[Geysers] Rewarding weekend run to Yellowstone (Kitt) 5/5 - 7/06

[barger]

     I headed for Yellowstone Friday afternoon (5/5) with thoughts of avoiding my spring allergies and seeing some hot water.  East Entrance opened that day, so I was able to take a shorter drive to get to the Upper Geyser Basin (although the road from Lake to West Thumb and over Craig Pass was closed) so I drove via Canyon and Norris.  I stopped at Norris G. B. to observe Steamboat briefly.  With the exception of one minor that was Concerted Jetting South North Minor that cleared the tops of the trees, the activity didn't look promising.  I continued my drive, and was rewarded with a large steam cloud.  (Could it be Morning?  No, but it was a very nice Fountain eruption that started at 2106 and had a 32 minute duration per Paul -a new gazer.)  He told me that Grotto was in Marathon, while I was at Fountain and it wasn't until I was checking the log book that I realized that if Grotto started at 1803 then we were still waiting to see if this would be a Marathon.  After checking my watch, and writing down any important information from the Log, I went out to Old Faithful to enjoy the peace and quiet (until a coyote started yipping at the moon).  I could see Grotto's steam cloud in the moonlight at 2320 when I left the area to get some much needed shut eye.  
     On May 6th, the urge to see a geyser compelled me to be in the Upper Geyser Basin by 0520.  I watched Old Faithful at 0528 (a long) and viewed Grand from the path at 0554 i.e.  It was a brisk morning (32 degrees) and I finally decided to head out to confirm Grand.  Plume 0644, Aurum 0646, Old Faithful 0656 (a nice one) and I saw Kendall heading toward me as I approached Sawmill.  He told about the gooey bear track toward Grotto and that Grotto was in a Marathon.  I decided to avoid the area for a while and headed onto Geyser Hill.  (Kendall told me the last 5 Beehives had erupted between 1044 and 1215.)  At 0722 the bubblers at Beehive started.  Daisy 0725 ns, Oblong (viewed from Plume) at 0742 i.e., Old Faithful 0828 (L = long), and Plume 0907 (excellent height).  Lion was working toward its initial and a surge drew me away from Beehive.  It didn't erupt and I realized that no one was at Beehive so I inched my way between the two geysers.  After a couple of surges from Beehive, I noticed two steam clouds from the area and hurried back to Beehive.  Beehive Indicator 0930 n.s. and a shifty Beehive was observed at 0938 while I modeled my blue rain poncho.  The wind had been brisk all morning and I didn't want to tempt fate.  Aurum started at 0955, Old Faithful at 1003 n.s., Plume at 1006, and Steve E. radioed Daisy at 1029 i.e.  Lion finally had its initial eruption at 1058.  I headed for the other end of the basin hoping that the bear had left the area.  Oblong erupted at 1141 (7 min. duration) and easily went wide and to the tops of the trees.  Riverside started at 1157 and I returned to wait for Grand.  There were Turbans at 1224, 1245, 1305, 1323, 1345 plus the one just before Grand's 1402 eruption (T2Q with a duration of ~10 minutes).  During our wait we noticed a spike of water over the tree tops from ?Grotto at 1304 and Grotto was off by 1313 when Steve E. checked it out.  Daisy was i.e. at 1346, West Triplet was at 1416, and Steve called an Aurum at 1422.  Oblong erupted at 1535 with a dur. of 6 min. and once again cleared the treetops on the hill behind.  I headed for Castle and Plume erupted at 1612, Depression at 1616 i.e.  I waited for Castle and was rewarded at 1617.  A meal awaited me at my vehicle, but I could only stay car gazing for a while before I headed back to Oblong at 1830.  Oblong erupted at 1924 (d=7  min.) and it was huge, wide, and well above the trees!  As I debated where to go at Giant, Kendall called Artemisia at 2020, Daisy was at 2030 n.s., and Grand was called at 2047.  (I was told it was a G2C by Paul.)  I continued to visit at Giant with Andrew B. and hoped that the Huge Oblong  was a good sign.  Kendall returned from Artemisia and I reminded him that he had offerred to bring down his 10,000,000 watt "sun" lamp.  As we waited for darkness to fall, we found ourselves eyeing the solid cloud line that had formed to the West of us.  The G.I.P. (Geyser Indicator Pool) was slowly rising and finally Bijou started to recover from the Marathon.  I was now wearing numerous clothing layers (wool socks, thermals, jeans, rain pants, a shirt, 2 layers of fleece, my down coat, rain coat, hood, and gloves).  Darkness was desending upon us, although the half moon gave us temporary hope until the storm clouds obliterated the moon.  Rain started to drizzle and then it became a steady patter.  The group of 4 only had one rain poncho, so they decided to leave.  Kendall, Curtis, and Andrew B. headed towards the trees and were apparently watching the G.I.P.  I threw my rain poncho on over everything and settled in to wait out the storm.  At 2207, I caught sight of Feather in the rain and after a minute of digging through my clothing layers for my radio, I made the Hot Period call.  "Feather is on, But... I don't have the time because my watch is buried!"  Andrew gave the time as 2208 (due to my delay in calling).  I heard voices approaching as I radioed that Feather's Satelite was also on.  The area got very steamy and we were finding it hard to see what was going on.  The steam parted for a moment and I radioed, "Mastiff 2 to 3 feet" (then steam hid Mastiff from our view, then it re-appeared with water to the height of the cone (then steam once again buried Mastiff).  