[Geysers] July 26 Fan & Mortar

[Polly Panos]

When I arrived at Fan & Mortar at about 6:30 a.m. on July 26, the Bottom Vent channel was almost completely dry, so I knew that there had not been a good event cycle recently.

At 0917, there was a single splash (wide but only 1-2 inches high) in Main Vent.  That cycle completed quickly, with River, High, & Gold coming on a couple of minutes later and Angle a few minutes after that.
(A curious note - before the July 22 eruption, something similar happened about 3 hours before the eruption.  On that day, though, the single Main Vent splash was large.)

The cycle before the event cycle was short and disorganized, with Angle playing intermittently.

At 1114, River, High, Gold, and Angle turned off
     1116  Bottom Vent began spritzing lightly, Main Vent began to steam
   ~1120  Main Vent began roaring
     1123  Bottom Vent spritzing improves
     *1125  5 or 6 drops of water visible in Main Vent
     1128  Bottom Vent & Lower Mortar began alternating - spritzing more than splashing - not strong
     1129  Main Vent splashing begins  (From here on out, we had splashing throughout most of the cycle.)
     1134  Lower Mortar improves
     *1137  River Vent on
     1139  Good splash in Main Vent
     *1144  River Vent pause
     *1152  River Vent back on
     1154  Bottom Vent stronger
     *1205  2nd River Vent pause
     1208 & 09  Solid Main Vent splashes
     *1215  River Vent on weakly
     *1221  River Vent became strong & High turns on
     *1224  Gold
     1226  Angle
Water levels were very strong in the vents.  At about 1234  they were in a lock.  Angle turned to steam.  Main Vent gave a couple of large splashes, but East Vent won and got the start at 12:40!  The wind was blowing away from the boardwalk, so many of us stayed dry without trying to.  My recollection is that Lower Mortar played for a short time soon after the start, and then Upper Mortar  played later in the eruption.  (I didn't take notes at this point!)  The duration was 37 minutes.

A couple of other notes:
  It was difficult to determine when River turned on and off, so we relied on visible steam coming out of the vent, as seen from the bridge.
  We had almost continuous splashing in Main Vent at some points.  These were small, with just a little water.  We had a few solid splashes in Main Vent during the cycle, but no "gully washers" until close to eruption time. 
  Bottom Vent wasn't as strong as it was during the cycle on the 22nd, when we had a lengthy full eruption.
  On both the 22nd and the 26, Angle played between cycles in the hours before the events began.

Hopefully the fun will continue!
Polly Panos