Category: Activity Report

The Grotto that started the night before didn't last, so when I came out for the middle of the night Grand, nothing much was happening down there. Giant's platform looked like there hadn't been an event in hours. Thanks to Grand having a 9 hour interval, I got to see the platform again, when it looked unchanged just before a short, weak hot period. But then Grotto started, and it became apparant that this was going to be the hoped for marathon.

Morning's Thief 27 Jun 2007

The marathon meant that it was possible to be elsewhere, and I was able to fulfill other obligations, as the photo shows. I'm told that while I was gone, Beehive had an eruption that was actually preceded by the Indicator. That evening, thirteen hours after the start, Grotto was still erupting.

Other Geyser Times

• Grotto Fountain 06:33
• Grotto 06:44
• Giant hot periods
  • 06:27 d=1m57s
  • 07:35 d=4m21s
  • 08:40 d=1m40s

The marathon quit shortly after sunrise, setting things up for an afternoon of Giant. A short afternoon, as the hot period took place at 12:44. It was disappointing because it didn't last long (about 9 minutes) and did not feature much in the way of Mastiff activity. And then the hourly hot periods resumed with a Mastiff bathtub.

That activity continued, with the last daylight hot period actually the best of the day, and in some ways better than the recovery hot period. Grotto also started only about a half hour earlier, so it was hoped that it was a new marathon starting, and this all meant everyone could get a good night's rest.

Grand finally almost cooperated by erupting just before sunset, with the light disappearing late in the eruption. There was a particularly intense rainbow coming straight out of Vent when you stood in the right location. It would cooperated better if it had had a second burst.

Other Geyser Times

• Grotto 19:48
• Giant hot periods
  • 12:44 d≈9m
  • 14:04 bathtub
  • 16:14 d=2m00s
  • 17:27 d≈6m
  • 18:57 d=2m
  • 20:14 d=7m15s

Turns out it was a mistake. Spent a whole night, and the next day, seeing weak hot periods and short Grotto eruptions. Grotto finally went into a marathon at 14:35, and Giant had the big hot period we'd been expecting for 36 hours shortly after that. The first six minutes of it seemed fairly ordinary, the only distinguishing feature being a number of previously quiet vents were active. Then, several minutes after Feather had quit, it restarted and Giant started massive surging. So much so that observers there insisted Giant was about to start. Unfortunately, it didn't, and now we wait out the marathon.

Grand seems to like having short intervals during the evening, night and early mornings, reserving the longer intervals for mid day when the crowds are the largest. The morning eruption was right at the time when the sun was appearing over the trees, so that only the tops of the jets, and the mass of the second burst were illuminated.

Other Geyser Times

• Grotto 00:42 d≈2h15m, 09:00 d≈1h15m, 14:39
• Grotto Fountain 08:57, 14:35
• Giant hot periods
  • 00:16 d=4m37s
  • 01:17 d=2m08s
  • 02:27 d=4m32s
  • 03:58 bathtub
  • 05:02 bathtub
  • 06:08 bathtub
  • 07:15 bathtub
  • 08:10 bathtub
  • 09:05
  • 10:04
  • 10:56 bathtub
  • 11:57 4m53s
  • 12:51 bathtub
  • 14:02 d=1m55s
  • 15:11
  • 15:57 d=2m22s
  • 17:02 bathtub
  • 18:02 d=5m55s + restart

Another pretty dull day, with lots of weak Giant hot periods and waiting for Grotto to do something. But as the day progressed, the amount of surging in Giant and Mastiff got stronger. Made it easy to believe that something might happen, and soon.

Other Geyser Times

24 June 2007

• Grotto Fountain 10:44, 18:44ie
• Grotto 10:48, 18:44ie
• Giant hot periods
  • 11:30
  • 12:24 d=1m44s
  • 13:32 d=3m46s
  • 14:22
  • 15:28 d=4m40s
  • 16:17 bathtub
  • 17:13 d=2m27s
  • 18:18 d=5m20s
  • 19:10 d≈2m
  • 20:12 d=2m46s
  • 21:11 d=4m19s
  • 22:08 bathtub
  • 23:17

Grotto at sunset

23 Jun 2007

Grotto went into a marathon eruption. Start time was almost certainly the eruption the previous night, as it was erupting when I was out at Grand after midnight. Well into the eruption Grotto had the first observed Rocket major eruption that I have heard of for this year, at 12:48. Lasted only a couple of minutes, and a strange time for it. But the marathon ended shortly thereafter.

