[Geysers] Upper Geyser Basin, 01/16/10 (Giant!)

[Karen Low]

I tried to get out a bit earlier this morning, even though the temperature was still in the single digits.

Tardy was ie at 910.  Penta had erupted within the past couple of hours, there was still liquid water in the runoff channel.  I kicked snow off the boardwalk to serve as a marker.  Grand had erupted not too long before (I guess I should have gotten out even earlier!); Vent was still in steam phase.  The runoff channel by Topsoil Spring had the prettiest delicate lace like ice extending from both sides.

Beauty was still overflowing, Chromatic not overflowing, and the water was lower in the morning than when I went by later around midday.

As I approached the Giant platform, I noticed that Bijou was not on!  At first I thought that it had at least had a hot period, which was pretty exciting.  There was also a lot less snow and ice around than there had been three days before.  There were pools of water up by the Southwest Vents.  On the boardwalk, the snow underfoot had been turned to ice.  I called Tara Cross, to let her know.  At first, I hadn't even noticed that the Giant sign was missing, because there were four signs in a row, but after I did notice, I looked around, and it was under the boardwalk!  Hooray!  Giant erupted!  After getting off the phone with Tara, I called the Visitor Center, and Steve Ballou had already noticed it while doing predict.  Later, while I was down basin by Riverside and Fan & Mortar, one of the interp rangers came back out, and replaced the Giant sign, and updated the last eruption board.

Riverside was in overflow when I got down there ~945, but it must have just, started overflowing; it erupted at 1143.  The marker was still on Fan and Mortar.  River Vent seemed to be off more than on, and I saw a lot from Angle, but not much from anything else.  It was very steamy and foggy this morning.  

Grotto did a short eruption.  It was on by 1005 (I'd walked up that way to check because I thought there might be a bit more steam through the fog cloud), and there were a few splashes from South Grotto Fountain.

Graham Meech (who got into Faithful just this morning) called Plume at 1136.  We passed by each other as he was headed to Fan & Mortar, and I was headed up basin.

I saw Plume at 1236.  Graham called Oblong 1227ie.  Little Squirt was ie 1240.

Non geyser stuff: Goose tracks and wing prints (I like wing prints) by Wave Spring, bison tracks throughout the basin, coyotes yipping, coyote tracks, geese taking flight from the Chain Lakes, a dipper flying above the Firehole River, squirrel tracks, goldeneye ducks flying overhead, I heard bird song by Fan & Mortar, but couldn't locate or identify it, I saw a trout from the Oblong Bridge.

Karen Low



      
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