[Geysers] Geyser report, October 30-November 2, 2008

[Tara Cross]

This report covers activity from October 30 through November 2, 2008.  Apologies for the delay.


Dome:  Active series began sometime overnight, Nov. 1-2, and was active all through the day on the 2nd and 3rd.

Little Squirt:  1438ie on Nov. 2.  It could have been active earlier that day, but with the persistent rain, I did not notice it until then.

Plume:  I didn't notice anything out of the ordinary.  Intervals were in the 55-70 minute range.

Beehive:  Erupted between 0700-0900 on the 30th, most likely around 0730.  It was not seen due to thick geyser fog.  On the 31st, Beehive erupted at 0846, Indicator at 0827.  Then Beehive erupted sometime before first light on Nov. 1st and 2nd.  Prior to Beehive's eruption on the 31st, all three back bubblers were active, and it looked like activity increased in the bubblers as well as the Close to Cone Indicator shortly before I saw water in Beehive's Indicator.  The Close to Cone Indicator was bubbling vigorously while the Indicator erupted, and then erupted to 6-8 inches during the first part of Beehive's eruption.

Depression:  Was seen at 1610ie on Nov. 1, and then called at 0909ie on the 2nd, for an interval of about 17 hours.  I don't know when the intervals shortened for Depression, but I did not see activity from North Dwarf during my visit.  Its small side vent, along with two other nearby vents, were sputtering to a few inches when I looked at the area.

Lion:  Had a series of at least 5 eruptions on Oct. 30.  I didn't get any initial-to-initial intervals thanks to the short daylight.

Aurum:  I don't know of any confirmed closed intervals, but it seemed that it was not yet in "winter mode"--there was circumstantial evidence of intervals in the 5-6 hour range.

Sawmill Group:  I saw several deep drains with splashing in Uncertain, but I only saw Uncertain erupt once, in concert with Sawmill at 1300ie on Nov. 1.  I was told that Crystal Spring was active in the weeks prior to closing, having palpitations in the main pool every few minutes accompanied by splashing in the side vents.  Apparently this activity had ended by Nov. 1.

Grand:  The visitor center was still using 8h45m as the midpoint of the 4-hour prediction window.  Intervals ranged from 7h20m to 10h49m.  Of the 5 eruptions that were seen, there were 4 with 1 burst and 1 with 2 bursts.  While I saw West Triplet several times and the Sputniks once (on the 31st), I never saw Rift--though someone else may have.

Oblong:  Some intervals were as short as about 4.5 hours, but others were 6.5 hours or longer.  The only closed interval I have in my notebook was ~5h29m on Oct. 30.

Giant:  More of the same.  I never saw any evidence of hot periods, though there were occasional Bijou pauses.

Grotto:  I wasn't paying close attention, but I never saw anything out of the ordinary.  Grotto was in marathon all day on Nov. 1 and again on Nov. 2--not the same eruption.

Daisy:  Appeared to be continuing with 2-2.5 hour intervals.

Riverside:  Continued as usual.

Fan & Mortar:  I spent some time there on the 30th, and felt that it was likely to erupt overnight based on the lack of event cycles all day and good water levels.  Unfortunately for us (though apparently not for Jens), it couldn't wait til morning.  I checked F&M several times on the 2nd but didn't see anything of interest.

Artemisia:  Erupted at 1405ie on Oct. 30, 1214ie on Oct. 31, and 1341ie on Nov. 1.  I didn't see a steam cloud on the 2nd, but I might have missed it due to clouds and rain.

Fountain:  I'm sure Steve Eide will have more details to report on Fountain, but it appears that intervals are still running in the 5.5-6.5 hour range.  They were consistent enough that it was not difficult to catch Fountain on triple or even quadruple intervals.  As before, Morning's Thief accompanied Fountain with 2-3 series of bursts starting within 90 seconds of the start of Fountain.

Kaleidoscope Group:  In my 3 visits to Fountain, I saw various activity in the Kaleidoscope area.  On Oct. 31, Drain was having frequent eruptions.  On Nov. 1, I saw Honeycomb.  On Nov. 2, Kaleidoscope was my last geyser of 2008, erupting as I was driving out of the park.


Some non-geyser notes:

As forecasted, the weather started nice and then got progressively worse over the weekend.  Thursday the 30th was a perfect October day, cold morning but sunny, warmish afternoon.  Friday and Saturday started with partial clouds in the morning, turning into cloudy afternoons with sporadic light rain.  Then Sunday was just plain rainy.  That, and an early Grand, made it an easy decision to leave the basin in the mid-afternoon and enjoy one last drive through the park.

I drove over to Canyon on 11/2 to check out the new, improved North Rim Drive.  The one-way drive has been reversed, so that the entrance (complete with a left turn lane) is off of the Grand Loop Road just south of Canyon Junction, and the exit is at Canyon Village near the campground entrance.  The first parking lot encountered is for the Brink of Lower Falls trail.  There is a two-way spur road to Inspiration Point.  I did not explore the trails, but the canyon rim and view points have been outfitted with new railings and rock work.

It was good to see the closing weekend gazers one last time before the long winter.  Until next year....


--Tara Cross
fanandmortar at hotmail.com

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