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After last night's fiasco, headed back to Norris when we found no report of any eruption. This time not only was it dark, but foggy as we pulled into the parking lot. The fog got worse out in the basin, such that as the sun rose, it was difficult to see from the platform what was going on with the vents. We did know that there was some sort of push around 07:07 that got us excited, as if it was starting to erupt.
But nothing.

And that was the way it went for the rest of the day. There would be what appeared to be the start of the push from the North Vent, only for the South Vent to take over.

Around 11:00 we got a radio call informing the gathering that Giantess had started erupting a couple of hours earlier. There was general disappointment with this, but no one left to head back south the the Upper Basin.

At around 17:15, I went down to Cistern to take a look at what it was doing. It wasn't overflowing much, even though the boiling over the vent was fairly heavy. The day had been so disappointing that I was considering leaving to got and see some of the activity of Giantess. As I rounded the last hairpin turn and got within sight of the platform, New Crater started another push that actually got the inhabitations shouting. I started video recording, and made my way back to my chair as this push died. I left the camera running, fortunately, as a second push started a few seconds later, and this one led to the actual eruption at 17:36.

I rushed back to get a height measurement. I got 65% of 130 meters, or 84.5meters (277ft). This matched the impression of those who saw the start from a distance, that it wasn't one of the taller eruptions.

The wind direction was perfect. Most of the parking lot was spared being drenched, and we never were in danger of getting wet. If the wind had been a bit more to the north, we probably would have had a dirtier eruption, and perhaps even a choke. As it was, North only showed a hint of brown for a while.

Stayed for about 90 minutes, until the clouds and wind shift encouraged us to leave. Got back to the Upper Basin with it not quite dark, and headed over to Geyser Hill. The parking lot was mostly dry when we left, although the exit end loop was damp along the edges.

Did the loop around the hill before heading over to the benches near Vault. At Plume, it looked like there was quite an area that had gotten wet, but Plume itself sounded unchanged from what I'd seen earlier. Over between Depression and Heart I thought I caught a whiff of low tide. I expected more, considering there had been quite a bit of time for grass to grow in the various runoff channels.

Caught a couple of Giantess active periods, and an eruption of Vault. Most interesting was the activity of Infant. It was well above the rim, and the muddy looking water was boiling and erupting up to a meter high almost continuously. It also had a sweet smell a lot like Emerald, not the putrid smell I normally associate with it.

On the drive to Norris in the dark, had a bison encounter. It was standing in the southbound lane in Fountain Flats just across from the Thud Group. It didn't move until was right next to it, despite flashing lights and honking horn. Other than that, the drive was uneventful.

When we arrived there was someone on the Upper Platform, prone and in a sleeping bag. I rudely woke him up and he quietly disappeared.

Uneventful also describes the day at Norris. There was a datalogger report of something big happening around 03:00 and New Crater/Steamboat was in some sort of recovery mode the rest of the day. Most of the activity consisted of strong North Vent activity which shut down when South Vent joined in. Only late in the day did it start showing real signs of life, with the biggest attempt right as everyone was headed out ahead of darkness and a windy storm and a stream of incoming drunken louts. Even then, despite the mass of water from South, the North Vent would die instead of getting stronger.

Which brings us to the big event of the day. During the drive back to Old Faithful, it is always fun being cut off from any information about what is happening at Norris for almost an hour. So the first thing anyone does, with a certain amount of dread, is check to see what happened at Norris during that time. I've been fortunate in that until tonight, I've not had to see a posting saying I've missed an eruption.

Except tonight's posting had a time that made no sense. It only about an hour old. I double checked my logbook, and supposedly the eruption started just as I'd left the platform. It always takes at least fifteen minutes to uncover the truck and head out, so there was no way this report was accurate. I flagged it immediately.

Needless to say, quite a few people saw this report and got upset by it. The report was not appreciated and caused a bit of anger at the sloppiness that got it posted in the first place. People who report this information need to remember that those of us actually here in Yellowstone rely on GeyserTimes for accurate information, and it is the duty of those making reports to insure they are accurate before making them. There is nothing to be gained by attempting to be "First!" if that information is flat out wrong, as it was here. It's not a game.

In the morning I expect to check GeyserTimes and see if I need to head back to Norris, or if I can sleep in. I want to be sure I can trust that info, and not have to independently confirm it at a time when I am barely awake.

