[Geysers] Weekend Geyser report for 10/14 & 15 (Kitt B.)
barger
barger at tritel.net
Mon Oct 16 14:14:25 PDT 2006
Greetings!
Yellowstone called to me and I headed for the area Friday after preschool dismissed. I carefully made my way past the many herds of deer and elk both inside and outside the Park. I arrived at Old Faithful at 2015, deposited my bike, and went to check the Logbook at the Visitor Center. After I checked the Logbook, I drove over to Great Fountain and could tell it was post eruptive at 2115, so I turned in for the night.
Per Logbook: Aurum-1058; Lion-0958,1123 ie; Oblong-0926, 1338; West Triplet-1501; Daisy-0510E, 0845E, 1119ns, 1442ie; Grand-0658,1542, (2330E-added on 14th); Riverside-1400, Beehive-1234; and Castle-(1200E added 14th)
I returned to the Upper Basin and watched Plume at 0519. It was still quite dark, steamy down basin, & cold, so I drove to Great Fountain which was post eruptive again. I carefully drove through the fog and returned to the Upper Basin. Lion was ie at 0620 and Plume erupted at 0704 as I headed out on my bike. I found Oblong ie (in eruption) at 0706 and Daisy was ns (near start) at 0710. David Goldberg was in the cage with Jeff Cross doing a chilly vigil at Giant. David said that yesterday a solo Grotto Fountain had occurred at ~6 PM and Grotto finally erupted at ~9:30 PM (for 3 hours). At 0740, Giant had a 5 3/4 minute hot period with Feather, Feather Sat., S.W.V.'s, and Rust and very little from Mastiff (it did reach 1 1/2' briefly). Grotto Fountain was 0759 ie and Grotto started at 0809. Polly called a Plume at 0755 and JoAnn (an Interpretive Ranger) called Beehive's Indicator at 0837 ie. I pedalled my bike back from Grotto and saw Beehive (0847) from the overlook as KC and Julie hurried past Lion to watch most of Beehive's eruption from the Plume side. Plume erupted at 0848 and I noticed a steamcloud at 0852. Artemisia in eruption. Polly called a Hot Period at 0902, duration of 9 minutes. (This wasn't a strong hot period, even though it lasted for 9 minutes. Mastiff was mostly flat.) Aurum was called on the radio at 0933 and I called Riverside at 0934. We finally found out that Grand had erupted at 2330E (13th) and 0605E (14th). Daisy erupted at 1037, we had a 2 minute Giant hot period at 1037, and Oblong erupted at 1108. I returned to the car for lunch provisions, saw Plume at 1134, was given a Pink Cone time of 0938 ie, and was just getting ready to leave for Grand (predicted for 1220 to 1620) when Grand was called at 1219. (It was a one burst.) Plume-1232, West Triplet-1239 ie, Spa-1246 ie, Daisy-1340, Castle-1351 (MJR), and a Lion ini. was radioed at 1359 as I settled in to wait for another Oblong. Riverside erupted at 1602 and Oblong had a large eruption at 1605 (duration of 7 minutes). Daisy-1633, Plume-1646, and Lion-1654. I headed back to Great Fountain with one more glance to confirm that Grotto was still erupting (Marathon). I arrived at Great Fountain at 1715 to find it erupting very nicely. Visitors told me that it had been erupting for 1 to 1 1/2 hours already. I was surprised by this until a radio call confirmed the 1525 start time. MA radioed that Fountain erupted at 1335 for 32 minutes. Wild phase?! KC & Julie and later JoAnn arrived to enjoy some excellent bursts from Great Fountain. I enjoyed two blue bubbles during my viewing time. I saw White Dome erupt at 1755,1828, and 1902, before I finally left the area at 1925 (KC, Julie, and JoAnn left at the same time). It was time to head for Madison and some much needed sleep. I made a plan to check on Great Fountain Sunday morning to see if it was still in Wild Phase. (On the 15th I found out that Grand erupted again at 1838E Saturday evening.)
