[Geysers] Geyser Report September 22

[Lynn Stephens]

Items from the Old Faithful logbook

 

Castle 0937 major

Daisy 0851, 1333ie

Daisy 0113E, 0346E, 0615E

Clepsydra pause 1431ie to 1433

Grand 0422E, 1330 (3B)

Great Fountain 1040ie

Riverside 0659ns, 1253ie, 1839

Beehive 0921 (Ind = 0921)

Lone Star 0945 vr (major, 1240vr

Plume 0806, 0919, 1030, 1522

 

Grotto 1823

Grotto Fountain 1821 d = 8 min

South Grotto Fountain 1826

Lion 1445ie

Sawmill 0619ie (end 0643) not ie 1925

Rift  0626iene

Oblong 0739ie, 1158ns, 1722ie

Victory 1837 d = 40 min

Till 1410 major 

Flood 1037ie

Logbridge 1042ie

Narcissus 1042ie

White Dome 1044

Honeycomb 1432ie

 

According to one weatherman, the high pressure dominating the area will continue to give us cold, starry nights, crisp mornings, and sun and blue sky during the day for the next several days.  This morning it was cold enough that my fingers were tingling so I kept my gloves on while I was cooking breakfast from the back of the pickup.

 

As I was gingerly walking along the icy jugwalk by Old Faithful to get to Geyser Hill this morning, I first noticed a man having fun deliberately taking a run and then sliding on the jugwalk.  I continued with my tiny, baby steps.  A man passed me on my right, walking much faster than I was going, but he had wisely stepped off the jugwalk and was walking on the sinter on the Lodge side of the jugwalk.  Just as I was approaching the relative safety of the boardwalk, I man passed me going the opposite direction, looked at me and asked, "Are you OK?"  I replied I was just taking it very slow and easy because I had no intentions of falling.

 

Once I got off the jugwalk, I began to enjoy the sights of the morning and decided to take a stroll around the hill since Dan Hatfield was peering intently into Beehive's Indicator and would alert the gazers via the radio when it started.  I started taking pictures of Escher type patterns in the bacteria/algae beds.  Jim S. jokingly commented, "How come you're using your camera instead of your phone?"  Rainbows in Plume, ice in the various runoff channels on Geyser Hill, sunlight reaching the multi-colored wild rose bushes and a squirrel running across the path with a pine cone in its mouth kept me entertained.  I had a brief conversation with a couple from England about squirrels.  They informed me they basically had only gray squirrels (the ones with the big bushy tails).  Their gray squirrels are much larger than the squirrels they were seeing here.  Their gray squirrels are also quite aggressive and have killed off most of the red squirrels.

 

There were rainbows in Beehive and then again in Plume.  A woman I had stopped for Beehive's eruption who had followed me to get rainbows asked if rainbows always occurred near the end of a geyser's eruption.  I explained that rainbows were a function of getting yourself between the sun and the water and that Plume's rainbows were near the end of the burst because it took that long for the water droplets to coalesce sufficiently for the rainbow to form.  Wouldn't it be nice if her idea were true however--rainbows in every eruption of every geyser!

 

While I was waiting at the Steel Bridge for Till, I noticed a bald eagle flying past.  A few minutes later a woman approached my pickup, then said she had noticed my license plate and wondered if I was familiar with the area.  False modesty has no part of my Yellowstone experience, so I replied "Yes."  She then very excitedly told me she had just seen two bald eagles and wasn't that marvelous.  I guess even those of us who don't have bald eagles living in our neighborhoods year round bcome accustomed to the sight of th bald eagles.  I note them, watch them if it is convenient, but don't make it a point to stop so I can watch them.  Her enthusiasm and excitement reminded me just how special the Yellowstone experience can be.

 

When I passed the Fairy Falls Trailhead this morning on my way to Great Fountain, which was already in eruption when I got there, I noticed there were no long lens lining the road watching the remains of the carcass.  At 1300 a park ranger removed the cones that were still on the west side of the road.  The two "bear management/closed area" signs were still in place when I left, but at least parking is no longer prohibited at the pullout.

 

Till erupted at 1410--a double interval of 19h39m, or an average of 9hr34.5m.  So much for the 9hr to 9h15m "regular" intervals it had been having.  

