even more vigorous in their activity. A second Splendid eruption could follow within 60 to 90 minutes, or sometimes take several hours.
When the interval was shorter, and the initial Splendid eruption was prior to the expected time for Daisy's eruption, this could result in a concerted eruption. Later in the series, a short interval cold also result in a concerted. Concerted eruptions did not follow a solo Daisy eruption. They seemed to need a solo Splendid to precede them.
Many of the Splendid eruptions came in pairs, the first eruption being about four minutes long, then about an hour later followed by a longer, stronger eruption that usually was in concert with Daisy.
A concerted eruption almost always started with an eruption of Splendid, with Daisy joining in after a minute or so. Daisy could be huge, with a long duration, or it could be weak. In the 1980s, it seemed that the strong eruptions would stimulate Splendid into a strong eruption also. That wasn't the case in during the 1997 activity. Then, when Daisy started, Splendid would weaken, and often quickly finish erupting. There were proportionally a lot more concerted eruptions that year, but they weren't as good.
A strong concerted would cause the entire system to drain, including Comet. No water would be visible in any vent. As it refilled, Brilliant pool would erupt sideways across its pool. A concerted eruption also usually meant that it would be four to six hours before the next eruption in the group, and that eruption was often a solo Daisy. Splendid's intervals would be more in the eight to ten hour range, although I remember getting caught by unexpected intervals in the four hour range.
In the summers of 1986 and 1987, Splendid eruption series did tend to start during low barometric pressure. I kept a barograph running and when the line started dropping, we paid closer attention to the Daisy Group. It seemed like the series usually started when the pressure started to rise back up, even temporarily before a deeper drop. So it wasn't unusual for the series to start in rotten weather, and end up when it was nice.
On the other hand, more than once I spent all my time out there waiting in rain gear. Sometimes we'd wait out at night if it cleared up. But those were cold nights. Once fell asleep in a down bag on the walkway and when awakened a few hours later by some gazers, I had to crack the ice off the bag. The temperature was 16°F. (Because it was a long quiet period, when Splendid did erupt, it had one of the more spectacular concerted eruptions to end the series.)
Splendid has two centers of activity down in its vent-- the "Side Boiler" and the "Main Vent". The Side Boiler is not to be confused with the sputs on the other side of the bridge. It was over the Side Boiler where Marie Wolf once got a temperature of 217°F using a maximum thermometer at the surface.
When Splendid is active, both of these vents can boil up in a full pool to heights of at least a meter. The Main Vent is wider and behind the Side Boiler as seen from the walkway. The Side Boiler activity was considered to be a bad sign, in that its activity never built up into an actual eruption, or even a false start.
An eruption of Splendid starts with the activity of the Main Vent climbing higher than the usual one meter boils. It can slowly build, and at some point the boiling turns into more of a weak jetting. At the same time, the water starts pouring out of Splendid's crater and down the runoff.
The jetting can reach as high as five or six meters, then, about 20 to 30 seconds after the start, it will suddenly stop. This is a "false start", and they were quite common during the 1980s active series. Or the activity would start to climb, slowly over the next half-minute or so to reach the maximum height. In either case, the start of the eruption or false start was the time when the jetting started.
An eruption of Splendid is probably the least noisy of any large geyser. At times, most of the noise comes from the water landing around the vent. Toward the end of a strong eruption that lasts over six minutes, Splendid can start to turn to steam, and get noisier. I never saw them, but in the late 1970s there were eruptions where it had a definite, noisy steamphase that could be heard over by Grand or even farther away.
Currently the activity in the group shows no sign of any shift toward Splendid becoming active. (Yes, it's always possible for a single isolated eruption to occur, especially in response to an earthquake.) The cycle of Splendid responding to Daisy is still there, but muted and not approaching the levels shown in those years.
What's primarily needed, I believe, is for there to be overflow from Splendid, especially as the time of a Daisy eruption approaches. Daisy's intervals need to get shorter, back to under 100 minutes, and Daisy's durations need to be about 20 to 30 seconds longer.
Even when not in an active mode there would be isolated eruptions of Splendid, as was the case during between the activity that died down in 1987 and picked back up in 1996. Many of these solo eruptions were the type right after Daisy erupted, and during springtime. There were at least two Memorial Day weekends where I was in the crowd at Grand and we got to see Splendid, too.
In 1997 there was so much going on, with eruptions of Giant, Fan & Mortar, and Splendid, and Grand still being interesting, that I had to prioritize my attention. I never saw Fan & Mortar erupt that year. The last five burst Grand I've seen was from Splendid, about an hour after an eruption, during the 1997 activity. (Mike Keller was there, too.) As it turned out, I was one of the few to concentrate on seeing Splendid, and if my count was accurate, I saw one hundred eruptions that year. Splendid hasn't been seen since, so I made the right decision.