As mentioned earlier, it was stormy on the drive back, with occasional showers. Unfortunately, it appears that there really wasn't enough rain to have an effect on the fire, and the wind was probably not helpful.

Arrived at Norris at dawn, not really expecting much until the afternoon. Turned out to be late afternoon, with over a period of 20 minutes there being three significant attempts at erupting starting around 16:27. There was a second, even better period starting just about the time to leave, with three more attempts in a period of six minutes starting at 20:13. Then nothing as it got dark.

It was hard to tell the smoke from the clouds during the day, although by evening there was some patchy blueness to it. Back at Old Faithful, the smoke could be seen as fogginess and was definitely a smell in the air.

The fires didn't dominate the day. The general smokiness wasn't changed much, but this morning there was a definite smell of burn wood in the air that disappeared as the day progressed. It wasn't until about noon that the plume of smoke from down south became obvious. By evening it would have been clearing if not for the local fire.

The morning Grand was a Turban Interval delay, and it was on the third Turban eruption that we finally got the One Burst Grand eruption. That burst lasted just over 9-1/2 minutes, then Grand held water over the vent for nearly a minute before draining. With that, Vent & Turban also quit.

The afternoon saw another Turban delay, this one for five intervals. Grand finally erupted as West Triplet quit. Fortunately, we got a second burst this time. With a first burst lasting less than eight minutes, we definitely expected one. That burst was fairly short, and Grand showed no attempt to have a third, even though the duration was still under ten minutes. Again, Vent & Turban quickly quit once the eruption was over.

One interesting non-thermal item of the day were the otters just below the Sawmill bridge. They were seen first just after the morning Grand eruption. They got out of the river, only to disappear into one of those dead holes just upstream on the west side. The grass looks beat down between that hole and the river, like they've done that before. They weren't seen the rest of the day,

Went out early for Grand based on a double interval. Didn't find out until later that the first interval was particularly long, and we'd arrived not much after first overflow. No delays, but the One Burst Eruption had an interval of about 6-1/2 hours.

The mid-day Grand was similar. A Delay Turban was followed by three Turban intervals before we finally got the One Burst Eruption. This one also lasted just under ten minutes.

After Grand, decided to go to Artemisia to kill some time. Walked up, dropped my pack and started to get out the water bottle when I felt the first thumps. Unfortunately, the wind was pretty strong, and shifting, so there wasn't any place to stand where one didn't get the full force of the steamy fog. And it was hot.

Returning from there, glanced at Fan & Mortar, and they looked dead. By the time we got to Castle, there was a radio call about splashing in the Main Vent. Went back, and there was some huge splashes, as wide as the vent and well above the highest part of the rim. Unlike yesterday, Bottom Vent didn't dominate, but even so, the Fan vents started out nice but by the time Angle Vent started, it was obvious that there wasn't much of a chance for an eruption.

After the Fan & Mortar event, noticed that there was a large smoke plume to the south among the general haze. Turns out there's a small fire near Lone Star. The NPS closed the trail and evacuated the campsites by helicopter. We had intended to go out that way tomorrow, looks like that is off.

Went out for a Grand in the dark, and had the place to myself. Interval was just under six hours, and no signs of any sort of delay. Best of all, Grand quit at just over eight minutes, and followed up with a nice illuminated second burst. Total duration was only 9-1/2 minutes, so could've had a third if it had tried.

Another smoky day, but not quite as bad as yesterday morning. By evening most of the smoke seemed to be thickest to the south, down in the Tetons and Jackson.

Went out on a double interval for the One Burst Grand eruption, and got a full Turban Delay interval. So that was probably the shorter of the two intervals.

Checked out Daisy, which had another short duration of around 3m15s. Over at the Sawmill Group, saw Crystal in overflow, along with Belgian actually up to and over the rim. I still can't see any correlation between the water levels there and the activity elsewhere.

The mid-day One Burst Grand had to have a five Turban delay, again showing the bimodality in the intervals. The call that Beehive's Indicator was erupting came after about three intervals. So many left for the sure thing. Fortunately for them, Grand held off so that we had a total of five intervals in the Delay.

