Category: Activity Report

Another fairly dull day. Three One Burst Grand eruptions and some Sawmill activity was about it.

The last One Burst Grand took place just before midnight. Was the result of a Delay of four Turban eruption intervals. After two Turban intervals, there was a strong Turban eruption which usually indicates that there is going to be another two intervals to wait. So when Turban started, I expected there to be a slow buildup to the Grand eruption. It took about a minute.

Off to Norris and Collapse Crater Spring. Watched it for several hours, and it was consistent the whole time. Eruptions every seven minutes lasting a bit over a minute. The only variation was in the height, with some eruptions as much as three meters above the rim, and some with only a meter or so.

New Crater/Steamboat is going to suddenly erupt without warning, like it does in those years where there are only one or two eruptions. Today was not one of those days. The North vent looked decent, and at one time from Collapse Crater there was a period of about ten minutes when the steam from there picked up considerably. The South vent only once put out any water down the runoff.

Back in the Upper Basin Beehive had not erupted while we were up north. So when the call went out, it was time to head out. After that, it was out to Grand for a Turban Delay of four eruption intervals and a One Burst Eruption.

West Triplet had just finished as we arrived, the water was still visible in the vent and dropping. In the dark we didn't have long to wait for another One Burst Grand eruption that had nothing much to distinguish it.

No reason to go down basin, so off to Grand instead. The walkways were just starting to ice up, and it was hazy from the smoke. The One Burst Grand was somewhere in the large steamcloud we saw. During the eruption Castle started, but we weren't sure when. By the time got over there, it was in steam.

Midday was time for another Grand eruption. This one had two nice bursts. The first burst tried to pause at the eight minute mark, then continued for another 20 seconds. Afterwards I waited a bit at Sawmill, as it was as full as I've seen it this year, but after about 15 minutes, nothing had changed. It still wasn't in eruption as I left from Castle.

From there it was off to Geyser Hill for Beehive. By then it had gotten windy, so the Beehive eruption was sending a curtain of spray all the way to Infant Geyser. Also, the Base Vent bubbler was active for a brief time as the Indicator quit.

Arrived at the sunset Grand as West Triplet was ending an eruption. Sawmill was also in eruption. The group seemed to be fairly full, at least for this year. Slurp was actually quiet, despite the lack of water coming in from a low Crystal.

At some point while waiting for Grand, a bison moved into the Sawmill Group. It bedded down for a while right next to both the boardwalk and Oval Spring. It was so close to the walkway that for once, no one tried to walk past it.

As the bison appeared, Grand had a Turban Delay Interval. Fortunately, it delayed the Grand eruption by only two Turban eruption intervals, so there was still plenty of light to see the eruption. Again, we had a short first burst and a nice second burst.

The bison had moved over into the trees as we left.

Another day of Fan & Mortar not doing much. Day started out cold, but not as overcast, foggy or smoky as previous days. The smoky part changed as the day progressed, as did the windiness.

Rift erupted before, during and after a One Burst Grand Eruption at midday. This was followed by a minor event at Fan & Mortar, which looked promising until it came time for the Frying Pan vents to come on. Then things just quieted down.

Went to another One Burst Grand eruption just before a red sunset. Then a few hours later, got another minor event at Fan & Mortar. The moon was rising red, and cast little to no light. The event itself was similar to the one earlier, in that things deteriorated as the event progressed.

The day started out wet and raining. Fortunately, it quit by the time I wanted to head out. After yesterday's long intervals, Grand had some short intervals overnight, so there had been no need to get up early. Instead, time to waste time at other geysers.

Was riding down toward Grotto when Grotto Fountain started. Circled back, parked the bike in the rack and then heard a loud snap in the Trees. It was a bison right next to the benches, grazing away. It continued to graze, blocking the trail. Eventually it came out on the trail, wandered north and then disappeared into the trees across from Spa. It was gone when Grotto started.

After that, it was time to visit Daisy. By then the wind had picked up, and so it was now overcast, cold, windy and damp. At least Daisy didn't have a long interval.

