[Geysers] Geyser Report September 21

[Lynn Stephens]

Items from the OFVC logbook

 

Castle 0438E major (0545ie steam), 1924 major

Daisy 0552ie, 0828, 1051, 1310, 1529ie, 1746

Daisy 0109E, 0332E, 0552E

Fountain 0708ie, 1302

Grand 0930, 1754

Great Fountain 1300 of = 72, p = 6

Riverside 0647ns, 1241, 1829

Beehive 0414ns, 1744 (IND = 1729)

Fan & Mortar 0942, d = 38 min

Lone Star 1230nsvr (major)

Plume 0845, 1122ie, 1450, 1718, 1951

Aurum 1426ie

Grotto 1909ns

Grotto Fountain 1908ie

Lion 1223ie

West Triplet 0641

Oblong 0733ie, 1152ie, 1655

Victory 0630ie, 0720ie, 1024, 1520

Rift 1607ie, end 1654

Little Brother active 1628, 1845

Flood 0705ie, 1831ie

Till 0921ie major, 1831 major

Labial 1311

 

I started the day in the office at 0400, then started out to Fan & Mortar at 0545.  Castle was in late steam phase at 0545, and Daisy was ie at 0552.  As I biked past Square Spring, I noted there was water around Victory and it was overflowing, but I didn't notice any eruptive activity at that time.

 

Bottom Vent's runoff channel was wet when I arrived at F&M, the marker was in place, and High, Gold and angle were all on.  I watched a few minutes, then started back to the parking lot.  Victory was erupting about 6 inches high and the splashing activity wasn't very wide as I stopped for a moment to note the activity at 0630.  I did not notice the water level in Square Spring on either the trip down or the trip back.

 

I didn't stick around to make announcements at the time of the 0700 report because I had an internal time table on getting to West by 0745 so I could unload stuff at MaryBeth's duplex, and make a stop at the West Yellowstone information center to buy my lifetime annual pass and register to show some photos at the "Yellowstone Photography" night on September 30, and be at the vet's office by 08:30.

 

As I was making my first trip of the day to West Yellowstone, I noted the barricades were still up in the meadow south of the Steel Bridge, the carcass was still in place, and the "long lens" photographers were already lined up with their tripods, cameras, chairs, and other items they were going to need for a long watch--just like geyser gazers only with slightly different equipment.  

 

Fountain was ie at 0708.

 

After unloading and taking care of the annual pass and registration, I was (im)patiently waiting outside the vet's office at 08:25.  When the door opened, I had to wait a few moments for the appointment book to arrive, then learned I would have to return at 2:15 p.m.  I briefly debated driving to Bozeman, but decided to go back into the Park instead, load the spare bike and a couple other things into the pickup for the second trip of the day to West Yellowstone, and maybe watch a few geysers.

 

The return trip was agonizingly slow.  There were no actual animal jams but every photographer seemed to be going 25 miles per hour, looking around to see if there was any wildlife worth stopping for.  As I passed Till, I noted it was ie at 0921, a major.  Two NPS people were examining the bison carcass, cutting it up, and dragging parts of it up the hill.  Thankfully I didn't stop to get the end of the Till major and didn't stop to watch the dispersal operation.

 

As I neared Biscuit Basin I heard Jim S. on the FRS radio saying, "It's crackle, crackle minutes into Gold and the water levels are looking good, crackle, crackle, crackle, very good."  As I pulled into the parking lot, he said, "Water levels are getting better."  I fumbled around in the pickup trying to find the digital camera without disturbing Cocoa too much, but as I heard Jim say something about "They're getting steady," I decided photos of the rainbows would have to be mental ones instead, didn't take time to dig the poncho our of the pack, just hopped on the bike, and started furiously pedaling toward Fan & Mortar.