Later in the afternoon, Fan & Mortar had a nice attempt at erupting. There were some Main Vent surges that filled the vent area. Lower Mortar had a high water level too. But Mortar's Bottom Vent was dominating, and it lasted a long time. I don't like seeing that, and it always seems that Fan's response to strong Bottom Vent is weaker than desired. That was the case here, where the excitement evaporated at the activity died out as Angle Vent started.

So went over to Grand for the evening activity. There it seemed like I missed a Delay, based on the long Turban duration and the lack of overflow before the next Turban eruption. West Triplet started at the same time as Turban, and that led to a true Delay. West Triplet's duration was short, so it was a surprise that almost immediately Rift started. And then the One Burst Grand eruption started. I had been prepared for a long wait, with an eruption in the dark, so this was a nice relief to see it just after sunset.

Woke up to an orange sky, and not needing to go to Norris. Seems that fires in California are having an effect here. Another example of how California has to inflict itself on the rest of the country.

Having a Beehive eruption before noon was a bit of a surprise. Was a nice eruption because it was dead calm. The winds picked up minutes after the end, and lasted all day.

I don't know if the mid-day Grand had a Delay, as the Turban activity didn't match what I would expect. West Triplet was erupting with everything erupting behind it when I arrived. It was five Turban eruptions later that Sput D had a small erupion, followed by the One Burst Grand eruption.

Later caught a Daisy eruption in the wind, a two hour interval. That was followed by watching Spa for about 45 minutes. It had multiple large bursts. Nothing high, but lots of wide, sustained activity.

The evening One Burst Grand didn't require much of a wait. Rift was erupting as I arrived, and was still erupting when I left. This time Grand did have the Turban Delay. About 2-1/2 minutes before the eruption booping started, with the pool full but calm. It wasn't until there was a big boop that the waves started and Grand then quickly followed. Because of the smoke and lighting, it was a gray eruption on a smoky background.

When the NPS says they are going to open an area at a given time, they mean it, even if the press release implies that they might open early. So we arrived into the Norris Basinat 10:00 instead of the usual dawn. Waiting for the lot to open was mildly entertaining, watching how people behaved to suddenly finding they needed to make a decision on what to do instead. As for the closure, it didn't matter, as New Crater/Steamboat didn't do much for most of the day.

Late, as the thunderstorms were starting, we did get the first strong minor that I've seen this summer. That was followed at about one hour intervals with other strong surges, but no actual attempt at erupting.

In my decades of coming here, I've seen a lot of geyser gazers who have disappeared or drifted away over those years. I do wish that Dave Leeking was one of them.

A while back I wrote up some advice and hints and observations for newer gazers. Here's something new to add, based on what I observed yesterday-- Don't go around telling vistiors you just met about the wonders to be found in areas closed by the NPS. Especially then don't go and give them detailed instructions on how to get into those areas and how to get around the NPS closure signs.

It was exactly twelve hours since the last Grand eruption, and I had just passed Crested Pool when the One Burst Grand eruption started. Must've gone on the Turban delay.

Afterwards, noticed that it was getting close to the time for Daisy. Kept looking back as walked to get the bike, but no eruption. Had just left the bikerack when l heard the radio call.

Did get up there for the next eruption, which had an interval of less than two hours, but a duration of 3m11s, which is really short as I remember.

The next wait for Grand didn't have an official Turban Delay, but it acted like one. The first interval seen was about 24 minutes long, and then Grand proceeded to have Turban intervals with all the usual delay characteristics-- short Turban duration, short intervals, and little to no overflow from Grand. This time, though, Turban started the eruption, and there was a nice second burst. It was a long pause, so the crowd had plenty of time to get out of position for their selfie-photos of the second burst.

West Triplet started at the same time as the Turban eruption prior to Grand's eruption, and continued on even after Grand was finished. This meant the duration was up to 1/2 hour, and as expected, Rift started shortly after. West Triplet was still going when I left, for a duration in excess of 45 minutes.

Got the call for Beehive's Indicator, and despite the wind knocking it down, it was a nice long one, nearly five minutes. The crowd was small, despite the Naturalist telling people about it. Seems most people were more interested in getting over to Old Faithful, which erupted shortly after Beehive.

Went out for the dawn Grand eruption when it just became light enough to not need a light to take notes. I didn't see a Turban delay, but then next four Turban intervals looked like there had been one, with some eruptions with no overflow, and short intervals between Turban eruptions.

