[Geysers] Fan & Mortar 03:10 9/12

[Lynn Stephens]

Fan & Mortar erupted at 03:10 this morning (9/12), duration = 24 minutes, yes, only 24 minutes and we stayed through three dry steam rushes before declaring the duration.
 
Dean Lohrenz took the early shift, which started with an event cycle consisting of a Gold pause and Main Vent splashing about 1900 9/11.  
 
Graham Meech took the graveyard shift.  Graham started calling splashing in Main Vent about 02:05. (I was too busy putting on layers of clothing to note the exact time.)
 
Graham called a River Vent pause at 02:14, River back on at 02:17.  As I was biking down, Graham called another River Vent pause, with continued main vent, then Bottom Vent started a series of eruptions.  
 
The concluding River Vent turned on at 02:44, Gold at 02:46, Angle at 02:58, lock was called at 02:55, Main Vent started surging about 3:05, and Main Vent initiated the eruption at 03:10.  As usual for this summer, Upper Mortar waited about two minutes before joining into the eruption.
 
By then the moon was going down behind the ridge, but the viewing conditions were still good because there was almost no wind.  The benches were icy (Dean said the temperature dropped below freezing around midnight), as was my bicycle seat.  Thankfully the lack of wind made it possible for us to avoid getting wet.  Also, thankfully, the herd of bull bison that had been blocking the asphalt trail, road to the Inn parking lot, and part of the lower parking lot during the 1900 events cycle had moved into the meadow by 2030 and apparently stayed there.  During the events cycle and the eruption, we were seranaded by a bull elk down toward Artemisia who was doing a lot of bugling.  
 
This will probably be my one nighttime excursion into the Upper Basin since I'll be leaving next weekend.
 
Thanks again to Graham and Dean for babysitting the rock pile.
 
Lynn Stephens
 
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