[Geysers] Geyser Report 7/9

[Ben Hoppe]

All times, unless otherwise noted, are from Thursday, July 9.

I will start with the most interesting news of the day - Beehive. It
is interesting on multiple levels, so I will go in chronological
order. Before the Indicator came on in the morning, Kitt reported
seeing spitting in the Indicator on the sides of the vent before it
actually filled with water. Beehive's Indicator was 0835 with Beehive
following at 0856. I don't have the time for the previous night's
eruption, but I was told that the interval was right about 10.5 hours.
Think that's interesting? Read on. After returning to the Upper Basin
at about 1700, Kitt came up to my family and I and said, "I've got
some bad news. There was a 3-minute mid-cycle false indicator at
1549." That's right. A false indicator 1549. Interested yet? Keep
reading...
My sister, Sara, and I went to the Lodge cafeteria for dinner. We were
preparing to leave the dining area, and I had just put my jacket on
when I heard the VC ask, "How long has Beehive's Indicator been
erupting?" I had not heard the Indicator call at 1821, thankfully, it
was 1824. So we trudged up to the Hill and waited for Beehive,
extremely leery about whether or not Beehive would erupt with the
Indicator. Remember, Beehive had erupted just 9.5 hours earlier. So we
waited for Beehive. 10 minutes into the Indicator, I was still
hopeful. 15 minutes into the Indicator, I was starting to get worried.
20 minutes into the Indicator, there had hardly been any surging of
any significance in Beehive. At 22 minutes, Beehive gave a nice large
HEAVE, only to not erupt. So we waited... 25 minutes in, more doubtful
that it was going to erupt than ever. 30 minutes in, I had pretty much
written it off as well as many others. At about 31 minutes into the
Indicator, Beehive started pushing once more. It was like the
finishing kick of a race, it was trying to kick it in but had so
little energy. Finally at 1853, after a 32 minute Indicator, Beehive
erupted. The eruption was nice, but the general consensus was that the
duration was 30-60 seconds shorter than normal. Still, when it made
that huge rush skyward, I heard a large sigh of relief from everyone
(I also gave one). Hopefully this is just post-Giantess mode, Giantess
was still well below overflow.

Other times for the day:
Aurum 1315.
Grotto at 0536ie (Same time for Grotto Fountain), and Grotto at 1151.
Lion was 1004ie, 1128, 1257.
Oblong was 0829ie.
Castle was 1111, I didn't write down whether it was a major or minor.
Daisy had intervals between 2 hours and 2 hours 20 minutes. Nice with no wind.
Plate was 1856ie.
Grand 1329.
Riverside was 1009 and 1616vr.
Plume's intervals were all around 60 minutes.

My parents, sister, and I made the hike to Fairy Falls/Imperial. As my
dad, Sara, and I made the short hike from Imperial to the lake on the
hillside behind Imperial, my mom stayed back to watch the geyser. She
said that it erupted for 3-4 minutes, paused for 20 seconds, erupted
for about 10 minutes, paused for another 20 seconds, then erupted
again for 3-4 minutes. By that time we had gotten back and were
leaving to head back towards Fairy Falls. It's still impressive. Some
spikes sent water to easily over 50 feet. It makes the 3.2 mile hike
to get there very worth it.

Tomorrow (7/10) I will be saying good bye to my family in the morning
and then probably heading to Mammoth for awhile. I'm hoping that I can
stop at Norris on the way back.

-Ben Hoppe



-- 
I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ
lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son
of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. - Galatians 2:20