When Grand did start, it was nicely lit by the sunlight well above the ridge. And we got a second burst, which made it even better.

The other day I noticed that the old stairway up from the Sawmill Group Bridge is being covered by formations deposited by South Scalloped.

I arrived back at Grand just in time to see Rift starting, and West Triplet ending. This was the folllowed by a 36 minute Turban interval for another Delay. Rift proceeded to erupt for almost exactly two hours, ending near the start of the four Turban interval delayed One Burst Grand eruption. This one had a short Vent & Turban pause. Belgian Pool also was full at the start of Rift, and full after Grand ended.

In the evening we got another Turban delay. It would have been a nice Grand eruption, with the sun low on the horizon. But had to wait two more Turban intervals for a One Burst Grand eruption right after the sun finally disappeared.

Down by Fan & Mortar saw an osprey gliding upstream. It perched on on the top of e of the trees beside Link's runoff channel for a while, then suddenly launched itself toward the river. Unfortunately, it came up empty. It then cirlcled around a bit, and we thought it might return to the tree, but it headed upstream. About five minutes later, it reappeared low over the river, headed downstream with a small catch.

Up at Daisy, nothing much different. The duration of the eruption was short, although the intervals were just over two hours. Lots of Side Boiler activity in Splendid, and I left just as the activity switched to Main Vent.

The One Burst Grand eruption managed to have both a Turban delay and erupt almost outside the NPS prediction window. Just two minutes in. The delay was around 5h10m and had several small boops, so I wasn't surprised when it immediately dropped.

At Beehive, the wind was directly toward the walkway the whole time the Indicator was erupting. Just as Beehive started, the wind shifted to spray the walkway and platform on the other side of the river, and stayed that way for the duration of the eruption.

Went to Three Sisters Spring to watch Mugwump for a few hours. It was erupting about every twenty minutes. Most eruptions were minors, where there's one big burst and some other boiling, and the whole eruption lasts less than ten seconds. Did see a couple of major eruptions, with multiple big bursts, and a lot more overflow that lasts for a bit under 1/2 minute. The last one we saw was the best of the day, with a flood of water coming done.

Myriad #1 also had a couple of small but heavy boils during that time.

At Grand the Turban interval went long. Grand's pool was full, and over about 45 seconds, there were six to seven small boops. There were never really any waves, despite what Grand was doing. Then the pool dropped and stayed that way until Turban started about six minutes later. I was making notes when I looked up to see the pool back to full, with waves. No boops this time, but instead got a quick start with a nice bursting bubble. The rest of the eruption was a pretty typical One Burst Grand, although it lasted almost twelve minutes. At first it looked like Vent & Turban were going to continue, then suddenly Turban got a lot stronger for about fifteen seconds, and then abruptly quit. So much for any afterplay and an afterburst.

Finally, it was time to wait for a sunset Castle eruption. The rainbows were just starting to be visible at the top of the water column from our vantage point.

Grand definitely seems to be in a mode where it is having four to six Turban delays if it doesn't erupt then. I didn't see the delay this morning, but all the Turban intervals and durations matched what I have seen after the other ones of the past few days.

This eruption itself had two bursts. The conditions were about a good as they get. It was late morning, so the sun was still backlighting the eruption as seen from the northern benches. There was no wind, and the sky was blue to the ridges. It was almost as perfect as 90% of the reported Fountain and Great Fountain eruptions are described to be.

Checked out the Fan & Mortar area. Nothing much exciting there, although there is no garbage mode, but definitely cycling. Noticed that the Link runoff culvert has a lot of dried and dying slime mats, implying that it's been a while since the last strong minor eruption.

The afternoon One Burst Grand fit the pattern. There was a 30 minute long delay Turban interval on which Grand erupted three minutes into the window.

This time of year, arriving at Norris at 06:00 means it's still dark. Last month it was light for the drive from Madison Jct.

The parking lot was empty when we arrived, and over the next few hours a few people filtered in for the wait. The wind of the previous few days was gone, the sky was completely clear and there was little precipitation onto the platform.

The wait was pretty dull. No longer does it seem that New Crater/Steamboat has big, notable minors. Instead, the only sign of any progress seems to be that the South Vent becomes more voluminous and the platform to the left becomes wetter.

