[Geysers] Short and very late trip report

[Ken Reeves]

I apologize for this very late and short report from Labor Day week, but 
I've misplaced my observing notebook and so far haven't found it.  
Therefore, this is all from memory.  I did leave all of my observations 
at the visitors center except for Botryoidal and A0 geyser.  I also lost 
E-mail and snail mail addresses for George and Sue  Schroeder and Keith 
and Lotus Baker, so if you don't mind sending me private E-mail with 
those, I'll get your stuff out as soon as I can.

Most items have been covered by other people, so I won't say much about 
the UGB except that both Depression and Fan and Mortar were being very 
uncooperative for me.  I caught the last 1/3 of an eruption of 
Depression (I believe it was Tuesday the 7th), but no others on this trip.

On the 8th, I hiked to Spray and Imperial Geyser (both firsts for me), 
and observed about 1/2 hour at each geyser.  Spray appeared to be quite 
regular with the play never completely stopping.  Most of the activity 
was in the left vent, with the right vent occasionally playing at an 
angle near the beginning of an eruption.  For my times, I considered the 
start as when the play in the left vent was consistently above the level 
of the surrounding rocks and the stop when the play was consistently 
below the level of the rocks.  I don't remember the intervals and 
durations, but they were left at the VC.  I then hiked up the runoff 
channel to Imperial (what a wonderful hike).  Imperial was playing from 
a vent on the far side of the pool.  The duration was normally about 
30-50 seconds long with every 4th or 5th eruption being much longer, up 
to 10 minutes if I remember correctly.  The interval (off time) seemed 
to be about the same for both short or long duration eruptions.  After 
Imperial and Spray, I hiked over to Sentinel Meadows, but decided that I 
didn't want to romp around a mucky meadow searching for features that I 
didn't know where they were.  Next time, I would like to arrange a trip 
up there with someone who is knowledgeable about this basin. 

On the 9th, I hiked up White Creek and watched a couple of cycles of 
Spindle, but didn't record any time.  I then went on up to the White 
Creek Falls and the upper falls.  Both were nice, but I went too early 
in the morning so they were in the shade and the steam from the stream 
prevented good photographs of the falls.  After that, I went to Fountain 
Paint Pots area and saw my first eruption of Fountain (wow!).  One item 
of note in Fountain Paint Pots is that the Red Spouters did have water 
in them, unlike last year when they were dry.  In the afternoon, I spent 
about 3 hours observing Botryoidal and A0.  If I find my notebook, I 
will send a short article to the Sput comparing this year to last year.  
>From memory, it didn't seem like there was much change.

Finally, on Thursday night, I had a small impromptu star party at the 
Black Sand Basin parking lot.  A thanks to those that came over.  Space 
permitting, I'll bring my scope up next time and try this again.

A big thanks to all the gazers that provided me with information and the 
knowledge that comes with many years of observing.  This is a group of 
people I really enjoy spending time with and learning from. 

If that darn notebook turns up, I'll update with any information.

Ken Reeves