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Turns out that Fan & Mortar erupted shortly after sunset yesterday. By this morning, they had recovered and looking like they were having Events (Main vent splashing, etc.). But the water on the boardwalk and the splash zone flowing into Backwater and the full catch basins pretty much confirmed what had happened.

So it was on to Grand, where we arrived just in time for a Turban Delay Interval. The only remarkable thing about the followup was that it took only four Turban Intervals before we got the One Burst Grand. Three or five is much more common, but the buildup to the eruption was obvious minutes before.

Just couldn't stay away, so back out at Grand well after midnight. Less than an hour's wait for the One Burst Grand eruption, which started with a nice explosive start by Grand. Since the moonlight was still bright, didn't illuminate the eruption and get the start times for Turban and Vent. Did brave the rain to the north to make sure that Vent did start at around the four minute mark.

With all the relatively short intervals since the last Rift eruption, came back out in the morning with an expectation of a short wait. That didn't happen. Instead had to wait nearly three hours for the One Burst Grand eruption. No Turban Delay intervals, just Grand never showing any signs of trying to erupt until the the final interval.

Right after Grand ended, Oblong erupted, which seems all too common lately.

During the wait, the water level in Belgian rose from being well below the second lobe (down maybe 10 cm) to having standing water in the lobe. Also toward the end of the wait for Grand, a small amount of sizzling was visible in Sputnik during the eruptions of Sput D. The intervals for Sput D's eruptions varied from 10 to 25 minutes, and I don't think I missed any, and there didn't seem to be any pattern to them.

Right after Grand, before we could untie our bicycles, Castle started erupting. This turned into a long minor eruption, over ten minutes long, with lots of pauses during the last three minutes.

It was a nice wait before sunset. Once again Grand did not have any Turban Delay Intervals, but two Turban eruptions before Grand erupted, there was a short, powerful Turban eruption, followed by a short Turban interval. It's almost as if there was some sort of delay going on.

The eruption started with a series of boops. It ended at 8m42s, and finally had a huge second burst. Following that the pool drained with no attempt at another burst, despite the duration only being just over ten minutes. And then Vent and Turban continued to erupt.

Belgian Pool was quite high by then, and it sounded like Crystal had even managed to drown Slurp a little. West Triplet also overflowed heavily after the Grand eruption, but no attempt at bursting or erupting.

When saw that Rift was erupting, decided to get some more sleep. So surprised to learn that Grand erupted as Rift ended. Did come out for the first overflow, which at 4h20m, seems longer than non-Rift first overflows by about a half hour. Also, that Turban interval was essentially a Turban Delay Interval, as it was over 30 minutes long. When I arrived Crystal and Belgian were still at a high level, with water in Belgian's lobe, but when left an hour later, Belgian was now down about 1cm below the lobe level.

Just after first overflow from Grand, Bulger started a major eruption. Within a minute, Bulger's Hole was full and starting to erupt. The eruption lasted about 40 seconds, and Bulger had a short 6-1/2 minute eruption itself. Also noticed that Sput D/Delta was having occasional steamy burst as if it was trying to erupt, but didn't have any water.

Coming back out for the Grand eruption, Belgian and Crystal had dropped even further. In quick succession we saw Grotto Fountain, Grotto, Oblong and Daisy. It was a bit of a pleasant surprise for Grand to erupt about a half hour later on only a seven hours interval. After the first burst ended, water sloshed around in Grand's vent for about a minute before finally draining.

Came out at sunset for another Grand eruption, expecting to see it in the dark. Right after sunset we saw a coyote run across the rocks at the top of the slope trying unsuccessfully to harvest a marmot. It hung around for a while, but eventually gave up and headed north.

By then it was apparent that we were having a Turban Delay Interval. At 28 minutes, Grand had several boops, but the pool stayed high. Two minutes later it booped again and then started an easily visible One Burst Eruption. Around 9m45s there was a false pause, and eruption continued for another 1-1/2 minutes.

Just before the false pause Castle started its eruption. And for once, it wasn't a minor.

