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Tag: Grand Geyser
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Grand Geyser Starts, 2021 (Pt. 1)
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Grand's North Triplet Sputs
It appears that the locations and designations of the various sputs that have appeared in and around the old site of North Triplet are in need of further documentation. In going through some old files, I came across photos that Lynn Stephens took of that area in October 1989. While a lot of things there have changed since then, this does give a good record of what was happening there, and how it relates to current activity.
The map comes from my original GOSA Transactions article on the area, and is still a good guide. The only major difference is the disappearance of East Triplet, and the associated Sput-Cs near it.
In the center of this photo, with a downed branch beside it, is Sputnik, or Sput-B. To the left, the plume of steam, is Delta, or Sput-D. In the foreground are several frying pans constituting Sput-E, which are no longer active, but the area is still devoid of vegetation.
On the left edge of the photo the rim of East Triplet's vent can be made out. Above and to the right, beside the downed log is Sputnik. The large brown area of dead grass is Sput-F. Eventually, three areas of activity became more pronounced and were given sub-designations.
Sputnik also developed some satellite vents, one on each side. Over the years the craters have been filled and cleared out, so which is which is probably not possible to determine any more.
In the foreground is the wet frying pan at the north end of Sput-E. Behind it, in the middle of the photo is Sput-B2, while Sputnik itself is near the top of the photo.
Note that at this time, Sput-D was a small hole which steamed heavily. Over the years it enlarged itself.
The photo I took last year isn't from up close, but one can still see the are of Sput-F is still active, and the grass there hasn't recovered. Finally, here is a short video showing the area with everything that was active in June 2020.
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Observations for 2021 May 06
Went out to Grand only to discover that the webcam observers had it wrong, and it wasn't even in overflow. So took the time to go down basin to check on Fan & Mortar. But first we had to wait for a bison to clear the bike path, and the more we tried to keep our distance, the closer it wanted to approach. Finally it went behind some trees and we could escape.
No change at Fan & Mortar, so caught the start of Riverside, and just missed Daisy. Over at Grand it was now late enough that it could possibly erupt. So Beehive's Indicator started about then. I decided to stay put. As it turned out, it was possible to get to Beehive in time. At the same time, Turban had a Delay overflow. The pool was full at 20 minutes, and stayed that way. Right after Beehive ended, it became apparent that it was going to erupt.
But first it had a couple of boops before Grand started. The eruption lasted just over 9 minutes, and through the steam, for a bit of time we thought we could see water sloshing over the vent. But it ended up being just another One Burst Eruption.
With nice weather and some free time, and little to no traffic, a quick run to Fountain Paint Pots was in order. The area around Fountain looked too dry to have erupted recently, but there were still large puddles out there. Spent a whole 45 minutes there, and no Jet eruptions during that time.
Stopped at Flood on the way back, as I'd like to get video of it, and my attempts keep failing. It started as we walked over to the overlook, and in my fumbling, I failed to get the camera properly started in time. We'd seen a number of eruptions on the drive back from Norris last week, so maybe the intervals have shortened.
The evening Grand eruption was nothing special. Saw Turban erupting from the bike racks at Castle. Waited for a short Turban interval and got to see a short One Burst Grand eruption. The only interesting things were how Grand slowed down so much around the 8-1/2 minute mark that we thought it was quitting, At the end, I thought Vent & Turban had quit, despite the One Burst Eruption only lasting only 9m37s. But the activity quickly picked back up.
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Observations for 2021 May 05
Relief that we could sleep in and not have to make the commute to Norris today.
Instead, based on extrapolating three intervals, went out to Grand around 08:00. Then we saw that better info on the last eruption time was available, and we were actually out there at the right time. West Triplet was in overflow as we walked up. It started erupting a couple of Turban eruption intervals later, well before Grand.
Grand itself had several boops before finally starting. Despite the steamy conditions, the complex was easily visible. Unlike yesterday, we only got one burst, and there was no doubt that we weren't going to get the second one.
West Triplet was still in eruption, so the start of Rift a few moments later was not a surprise.
At that point, it looked like a trip to Geyser Hill was in order. It had been about 21 hours since the previous eruption. Went out from the Lodge, and back around behind Giantess. Infant is higher than its rim, and seems not quite as murky as I remember it. Aurum had all its side sputs active, but it just didn't feel close to erupting.
By then the winds had picked up despite the partly cloudy day. It wasn't warming up. So we decided that more wind resistant clothing was needed, and headed in. The Indicator got called just as we started heading out.
During the Beehive eruption, I saw something I can't remember ever seeing or even hearing about before. At the base of the cone, there was a small sput splashing out water a few centimeters high. This continued during the eruption, quitting about the time that the Indicator ended. It is located at the far right as seen from the railing nearest to the cone.
The wind died down a bit for the eruption, so it was nice and tall, but the little sput distracted me from watching too closely.
