[Geysers] Geyser report May 4

[TSBryan at aol.com]

This report will mainly be the tale of odd stuff around Grotto and Giant.  
Briefly first:
 
Castle was at 0408e, then 1411 with a full major. That's just 10h 03m Was  
the 0408 a minor of some kind. Although minors have been common of late, that  
apparently was not. I have pulled the complete record from April 21 and will  
report sometime later.
 
Grand at 0703e and 1440 (T2Q), interval of 7h 37m.
Beehive at 0940 following yesterday's 1503, so the interval was 18h 37m.  
Today's Indicator was 10 minutespreceeded and accompanied by the C-C Indicator  
that reached 2 to 4 feet high.
 
Now today -- when I rode the bike downbasin I found Grotto in eruption.  
Daisy was ie at 0811 (steam cloud from Fan and Mortar). Then, back at Grotto,  
Oblong's steam cloud told me it was i.e. at 0815. I walked down there to catch  
some of it, then on the way back took a good look at Giant's platform. Dry. 
Very  dry. And Bijou was off. Because of Oblong, I hadn't really paid attention 
to the  Grotto group, but now about the moment I saw that Variable Spring was 
down about  3 inches, I realized that Rocket was starting a major. Duration 
about 4 1/2  minutes (a bit short). Well, says I, maybe not a marathon. But then 
I went to  look at Marathon Pool. Down 6 inches and bubbling vigorously. Well, 
says I,  maybe early in a marathon.
 
Now to me, all that says that Grotto had a marathon, perhaps a short  
mini-marathon (formerly known as a 10-K) type. Well, anyhow, seeing this I left  the 
area because I'd seen Beehive splashing heavily at 0800. So to the Hill. At  
about 0900, Tara Cross joined me and said she thought Grotto was off. At 1000 
we  confirmed that it was off. Oh, so maybe not a marathon -- to me, anyway,  
Variable and Marathon had not dropped enough. 
 
And then she and I went out to Fountain (ie; it had started at 1006).  And we 
returned to the UGB. After fooling around a bit, having lunch and going  to 
the VC, back down the basin just after noon.
 
Bijou was jetting, not real vigorously but decidedly there. The Giant  
platform was bone dry -- there had not been a hot period. Water level in the GIP  
was _WAY_ down. Variable is full and overflowing. Grotto is grumbling loudly,  
but there isn't a trace of visible water in Indicator or the Grotto Fountains.  
And look! Marathon Pool is down at least as far as I've _ever_ seen it. Way 
down  and bubbling, easily 2 feet lower than it had been about 0830.
 
After very gradually slowing down, at 1240 Bijou shut off. It still had not  
come on again when I finally departed near 1600.
 
And hey, at 1333 Rocket is splashing. That ended. At 1405 (a few minutes  
after Tara left to head back to Walla Walla) Rocket is splashing again, enough  
to spill water onto the surrounding platform and this time I can see water  
violently sloshing inside Grotto's keyhole openings. And there's not a  trace of 
water in the Fountains, none visible in Indicator. And Bijou is still  off.
 
In summary: Marathon, the Fountains and Indicator, and the Giant Group  acted 
as if there had been a marathon. But Grotto, Rocket and Variable  did not 
agree. Throughout _all_ of this, Spa was low and quiet.
 
Does this fit any previous scenario?
 
Scott Bryan, who will be back to the UGB early  tomorrow.
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