I woke up early and I'd say bright (but it was still dark at 0515), dressed and headed for the Upper Geyser Basin. Great Fountain was indeed in a wild phase as of 0608). White Dome-0610 ie and Pink Cone-0610 ie. Finally, sunrise was turning the sky pink and orange during the 0725ns Old Faithful eruption. I headed for Grotto and found it off at ~0730 with Variable Spring down 1", but I was pretty sure that Grotto was erupting when I had driven into the area at ~0630 (with a large steam cloud showing as viewed from the main road near Black Sand Basin). Daisy erupted at 0812 and I waited at Grand for one hour before West Triplet started at 0854 and Grand erupted at 0912 (T1C). The wind blew the steam north, so we were able to enjoy the sunlit morning eruption. The eruption melted the ice off the north end of Grand's boardwalks, making the return trip to Oblong much easier. Kelly had down loaded Grand's eruptions (with the laptop) and was able to update the sign, and also knew that the last eruption for Grand was 0059E and that Castle erupted at 0307E. I returned to Oblong which erupted at 1017 (not a huge eruption but it thumped the entire eruption) and Julie radioed her long awaited Depression at 1020. Riverside erupted at 1043 and I radioed the 1119 ie Daisy while I stood visiting with JoAnn at Artemisia. I finally saw a 30 sec. Atomizer minor at 1249. (The bison that was bedded down very close to the cones slept through the eruption.) A tour guide from West Yellowstone (sorry, I forgot his name) had told me that Bijou had started to spit before he left Giant, so I did the math and decided I should head back to Giant by ~1 PM. I made it back to the cage in time to set my pack down, say, "Hi" (to Polly) and then both David G. and Jeff C. said, "water". (Mastiff was rising.) After 1 minute with no radio call, I pulled out my radio and started calling. Julie and KC were at the Lower Hams (with their bikes hooked onto their car for the ride home). They took off on foot as soon as I radioed. Andrew B. also hoofed it for the cage. JoAnn was caught eating lunch and found that she can see Giant's steam cloud from the Government Area. The Giant Hot Period started at 1316 with Feather and then Feather Satelite joining in. Mastiff varied from 1' to 4' for most of the hot period. At one point I called that Mastiff was flat only to have it pop back up to 2+ feet. I was trying to sound calm, but I think my heart was jumping up and down with Mastiff. At ~1324 Mastiff started to get wider with occasional pulses above Giant's cone. I remember saying, "Mastiff to the height of the cone." "It's getting wider." "and higher" "and wider". David G. quietly said, "Mastiff is erupting" as I radioed, "Mastiff at 1326". By now we had Feather, Feather Satelite, Rust, (no Cave), South West Vents, and Turtle was ~ 4". Mastiff quit at 1328, but Giant's water continued to fill it's vast mouth, and after ~30 seconds Mastiff returned. First, the back vent pushed skyward and then, the left vent took off jetting at a steep angle toward Grotto. It continued to grow with the afternoon light shining on the water and a patch of blue sky behind Giant. The sprinters had watched Mastiff as they made their way from Grand's area to Giant and were finally arriving as Giant's waters started surging in slowly increasing pulses. Half the cone, three quarters, then filling, then over, and then the sound changed. "Giant at 1329!" "And it is AWESOME!" It wasn't a big eruption, but considering the very windy conditions for most of the day, and the sun coming and going, this smaller eruption was both timely and photogenic. The cage area stayed dry, which was good, because the winds we were having on Sunday would have easily caused anyone wet to be prone to hypothermia. Earlier I had talked with the West Yellowstone Guide and we had commented on how Giant was going to be 100 feet up and a 1,000 feet long. It was more like 500 feet long (the steam cloud that is). We briefly viewed Giant from afar as we enjoyed part of Oblong's eruption at 1353 ie. Polly had told me that just before the Giant hot period she had been observing Oblong and that it had seemed stuck, with its pool levels not rising or falling. Oblong's eruption was a fairly large, but we couldn't hear the thumps due to Giant. As Giant's eruption progressed, the blue sky patch started to shrink and was gone by the end of the eruption. (Giant's duration was radioed in by Jeff C. It was 96 minutes.) After Giant, I headed back and heard Jeff radio Beehive's Indicator at 1518 ie. I pedalled furiously trying to get to the overlook before it erupted. I was sending people in the direction of Beehive and had just settled on the benches, when Beehive erupted at 1524. I was so happy to get a Beehive, since I was sure it had erupted overnight due to how dead it looked Sunday morning. (I had figured I was only going to get the eruption I had seen on Saturday.) I loaded my bike as I watched a group of people trying to get into the Lower Ham's which closed for the year, as of noon. I drove up to down load any missed eruption times into the Logbook. Kelly called a 1600 ie Lion, I noticed Castle erupting through the trees in front of the Visitor Center at 1614 ie and Grand was at 1625 ns and Plume at 1626. I said my farewells and headed out with the skies over the basin completely clouded in and a wind whipping the area. You could smell the weather on the way. Even though I had today off, I decided to be safe and head for home. The drive through the lower loop to the East Entrance was uneventful, but the deer were out in full force near Wapiti. Hunting season had started and they were in large groups near the road. I managed to get all the way home without tangling with any of the deer, although I had several times that good brakes came in handy. Thanks for the great weekend Yellowstone. I am recharged and ready to work with the preschoolers some more. Well the rains/storm have finally made it to Worland as of 2:30 PM. Take care and hopefully I get another trip in before Yellowstone closes.
Sincerely,
Kitt Barger
PS - Since I radioed the hot period, I didn't get any photos until several minutes in to the eruption when I noticed Turtle had Power :o) and was erupting to 2 feet briefly. If anyone has some photos, especially of Mastiff that they would be willing to send me, I am more than willing to pay for them. Thanks! Go Giant!
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: </geyser-list/attachments/20061016/1be6be5b/attachment.html>
More information about the Geysers
mailing list