When I checked, it seemed like the sky was clear and the moon bright. But by the time we gout out to Grand, it was fogging up, and calm. The steam for the two Turban eruption intervals we had to wait kept changing direction, so hard to tell where to go when the eruption started. It rained at the north end, so the walkway by West Triplet it was. Turned out to be a nice view from there, and we even got a second burst. By that time, the fog was thick, with Geyser Hill invisible from Crested Pool.

As we rode past the Inn, Old Faithful had a large pre-play surge. We stopped, and then the eruption proper began. At 03:00, it can be an impressively loud geyser, even from our vantage point between the benches and the bike path. It was also not foggy there, as the fog was drifting down basin.

By the time for the next Grand eruption, the fog had burned and been blown away, although it was still cool and damp and the sky was overcast. This time only had to wait for one Turban eruption interval before we got the One Burst Grand eruption.

For the third Grand eruption of the day, the wait was even shorter. Arrived well before six hours since the previous Grand eruption, and two minutes short of six hours, Grand had a series of large boops that started the eruption proper. In the middle of the afternoon, the benches were practically empty.

After that, spent an hour and a half at Fan & Mortar. It was having cycles similar to what I had seen a few days before the eruption. While Angle was mostly on, the rest of the vents would start and stop with discrete pauses between the activity. During that pause time, I noted that the noise from Upper Mortar would increase, and Bottom Vent would have occasional splashes.

After sunset, headed out for one more Grand for the day. The water level in Belgian Pool and Crystal Spring
remained high all day, with water well into the lobe at Belgian, and Slurp being drowned by a trickle of water from Crystal.

Did not get a Turban Delay interval, but still Grand waited until half hour before midnight to erupt. The sky was light behind the One Burst Eruption, but the moon was still well behind the ridge. Sort of the reverse timing of Grand waiting until just after sunset to erupt. But we did get to see a total of five bursts over four eruptions today.

Decided today was a good day to visit some backcountry geysers.

After yesterday's storms, it was damp, cool, gray and foggy. Left from Fountain Paint Pots parking lot at 09:00, and arrived at Great Fountain by 09:20. The pool was high, but yet at overflow. So went back to Pink Cone, where we spent 45 minutes eating breakfast and seeing nothing happen. Returned from there back to Great Fountain.

We found it had just started to overflow. There was steam coming from the pool outside the crater, but no overflow off the inner terrace. As we waited, the fog finally cleared, revealing blue sky, but there was also no wind, which made it hard to determine which place might be the best place to see the eruption start. Also during the wait, saw five eruptions of White Dome.

After at least 72 minutes of overflow, Great Fountain went from big boil directly into erupting. It wasn't a great start, and the second burst wasn't all that good, either. But the third burst started with several surges that put water over the edges of the terraces.

It was after the first burst that the only other people we saw passed by. A couple of people more interested in bicycling, as they didn't stick around for the eruption after a couple of minutes.

We left after the third burst to go to White Dome. After having frequent eruptions during the wait, it was over a half hour later and no sign of an eruption. During that time, Great Fountain had its fourth and fifth burst, and both of them had surges that looked nicely large from our vantage point.

During the wait at White Dome, we did see an eruption of what might be WDG-1. But it only lasted two minutes.

After finally giving up on White Dome, we then saw Pink Cone in eruption. Not sure how long it had been erupting, but an hour later it was still having strong resurgences every time it looked like it was ending.

Late in the eruption we saw an eruption of Bead, and just before leaving, Narcissus and then Pink erupted.

Got back to the Upper Basin to find that Beehive hadn't erupted as expected. So pleasant surprise to hear the radio call about the Indicator. It was a short Indicator, and arrived just as Beehive started.

Later it was time to go to Grand. Got there on what looked to be a Turban Delay Interval, and the lack of overflow from Grand before the next Turban eruption tended to confirm that. If Grand had erupted on the second or third Turban eruptions after the Delay, we'd have been able to come back inside before the rains started. As it was, we got wet, and had to wait until the eighth Turban eruption before Grand finally had the One Burst Eruption. This took place just after the sun disappeared behind the ridge, so between the steam from the humidity and the lack of sunlight, it wasn't particularly good looking eruption.

And then, as we were leaving, Oblong had an eruption.