This set the recovery hot period in the early nighttime hours. The duration was a bit disappointingly short, but an indication that at least we don't need to worry too much about any eruption taking place on Sunday.

Fan & Mortar continued their usual chaotic behavior with flashes of " hot periods" which sucked in a new set of the newly arrived who someone get the idea that the very first cycle they see is the one that's going to initiate an eruption. Despite being the same as what everyone else has been seeing for weeks.

Beehive broke out of its window, with a late evening eruption. Again, it appears that there was no indicator. Beehive surged a couple of times and then took off.

Other Geyser Times

• Giant hot period 22:30 d=5m37s

Been a dull series of days, with little to report, other than Beehive had yet another Beehive eruption with not just no indicator, but no warning. Someone whose voice I don't recognize was at Lion for the start, and because she was facing away, was caught by surprise.

And yes, below is another Grotto Fountain that didn't result in the start of Grotto.

Other Geyser Times

22 June 2007

• Grotto Fountain 15:40, 17:12
• Grotto 17:22
• Uncertain 16:46

Giant signs 20 Jun 2007

Agsin, post-Giant there's not a lot to report. Yesterday I did forget to include the photo of the signs' resting place.

I did see a new bit of touron weirdness on my way to Grand: an orange car (I don't even bother keeping up with the models and makes any more) that was practially in the old plaza area between the old VC's theaters. It seems someone thought the walkway leading from the road across from the old Photo Shop was a road. It was headed by the time I got near enough to get a better view. No camera on me at the time, either.

Grand itself was another short interval. The best feature of that was that it put the next eruption squarely in the dark to dawn time frame, and that was more than enough excuse to use the night to catch up on sleep instead. (And the rain showers I heard at 02:00 helped, too.)

The day started out as expected: Grotto still erupting along with a several hour wait at Grand. But just before the Grand eruption, I noticed that the steam cloud at Grotto had suddenly ceased. Scott Bryan confirmed that Grotto was off, giving us a fourteen hour duration, and a Giant window opening sometime in early afternoon.

The rest of the morning was spent in trying to catch up on a little of the sleep I hadn't gotten the last few nights. Then it was out into the basin to see what would happen next. I figured the Bijou Cage was near capacity, so no reason not to wait at Grand, even though it was well before time for an eruption. One indication of just how full the cage probably was was when I saw an eruptions of Aurum and that weren't announced on the radio about an hour earlier. On the way out, ran into Lynn Stephens at Castle.

Since I was in time killing mode, we were talking there for quite a bit when Lynn suddenly goes, "Beehive!" Sure enough, there it was, climbing to full height, and once again without an indicator. You could almost tell by the radio reaction that there were a lot of people who once again were thinking of how they'd heard of another Beehive eruption while at Giant.

Beehive was nearing the end when Scott announced the rise in water in Mastiff. Now this was a bit of a disappointment, as we were only a little over six hours since Grotto quit, and the last time there was a quick hot period/recovery, it lead to a weak hot period and nothing much. But not this time. Lynn and I both got on the bikes and headed down that way. Within two minutes, at 14:01, the hot period had started with several vents starting. By the time I was in sight of the platform it was apparent that Mastiff was in charge, with nice boiling visible even at a distance.

Mastiff Geyser 2007 Jun 20 14:10

I'd decided that for this eruption, I was going to try to get a height measurement at the start of the eruption, and for that I had to walk past the platform and on south to the markers. I got into position at the 200ft markers just about the time Scott announced four minutes and Mastiff going flat but overflowing. This was normal, but the key was for Mastiff to come back, quickly and even stronger, which it did. I also noticed that at the 200ft mark, Mastiff was obscured by Giant's back shoulder, so quickly retreated to the 300ft marker instead. By 14:10, Mastiff was obviously in eruption.