This seemed to go on for an eternity with Mastiff occasionally popping into view only to hide and a couple of times the steam disappeared and Mastiff was gone only for the area to get very steamy again as Feather and Feather's Satelite got taller.  The group of 4 that left returned in time to see Mastiff 2 times the height of the cone.  Either just before or just after the start of Mastiff's eruption at 2217 I heard a loud noise and Andrew said that was Bijou was going to steam.  There was vertical surging in Giant (not tall at first, but it pulled my eyes away from Mastiff).  I radioed several times and then...."Giant"  ("what time is it Andrew"  "2220" "Giant 2220"  "with the sun"  (thank you Kendall for riding back to get your 10,000,000 watt light).  We were able to see all of Giant because the rain quit, and a breeze was gently blowing from the West.  I remember debating temporarily on whether to stand my ground and find out how heavy that first blast of Giant's water would be when it hit the cage, but that was never a problem.  This was the calmest eruption of Giant that I have ever been in.  After a few impulsive shouts of encouragement and approval, the group of 8 stood in awe as the roughly 190 to 200 foot column of water blasted skyward.  The low rumble from Giant seemed to envelope the area.  The "sun" showed us a different perspective of the big geyser as the steam cloud pushed additional stacks of steam upward.  The water fell from the sky to the ground in huge droplets that seemed to mock the rain storm that had occurred earlier.  Kendall gave the "sun" a break and we watched a darker Giant as it continued to chant.  Every so often he would light the area up either with his blue light (for a blue Giant) or turn the "sun" on again.  We watched in awe as Giant's water column changed its dimensions, as the water flowed off of the platform, and as the big geyser started to be squeezed by a Giant's hand.  The Giant log rolled under the "cage", forced there by the tremendous amount of water that landed on top of it.  The storm clouds slowly dispersed as the eruption continued and the moon gave us a beautiful show.  I do have to admit that I was greedy and hurried over to catch my 4th Oblong of the day.  It was in eruption at 2306 and ended at 2312.  I couldn't see much of it, but the thumps sounded wonderful and in the distance I could see Giant continuing to erupt with Kendal's light turning it blue occasionally.  I noted that I didn't see any more water at 2351 (but Kendall or Andrew may have a different ending time).  This wasn't the tallest eruption I've seen, but it was unique.  It was my first night eruption, although I was also able to enjoy it with "the sun", which reminded me of a Fan and Mortar eruption lit by Ralph F.'s sun.  This was also the calmest eruption that I'd ever witnessed.  Unfortunately I have no pictures, except the ones that are forever imprinted in my mind.  As I slowly returned to my vehicle via the jugwalk, I thought of how the day had gone.  (I also talked out loud hoping to convince any bears in the area that they should just head a different way.)  As I approached my vehicle, I noticed Lion erupting on the hill at 0009 and watched it for the next 5 minutes.  Old Faithful erupted at 0019 and I drove away, heading for bed, and some much needed rest.
     The rain returned during the night and my vehicle's windows were coated in frozen rain water.  At 0645 I watched my first Plume of the day.  I ate my breakfast in the warmth of my car as I watched the hill.  Plume 0744, Old Faithful 0805, Plume 0850, & Aurum 0851.  I stopped by the Visitor Center and noted a Fountain eruption in the Log book at 0758 i.e.  I headed for Geyser Hill to wait for Beehive.  This time I was going to be there for the water in the Indicator.  I radioed water in Beehive's Indicator at 0934.  Two minutes later Beehive's Ind. started at 0936 with Lion having its initial eruption at 0937 (but I didn't budge).  Beehive 0948!  I hurried to the southern side and got a Beehive/Plume dual at 0950.  Down basin, Scott was enjoying a huge Grotto Fountain that would last 29 minutes and a Rocket Major with no Grotto (although it did start later - briefly).  The Visitor Center radioed that Grand's overnight time was 0333E (electronic) and so I hurried back to my vehicle to park at the closed Lower Ham's Store.  West Triplet was i.e. at 1020 and we had Turban at 1041, 1101, 1120, and 1140 which included Grand (T1C).  The day had been partly cloudy, very breezy, and chilly, so I decided to head home early with another planned stop at Steamboat.  I wasn't impressed at all with the minors I observed and left the area after only 25 minutes of observation.  There was very little jetting from the south vent and even when it was concerted, water barely made it to the height of the base of the trees with a couple of exceptions.  
     Yes, it was a wonderful trip and I plan to be in again next weekend.  After all it is Mother's Day Weekend and I am a mother.  :o)  Hope to see more of you on the boardwalk.  Note:  I did finally see a bear as I drove between Madison and Norris.  It was a grizzly on a kill.  Madison Falls had lots of water flowing over them, and the Lower Yellowstone Falls were fascinating with the large patch of snow that was slowly breaking up.  All of my roads were dry, ice still covered all but the bays of Yellowstone Lake (although it looked like it was ready to break up), and the drive from Sylvan to the East Entrance is still torn up, and rough, but should be nice when the work is finally finished.  Go Giant!  

Kitt Barger     
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: </geyser-list/attachments/20060509/a69ab168/attachment.html>