[Geysers] Yellowstone June 23 (Stephens)

[Lynn Stephens]

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Last night (6/22) I as I was leaving the office at 1900, I noticed the adult sandhill cranes and their chick in the marshy area east of the Myriad Group.  I made an announcement on the radio and MaryBeth (Schwarz) and Kitt (Barger) joined me to watch the chick for awhile.  It has more than doubled in size since the last time I saw it.  Its head comes well above the adults' knees.  We watched the three of them feed for awhile.  Then one of the adults started flapping its wings and the chick would frantically try to flap its wings also, but had to run really really fast to keep up.  When both of the adults flapped their wings, the chick really had to pump its legs quickly to try to catch up.

 

MaryBeth and I went home, knowing that Beehive might erupt soon, but the wind and long day made us both decide to skip Beehive, which erupted at 19:45 (6/22).

 

I also skipped last night's Great Fountain (6/22, 2139, I = 13h05m).  Kitt told me I had missed an opportunity to use the NPS radio because a visitor locked his keys in the rental car.  Visitor #2 took locked out visitor back to Old Faithful to get help.  No law enforcement rangers were available, so they had to wait for YPSS to come out.

 

This morning I was awakened about 3:20 by a helicopter flying low over the government area.  I assume that meant someone was being medivaced out.

 

When I left at 0530, there was ice on my windshield and when I arrived at Great Fountain the boardwalk and benches were covered with ice.

 

As I was on my way to Great Fountain, I noticed a pair of adult sandhill cranes at Whiskey Flat marsh.  I stopped to watch and listen to them for awhile.  The hills reverberated with the echoes from the sandhill cranes calls.  I also watched and listened to several yellow-headed blackbirds.  Some ducks or geese flew in, but before I could identify them, they disappeared in the tall grasses of the marsh.

 

While I was waiting for Great Fountain, I was entertained by the sounds of a woodpecker drilling away on various snags.  I did my daily garbage pickup, timing it so I was at White Dome both for an eruption with a rainbow and to watch a coyote cross the road to go into the meadow to hunt breakfast.

 

Great Fountain erupted at 0922 today (6/23, of=87, p=0, I=11h43m).  It was a pretty eruption with the wind blowing the steam away from those of us who were sitting in a position to watch the waterfalls on the northeast side of the formation.

 

While I was at Great Fountain, people were talking about the baby animal (presumably a buffalo calf) that had been pushed into a hot pool on Geyser Hill by its mother yesterday (6/22).  I have not yet verified the information with NPS and don't know which spring/pool/geyser was involved.

 

I stopped at Till on my way back to the Upper Geyser Basin.  Till erupted at 12:00 (6/23, double interval 18h35m).  Thankfully, as soon as Till started, I came back to the Upper Basin.  As I came past Myriad Group, I saw the Beehive Indicator ie, pulled into the Inn parking lot, and made it to the overlook in time to watch Beehive's eruption (6/23, 12:16, I = 16h31m).  The wind was blowing the column of water across the boardwalk and those of us at the overlook got to watch people scatter and listen to them scream as the cold water droplets came down.  Kitt was dressed in her blue poncho and casually wandered through the water curtain as the eruption neared its end.

 

After Beehive I decided to investigate Artemisia/Atomizer.  When I arrived, Artemisia was about a foot below overflow, but Atomizer's cone was damp.  I heard MaryBeth call Grand at 1257, but was just getting my chair out, so didn't walk up to the top of the hill to watch the eruption.  Atomizer erupted at 1304 (6/23), a major eruption.  The only thing I can say about the eruption is that it was not a quick comeback major because Atomizer was not splashing when I arrived and did not splash prior to the start of the eruption.

 

On the way to and from Artemisia/Atomizer, I made a mental note of the large patch of gentian in bloom near Calthos Spring and a smaller patch in bloom near Mercury.  The lupine blossoms have started opening along the roadsides, turning the grass into a purple-blue haze.

 

The vehicle in Great Fountain's runoff channel is not the first instance of a vehicle in a thermal feature.  MaryBeth told me she has a picture of a vehicle in a thermal feature at West Thumb.  Marler reported this incident that occurred in 1949:  "One of the most interesting observations I have made relative to this spring was the careening of a small sedan and its landing upside down in the middle of [Sprite] spring.  The top was immersed in about one foot of water.  Four boys emerged from the sedan apparently none the worse for the experience."

 

Lynn Stephens

 

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