Giant Geyser 2007 Jun 20 14:12 Start Sequence

After two consecutive nighttime eruptions, and two more under less than ideal conditions
(although 31 May was more than acceptable), it was wonderful to be perfectly positioned to see a start on a warm afternoon. I quickly took the sequence of photos here, then used my clinometer to get a reading on the height. I was disappointed to get only 60%, which comes to 180ft. But as the photo sequence shows, this just didn't seem like a huge, high start.

(My camera is an ancient, ten-year old Kodak DC-50 first generation digital camera. It takes up to 7 seconds to process and store an image, so that sequence is at least 30 seconds long.)

I noticed that the northern corner of the cage got soaked nicely, and took pictures of the resting places for the marker signs. After that, it was enjoy the spectacle time.

Shortly after the start it was announced that Castle was erupting, as if anybody cared. I assume by an NPS naturalist on rove, as unless they were lucky enough to be stuck in an NPS staff meeting, every gazer seemed to be at their chosen spot in sight of Giant.

Grand kept up the tradition of being difficult in erupting after Giant. The two nighttime eruptions of Giant I saw featured Grand erupting within ten minutes or so (at least from the steam clouds I saw.) For this one, like the early morning eruption in May, Grand erupted while I was tying down my bike at Castle, denying me the enjoyment of waiting for Grand while watching the waning Giant activity.

Now the pressure is really on. I figure I've got one more chance at a Giant eruption, next week before I leave, and can't leave with a five out of six record.

The morning hot periods were a bit disappointing. I was expeciting a bit of a wait, and the first one occurred within minutes of my getting settled in. Doing the math, I realized there was no reason to go back in, as Grand would be due in a few hours more, and besides, the next hot period might be the real one.

As it turned out, I went to Grand, and caught a Penta eruption, too. The geyser fog was as good or even better than I remembered it. I really enjoy it when it's so thick and patchy that you get situtations like you can't see Sawmill group from Grand, but Beauty and Chromatic to the north are easily visible by their immense steam columns.

Back at Giant, things got progressively weaker, so that as noon approached, it appeared as if the platform was in a post-marathon phase. Both Scott Bryan and I noticed and commented on this at about the same time, how it reminded us of what things looked like last week. But this time, just as everyone was about to abandon the Bijou Cage, water rose in Mastiff and we got a fairly good (but not great) hot period.

So the rest of the day was a series of disappointments, at it just seemed that Giant did not want to erupt, and was using the hot periods to make that clear. Then we got a Grotto start which turned into yet another marathon, about the fourth for this interval. Ultimately, a less than satisfying day.

At sunset, we did get the first bug-hatching of the season. The Firehole River by the Castle-Sawmill bridge was thick with all sorts of insects, and the trout seemed to be actively feeding too. Over at Grand, the mosquitoes were not quite thick enough to be annoying, but it is definitely time to find that bug juice.

Other Geyser Times

19 Jun 2007

• Grotto Fountain 06:39, 17:36
• Grotto 06:56, 17:44
• Giant hot periods
  • 03:55 d≈4m
  • 05:20 d=5m20s
  • 06:25 d≈2m30s
  • 07:51 d=6m48s
  • 09:14 bathtub
  • 11:47 d=6m55s
  • 15:33 d=3m47s
  • 16:40 d≈7m
  • 17:35 d≈2m
  • 18:43 bathtub
  • 19:46 d=2m02s
  • 20:49 bathtub

It's amazing to think that I can be awakened by Kitt Barger saying "Water rising in Mastiff" and be fully dressed and equipped and biking past the Inn when the hot period ends about 6 minutes later. (More on this hot period under "Stupid Geyser Groupie Tricks")

Turns out we had another short marathon, with Grotto starting before 05:00 and ending around 20:30. So now have a busy, " hurry up and wait for Giant" day ahead.

The middle of the night Grand was uneventful, but the morning one went and erupted when I've said it shouldn't: with both West Triplet and Rift both in eruption. Oh, well.

