[Geysers] Opening weekend

[Polly Panos]

Hello Everyone!
   My husband and I were able to spend three days in the park for opening weekend (April 20-22).  It felt so good to be back in the world of geysers!
   There was more snow than last year, but still not as much as we often see.  The roads are clear from West Yellowstone to both Old Faithful and Norris.  The bike path had a little snow on it in a few spots, but was easily navigable as far as Fan & Mortar.  The boardwalks have snow in places, but usually I could walk on the edge of the boardwalk without having to climb up on the packed snow.  The ice was breaking up around Grand, which made it very slippery. 
   The weather was variable, but not as bad as it sounded in the forecasts.  Saturday was even warm at times.  On Sunday afternoon, we kept getting squalls of snow while we were waiting for Grand.  I heard that they had thunder snow in West.  When I drove out after Grand and Castle, I ran into pea-sized hail past Biscuit Basin for a mile or two.  It was a couple of inches deep on the road and hitting the car hard.  Then, just before the Firehole River picnic area, several trees had been blown down (microburst?).  The damage was in a small area, and maybe 15-20 trees had been blown over into the road or to the side (taking other trees with them) while at least three others on the other side of the road were snapped off half way up.  Another had it's bark ripped off on one side.  Quite a storm!  Overnight we had snow, so on Monday I was trudging through about 3 inches of thick snow in 20 degree weather with a north wind.  Fortunately, my clothing did it's job and I was comfortable.
   We were surprised how few bison we saw!  The goose is back at the old eagle's nest.  A modest-sized herd of elk roamed near the Madison River.  I saw a pair of swans in the Firehole River.  In the UGB, the bluebirds and sandhill cranes are back.  There was a hawk flying around the trees behind Grand to Giant.  I couldn't get a good enough look at it to identify it.  Two large birds that were probably eagles flew around the basin at times, but, again, they did not come close enough to get a positive I.D.  (I did see a bald eagle or two in other places.)  When I crossed the bridge from Castle to Grand on Sunday, an osprey flew over me carrying a fish.  He was being followed by the hawk and another bird!  We saw many Canada geese and a few ducks.  There also was what I think was a wolf in the Gibbon Meadows.  
   Bulger was active, and I saw majors as well as minors.  Bulger's Hole was quiet, but I could see where water from Bulger's major eruption was leaching to a point a foot or two before the hole.  Then the water rode on top of the ground and dripped into the hole.
   Grotto had a nice long marathon on Saturday.
   I saw two Oblongs from Castle & Grand that had nice visible bursts.  They weren't the tallest I've seen, but they were enjoyably high.
   I saw Sawmill a couple of times, but Tardy was erupting often.  On Sunday, we saw both Penta and Churn during our wait for Grand.  Monday morning, Sawmill's run-off channel had snow in it.
   On Saturday, we had what we think was a Vent delay at Grand.  (We couldn't see Vent clearly with all of the steam, but Grand's pool was very high with waves that made us think it was ready.)  On Sunday afternoon we had a Turban delay (along with Rift - 1545ie and off between 1706 & 1717).  That worked out okay, though, because the weather cleared a bit and we had some sun for Grand.
   Terra Cotta was active all three days.
   On Saturday, I walked out to Fountain.  Jet's run-off channel was dry, and the run-off channel from Super Frying Pan was a little damp.  I could see water in Fountain, but I don't think that it was as high as it was last year just before an eruption.  (Being vertically challenged, I'm not the best judge of the water there!)  Morning's Thief showed no signs that it had erupted recently.  I was pleasantly surprised when suddenly Fountain began it's eruption (1529)!  I watched for Morning's Thief, but I didn't see it.  Super Frying Pan did erupt during Fountain, but Jet stayed quiet.  Twig was at 1555ns, and Twig paused as Fountain ended at 1600.  (Fountain's duration was 31 minutes.) Morning kept it's water longer than I think was usual, and finally started dropping slowly after almost 15 minutes.  The area around Morning's Thief still looked dry.
   Fan & Mortar are still sleeping.  
   The energy was at Beauty Pool.
   The signs are in place at Giant.  On both Sunday & Monday, I saw Bijou already in a pause, but it started again within the minute.

   Hope to see you there soon!
   Polly Panos