[Geysers] West Thumb 6-18-09

[Snowmoon Imaging Services]

I decided today (June 18, 2009) to drive the extra 20 minutes past Old 
Faithful to West Thumb.  Last visit was on Sept 14, 2008 - and at that 
time, I made this trip report on my blog - http://snowmoon.us/blog/?p=464

My overall impression today was that most everything seemed murky and/or 
levels had changed.  

Percolating Spring was lower than last fall, which was low then.  Clear 
water...the little that you can still see.

Ledge is higher than last fall, but still has a ways to go to reach 
overflow.

Perforated Pool looks about the same as last fall - temperature wise and 
water level.  Clear.

Collapsing Pool is almost completely full, but murky.

King Geyser looked full and possibly in overflow (lots of steam, so hard 
to tell) , and bubbling up a few inches on the side closest to the 
boardwalk.

Surging Spring is higher than last fall, but still not in overflow. Clear.

What I've assumed is Thumb Geyser (see the blog post from last fall - if 
I'm wrong, I look forward to learning more - so please make corrections) 
- looked murky and much more full,  but not quite as full as I've sen it 
in the past few years.  

Ephedra/Ephydra's level had sunk a bit lower than last fall, and 
possibly had cooled some.

Blue Funnel looked virtually the same as last fall, the two springs near 
it (one or the other I assume is 'footprint') have me a bit stumped - 
the one farther away from the boardwalk looks virtually the same, but 
the one half under the boardwalk - I don't have a photo of it from last 
fall, so either I just missed it, or it wasn't as pronounced as it is now.

The nearly perfectly round feature next to the boardwalk, next to a 
railing not far from Blue Funnel dropped considerably since last fall.

Twin geyser was hardly even sending up any bubbles, but the water level 
was still up.

The paint pots were a lovely milky white - but the consistency of milk, 
but then again, it's still early in the season.

Bluebell & Seismograph Pools looked unchanged.

You could almost make out Fishing Cone and Lakeshore Geyser under the 
water - Big Cone bubbled barely above the level of the lake - and a good 
wind pushed water into it.

I also stood next to the feature someone questioned awhile back that's 
to the 'right' of Lakeside Spring (which also looked very murky and sent 
up bubbles all across it) for about an hour.  I posted a 2006/2008 
comparison in that blog post.  About every 5 minutes, the water rises in 
the crater and splashes for 20 seconds or so - sometimes higher, 
sometimes lower, but the splashes only reach up a few inches.  One 
'fill' almost reached overflow and it had a good 1 foot or so splash.  
It doesn't look like the crater changed any since last fall.  The clouds 
and rain got me moving on my way rather than waiting any longer, but my 
guess is that eventually it bubbles up a bit higher and overflows.

Janet White
SnowMoon Photography
http://snowmoon.us