The other middle of the night eruption, just before midnight, delayed just long enough to not only miss out on a four Grand day, but erupted about ten minutes after the crescent moon set.

One of the examples of who atrocious yesterday was that I forgot to mention was that when Daisy erupted, the steam cloud was horizontal all the way to Oblong.

Other Geyser Times

18 Jun 2007

• Giant hot periods
  • 05:24 d≈5m30s

Stupid Geyser Groupie Tricks

During this morning's Giant hot period radio wake-up call, one of the usual annoyances, Mr. Radio-Voice-Of-The-Upper-Geyser-Basin, had to interrupt to first inform everyone that he was arriving at Daisy (I assume he meant at Black Sand by car as he has been staying at West Yellowstone), then asking if Castle was erupting. Some people just can't seem to shut up and listen.

And nothing to do with geysers

In the Lodge cabin area, the ravens have figured out that on the housekeeping carts, there are goodies in the form of bags of trash. When housekeeping takes their lunch breaks, they leave the carts, and the ravens move in, ripping them open for the goodies inside. On windy days, this also means that trash gets scattered everywhere. I would assume that eventually housekeeping will figure out that they need to put the trash in the "bear-proof" dumpsters, especially if they have to keep cleaning up enough times. But in this particular "intellectual arms-race", I would bet that currently the ravens have the upper hand.

There was nothing unusual or out of the ordinary about the middle of the night Grand eruption, other than it had two bursts, which I think was a first for my nighttimes, and it seemed like the wind picked up about the time of the eruption. By the time of the next eruption, it was an ugly, windy day that threatened to turn atrocious.. While we had to endure an endless wind mixed with sleet and rain, Grand did pick a time when things were a bit nicer to give us the usual one burst.

The afternoon wasn't so fortunate, as atrocious moved in and stayed. The wait for the afternoon Grand was miserable, not because of percipitation, but the winds that kept shifting directions. Things finally calmed down by sunset, when reasons for being out and about were few.

Grotto started sometime during the night, and by that time it appeared to be headed to a marathon. But around 11:30, it shut off. So instead of the full Giant-free day, it shaped up to be trying to have another event about 24 hours after the big attempt last night. Except the event seemed to come early. At 16:07, after only 4-1/2 hours,we got an 8m25s hot period which seemed to not really want to initiate an eruption.

Other Geyser Times

17 June 2007

• Giant Hot Periods
  • 16:07 d=8m25s
  • 18:57 d=3m16s
  • 20:49 d=4m55s>/li>

Grotto continued through the night. I was pretty sure it was still active for the middle of the night Grand, and the way the Amfac louts illuminated it seemed to confirm that. It was seen to send around 06:15, meaning that it had been erupting for at least 25 hours.

In the dark of the night, one can't observe Grand's pools or much of anything that's going on. Instead, one must rely on hearing. One thing that I've noticed is how many of the Turban eruptions on which Grand starts sound decidedly different. More vigorous, noisier and not as slow starting as other Turban eruptions. This applies even to those eruptions where there's a considerable lag time between Turban's start and Grand's. I would supposed this isn't as noticeable during the day because of all the background noise, but if you listen for it, you'll hear it.

The morning Grand gave us the last three burst eruption Grand will ever have (the last was back in May.) Instead of quitting, Vent and Turban continued, but there was no attempt by Grand to have afterplay until much to late for a fourth burst.

Giant Hot Period 16 Jun 2007

So the afternoon and early evening were spent at Giant, to see what the post-marathon hot period would be like. There were about a dozen people in the monkey cage, and late in the evening we had to endure a series of small showers and hailstorms. But Giant cooperated and the hot period took place after the weather had passed.

This hot period seemed a daylight version of the one I saw earlier this week in the middle of the night, 24 hours before the actual eruption. It lasted even longer, 16m50s, and the late surging from Giant seemed even stronger. (My photos didn't capture any of the big surges.) But like then, things just sort of died down. Now the hope is that it'll take Giant about eighteen to twenty-four hours to try again, and get out of this nighttime eruption mode.

