[Geysers] Opening weekend

[Polly Panos]

Hello everyone!
   Here are the geyser times that I have from opening weekend.  Thanks to others in the basin who also called times.  I tried to check with the webcam reports so that there aren't too many repeats.

Friday, April 15:
   Aurum ~0900, 1257
   Plume 0927ie, 1031ie, 1130, 1229, (webcam time of 1349ie), 1446, 1550, 1750
   Beehive 1308  Ind. 1255
   Terra Cotta 1610ie  (one vent)
   Churn 1002ie, 1021ns, 1616, 1654 
   Artemisia's steam cloud at 1704ie
   Castle 1836ie
   Oblong 1722ie  It had some very high bursts for part of the eruption.  One was the height of the dead tree that was in my line of sight from Grand.
   Grotto 1007ie  It appeared to be ie most of the day (via steam cloud).
   Bulger was active.  I did see different sizes of eruptions during my visit - some were short in height and in duration.  Others were longer and higher.  
   Tardy was in control during my visit.  In fact, I only saw Sawmill for a short period on Sunday.
   At about 9:00 a.m., Tom from West Yellowstone walked down to Fan & Mortar.  He said that he watched it for about 10 minutes and that everything was quiet.  He said that he didn't even hear any water sounds from the vents.  The rangers replaced the marker at about 10:00(but it had been some time since the last marker was placed.)

Saturday, April 16
   Castle 0829 major, 2300e
   Plume 0850, 0954, 1056, 1203, 1303, 1358
   Grand 0129e, 1221 T2Q
   Churn 1114ie
   West Triplet 1122ie (off before 1137), 1331ie
   Daisy 1211
   Riverside 1214ie
   Oblong 1230ie, 1642ie
   Beehive 1432 Ind. 1418
   Aurum 1449ie
   Grotto 1501ie
   Rocket Major 1745
   Fountain 1152, 1807 d=30

Sunday, April 17
   0803ie Grotto - it may have been near the start
   Dome 0813ie, 1215ie
   Daisy 1110ie
   Riverside 1114ie
   Grand 0514e, 1324 G1C  West Triplet was full & overflowing before Grand, but it did not erupt while I was there.  The duration of Grand was on the short side - about 9 1/2 - 9 3/4 minutes.
   Fountain 1119ie
   Aurum 1236
   Castle 1256 major
   Steve and I happened upon an event cycle in progress at Fan & Mortar at 0910 with Main Vent splashing.  We saw a River Vent pause (River on at 0918, off at 0931), followed by almost continuous splashing in Main Vent during much of the pause.  River came back on at 0938, Gold followed at 0950 and Angle at 0956.  The water levels looked good to start, but gradually became variable and then diminished. 
 
   Considering what the weather report had been, we were pleasantly surprised by the weather.  The wind on Friday was brisk as well as at times on the other days, too.  It wasn't too cold for the most part as long as you had on windproof outerwear.  It was unsettled, though, with snow and clouds at times.  It rained overnight Saturday-Sunday. I was fortunate, though, because I think that all of the eruptions of the major geysers that I saw were in sunlight with bright beads of water shimmering.
   The bike path is plowed to Grotto, but there are no bike racks available as yet.  The boardwalks were variable.  In some spots, you had to climb up 2 1/2 to 3 feet onto the packed snow.  In other places, it was either completely clear or you could side step on the boardwalk beside the packed snow.  The daytime temperatures were about 40, so the snow was slushy in the afternoons.  As the weekend progressed, the packed snow was starting to fall apart, which made it more difficult to traverse without falling.  At Grand, a couple of benches are clear for sitting, but in some spots you couldn't tell where they were.  Overall, it really helped to have some sort of spikes or other traction on your boots and perhaps a ski pole.  My ability to roam around the basin was more limited than usual, though, due to both the snow/ice and the bear activity.  There was a surprising number of visitors in the basin - especially on Friday when the Beehive overlook was as well occupied as it can be on summer mornings. 

Happy Gazing!
Polly Panos