Spent over and hour at Fan & Mortar. Unlike sits last week, there was not real pattern to the activity, with River, Gold and High turning off and on, and Angle sputtering away the whole time. Not surprising, but was hoping maybe Angle would quiet down a bit.

At Grand, arrived in time for a Turban Delay Interval with multiple Grand boops. Then a series of eight more Turban intervals before we got the One Burst Eruption. The wait was hot and humid and windless. The clouds were building with occasional thunder, but it seemed they never provided much shade.

Kept expecting the rains to start during the wait at Grand, but it was actually over an hour later. They lasted into the night, and I decided to let someone else enjoy a One Burst Grand in the dark.

After midnight there was high thin cloudiness with occasional thicker clouds. Most of the time the area was brightly lit, even when the moon went behind a cloud. Got out to the Grand area for a twenty-five minute wait for a Turban eruption, so we definitely had to wait through a Turban Delay. But we only had to wait through two Turban eruption intervals for the One Burst Grand Eruption.

About an hour later, Fan & Mortar had the first eruption in several months. Before going to Grand for the early morning eruption, I went down basin to check things out. There was definite wash zone beyond the walkway with runoff into the Backwater Spring area. The catch basins between Upper Mortar and the river were full, and all the vents were completely quiet. What was interesting is that there wasn't much evidence of flow down from Bottom Mortar to the river. I would have expected there to be pooled water there.

The One Burst Grand eruption came after a Turban Delay interval and three more Turban eruption intervals. It was followed shortly after by an eruption of Castle, the followup to last night's pathetic minor eruption.

The afternoon saw the forecast thundershowers finally appear. Went out to Grand after one ended, and was sweltering in my raincoat by the time I arrived because the sun came out and the wind died down. But then the rains started for a bit, and the coat went back on.

But wasn't a long wait. For whatever reason, after a day of long Grand intervals following the Rift eruption, Grand has reverted to shorter intervals.

The start of what turned out to be a unique eruption caught me a bit by surprise, as I didn't start the video recording until it had started. I try to capture the lead up to the eruption through the Grand start until Vent reaches full height. During the past week, the Vent start has been as late as four minutes after Grand's start, especially if Turban is also slow to start.

From my location, it was sometimes hard to see Vent due to the way the steam was swirling around. But as five minutes approached, I realized that I could see Vent clearly, and it wasn't erupting. A few years ago, I saw an eruption of Grand where, if I remember correctly, it took over seven minutes for Vent to start. Seven minutes became eight this time.

At 8m42s, Grand's first burst ended. It was strange to see just Turban erupting with the water in Grand's vent sloshing around, and no Vent eruption off to the side. The sloshing built into a tall second burst (my first of the trip), and when it ended, there was still no Vent activity. That's when I definitely saw water in Vent for the first time. Grand sloshed a bit like it might try for a third burst, then drained. The total Grand eruption duration was exactly ten minutes. It took Vent a minute after Grand's end before it finally started. It built up as normal, but unlike most post-Grand activity, it was tall and not steamy. (It occurs to me that if there had been a third burst, Turban would probably have quit, and Vent may not have started at all.) Waited to see what Grand might do, but after about fifteen minutes there was still no afterplay.

2022-Aug-12:16:05:05 G2C

2022-Aug-12 16:05:05	Grand B1	---	d=8m44s
2022-Aug-12 16:06:03	Turban		0m58s
2022-Aug-12 16:13:49	P1		8m44s	d=0m41s
2022-Aug-12 16:14:30	B2		9m25s	d=0m36s
2022-Aug-12 16:15:06	P2		10m01s
2022-Aug-12 16:15:10	Vent Ovfl	10m05s
2022-Aug-12 16:16:09	Vent		11m04s
Vent & Turban continue

				     ΣB=9m20s	ΣD=10m01s
(Turban 21m53s)
* * * * *
2022-Aug-12 15:22:53			d=4m05s 	
2022-Aug-12 15:43:12	Int: 20m19s	d=4m29s 	

Came in just in time to miss the showers and then heavy rain for the next few hours.

Back out well before midnight. It was mostly cloudy, with frequent lightning to the north. Waited about an hour with no decrease in the lightning, with occasional thunder from a strike that was probably in the Lower Basin. During the same period, the sky near the moon was starting to clear.

