[Geysers] Geyser Report, 11/2/06

[Tara Cross]

The first day of my final visit to Yellowstone was cold (Bill W. reported an overnight low of -5 in West Yellowstone) but the sun was out most of the day until clouds began to move in during the afternoon.  The rest of the weekend does not look so good; they're predicting clouds, snow, and more cold temperatures into next week.

Now for geysers:

Plume erupted at 0848, 0946, 1048, and 1154 (after that, the Hill was not being watched).

After erupting at 0808 on 11/1, Beehive waited until 1152 to erupt today.  The bubblers were active when I arrived in the basin at 0700 and Beehive splashed periodically all morning.  Kitt called the Indicator at 1137ns, and during Beehive I could see the Close to Cone Indicator bubbling to 2-3 inches.

Castle had a major at 2246 on 11/1, and then a minor at 1139 on 11/2.  There had been no subsequent major as of 1720 when I left the basin.

Grand erupted at 2006E on 11/1 and 0435E and 1120ie on 11/2.  Rift was i.e. at 1134 and was still going nearly 2 hours later.

Oblong erupted at 2214ie on 11/1 and at 1135ie and 1557 on 11/2.

I somehow missed the Daisy that must have occurred between the eruptions at 0816 and 1328.

Riverside erupted at 2203ns on 11/1 and at 1110 and 1748ie on 11/2.

Marker still in place at Fan & Mortar; did not spend any time there.

Now for Giant:

Grotto marathoned from approximately 0600-2100 yesterday.  The recovery hot period was not observed; it was sometime overnight.

When I arrived at Giant this morning, there was evidence of a smallish hot period around 0715, and a somewhat larger hot period at some indeterminate time during the wee hours of the morning, as there was frozen water around the edges of India.

When I returned to the Giant area, there was a hot period in progress at 0816ie (d>2m).  I didn't see much because I was on the bike path, but when I checked the platform immediately after the hot period I found that India had been 60% covered.  After this, I sat at Grotto for a while watching South Grotto Fountain erupt every 12-13 minutes for 5-6 minutes.  Grotto was very quiet during this time, and I did not see any water in Grotto Fountain, though there was steamy water around it so it had been overflowing.  Based on the lack of water in Grotto's runoff channels, I believe that Grotto had not erupted since the end of the marathon.

I returned to Giant, where Bijou paused at 0907 and then at 0933, with a Giant hot period at 0937, d=1m48s, Feather and SW Vents only, no overflow from Mastiff.  When I got back to the Grotto area, South Grotto Fountain was having small splashes, and I noticed that Grotto Fountain was boiling to a few inches.  Then the Pressure Pool rose quickly and Grotto Fountain boiled to nearly 2 feet before dying down again around 0955.  After this, South Grotto Fountain resumed its eruptions.

At Giant, Bijou paused at 1028 and then at 1038, with a Giant hot period at 1040, d=2m47s.  This time Feather Satellite joined in 43 seconds after Feather and Mastiff had light overflow.  At the end of the hot period I turned towards Grotto and saw that Grotto Fountain was i.e. at 1044.  Grotto erupted at 1050, d=2h.

The next hot period was at 1153, d~6m.  Feather Satellite and Rust started 2 minutes after Feather, and Mastiff had moderate overflow, though it did not boil appreciably.

After this, Bijou came on in steam and Mastiff was having energetic depth charging.  The front vent was bursting to as much as 4-5 feet and the back vent was having sustained surges to 2-3 feet that dumped water onto the platform.  We were pretty encouraged by this behavior, but then things seemed to slow down.  There were bathtubs at ~1325, ~1440, and ~1550.  All included slight overflow from Feather and bipping in the SW Vents, but they got successively weaker, as did the activity in Bijou and Mastiff.

Giant finally had its hot period at 1652.  At first it looked very anemic, and Mastiff appeared to drop less than 2 minutes after Feather.  However, Mastiff came back up and Feather Satellite and Rust joined in about 3 1/2 minutes after Feather.  After that there was some steady surging in Mastiff to 2-4 feet, accompanied by heavy runoff that completely covered India.  Just when we were starting to get interested in the hot period, however, Feather began to weaken and Mastiff stopped surging.  The duration was 7m51s.

After this there were a couple more bathtubs, but the strong activity in Bijou and Mastiff did not resume.  Grotto Fountainw as at 1812ie and Grotto started at 1821.  No further hot periods had occurred as of 1945 when Jeff C. headed in for the evening.

Being as it is cold and starting to snow, and the activity at Giant had weakened, we're leaving Giant to its own devices tonight and hoping not to see rolled signs in the morning.

That's all the geyser news I have.  I haven't seen much wildlife in the basin so far; just a bald eagle and a group of 4 swans flying over Giant in the afternoon and a coyote on Geyser Hill as I hurried to Beehive.

--Tara Cross
fanandmortar at hotmail.com
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