Checked Aurum again, and it hadn't changed much. As it turned out, it finally erupted about 1/2 hour after we left.
Later went out for another Grand eruption. Only had to wait for two Turban eruption intervals. The second Turban eruption had no overflow from Grand, and the interval was short, so not sure what was going on out there.
This time we didn't get the booping, but a nice solid start. And it was two bursts even though the first was well over nine minutes. Turban quit shortly after Grand did.
Down at Fan and Mortar, it appears there could have been an eruption during our time wasted at Norris. Had to tell exactly, and will probably need to have the electronic recorder confirm or deny this.
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Observations for 2021 April 29
The day started with having to dismount the bikes near the curve on the bikepath. It was blocked by icy snow drifts one to two feet high with narrow paths over them. Then the trail past the Round Spring group was a minefield of bison deposits.
Arrived at Grotto, and it was obvious that the Pressure Pool was full, as was Grotto Fountain. Almost immediately, Grotto started erupting. Spa was full and overflowing heavily, but I didn't see any convection or boiling in the minute or so I was there.
Went on to check out Fan & Mortar. Nothing exciting, so off to Giant. Looked like last year, with the platform dry and Bijou on strong for about half an hour.
It was time for Daisy, so went over to take a look at the Group. Splendid doesn't seem to have changed, either. The duration of the Daisy eruption, however, was only 2m54s, which is much shorter than I'd like it to be.
Finally it was time to head to Grand. Got over there and after a one Turban eruption interval, got a nice, short One Burst Grand eruption. Joked that I expected 8-3/4 minutes and got 9m06s, and no attempt to refill as far as I could tell.
What had to be the strangest part of the day occurred just after the Grand eruption. As we were leaving, we saw Bulger start. So of course we had to wait to see what would happen in Bulger's Hole. (Nothing). While standing there, I thought I heard someone singing over behind the trees at the Grand benches. I turned to look, and there were two people walking past the tree toward me approaching the Rift bridge. Behind them, on a bike was a man with a guitar slung across his front trying to pass them. He didn't make it, sliding on that slippery plastic walkway, with the guitar and him at least staying on the boardwalk. He took his time getting put back together, then proceeded to slowly ride the bike past us while being informed that he was supposed to park his bike. He got over to Spasmodic, blocked the walkway while flipping over his bike and starting to investigate the front wheel, like it was no longer straight.
Finally, Bulger ended and I went over toward Oval to get some photos of Oval. He started running toward me, asking if I had sunscreen. I told him I wouldn't provide it too him. He went back to the bike repairs. Got my pictures of Oval, and Sawmill, and left the area. From Crested, it appeared he was still working on the bike.
As for Oval, it has heated up. There is now only a band of orange and black around the high water mark. Sawmill is also showing signs of heating up down in the vent.
If it was just Oval heating up, I'd be concerned that it means Spasmodic is asserting even more control over the Sawmill Group. But Sawmill is also showing signs of recovery, so this may be good.
By then the Beehive eruption interval was getting pretty long, so we knew we needed to head over that way. Did a quick trip around Geyser Hill to find Aurum in between eruptions. Got back to Beehive and it wasn't long before the Indicator started. The wind cooperated, pushing the spray over Plume, allowing a nice close view of the water column.
Plume itself is interesting. The water level and the splashing seems higher than what I saw after the first Giantess eruption last year. The water level was visible most of the time, and some of the droplets were going as much as 1/2 meter above the rim.
Farther down, it appears Bronze Spring has changed from what I remember. It is now a large, cool pool, much larger than the old sinter rim, with heavy overflow down a couple of channels in the still green grass. I haven't paid much attention to it, so it could have been this way for a while, but the runoff channels seem new.
Later it was time for Castle. It turned out it ended up having an interval of over 14 hours. So I saw the start from Sawmill, which seems typical for me. And because of this, I walked up onto first West Triplet in eruption, and then Grand starting as I was taking notes on West Triplet. This One Burst Grand eruption was less than nine minutes long. West Triplet quit shortly after Grand, and other than Percolator, I didn't seen any activity in the sputs at the base of the hill.
Since it was a nice day, it seemed like a good idea to check out Fan & Mortar again. First we saw an nondescript cycle lasting just under an hour. Near the end we saw a start from Riverside, and were about to leave when we noticed heavy steam from the Main Vent. Then there was splashing, so now had to stay.
Over the next hour and a half we saw Bottom Vent slowly put water down its runoff channel. But it never had an eruption, instead surging at the same time Lower Mortar surged. The splashing in Main Vent continued through a couple of long, River Vent pauses. That activity finally ended as the Fan Vents took over about an hour into the cycle. They started out slow, but with high, visible water levels. But they never looked too good. For good measure, the Frying Pan and the steamvent inside Mortars amphitheater were active too. Then the whole system just sort of died down.