Turban started the proceedings, and the moon was still behind a cloud at that time, so we illuminated the start of the Grand eruption. But within minutes, before Vent started, the moon cleared the clouds and we were able to watch the One Burst Grand eruption backlit. Vent itself started at the expected time, but under the conditions, it appeared to be taller than usual.

Could have gotten out to the morning Grand eruption if I'd been a bit faster in getting up and moving. Not too surprised that the Rift effect had finally wore off.

Finally got out for the next, noontime Grand. Only waited one Turban interval for a One Burst Eruption that lasted less than ten minutes.

With nothing much better to do, spent an hour or so in the Bijou Monkey Cage. For much of the time, Bijou was quiet or showing only small splashes. Then every so often, it would pick up in activity, joined by splashing in Catfish. In less than a minute, it was back to mostly quiet. Only once did I see any sort of splashing from Mastiff's back vent. The platform itself was dry except for what was probably a puddle left over from last night's showers.

As I was about to untie my bike, Grotto had a Central Vent Delay. Hung around for a while, but nothing much else, other than a lot of rumbling, happened over the next half hour.

Was about to go out for another Grand eruption when got the call that Beehive's Indicator was in eruption. That was surprising, because yesterday's Beehive eruption was so late that today was expected to be a day that Beehive would skip erupting. Since the start of the Indicator was known (turns out it had been erupting for well over ten minutes) I decided to watch it from the bike trail. It started as I passed the Inn, and across from the parking lot got some nice rainbows.

Got out to Grand finally, and the pool was full. No waves, but did get a couple of boops. That alone was enough to indicate that this was some sort of Turban Delay Interval. Unlike the other recent ones, we only needed to wait two more Turban Intervals before Grand (preceded by another large boop) erupted. Once again, the One Burst Eruption lasted less than ten minutes.

Since it had been 18 hours since Castle's middle of the night major eruption, joined the crowd over there waiting for the next eruption. Waited almost 40 minutes, with Castle slopping and even acting like the eruption was starting. I commented that we were going to get a three minute minor eruption.

After waiting 40 minutes, the eruption finally started. Castle had a short pause during the first minute, and pauses were frequent after that until it finally gave up about five minutes into the eruption.

Since we were in the area, stopped by Norris to watch New Crater/Steamboat do nothing for a couple of hours. The runoff channels are slowly turning white from deposits.

Back in the Upper Basin, had a short wait for a One Burst Grand Eruption. It was preceeded by a large boop about 20 seconds before the start.

Just before sunset, Beehive finally erupted, and I watched it from near Sawmill. At Grand, there wasn't any Turban Delay Interval, but the Turban eruption intervals slowly got shorter of a period of two hours. The One Burst Grand Eruption started on a 15 minute Turban interval, and it took over 50 seconds to finally get started.

Shortly after the Beehive eruption, there was a report by Xanterra maintenance of a bear with two cubs sighted behind the Lodge. Sounded like it was over near where The Box used to be. No further sightings, but the trail to Observation Point was closed today due to bear.

There wasn't a Turban eruption delay associated with the morning One Burst Grand eruption. Castle finally had a major eruption shortly afterwards, and then Oblong also erupted. So watched Oblong from near Rift, then went over to watch the steamphase on Castle.

Spent a few hours waiting for the afternoon eruption of Beehive. Was not hot and not windy, which made Geyser Hill actually pleasant.

There was a Turban eruption interval delay for the next Grand eruption. With the shorter Grand intervals, was hoping that this delay would only be for two or three Turban eruption intervals, but ended up taking five eruptions. Once again, it was a long One Burst Grand eruption that we saw, but with nice rainbows, especially after Vent started.

Went out to wait for a moonlight Grand eruption at six hours since the previous eruption, and got to see Rift instead. West Triplet was completely dry, indicating that Rift had been active for quite a while. By bright flashlight, was able to see patches of steaming at Sputnik and Sput F3 behind it. Belgian had already dropped out of the lobe. Walked up on an eruption of Tilt on the way back.