At Grand there wasn't much of a wait for the One Burst Grand. At first it appeared that Vent and Turban were going to quit, but every ten or fifteen seconds, there was a blip from Turban. Finally, the Turban activity picked up, with Vent roaring. It looked as if there might be an attempt at an afterburst, but nothing visible from Grand.

Instead of hanging around Fan & Mortar, instead I went to Daisy. This time the wind had an effect. For the better part of an hour, Daisy appeared as if it was about five minutes from the start of the eruption. Finally, with the interval approaching three hours, it erupted for a fairly normal 3-1/2 minutes.

Sawmill started as I walked by on my way to Grand. Once again, it was well below overflow and had none of the thumps that an overflow start used to have. The rest of the group was fairly high, at least for current activity, while Belgian and Crystal were down 4-5cm. Slurp was quiet, barely steaming, when normally it would be a noisy fumarole when not being flooded by Crystal.

Grand, once again, didn't make us wait for long, and this time had a nice second burst, with rainbows. It was perhaps the first Grand in fairly good conditions in days.

Did a quick check of East Sentinel. Arrived at a time when it was quiet and well below overflow. In just a few minutes, it was pouring out water and the boiling was strong and superheated.

Of course Fan & Mortar waiting until sunset before finally setting us free by having a weak an event as possible-- a single splash from Main Vent.

Finally got some clear skies at night, and with the moon just past full, so had to go out for Grand. A short wait (with a loud Beehive eruption during it), and we got a nice, wet two burst eruption backlit by the moon. Most of the walkway got wet, and the fogs were already forming.

The morning was cold and foggy, in large part because it had been a clear night. I though of going out for a moonlit Grand eruption, but the cold and haze drove me back indoors.

The wait for the One Burst Grand eruption was less than an hour. It was mostly gray on grey, although Grand did boop well before it started erupting. Sawmill had one of its short eruptions that started just before Grand, and was over as we left.

In the afternoon, ended up waiting for a series of Turban intervals interspersed with rains. Rift was erupting, with all the sputs quiet. Sput D started erupting intermittently about an hour into the wait. I figured we'd see Rift stop erupting during or just before Grand, as has happened several times these past weeks. Instead, it was over an hour from the end of Rift until we got Grand.

The rain was never really heavy, just enough to require full rain gear. The long wait started with a short, heavy Turban eruption. That was followed by a series of shorter than usual (16 to 19 minute range) Turban eruption intervals with an occasional filling of Grand's pool that made it look like it wanted to erupt.

The One Burst Grand we finally got had a nice base surge because the wind died down at the start. Then it went on, like this morning's eruption, for just over twelve minutes.

Woke up just in time to head out for the morning Grand eruption. Arrived in time to see the start of a Turban Delay Interval. That was the entire wait for a One Burst Eruption.

The midday eruption was similar, no Delay interval but a couple of Turban eruption intervals before another One Burst Grand eruption. But this time the rain started as Grand was quitting, so once again had to bicycle back while getting wet.

Went out at sunset for the final eruption of the day. This time it was early, so when there was Turban Delay Interval with a Grand Boop. By then, it was getting dark, although a nearly full moon had already risen. It was also cold and a bit breezy. The delay meant that we had to wait for two more Turban intervals before the eruption. It started suddenly, and Turban started almost immediately afterward. The wind of course died down, so the area to the north, where one would go to see the moon and Grand together, got soaked. Despite the long first burst lasting just over 9-1/2 minutes, we did get a nice second burst.

During today's eruptions it seems that West Triplet would come to overflow, but not eruption. For the last eruption, it was already overflowing heavily before the eruption.

Another wet day where it was better to be elsewhere. Did get back in time to head out for the evening One Burst Grand Eruption. The weather felt more like October than August-- damp and windy. No boops this time. The eruption started with a single, sudden surge from Grand at least 5 meters high, and built from there.

It was a wet, cold day, and there wasn't much reason to go out into it.

I did head over to Geyser Hill during a break in the early afternoon to check on Little Squirt's frying pans. Little Squirt had obviously quit quite a while ago, but the steaming area was about the same as last night.

While out there, I also got to see the start of Castle, and watched it until it went into the steam phase. Also kept an eye on Beehive's Indicator, but it didn't do anything.