 

Maureen Edgerton watched Grand this afternoon (a three-burst eruption where the second wasn't really high but the third was truly huge), then went to Fountain.  I stopped at Whiskey Flats after Till to use the facilities, noting that the children's log cabin had been demolished, before going to Fountain.  As we walked up, I could see that Clepsydra was in a pause, and we both saw water surrounding Fountain's crater, so knew that we had missed it.

 

One more new toy story--I discovered today that the phone vibrates, or as Kitt says, "makes the pant's pocket dance" when I've missed a call because I wasn't in a service area.  Thanks for trying to reach me MaryBeth, but Till doesn't have cell phone service either.

 

As I indicated in my report on Victory Geyser, I spent the rest of the afternoon and early evening at Victory.  

 

About 6 pm or so, Jerry and Pat from the DNBS joined me in my sit.  They had overheard some of the gazers talking about Victory and came out to see if they could watch it.  A woman had biked down, saw me sitting at Victory, and said, "It looks like it won't erupt in the next 20 minutes."  About three times I asked her, "Which won't erupt?" before I changed my question to "Are you talking about Riverside or Victory?"  She was talking about Riverside, but was interested in information about Victory also and said she had heard about the nice lady with the embroidery.

 

When Grotto Fountain started, the woman on the bicycle was at Riverside, so I yelled "Grotto Fountain" to get her attention.  This brought the entire Riverside crowd (about 15 people) over for Grotto Fountain and Grotto.  After Grotto Fountain ended at 1829, I went back to Victory.  When Victory started at 1837 I yelled, "Victory" and not just Pat and Jerry and the woman on the bicycle, but some of the Riverside crowd, most of which was still at Grotto, came running down to look at a 3 foot geyser.  When Riverside started at 1839 I lamented the fact I couldn't see the rainbow in it, but Pat and Jerry and I all decided a "rare" 3 foot geyser took precedence over Riverside because we could always catch rainbows in it another day but didn't know whether we'd ever see Victory again.

 

Overheard while waiting for Victory:

    Cell phone conversation where woman walking down the path was requesting, and presumably receiving, a rundown on last night's Dancing with the Stars episode.

 

     Hmmm--Being here in the park with no TV, I had forgotten it's about time for a new TV season to start.  By the time I get home we'll probably be in reruns already.

 

    Young girl saying to her parents, "What if he got eaten by a geyser?"

    Father's reply, "Well, we'll hear it on the news."

 

    Hmmm--Interesting, I wonder what the news will emphasize--The fact that he disappeared, or the fact that a geyser can eat.

 

Also, while waiting for Victory, I watched a man sit down on the asphalt, then go prone.  As he stayed there for a few minutes, I decided I'd better go over to see if he needed any assistance.  He replied he didn't, that he just needed to rest, and the last time he had been here, 20 years ago in 1988 before the fires got going, he KNEW he had driven to Morning Glory because he remembered seeing Riverside with his kids and KNEW he couldn't have walked that far so the road must still have been open then.  Well, I KNOW I was walking/biking the asphalt trail in 1988, and years before that also, but didn't pursue the issue since he didn't appear inclined to listen to me.

 

At 1901 I noted the lucky osprey flying by.  By then I was hoping Victory would end soon because I didn't have a flashlight with me and it was getting near dusk.  victory ended at 1917, for a duration of 40 minutes.  As I reached the parking lot, I noted the sunset was a delicate pink with a few wisps of clouds to make the sky colorful.  The crescent moon low on the southwestern horizon stood out against the pale lilac sky.  An elk bugling completed the day.

 

More departures today--Keith and Lotus ended their September stay and left this morning after breakfast.  While waiting for Beehive, Jim S. told me today was his last day in.  Keith helped MaryBeth load Trixie into the Suburban and MaryBeth moved out to the duplex in West in preparation for her trip home to Texas.  I'll have to remember to leave the trailer porch light on all the time since she won't be there now to turn it on if I don't get back before dark.  I'll sure miss having several sets of eyes in the basin, radio calls of geyser times, MaryBeth and Jim's entries in the logbook, and most of all the companionship.  Cocoa will be the only one at the trailer getting an earful when I vent about some of the day's happenings.

 

Lynn Stephens

 

 

 

 
 		 	   		  
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