Category: Videos

As we waited for a potential Steamboat eruption, I noticed what appeared to be a vent well to the right of the South Vent, one that steamed heavily at times, especially on Sunday. It's also to the right of the opening Bill Pulliam called the South Vent Drain, whose action was obvious during the splashing of South Vent. I didn't remember seeing anything like that before at that location. The geometry of the formations around the South Vent and the Drain appear to have changed in the last 38 years, so it may just be something that's been exposed by all the erosion over the years.

Back home, a quick review of Paul Strasser's videos from the early 80s didn't show it, either. But the video of the 1991 Oct 02 eruption does show brownish steam coming out with some force to the right of the South Vent. But this could also be an illusion like the way the North Vent also has a "middle vent" during the eruption. This past weekend was my first visit to Norris this century, so I have no idea how long it may have been there, or when it appeared. More info about it would be appreciated.

In any case, during the eruption, as the video shows, there does appear to be water sloshing out of this "far south" or "antartic vent". The video also shows the vent steaming on Saturday. I didn't take much video on during the wait Sunday. Which is unfortunate as later in the day I was thinking that the steaming was heavier that the day before. It would have been nice to compare video on the two days. It's also possible that this vent is an illusion. Where the steam from the South Vent Drain hugs the wall of the crater, so that it appears to be coming from a vent. I believe that might be an example of the "Coanda Effect", which can be observed in the steam that rolls down Beehive's cone.

During the eruption I thought at times I saw the vent slosh up to maybe 25cm or so, appearing much like an eruption of Turtle Geyser during an eruption of Giant. I couldn't find anything like that, however, on the video I took of the water phase. (Maybe it was in the 23 second gap?)

So it may just be some Guru Geyser Gazing, then again maybe this vent needs a closer watch, something I'm not going to be able to do for a while. And maybe someone need to volunteer to see if there is a vent there...

Update : 2018 May 31 I thought the 1991 eruption video was available, but it appears to have been taken down from YouTube at some point. The only link I could find goes to a dead YouTube page that doesn't explain anything.

I've updated the New Crater/Steamboat video to add a short clip of a superburst recorded in 1984.

Otherwise, I've run out of videos to upload for now. There's a lot more raw material, but I need to spend some selecting and editing and producing the best parts. But it's time to start watching geysers in person. Maybe later this summer a few more items of interest will appear here.

On 2000 June 30, the NPS closed the Firehole Lake Drive because a large hole had developed on one of those wooden culverts south of Firehole Lake. That was a Friday, and with the upcoming holiday weekend, it meant that the road crews wouldn't be available to fix the problem until at least Jul 05.

I heard about the problem late that day, from some geyser gazers who were incensed that they wouldn't be able to get to Great Fountain for days. That night I realized that the situation was exactly opposite. The Firehole Lake Drive was now a backcountry area with a paved bike path through it. At dawn, well before it was time to head back out to Grand, I loaded up my bike and drove to the junction with the Loop road, and parked at the closed gate. No other vehicle was there.

It turned out it wasn't even close to time for an eruption of Great Fountain, but I had the area to myself. My next visit was on Jul 02. By then, a few people had figured the situation out, but as this video shows, it wasn't many.

I made one more visit on Jul 04, and the road was repaired and reopened the next day.

The New Crater Geyser also has a second official name: "Steamboat Geyser". I prefer the first name officially given to it in 1930. It's so much more descriptive and bureaucratic.

Update: 2018 May 30 Added a 1984 superburst, and appearance two days after the 1983 May 24 eruption.