Later went out to Grand. At the time there hadn't been a report on the midday eruption. But when I arrived there was a Turban Delay interval, and the electronic time finally got posted. It was a bit early in the interval. While waiting, I heard Beehive erupting, a situation almost identical to last night. Grand erupted two Turban Intervals later, for a One Burst Eruption at almost exactly 10 minutes. West Triplet overflowed during the eruption, but I didn't see an eruption, and it was down by the end.

Since the weather map showed a band of rain coming, I headed out, but as usual, the rains started as I got on my bike at Castle.

The day started with a notification of Beehive's Indicator in eruption. I got no farther than the path from the cabins when Beehive started erupting.

The report from Fan & Mortar was no eruption overnight. At that point, it was time for Grand. Saw Turban from the bike rack, which was fortunate, as Grand started 30 minutes later. It was a Turban initiated, and it took Grand about twenty seconds to get going. Just over ten minutes in there was a significant false pause, then Grand continued for well over another minute.

The webcam operators reported a Bulger eruption during the Grand eruption, but I saw no evidence of any activity. The runoff channel was dry both before and after, while Bulger was having it's low boils every so often. They've been reporting a lot of activity from Bulger that I think did not happen.

With Fan & Mortar not doing much, I went over to Daisy to catch what for this year was a long eruption, lasting well over 3-1/2 minutes. Afterwards, the vents on Splendid started quickly, alternating between the Main Vent and the Side Boiler.

The mid-afternoon Grand wait had something special. I had just got there when there was a call of large Upper Mortar splashing. Left Grand and headed toward Castle, just in case. Since there wasn't a follow up, headed back to wait for Grand. Sawmill was erupting all during this time, and the group was well into a deep drain. About a half hour later, got a radio call of Uncertain in eruption. I was able to capture some video over the crowd. This is the third eruption observed of the year, and I've seen all three, the last two while waiting for Grand.

Grand erupted about an hour later, and never had a delay during this time. It was another One Burst Eruption lasting about 11 minutes.

Towards evening, there was a report of Little Squirt in eruption. I went over about an hour later, to check on the frying pans I'd seen active back in May. Little Squirt was still erupting, but the only hint of activity was some slight steaming from one of the frying pan depressions. It might take a while for them to get going at the strength I'd seen before.

Headed out for the nighttime Grand, finding West Triplet, Percolator and Sput D active. Also arrived for a Turban Delay Interval. Shortly after West Triplet quit, I saw my first Bulger major eruption of this trip, thanks in part to some headlights from the Inn parking lot illuminating the area. Got down there just in time to see the eruption end. It was quite obvious that there had been an eruption, with water still flowing down the runoff channel.

Then there was this strange noise that seemed to be coming from the area of the sputs. Finally realized that what we were hearing was Beehive. Maybe the smoky haze was having an effect on the sound.

Two Turban eruption intervals after the Delay eruption, we got another strong Turban eruption that either goes into a Grand eruption, or results in a further delay. Grand didn't erupt. By then, we were seeing flashes of lightning and hearing thunder getting closer. A check of the radar weather maps showed that the odds were we'd get soaked before Grand erupted, so it was time to go. Got back to the cabin just in time for the heavy rain to start.

Going out after midnight to see the end of a Fan & Mortar event was probably not the most productive use of the time, but it did mean we didn't have to get up at dawn to see what what going on down there.

Throughout the day there were splashes from Upper Mortar during the ending of the cycle when the Mortar Frying Pans start to erupt and put out steam. The ones I saw never much looked like they would result in an eruption.

The mid-day Grand had a short interval and a short duration. At 8m10s, a second burst was a near certainty. The pool even rose up afterwards and for about five second, it looked like a third was possible.

Immediately afterward, as I was approaching the bike rack, there was a call for Beehive's Indicator, so for the first time this trip I watched Beehive from across the river. Probably for the best, as it was windy with shifting directions, so people were scattering from Scissors to Plume. Also because of the wind, it seemed like one of the shorter eruptions that I can remember.

Spent too much time at Fan & Mortar seeing nothing much happen. Went out for Grand at sunset, and caught the start of a Turban Delay interval. That's when another call of something happening at Fan & Mortar came through. Remembering the fiasco early in the trip, I decided I had to abandon Grand. As it turned out, nothing much happened at Fan & Mortar, and Grand erupted on the Delay and had at least two bursts. Oh, well.