 

Jim called a lock at 0937 as I passed Grotto so I relaxed knowing I could arrive at the bridge before F&M started.  In fact, I had time to park my bike, walk over to the boardwalk to let people know I had arrived (some were calculating whether there would be time for me to make it back, knowing I have planned to be at the vet's door at 08:30), catch my breath, learn the gazers had been at Victory watching it when Darrell Scharf biked down to use the facilities, saw "white water" in Main Vent and alerted everyone that something was happening at F&M, that Bottom Vent was just spitting, and River Vent turned on at either 0908 or 0909 and Gold at 0917, then listen to people agonize over whether the lock would fail since they had had two splashes from Main Vent before I arrived and High and Gold would temporarily wane in activity.  At 0942 East Vent took off, followed shortly thereafter by Main Vent and Mortar.  I don't know whether the lucky osprey was around Fan & Mortar before or during the event cycle, but I did note one fly by overhead at 0952.

 

A few moments after East Vent took off I'm on my cell phone, leaving a voice mail message, "Happy Birthday to me, Happy Birthday to me, Fan & Mortar with rainbows, This I got to see."  To add to the obnoxious gazer behavior, Barbara Lassiter pinned a singing happy birthday button on my hat so everyone who hadn't heard my silly doggerel on the phone was also informed that I was celebrating.  (I didn't think to use the cell phone to take a picture of a rainbow in F&M's eruption, although I did use it to capture a picture of Victory later this morning.)

 

The wind direction wasn't as favorable as it been for most of the recent eruptions, so people had to choose whether to see Mortar or Fan, and most of us got a little wet regardless of where we had positioned ourselves.  But we had beautiful rainbows.  If I'd been thinking, I could have pulled out the cell phone to take a picture or two, but instead I just basked in the beauty of the eruption.

 

Steve Bezore and his friend Al had intended to leave early this morning, but the news about Victory kept them from departing on time, and they got to see their third F&M eruption of the week.  Diane Robinson arrived this morning, so her first major geyser of her trip was F&M.  Jim S. is leaving either Tuesday or Wednesday, so he will depart with 10 F&M eruptions this season.  

 

MaryBeth had gotten a carrot cake for a birthday celebration at the DNBS picnic tables, but we turned it into a triple celebration instead.  As I was making a spectacle of myself congratulating myself on a birthday Fan & Mortar with rainbows, Lotus Baker announced that September 21 is also their anniversary.  So another piece of doggerel was developed:

   "Keith and Lotus were wed, They had great years ahead, Thirty-five years together, Congratulations we said."

 

After carrot cake, most of us dispersed.  Steve and Al headed to home.  Keith and Lotus went back to Victory.  I loaded the bike of many colors plus a few other items to take to West Yellowstone, then went to Great Fountain.  When I arrived, Maureen informed me Great Fountain had just started overflow, so I called in a prediction with a midpoint of 1305.  Dan and Stephanie Hatfield elected to join Barbara Lassiter at Fountain, which erupted at 1302.  The rest of us stayed at Great Fountain, including MaryBeth.

 

Great Fountain rewarded us with a superb burst--a breathtaking spike about 170 feet into the air throwing crystal bubbles of water into the sunlight that seemed to have an interminably long hang time on the way down.  It wasn't a super burst; it wasn't a massive volume of water and it didn't put down overflow 3-4" deep in the runoff channel, but it was beautiful.

 

I left shortly thereafter to return to West Yellowstone to unload items, then spend 45 minutes with Cocoa at the vet's office.  

 

On the way out to West this afternoon I noticed the "long lens" were getting some good shots of a bull elk chasing a cow, trying to mount her, but she wasn't standing still for that.  On the way back I noticed the bison carcass had been dispersed and the entrance to Steel Bridge and the Fairy Falls trailhead were still open.

 

As I was coming past Three Sisters, I noticed two people way off the road on the edge of the South Sister.  Their vehicle was parked next to the small post with the "Danger, Do Not Enter" sign on it.  When I called them back to the road, they said they hadn't seen any sign.  She practically would have stepped on it as she exited the vehicle, but I guess she didn't read it.  When I explained that all thermal areas were closed except where there was a boardwalk or maintained trail, she replied that she had seen the sign with the name "Three Sisters" on it and assumed that meant they could visit it since anything that had a name sign was something they should be able to see.  I've heard a lot of excuses from visitors, but that's a new one to add to the repertoire.

 

Lynn Stephens

 

 
 		 	   		  
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