[Geysers] Morning!?!

[Stephen J. Eide]

Greetings and Salutations,

I just returned from Yellowstone about 24 hours ago.  I have more to
post but thought I'd post the info on the Fountain area prior to the
Morning eruption and the Morning eruption first and save the rest for
tomorrow.

First the background Fountain eruptions.  I saw most of the eruption on
7-2-06 at 1541 but I arrived out on the overlook a few minutes after the
start.  About 5-7 minutes after the start of Fountain Morning's Thief
gave two big bursts I thought were in the 30-40 foot range, perhaps even
higher.  These were the biggest bursts from Morning's Thief I have seen
to date.

On 7-3 I saw Fountain from the road i.e. at 1951 but did not stop.

On 7-4 I spent most of the day out at Fountain and saw two Fountain
eruptions at 951 D=33 and 1602 D=35.  Both were relatively normal
Fountain eruptions.  For the morning  eruption Spasm started like usual
then stopped and drained prior to the start of Fountain.  For the
afternoon eruption Fountain started while Spasm was still in eruption.
Jets were in the 7-13 minute range up to the start of Fountain and then
every 1-3 minutes during the Fountain eruption.  With the morning
eruption Morning's Thief had two bursts to about 30 feet six minutes
into Fountain's eruption.  Clepsedrya (or some such spelling) stopped 13
minutes after Fountain stopped and was only off for three minutes.  For
the afternoon eruption I did not record the time for Morning's Thief but
I think it was about 6-7 minutes after the start of Fountain and was
about 25 feet high.  Clep shut off 16 minutes after Fountain quit and
was off for about three minutes.

On 7-5 Fountain was i.e. at 557 from the road and again I did not stop
for additional information.  Fountain erupted again at 1334 D=34
starting after Spasm quit and drained but otherwise everything else as
active as usual.  (If anyone wants all the Jets, Bear claw, Twig, and
Super Frying Pan times you can e-mail me).  Fountain next erupted at
2032 D=40 and the hour prior to the eruption had normal activity from
Jet, Spasm, and the other cast of geysers.

On 7-6 I saw Fountain i.e. from the road at 0624 and decided to walk
out.  When I reached the boardwalk in front of Fountain Spasm was off,
Jelly was half full, Jets were every 1-3 minutes but I did not record
any Jet times, and due to the steam I could not see Morning or Morning's
thief.  At about 700 I realized this was starting to be a very long
Fountain eruption and again did a review of the system.  Jelly had
drained out of sight, Clep was still active with some vents water, some
steam, Jets were still about every 1-3 minutes but alternated normal
eruptions with weak eruptions, and now I could see that I could not see
any water in Morning even from the top of the stairs.  There was pooled
water to the east of Morning's Thief so I think it erupted earlier in
the Fountain eruption but I cannot prove it.  Fountain continued until
733 for a duration of 69+ minutes.

I reached the Fountain area again at 1246 with nothing active.  Jelly
was about half full and bubbling or boiling weakly from the front of the
pool.  Nothing erupted (but Clep) until Super Frying Pan at 1336.  I
watched it for several minutes because while the eruption was normal
height it never reached overflow and did not wet the runoff channel.  I
looked at Fountain and could see no water in Fountain when MORNING gave
a vertical column of water to about 30 feet at 1342 and then continued
to erupt at various angles in the 5-20 foot range.  After yelling
Morning several times to the folks on the observation deck, I called it
on the radio and ran past the people coming down because my camera was
in my backpack on the observation deck.  By the time I retrieved my
camera and returned to the front of Fountain's pool Morning's eruption
had weaken and then stopped.  I didn't look at my watch until later but
I think the duration was in the 1-2 minute range.  For a while we just
looked at each other and tried to make sense out of what just happened
when Fountain started at 1347 D=29.  I did look at Fountain about a
minute before it started and could not see any water in Fountain.  After
Fountain started Spasm started at 1351 and the first Jet of the
afternoon did not happen until 1415 just before Fountain stopped.  I
don't think anyone stayed around to see if Clep shut off.

The lead up to the evening eruption 7-6 was basically normal Fountain
group activity with Super Frying Pan erupting as I walked into the
Fountain area (but I did not write down the start time, others do have
it if needed).  Spasm started at 1857 and stopped at 1957.  Jets were in
a very tight 7-9 minute range for 2+ hours prior to the start of
Fountain at 2124.  I left Fountain just prior to the start of Fountain
and heard the time called from the parking lot as I had to drive 7 hours
to home that night.  I think Kitt saw the whole Fountain eruption  Now I
have to wait at home to see if Morning will erupt again.

The rest should follow tomorrow.

Stephen J. Eide