[Geysers] Geyser Report from Tara Cross

[Pat Snyder]

Another post from Tara.
Pat Snyder

I have returned from a 10-day trip to Yellowstone; I've already  
reported on Fan & Mortar, so this report will cover other geysers from  
June 24-July 3.

Upper Geyser Basin

Beehive was fairly well-behaved during my trip, with one notable  
exception, that being on the 26th when my backpack saw Beehive but I  
didn't because it erupted with no Indicator at the exact time that I  
needed to leave the Hill for a few minutes.  Grrr.  Eruptions while I  
was in the park were as follows:

June 24 @ 1444 (Ind 1428)
June 25 @ 0934 (Ind 0916)
June 26 @ 0325 electronic
June 26 @ 1637 (no Indicator)
June 27 @ 1126 (Ind 1110)
June 28 @ 1032 (Ind 1018)
June 29 @ 0858 (Ind 0841)
June 30 @ 0458 webcam
July 1 @ 0121 electronic
July 1 @ 1622 (Ind 1608)
July 2 @ 1106 (Ind 1050)
July 3 @ 0932 (Ind 0924)

On the days Beehive had its shortest intervals--13h12m on June 26 and  
15h01m on July 1--Beehive was having strong, consistent splashing for  
several hours before it erupted.  When intervals were longer, there  
could be a lull in splashing.  Water usually came up in the Indicator  
quite fast, though on the 3rd it rose and fell twice before finally  
filling for good.  That fill was followed by an Indicator lasting only  
8 minutes before Beehive; all other Indicators lasted 14-18 minutes  
prior to Beehive.  And then there was the no Indicator eruption.  No,  
I'm not bitter.

Depression wasn't faring any better when I was there than it had been  
since early June; there were only 3 daylight eruptions during my  
entire stay, so I felt fortunate to see one of them while I was  
waiting for Beehive on the morning of the 27th.  According to the  
electronic monitor, intervals ranged from 19-37 hours.

I had very good luck with Aurum, in spite of an interval range of 3  
1/2 to 11 1/2 hours; I saw it 4 times up close, including 3 walk-ups,  
which might equal my total for 2006-07 combined.  Aurum responded to a  
rain storm on the 30th by dropping under 4 hours immediately after--or  
maybe it was just happy that Donnie Grisso had arrived in the park.

In the Sawmill Group, Penta was seen on June 27, and on July 2 there  
were a series of Tardy cycles in the afternoon but Penta didn't erupt  
in daylight.  Uncertain was being seen fairly often, and I even caught  
an Uncertain-Sawmill dual after not seeing Uncertain at all for over 2  
years (one of the many casualties of spending too much time at Giant).

Grand appeared to have entered a mode in which it was being severely  
affected by eruptions of Rift.  I lost count of the times Rift had  
started near the beginning of Grand's window, and Grand would not  
erupt until some time had passed after the end of Rift.  At least  
twice while I was there, Grand came very close to having its longest  
interval of the season.  If this continues, the prediction window may  
need to be extended from 3 hours to 4.  I saw seven 1-burst eruptions  
and three 2-burst eruptions for an average of 1.3 (1.27 on the year so  
far, on pace for my lowest ever).

Eruptions from the group of vents between Grand and Rift were seen  
several times during my stay.  At least 3 vents in the area of the  
Sputniks would erupt muddy water for 1-2 minutes, then drop to a boil,  
and then drain again.  The best height I saw was maybe 1-2 feet.  The  
first report I know about of this activity was on the 25th; I saw them  
on the 1st, and they erupted on the 3rd also.  They seemed to erupt in  
conjunction with the start of West Triplet, sometimes around the time  
of Grand, sometimes not.

Daisy continued to have regular intervals around 2 hours.  The little  
cones would start sputtering 10-15 minutes before Daisy erupted.

Most of Oblong's intervals fell between 6 and 8 hours, but on July 2  
it erupted at 1126ie and then had not erupted again as of 2100.  It  
was still having very nice eruptions; I saw several from Grand and one  
from up close.

I spent zero time watching Giant.  Bijou was still on constantly  
except during Grotto marathons, and Mastiff was still having large  
depth charging.  Giant had occasional large surges that spilled water  
out onto the platform.

I also spent almost no time at Grotto, though I did try to cash in on  
a Rocket major once, only to leave 15 minutes too soon.  Dean Lohrenz  
saw a Rocket major start just 1 minute after Grotto on June 30; I  
don't know if that had been seen yet this year, but it did happen a  
few times in 2006-07.  As reported earlier, there were quite a few  
Grotto starts without Grotto Fountain, and I think there were only 3  
marathons while I was in the park.  The marathon that was in progress  
on July 2 resulted in some large eruptions of Spa--David Schwarz and I  
could see water over the trees as we watched from Grand that afternoon.

I've already reported on Fan & Mortar, but I neglected to mention that  
Heinrich Koenig observed some recovery behavior on the morning of July  
3.  He said that if he hadn't known F&M had already erupted, he would  
have stuck around because Bottom Vent was erupting vigorously and Main  
Vent was having large splashes, though it was obvious that the water  
level was low.

I did spend some time watching Avoca and the Silver Globes, but not  
enough to get a real sense of what is happening there.  David Schwarz  
reported that Avoca seemed to have its best eruptions during eruptions  
of Slit, which is intriguing.  I hope to spend more time there later  
this summer.  While I watched Avoca on July 2, I got consistent  
intervals of 7 minutes for Jewel.