Went out with the expectation of a short interval, since Grand finally erupted four hours after the Rift observations. On the second Turban eruption, got a Turban Delay Interval. Grand finally had the One Burst Eruption nine Turban intervals later. On the fourth Turban eruption, there was no overflow from Grand, as it the third eruption had been another Turban Delay.

Early in the wait, did see a long Bulger major eruption, but there was nothing from Bulger's Hole. Before the Delay, also got to see a nice eruption of Oblong.

The wind allowed for the viewing of Beehive from the south for once, and only during a brief time was there a threat of getting wet. For much of the eruption, it was dead calm and water was falling all around Beehive's cone.

Went out for Grand just before sunset. At around the 6-1/2 hour mark, got a Turban Delay Interval where Grand had multiple boops over a period of a minute. Knew from that that we were in for a long wait.

Turned out to be ten Turban eruption interval long wait. This time the intervals between Turban eruptions slowly decreased, so that just before the One Burst Grand eruption, there was an interval of 16-1/2 minutes. Grand and Turban started almost simultaneously after an extended boil from Grand, and the duration was well under ten minutes.

During the wait we did get to see a strong Penta steam-phase eruption.

There wasn't a Turban eruption delay associated with the morning One Burst Grand eruption. Castle finally had a major eruption shortly afterwards, and then Oblong also erupted. So watched Oblong from near Rift, then went over to watch the steamphase on Castle.

Spent a few hours waiting for the afternoon eruption of Beehive. Was not hot and not windy, which made Geyser Hill actually pleasant.

There was a Turban eruption interval delay for the next Grand eruption. With the shorter Grand intervals, was hoping that this delay would only be for two or three Turban eruption intervals, but ended up taking five eruptions. Once again, it was a long One Burst Grand eruption that we saw, but with nice rainbows, especially after Vent started.

Decided to not try for the morning One Burst Grand eruption. Based on last night, pretty certain that it would be foggy and steamy.

Did head out a bit early for the next Grand eruption. Turned out that this one Burst Grand was preceded by a four Turban Eruption Delay. Once again, West Triplet overflowed heavily during and after the Grand eruption, but no actual bursting. During the eruption, an osprey, with catch, flew in front of Grand.

Also, as expected, Beehive erupted shortly before Grand. If the delay had been three Turban intervals, they would have erupted together.

Right after that we caught the start of Castle. Almost immediately, Castle started pausing, so no surprise when a pause shortly after four minutes ended the minor eruption.

On to Daisy, where at least the duration of the eruption was almost 3-1/2 minutes, much better than yesterday.

Went out around sunset for the next Grand, prepared to stay out after dark. Shortly after arrival we got another minor eruption from Castle. It wouldn't surprise me that over the next few years that minor eruptions become the normal mode, with steam phase eruptions being the unusual exception. Of course, that means Castle won't be as predictable unless someone finds patterns in the minor eruptions.

But Grand did cooperate. Only waited one Turban eruption interval, and the One Burst Grand eruption didn't start with a Delay. Over in the Sawmill Group, Belgian was high enough to have water in the lobe, and Slurp was weakly sloshing instead of steaming.

It seems that the longer intervals due to the influence 0f Rift and West Triplet is not as strong now. I was just leaving the cabin and missed the start of a One Burst Grand this morning because it was the shorted interval of the season, just over six hours. This after a couple of intervals less than seven hours long overnight.

Crystal Spring and Belgian were fairly high, with the latter only about 5cm below its rim. From Castle saw a long Bulger major eruption, but from there saw no evidence of anything out of Bulger's hole.

Since the rains were not forecast for several hours, decided to waste an hour down at Fan & Mortar. On the way down, saw a deer wandering in the Round Spring Group, and shortly after arriving at Fan & Mortar, heard an osprey fail to harvest a fish, but did see it fly away.

The only active vent on my arrival was Angle. For the next hour it never shut down, or changed much. For the next ten minutes, there was rumbling from Upper Mortar and splashing visible from Bottom Vent. Then the Fan River Vent started. Almost immediately Gold Vent and High Vent looked really good. Over the next fifteen minutes, they died down, only to come back to life. I was pretty sure that this activity was not going to go into an eruption, but decided that if I saw any steam from Mortar's Frying Pans, that was the sign to make a call. After about half an hour, the River Vent finally shut off, and all looked like when I arrived.