I'd just returned from a parking lot run less than ten minutes earlier, and was starting to read a book when suddenly the activity picked up. As with the 2020 August 03 eruption, there was no warning. Within seconds, the eruption was starting.

This eruption start seemed wider and not as tall as others I've seen. The wind direction was toward Echinus, so we never were in danger of getting wet. It took a while for the water to start down the North Vent's runoff channel, and none of the other channels under the switchback had water. North Vent only briefly went slightly gray, then was back to clean. Few rocks were thrown.

Later in the evening did go out for a nighttime One Burst Grand Eruption. It lasted long enough to insure no chance of a second burst.

Update:
Forgot to mention that on the drive back from Norris, I did see something erupting in T.Scott Bryan's Tangled Geysers group. I always glance over that way assuming the traffic allows for it. The feature was at least a meter tall, looking a lot like Old Tardy, and active the whole time it was visible.

I figured getting out to Grand after a double interval of twelve hours would mean I'd get to wait a bit. Instead, I was at Belgian when the One Burst Grand eruption started.

From there it was a quick check to confirm that the Giant platform was completely dry and ignorable for now. Also wanted to look at Fan & Mortar, who had the start of a nice, normal cycle. No garbage mode that I could see.

Leaving there, I noticed that Grotto Fountain was bubbling. Didn't have to wait long before the pressure pool was suddenly full of water and almost to overflow. It was a ten minute long eruption before Grotto started, and it lasted over 21 minutes, ending suddenly. There was also activity from South Grotto Fountain before and after Grotto started.

The day started out breezy, and was extremely windy by the time for the next Grand wait. I had to wait almost half an hour to see my first Turban eruption, and it was six more Turban intervals before Grand finally erupted. The behavior was similar to yesterday's two long delays.

But we got a reward. Grand quit at around 7-1/2 minutes, then we got a short second burst start thanks to the wind. It looked like after about a minute that it would stop, but at that point the burst settled into nearly three minutes of Big Sawmill Mode. The followup West Triplet lasted only 26 minutes, but the restart was after that.

It was still windy in the evening, and cloudy so there wasn't any chance of a sunlit eruption even if it went early. As it was, arrived at what was probably near the start of a West Triplet eruption. As it erupted, Grand looked good much of that time. So once again we got an early delay.

Fortunately, it was only a two Turban interval delay until the One Burst Grand Eruption. Was enough light to see it. Would have been cooler and darker if it had waited.

It's amusing that it appears Grand has been bimodal the last few days, mostly erupting outside the NPS window on either side. Even this evening's eruption fits in, in that it tried to erupt early.

The middle of the night One Burst Grand eruption continued the number of short intervals I've seen recently. The sky was overcast, so not much opportunity for any meteor observing.

I did have to wait a Turban interval, but that one ended with another of those Turban starts where it just feels like Grand wants to start. The power of Turban, combined with the hint of steam getting thicker over Grand proved to be correct. That eruption was one of those with several minutes of Big Sawmill, padding the duration out to 12-1/2 minutes.

West Triplet started before the eruption, and right after Grand finally quit. Rift started.

Went out again in the morning for the next One Burst Grand. It was overcast, breezy, and cool. Got a Turban Delay with the first Turban eruption after arriving. This one even featured a small Grand boop several minutes before Turban started. Right after the boop, the pool dropped and kept dropping.

Ended up having a six Turban delay, although if one of the intervals had been about 30 seconds longer, it would have been a D2/D4. Several of the Turban intervals featured weak or no overflow from Grand, and short durations for Turban. It finally erupted on a short Turban interval where the pool was full by eleven minutes and then kept slowly filling with lots of waves.

The pool drained after the first burst, then refilled. It sloshed for over a minute before until Vent started having some powerful jetting, signaling the end. With the draining, Vent & Turban quit almost immediately.

Also got to see a Churn eruption from the benches right before the first Turban Delay. At some point, would be nice to see one up close.

The afternoon One Burst Grand was almost a repeat of the morning's activity. There wasn't a threat of rain, but it was overcast, cool, and windy. The interval was slightly longer even though the Turban Delay was for five intervals instead of six. West Triplet was ending an eruption as I arrived, and it started again during the Grand eruption.

All three Grand eruptions today were outside the NPS prediction windows. The first was before, the later two were after.