Thanks to the person who made a donation. Much appreciated, including the fact that I know now that that button really works! But when I saw the confirmation email, I almost tossed it because I thought it was another one of those scams to try and get my passwords.

Other Geyser Times

16 June 2007

• Giant hot period 19:26 d=16m50s

Oblong, Grotto and Riverside, 15 Jun 2007

Another night to get some sleep, but this time Grand decides to toss in a long interval, so when I get out there, I get to see first overflow. And, of course, Grand lets West Triplet have the first eruption opportunity so it can use the second eruption window.

The late day Grand seemed to be determined to ignore my recipe for when eruptions occur. Not only was it between the two windows, but Rift was still erupting. Not sure why I try any more.

Grotto, meanwhile, was in eruption when I first saw it in the morning, and was still erupting 5-1/2 hours later. It was still going when the late day Grand had finished, 12 hours after I'd first observed it. Might try to catch the post-marathon Giant event, if it's in daylight, just to see my Guru Geyser Gazing proven wrong.

So to catch up on sleep, I decide to skip the overnight Grand. I figure a 13 hour double interval is more than enough time, and besides, in the morning, it gives me time to get a Lower Ham's breakfast before the inevitable three hour wait. So I'm sitting at the counter, and my order is about to arrive, and I hear that the monitor shows that Grand has an interval just a bit over 6 hours. Which means right now I'm pushing 7, which is just too long for comfort.

Fortunately, Grand cooperated and let me finish my breakfast and get out there. We had a less than eight minute first burst, but yet another long second burst, but this one was so weak that calling the activity "Big Sawmill" was to exaggerate. More like "Big Tardy".

The afternoon Grand also had a long second burst. It's starting to be a trend, and a good one. While they used to be considered bad, because all that power and activity could have been used in a third or fourth burst, these seem to be acting as an alternative to a single burst eruption.

Penta Steam Phase

14 Jun 2007

In the Sawmill Group a deep drain resulting in several Penta steam phase eruptions, one so wet it resembled a true, major eruption. This was accompanied by bursting from Oval up to 5 ft above the rim, and a clogged 6th Vent trying to join in on the fun.

Paul Strasser has pointed out that Mastiff function eruptions seem to be associated with Grotto marathons, while Giant only starts are during that time from the first pos-marathon Grotto until the next marathon. The four eruptions I've seen this trip do follow that pattern. (And like all geysers, there are known exceptions to the pattern.) But this is something to keep in mind while watching hot periods in the prime Giant window. If Mastiff is not surging in the post-marathon ones, or Mastiff is surging heavily between marathons, that might be a sign you aren't going to see an eruption. This bit of Guru Geyser Gazing is sure to be proved wrong in a few days. Then again, this is probably well known.

And nothing to do with geysers

That railing and concrete walkway in front of the Lodge may have been there for years, but it's new to me. I've found that navigating it on a bike can be a bit tricky when the crowds gather to see Old Faithful. The gravel is at least a half inch below the concrete, and it slopes downward, toward the building. I've come close to several spill thanks to inattentive tourons .

So today I had my first dive. All my own fault, No one anywhere in sight, not even a Nelson Muntz to laugh at my misfortune. I just mis-navigated the turn onto it from the cabin area and went off the edge and dropped to the side. Would have been fine, just a little scraped up, except that railing is solid, and got in the way of my chest. Which still hurts. I may have to sue Xanterra and the NPS for pain and mental anguish from this.

After the morning, you really expect there to be a lot here? Once daylight arrived, it was a dull day, useful to catch up on things like eating and sleeping and getting cleaned up.

Other Geyser Times

13 Jun 2007

• Grotto 15:07
• Rift 17:36ie

And nothing to do with geysers

The maintenance crews were out in the basin today, painting the old wooden benches from Grand to Grotto. We joked about how, despite the barriers and streamers and "Wet Paint" signs, there would be people coming up to touch it. On my way back from Grand, I noticed they'd also painted the railing between the Inn and Old Faithful along the bike trail. And sure enough, there were two older women at one, sampling the paint.

