[Geysers] Geyser Report 7/11/09

[Joeerg at aol.com]

This time we actually have something interesting to report.
We went downbasin today to see Riverside and maybe Grand, but Grand was way 
early in its window so after Riverside, I suggested we check out Fan and 
Mortar.  Main reason for my doing this, because I thought it was too early 
since the last one, was to finally sit down with this geyser in front of me 
along with the book so I could get a grip on what all of this arcane lingo is 
about.  When we got there, it was deader than...whatever...so I got Joe 
involved in reading Geysers of Yell with me and piecing together where all of 
these various vents must be.  This took some time and also argument.  Finally 
we decided upon what was what (I won) and as I watched, I began to notice 
that it sure was starting to look like a cycle.  We'd only seen a little steam, 
but then we saw that bottom vent and later, lower Mortar were both 
beginning to splash a bit.  The energy shift between the 2 geysers began to seem 
very clear as I watched M stop and the activity in F pick up.  Finally, we saw 
some splashing in Main Vent.
We continued arguing about the significance of all this, with one of us an 
optimist and the other one, hungry, while the Mortar activitity started 
really picking up and turning into an eruption.
Still, we weren't able to determine whether (from the book description) 
this was really the start of something or just background noise.  The deciding 
thing was whether the Fan vents started doing anything, and to this point 
they had not, other than a little steam.  I started reluctantly picking up 
stuff to go, while looking over my shoulder with a continuing nagging feeling 
that this was "something."  Luckily for us, incredibly, along came a guy who 
knew something, named Dean, who asked us whether we were aware that this was 
an event cycle.  I told him that I was reasonably sure that was a 
possibility, he quizzed me about whether we had a radio (we do, but it is a little 
walkie talkie) and whether I was planning to call it.  I told him the reality; 
that I would hate to call wolf, I thought it was something and certainly, 
if Gold and Angle had gotten to the level that they obtained after he 
arrived, of course I would have called it.  After he arrived, the activity in Gold, 
Angle and High all picked up and looked really promising for a second.  
Meanwhile, Dean answered all our questions and confirmed what we had id'ed as 
the vents (we got 100%).  Along with this, he gave us all kinds of 
information about what he was looking at in terms of water levels, etc.  The 
excitement died down, though, and again, he told us why he was calling it.
So thank you so much, Dean, for all of that.  This was just great!  Of 
course, I'd still like to witness an eruption.  And certainly, if I'd seen 
activity out of the top vents in Fan, I'd have worked out to make a call.
More than anything, now I understand a little about what's so compelling 
about this geyser..
Deb Stahl



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