Checked out East Sentinel, and looks pretty much like it did when I last checked it a few weeks ago. Caught a Daisy eruption. The interval was well under two hours, but the eruption duration was barely over three minutes (3m07s).

Later on I went out to Grand during a slight rain. Thought it was a bit early, but the rain was supposed to pick up, and this morning's interval might not last long as the shortest of the season. From Castle (which had just had a short minor eruption), I could see a blue awning set up over on the walkway near West Triplet. It completely blocked the walkway, and I had to walk under it to get over to my preferred viewing location.

I have never seen anything like this done before. It was put there by a family reunion. I overheard that they had to wait several hot hours for Grand the last time they were here. So they knew how crowded things could get, even though today it was water instead of sunlight. Fortunately, the NPS had them take it down before it became a nuisance and before Grand erupted.

That One Burst Grand eruption lasted over 12-1/2 minutes, and started out steamy. I did see several boops well before the start, but this was not otherwise a delay.

The weather cleared after a couple of hours of steady rain, and a quarter moon was visible in what looked to be clear skies. But as we walked out beyond Castle, the clouds from the north moved in and there wasn't much light (other than the usual Inn parking headlights) the rest of the wait.

Arrived to a trickle of overflow, which ended. Then about fifteen minutes after arrival, it picked up, and my twenty-five minutes, was a flood. There may have been a boop, but in any case it was a Turban Delay interval. The next two Turban eruptions were standard, with no overflow from Grand for the first, and slight overflow the second time.

It would appear shorter Delay recoveries are part of the shorter intervals. We got the eruption on the third Turban eruption. It was quite steamy, but the bright lights did illuminate the activity. West Triplet overflowed heavily during another long One Burst Eruption. By this time, it appeared that it was going to be a foggy morning.

With Grand erupting just before dawn, there was no need to be out until late morning. Went out early with the expectation of waiting for a few hours, and didn't even see a Turban eruption interval. Another One Burst Eruption with West Triplet starting during the Grand eruption.

Early afternoon saw another early afternoon Beehive eruption, with a long indicator.

For the early evening, Turban was erupting nice and regular, with longer intervals (19-20 minutes) and longer durations (over 4 minutes). West Triplet had an eruption, and once it quit we got the One Burst Grand eruption. The pool filled nicely without any of the recent variations (late fill, dropping and refilling, etc.)

After yesterday's excessively long interval, didn't try for the overnight Grand eruption. Which had another long interval overnight. So got out to the Grand Group mid-morning, and only waited an hour for another two burst eruption. West Triplet started during Grand, and that led to a Rift eruption.

Spent an hour at Fan & Mortar, because nothing else was going on, and it looked no different from any other time this trip.

Went back to Grand to see what was going on there, and maybe catch the end of Rift, but was interrupted by the call for Beehive's Indicator. The wind caused Beehive to soak the boardwalk from Plume on toward Sulphide Spring. By the end of the eruption, that area was devoid of people.

Going to Geyser Hill I noticed that Liberty Pool was below overflow. I've heard reports of this, but not seen it myself before this.

Rift ended with a duration just under three hours long. Shortly afterward, Bulger had the first minor eruptions I've seen in over a week.

With Rift active, figured on a longer interval, but hard to stay away when you know Grand has had intervals this short. So compromised and went out at around 7-1/4 hours. Saw Bulger erupting from Castle, and it was the first major eruption I've seen this trip. Then as we approached the bridge, saw Bulger's Hole erupting. There was a second pair of eruptions about 75 minutes later. The third major Bulger eruption we saw, also 75 minutes after that, was only Bulger.

Meanwhile, there was a series of non-descript Turban eruptipn intervals until we got a nice heavy overflow with an interval of over 21 minutes. That was followed by a true delay, another case where Grand's pool didn't start to fill until the 20 minute mark, and the overflow wasn't audible until 25 minutes. Grand never really had any waves.

Two Turban eruption intervals later the sun was about to set, and Grand looked like it might erupt, but instead waited for one more interval. At least the One Burst Grand happened while it was still light enough to see the eruption without a flashlight.