Got up before dawn in order to check out Fan & Mortar. It was cold and dreary from the overcast smoke. Turns out that going down there wasn't the wrong thing to do. They had a strong event shortly after dawn, with some decent Upper Mortar activity at the end, but nothing really exciting.

From there, it was time to go to Grand. Castle started as we rounded the curve, the proceeded to go into one of its sloppy, pausing eruptions. It finally went into the major steam phase with one of the pauses well over four minutes.

Grand didn't make us wait, and it had a nice two burst eruption. The sun was red, but it nicely backlit the activity.

As we left Grand, we saw Penta splashing from the Top Vent. It was starting a steam phase eruption that lasted about ten minutes. Just as the activity died down, we got the call for Beehive's Indicator, so it was off to Geyser Hill. There was no wind, so once again it was a tall, impressive eruption. I didn't see any activity from the Base Vent. Also caught a secondary Lion eruption as I was leaving Geyser Hill.

In the afternoon we got another, weaker event down at Fan & Mortar, one that died down fast enough so that we were able to got back to see another two burst Grand eruption.

There was a third Fan & Mortar event in the evening, about the same strength as the previous two. Then at sunset, went out for a One Burst Grand. Rift was in eruption, but as it seems to do quite often, ended sometime during Grand. Sawmill was also in a long eruption during our entire wait.

Since were out for the early nighttime Grand last night, decided to skip the next one. Turned out we might've got out in time as it had a long interval.

Got out to Grand in time to see the Turban eruption that started the Turban Delay Interval. Grand really didn't fill until about 23 minutes. At around the 30 minute mark, we got strong boils on Grand over the next few minutes, then the pool dropped. It was three more Turban intervals before Grand finally erupted, but we were rewarded with a second burst.

With nothing much happening, it was back out to Grand in the evening. Once again, we got a Turban Delay. This time the One Burst Grand eruption only took two Turban eruption intervals.

Other than that, it was a day to do other things.

In the dark last night I noticed some blue flashes under the boardwalks at several locations. It would appear that the research group has never heard of something called "electrical tape" and how it can be used to cover small lights and not make something so obvious. Also, the sensor for Sawmill is located in Scalloped Spring's runoff area, which isn't where I'd put it.

This morning the call for Beehive's Indicator interrupted our breakfast, but fortunately we were able to shove things into the refrigerator and get out in plenty of time. It was a windless morning, and warm, so the water column looked nicely tall. Also, I saw the Base Vent splashing around the time the Indicator quit.

From there it was time to rush out to Grand. Got out there just in time. Had just passed Rift when the water column started to rise. Was also able to see that Turban had yet to start. This One Burst Grand eruption had an interval of less than six hours.

The midday Grand arrived right when Turban started. So I got to get the interval duration for the Turban Delay, over 36 minutes. At around the 30 minute mark, Grand had a couple of strong boops, then proceeded to drop. Fortunately, the Turban Delay was only two short intervals, and we even got a second burst after an initial burst duration of nine minutes. The second burst lasted well over two minutes and was followed by the start of West Triplet.

Headed out for the nighttime Grand and Sawmill started just as we walked by. That was kind of the highlight of the evening, as we didn't light up the One Burst Grand because there were others out there and they weren't using lights either. But the moon will headed toward full, so the best time for nighttime Grand eruptions is starting.

Here's a rule of thumb I use for Grand bursts-- If the first burst is under 8m15s, a second burst is nearly certain. Between 8m15s and 9m00s, a second is likely, but not guaranteed. From 9m00s to 10m00s, a second is possible, but decreasinly unlikely. After ten minutes, start seeing how long it can continue, usually in Big Sawmill mode.

Started out the day with warm morning and a One Burst Grand Eruption. Right afterward, got the call for an event down at Fan & Mortar. Nothing much, but a good sign that it seemed more than the continuous Angle events of a few days earlier. It really did seem like with a little more push from Upper Mortar, we'd have had an eruption.