Lower Geyser Basin

Great Fountain was having intervals in its usual range, but Lynn had  
changed her 30-minute prediction window once overflow started because  
overflows were often over 100 minutes; I think she said overflow could  
be up to 115 minutes.  She said she has not seen any superbursts since  
she arrived.

Logbridge is still active; Brian from Texas got a closed interval of  
45 minutes on the 28th.

Labial was having intervals of roughly 6 hours, but I always seemed to  
drive up right after it was done.  I don't know much about Pink Cone,  
partly because it kept erupting at unexpected times.

Fountain had recovered from its erratic intervals in May and was  
having extremely regular intervals, with most falling in the 6-7 hour  
range (Ralph's electronic data shows a range of 5h20m to 7h32m from  
June 24-29).  Fountain's eruptions were starting from a low pool--the  
water level was essentially invisible, though if you stood on the  
lower boardwalk you could see the rise of water just before the first  
splashes.  All 6 Fountain eruptions I saw included series of bursts  
from Morning's Thief starting 30-90 seconds after the beginning of  
Fountain.  It would have 2 to 4 sets of bursts, with 1 to 6 bursts in  
each set.  I would estimate the size of the bursts at 20-40 feet, and  
they were pretty wide too.  Jet was usually active before Fountain,  
having 5-11 minute intervals, but not always.  In two cases, I saw the  
first Jet eruption about 45 minutes before Fountain.  Spasm was also  
usually active before Fountain, but it would usually erupt for a few  
minutes and then drain again, and once it started after Fountain.   
Super Frying Pan was interesting; I saw it within 25 minutes before  
each Fountain eruption, sometimes as little as 4 minutes prior.  Steve  
Eide waited out the better part of a Fountain interval on July 2 and  
reported that Super Frying Pan was having intervals of roughly  
1h40m-2h40m, so it was having about 3 eruptions per Fountain interval.

I never spent prolonged time waiting at Fountain (it was so  
cooperative that my longest wait was about an hour), but I was still  
surprised at the lack of activity in the Kaleidoscope Group.  The only  
geysers I saw erupting were Honey's Vent, Firehose, and New Thing Far  
Left--and the latter was having long, erratic intervals with weak  
eruptions.  Steve Eide thought he might have seen Kaleidoscope once,  
or possibly Drain.

In the River Group, Brain Geyser was dormant, but Dark Pool was  
active.  I did not get any closed intervals on it, but Steve Eide  
reported intervals of under 20 minutes--I'll let him fill in the  
details.  The small feature next to Dark Pool that was thumping every  
10 minutes or so over the past few years did not perform for us in the  
20 minutes we were there.  I don't know if it was dormant or if  
perhaps it is only active when Dark Pool is not.

West Thumb Geyser Basin

I stopped to look at Lone Pine on the afternoon of the 25th and  
observed good bubbles for about 45 minutes before I had to move on.   
The eruption finally took place at 1646 electronic, so Lone Pine was  
bubbling for at least 4 hours prior to that eruption.  Based on the  
latest information from Ralph's download on Lone Pine, I decided to  
give Lone Pine another shot on the 27th and got lucky; Lone Pine  
bubbled for the 3 hours I was there, then had a beautiful evening  
eruption complete with a rainbow.  While I waited, I got intervals of  
31, 18, 31, 24, and 30 minutes for Occasional, which was only reaching  
3-4 feet high with its eruptions.  (We also got to see a couple from  
Utah try to cook a hot dog in the pool just south of Occasional.)

Non-Geyser Stuff

I had exceptionally good luck with wildlife on this trip.  On my drive  
up the east side of the park on the 25th, I saw a wolf in Hayden  
Valley and 2 black bears in Lamar Valley.  An otter came swimming by  
in Yellowstone Lake just before Lone Pine erupted on the 27th, and  
then we saw a mother grizzly with her 1-year-old cub at West Thumb  
Junction as we were driving back.  I saw two pairs of sandhill cranes  
in the Lower Basin, one in the meadow past Frolic Geyser and another  
that was frequently seen over several days at Hot Lake.  I saw a bald  
eagle along the Madison on the 28th, and then on the 2nd a trumpeter  
swan flew into the geyser basin while we waited for Beehive.  It hung  
out in the Firehole below Lion for a while, then flew across the  
meadow, past the Visitor Center, over the Lodge, and out of sight.  I  
had seen swans flying through the Upper Geyser Basin in the early and  
late season, but never in July.

The weather was overall some of the best I've ever experienced in late  
June.  It only rained on 3 out of 10 days, and only one of those  
storms lasted any length of time.  The rivers were still very high  
while I was there, but the meadows were starting to dry up, and by the  
1st of July the bugs--mosquitoes, deer flies, buffalo gnats, and no- 
see-ums--were out in force.  Mosquitoes were worst in the evening at  
places like Oblong, Grotto, Fountain, and Great Fountain, and I heard  
that they were bad at Narcissus as well.

I had a great time seeing so many friends in the park; I hope everyone  
had an enjoyable 4th of July weekend.

--Tara Cross
fanandmortar at hotmail.com

Use video conversation to talk face-to-face with Windows Live  
Messenger. Get started.
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: </geyser-list/attachments/20080705/8eafa68b/attachment.html>