I guess I've been away from industrial tourism too long, because I just do not understand the infatuation with striking a stupid pose in front of a geyser or bison or some other piece of scenery. Used to be cameras just made photographers stupid, the new phone-cameras must make emit some sort of signal affecting the subjects, too.

I try to write up a day's posting at the end, even though it may not get posting until midday the next day. I also then not change it even if subsequent events make some of my speculations or information out of date.

So as I'm trudging over the bridge and up the slope to Sawmill, I decide to take my own guru geyser gazing advice from the previous posting. If Grand appears that it's in for a long, then go check on Giant and Grotto. Usually it seems I end up waiting for Grand for hours, then go down and check Grotto. If I go there now, I can head in right after the eruption and the three hour wait preceding it.

So I get to Grand, and Percolator is quiet, West Triplet is empty. Turban starts almost immediately. I know from past experience that I can do the round trip to Grotto in just about one Turban interval, so at worst, I get to see a Grand start from Economic or Chromatic. Besides, the steam down there looks odd. I've been fooled in the past by Grotto, so even though I think it's on, I can't be be sure. Plus I need to go down and see if Giant has erupted already, as if it has,it makes a difference in my plans for what to do for the next Grand. Off I go.

I cross the bridge at Oblong, and by then am sure that Grotto is erupting. But is it a new eruption, or a marathon? Gotta get closer. At this point I vaguely notice that the Giant platform seems awfully steamy, too, just as Giant takes off. (At 02:16) Now that's a cheap thrill and an instant wake-up call.

It turns out I was perhaps in the best position to see the start, with what little breeze was blowing toward the platform. I couldn't see anything out there until minutes later. The platform itself was soaked in a torrential rainfall, quite impressive considering how close the source, but even the main walkway was in the rain. So I can't claim to have really "seen" the start, only experienced it. I do know my outer jacket got soaked by the time I was done.

Grotto was erupting, but it quit about a half hour later. And the Variable Pool showed no drop in water level. So no marathon, just a short Grotto interval. Based on the times, it would appear the hot period started as I was still at Grand, and there was no Mastiff function, as the amount of steam and noise coming from Giant before the start wasn't great enough. (I wasn't that out of it to not notice that much commotion.)

Eventually the steam and wind started cooperating, so I could MagLite the watercolumn from various locations. It was okay, but nothing like daylight. But I must admit, just being there and hearing all the noise was worth the experience. (And the selfishness of knowing that no one else was out there made a difference, too.)

No nighttime in the Upper Basin is complete without its little bizarre moment, and this night had one. I can't claim to have been the only person to have seen Giant, only that I was the only person who cared. Because about 45 minutes into the eruption, I noticed a light that seemed to be well north of Grotto. Now I'd been illuminating Giant off and on all eruption, so expected that I'd attracted attention. But that was an odd place, as how did they get there? I could hear voices, so there must have been at least two people. The light moved on south, passed on by Grotto, and kept going up the trail. Now Giant was still putting out a lot of steam and noise, but the light never seemed to take notice of all the commotion but once. I was relieved, as the last thing I wanted to deal with at that time was a bunch of drunken insomniac Amfac louts.

I guess I should say that I'm a little disappointed that I didn't get my wish of seeing a start from Grand, as this would have been the perfect opportunity. Perhaps, but I'd much rather see it in daylight, and this way I didn't have to make a mad dash down basin. Maybe next time.

So what about the guru geyser gazing that got me down there? Grand erupted on the next Turban. I think I'm going to amend my formula to say that Percolator is not quite so important, as that was what made me decide in the first place. I did catch the very end of a West Triplet eruption on my way back, which was obviously triggered by Grand's eruption.

Think this afternoon I'll visit Geyser Hill for the first time and see if I can get Beehive up close.

Update 14:00

Giant Signs 13 Jun 2007

Went out in the morning and took some photos of the sign locations. Also, the walkway was still wet, especially back in the trees between Grotto and Giant, where it wasn't ice.

And I wonder if the illlumination of these past two eruptions appeared on the webcam, or are MagLites just not that bright?