In the afternoon, arrived to what was probably a Turban Delay interval. If so then we had to wait five more intervals, including an eruption of West Triplet followed by the start of Rift, before we got the One Burst Grand Eruption. Like earlier in the day, we got a call to go down to Fan & Mortar just as Grand ended.

Unlike the earlier activity, this progressed slowly. At one point, when the frying pans and steaming vents near Lower Mortar began, Fan's vents suddenly picked up. High vent was fluctuating, but pretty much erupting continuously. After we'd been there an hour, Upper Mortar started splashing. On the third try, it died down, only to have Fan's East and Main Vents lift up, immediately followed by the two main Mortar vents.

This wasn't a strong eruption, as only a few surges hit the walkway. But it was hot and dry and the wind pushed most of the spray away from the walkway. With an interval at well under three days, this was the second shortest one of the summer, and a nice sign of many more opportunities to see eruptions this month.

Made a quick visit to Geyser Hill to see Giantess and Infant Geysers erupting. Infant was going well over a meter high at times, and seeing a superheated boil in an opaque brown pool is definitely something different. (And it didn't smell offensive, just a bit too sweet.)

Finally went out after sunset for a Grand eruption. It was another one of those 30-plus minute Turban intervals where Turban starts slowly, then gets stronger as the eruption progresses. Finally, after about a minute, Grand started the third One Burst Eruption of the day. It was a short eruption, but at the end of the burst, Vent started blasting away. It was a steam-phase that was perhaps stronger than the one Giantess put on the day before. It took awhile to reload and leave, so I got to hear the quick Vent & Turban restart.

It was a good day to visit Norris. Arrived several hours later than would have if we were expecting a New Crater/Steamboat eruption. There were plenty of spaces, and we didn't bother with the car cover.

Emerald was well below overflow, with what little water going down the runoff coming from the sputs in the trees.

Spent a half hour on the platform. It looked like New Crater/Steamboat had erupted about three days earlier (and not 33) with water just coming back into the system. Were some impressive vertical jets from North Vent, but nothing from the South Vent. The dampness in its runoff channel seemed to be coming from somwhere in the channel, as it was obvious that next to the vent, the channel was dry.

Cistern was just at overflow, with water only coming over parts of the rim.

Watched Crater Spring for a while. Just strong boiling back in the vent area, and some splashing in the side vent. Then it was on around the rest of the Back Basin. Saw frequent activity in Orby, and caught several eruptions of Vixen. Or it could have been just one long eruption with some pauses. After the last eruption, the vent drained, and did not have the gurgling sounds of between previous eruptions.

Back in the Upper Basin just in time for the ending of a recovery event at Fan & Mortar. I was hoping it would go directly into continuous Angle mode, as that seems to be better than seeing Bottom Vent erupt for half an hour.

After a typical One Burst Grand eruption, returned to the cabin to prepare something to eat, only to have to head out to Geyser Hill because Giantess had started. Arrived there just as the thumping was dying down.

After about 20 minutes of the preliminary activity, there was a short pause before water jetting bgan again. For the next couple of hours, this unimpressive activity continued. I decided to walk around the rest of Geyser Hill to see if anything else of interest was triggered. Nothing much, but as I approached Anemone from the north, I noted that Giantess' jetting was becoming more frequent.

It quickly turned into fairly weak, continuous jetting, not much stronger than Castle, and not as loud. It also didn't last very long before there were water jets visible. Probably the worst Giantess eruption I've seen since 1983 when it was having the Aborted type, where the activity quit after a few hours.

Instead of sticking around (the boardwalk was jammed with GeyserGamers and hangers-on and tourons), I decided to see a sunset Grand. The Sawmill Group was fairly high. While Belgian was down several centimeters, and Crystal not overflowing, Slurp was quiet. The first time I've seen that in a while. Spasmodic was maybe 30cm below overflow, and water was easily visible in Sawmill. Sawmill started about 15 minutes later.

Right at sunset, Grand was in the middle of a Turban Delay when it booped a couple of times. It took several minutes before Turban started, and by that time the sun was completely set. I turned away, only to be surprised 1-1/2 minutes into Turban to have Grand start. Like the afternoon, it was otherwise a typical One Burst Grand.