[Geysers] Trip report Oct 4-7, 2007

[Stephen J. Eide]

Greetings and Salutations,

I managed to make it to the park for a few days with my daughter
Michelle.  It was about freezing most of the time but the majority of
precipitation came as snow at night.

I guess I must admit, yes, I did miss the morning Giant eruption, I
slept in that morning and was just leaving the cabin when I heard the
report that Giant went overnight.  From others in the park (sorry, I
didn't get any names) it appears Grotto was in eruption the evening of
the 3rd (start time unknown) and on Oct 4th at 1130 Giant and Grotto
were dead, Variable spring was about 1.5 inches below overflow, and
Marathon pool was low.  The run off channels were steaming only
lightly.  Anyway, I timed it wrong watching Fountain that afternoon and
missed the recovery hot period which occurred about 1640, I was told
(again, I forgot to get names) that it lasted about eight minutes.  I
did watch the next hot period at about 1830 (sorry, I called it but
forget to record the exact time) and it was 2.5 minutes of just Feather,
SW vents, and weak overflow from a flat Mastiff.  Since sunset was 1900
we went in.  I know I should'a been up before light the next day, but I
wasn't and Giant again erupted without me.

I also admit I was the gazer on 10-4 that called Beehive.  At 1335 I
noticed water rising and falling every few seconds in the back of
Beehive indicator.  After a few minutes it dropped, and then at 1406 it
came back, first rising and falling, then overflowing but flat, then
pulsing, and finally Beehive Indicator at 1413 followed by Beehive at
1425.  Beehive's second indicator (or close to cone indicator) started
about 1419.  On 10-6 the close to cone vent was ie by 0800 and was still
going the morning of 10-7 when I left the upper basin with no Beehive as
of the time I left.

On the main hill, I did catch Bronze Spring overflowing several times,
it really didn't erupt, it just boiled heavy with strong overflow
followed by a drop to a few inches below overflow.  There is a geyser in
the area of Borah peak geyser or Bench geyser that is active and I also
remember seeing it in June and July earlier this year.  It is easiest to
see from Plume, just look towards Model and you can see it as an orange
stripe across the top of the ridge between Plume and Model.  It appears
to be erupting from deep in the ground and I have only seen a few inches
of spray to about a foot or two of spray from the vent.  I have no idea
what the duration or interval is, but it appears to be frequent.  GHG-8
or some other vent on the ridge above Scissors Spring was active on
10-6, erupting to a foot or two about every 40 minutes.  The small
spring just across the boardwalk from Scissors spring that used to come
out of the ground, curl around in about a two foot arc then drain into
another whole is now inactive with no overflow.  The little red hole in
GHG-3 is still active but during this visit I never saw it get to the 6
foot height it was doing in May to August, the best I saw was about 1-2
feet in height.  Uphill Geyser, the new geyser above the boardwalk in
GHG-3 area was active in June, July, and the vent has changed shape
since August but I believe it was dormant these four days in October as
there was snow around the vent.  The little snowglobe spring (or if you
wish snowglobe geyser) across the boardwalk from Pot of Gold and Heart
Spring has cleared itself of the sinter snowflakes.  It also appears to
have enlarged its vent, it is now about 1.5 inches by 2 inches or
perhaps a little larger.  Plume's intervals were variable, between 45
minutes to 80+ (I left the hill 80 minutes after seeing Plume to catch
Grand with no eruption as of the time I left).

Sawmill was in control of the Sawmill group every time I when by.  I saw
one eruption of Uncertain on 10-4 but it appears I didn't write the time
down.

The marker on Fan and Mortar was missing at 1130 on 10-4.  It was
replaced later that day.  Does anyone know when the last marker was
placed?

At Link there were remnants of an old marker in place in May, I forgot
to look during June, July, or August.  The old marker was gone (as were
the buffalo droppings) on 10-4 so I placed a new marker.  However, the
grass on the edge of the runoff channel was growing just fine, so if
Link did any major eruption this year it was not any time near October.

In the lower basin, Pebble Geyser was below overflow on 10-4, but was in
overflow on 10-5, 10-6, and 10-7.  The marker on Crack Geyser appears to
still be in place.  I did watch several times, but saw no eruption from
Gemini.  Other than that, I saw next to nothing on the firehole loop.

I only made it out to Fountain once, and it started erupting as we
walked up the boardwalk.  On that eruption Morning's Thief only boiled
to about a foot.

In Norris the east end of the Porcelain Basin was very active with
multiple steam vents on the valley floor and several active geysers on
the side and top of the eastern ridge of the basin.  Unfortunately I
don't know Norris well enough to name which features were active.
Congress pool is about a foot below overflow.  The Carnigie drill hole
was erupting up to three feet on a one to four second interval.
Constant was erupting, we watched a series of three eruptions.  Whatever
the feature that is west of Ledge that has been a major steam vent for
some time is still going strong.  The little vents of Glacial Melt
geyser, Cat's Eye Geyser, and Teal Blue Bubbler were all active to a few
inches.  That said, there was no evidence that a seasonal disturbance
was occuring.

Palpitator spring was palpitating with occasional short eruptions to one
to two feet.  Rubble continues to be dormant.  Corporal overflows and
boils, but no true eruption was seen.  Veteran only showed us minors.
Vixen was quiet, not a gurgle to be heard.  Pearl was active as were the
vents on the other side of the boardwalk.  It looks like Orby is active,
but we didn't watch for long and all we truely saw was a wet catch basin
for Orby.

When I first came up on Echinus on 10-5 at about 1645 the pool was about
a foot below overflow and the run off channel was wet and steaming.  The
water was slightly cloudy.  I watched as the pool slowly rose, it
reached overflow at 1740.  The overflowing pool would rise and fall
about a centimeter every 10 minutes.  On the third rise it just kept
coming up and Echinus erupted at 1813 for a duration of about four
minutes.  I am not good at estimating height, while most of the eruption
was in the 5-10 foot range there were bigger bursts to about two to
three times the height of the upper platform.  After the eruption it
took about five minutes for the pool to drop, then it immediately
started slowly rising again.  I came back the next evening to try to get
a closed interval but again arrived to a low pool with a steaming run
off channel at 1719.  First overflow occured at 1837.  I watched one
small rise in the pool at about 1846 and on the second rise Echinus
erupted at 1855, duration of about three and a half minutes.  The height
was about the same as the prevous eruption.  It took about eight or nine
minutes for the pool to complete its drop before starting its slow rise
this time.  Since sunset was at 1900 I left after the eruption was
over.  However, the bad news is that on 10-7 I tryed to get a closed
interval again and it appears Echinus had stopped erupting.  The pool
was in overflow at 1300 and stayed that way without eruption until I
left the area at 1500,  Three other differences were noted on 10-7.
First, the pool had only a slight rise and drop of a few millimeters,
not the bigger centimeter rise and drop noted on 10-5 and 10-6.  Second,
the water was much clearer.  Third, on 10-5 and 10-6 the vent in Echinus
close to the raised platforms was the most active.  On 10-7 the vent
farthest from the raised platforms was the most active.  I wonder,
Ralph, do you still have a monitor on Echinus?  Or would the flow marker
in Tantalus creek show the Echinus eruptions?  From the weak data I
have, it appears that when it was erupting the interval may have been
about two hours.  Maybe someone can get more data before the park
closes.

I think that is about all, if I forgot anything I will send it later.

Stephen Eide