[Geysers] Morning Report

[Maureen Edgerton]

Morning Report

Hey all.  I am thrilled to report that my eyes have now seen MORNING!!

I am super excited, and really too tired to write this, yet I will give it a go.  

I was driving from Old Faithful back to West, when right after passing the entrance to Firehole Lake Drive, I looked up and saw a huge plume where Fountain plumes usually are.  I was very perplexed, having seen Twig i.e. at 740, and was wondering if Fountain was finally shifting to 6 hour intervals. 

Being ever the skeptic, and having to get to work, I drove past Fountain Paint Pots, to look past Leather Pool from the road to verify it was, in fact, Fountain, and not just Morning's Thief, or Clepsydra steam.  There it was, I thought, Fountain!  There was a wolf jam happening, so I had to steer through it, yet even when I pulled into the first pullout to turn around, I still thought it was Fountain.  I would say the highest burst seemed like a normal tall Fountain burst, hence my thinking it was Fountain.

So I steer through the jam, and get back to the parking lot, and scurry out to get the finish of Fountain, when someone from the boardwalk says "Morning is erupting"...I still thought it was someone that did not know what they were saying, yet I quickened my pace, and got to the Paint Pots, still thinking it was Fountain, and Morning's Thief...

I pass the fumarole, and I can see, that hey, it is MORNING!  No water coming from Morning's Thief, no water in Fountain, just Morning.  My up close and personal viewing consisted of smaller bursts and a few that maybe reached 30 feet.  Nice play, very fun to watch, and I was kind of in shock, seeing empty Fountain with Morning erupting behind it.  I so wished I had a camera.

I even asked a few strangers if they would send me a photo when they got in cell, and they thought I was CRAZY.  Which I kind of was.  I sort of never thought I would see Morning.

So my times were 1231, huge plume sighted.  1233, verify bursts from road, 1240, up at platform, 1248 Morning end.  So how long did it erupt?  Maybe someone else reading this will come forth with an earlier start time. 

As soon as I was in cell, I called Tara to spread the news, and then Lynn, my geyser mentor, to tell her the news, then others that had also been asking in the past weeks if Morning was going to erupt.  The answer is YES, at least this once.  It will be so fun to see if it continues.

I have to admit, there was a bit of sadness for me too today, as those of you who know me, know that Fountain is my favorite, so I was perplexed as to what this meant for Fountain.  I was worried it meant no Fountain for a while.  The good news (for me anyway) is that Fountain erupted on schedule at 1812 for a duration of 43 minutes.  I was a very happy woman at that eruption, knowing it was still continuing to erupt.

Here ends the Morning Report, how fun that I get to type those words.  
What an awesome way to begin summer!  

Happy summer everyone.  Maureen Edgerton




Sent from my iPad