[Geysers] Geyser report July 4-7: Fountain and Morning

[Tara Cross]

Now, for Fountain.  My overnight drive to the park got me to
Fountain on July 4 in time for the 0652 eruption of Fountain, duration 36
minutes.  Morning’s Thief boiled up at
0658 but did not erupt, and there was no Twig. 
I returned that afternoon for another eruption at 1537, duration 33
minutes, interval 8h45m.  Again Morning’s
Thief boiled up at 1547 but did not erupt, and again there was no Twig.

 

Due to the 33 minute duration and
what by evening was extreme fatigue, I decided to skip the overnight
Fountain.  Phil Winkler reported that it
occurred at 2332, duration 35 minutes, interval 7h55m.

 

On July 5, Fountain erupted at
0733, duration 36 minutes, interval 8h01m. 
I did not see anything from Morning’s Thief or Twig.  The next Fountain interval got just past the
9-hour mark with some pretty good boiling in Morning prior to Fountain’s
eruption at 1635, duration 35 minutes. 
Morning’s Thief did not do anything, but Twig did erupt at 1700.

 

We could see the clouds beginning
to build up in the west, and the rain came around 1730 and persisted for a
couple of hours.  However, when I saw
that it was clearing up, I decided to go out for Fountain.  Fortunately I was running a little early, as
Fountain erupted at 2323 a few minutes after my arrival, duration 34 minutes,
interval only 6h48m.  Nothing from
Morning’s Thief or Twig.  After 10 years
of trusty service at many Beehives, F&Ms, and Giants, my Maglite has given
up the ghost, so I enjoyed the eruption by starlight.  The sky was just gorgeous.  Apparently there was aurora later that night,
but I headed straight in afterward.

 

Fountain followed on July 6 with
a more normal 8h06m interval.  The
eruption was at 0729, lasting just long enough to call the duration 37
minutes.  Morning’s Thief had a weak eruption
at 0741, and Twig started at 0756. 
Morning had a strong boil at the start of Fountain but was quickly drowned by runoff from Fountain.

 

The borderline duration and
Morning boiling gave some hope that maybe Morning was getting ready, and when
the afternoon did not bring high winds, some of us were hopeful that maybe it
could find a way to erupt.  As the 9-hour
mark neared, the boiling on the north side of Morning’s pool increased, until
there was a lot of convection and periodic strong boiling.  We began to refer to the size of the bubbles
in terms of fruits.  First key limes,
then some good grapefruits, and maybe even some cantaloupes.  Michael Lang commented that he wanted to see
a watermelon and we all agreed.  But then
the wind picked up, and Fountain started a few minutes later, without much of
an attempt from Morning.  I don’t know if
the wind was really a factor or not, though. 
Fountain 1636, duration 36 minutes, interval 9h07m.  Nothing from Morning’s Thief or Twig.

 

Once again we could see a storm
brewing, and after returning to the Upper Geyser Basin high winds and rain
drove most gazers inside.  It looked like
it was going to stay for a while, but again just before dark it appeared to be
clearing.  I prepared to head out to
Fountain.  It was still overcast and
sprinkling a little bit when I got to Fountain, but this time I waited out
another longish interval of 8h53m. 
Fountain 0129 (July 7).  Without a
good light it was impossible to know what Morning was doing.  I decided to just enjoy Fountain, again by
starlight, and not look at my watch…until Super Frying Pan started at
0207.  Geyser gazer that I am, I finally
checked the time.  And Fountain quit,
duration 38 minutes.  No Morning’s Thief,
no Twig.

 

On the morning of July 7, I
arrived at Fountain shortly before 0800. 
The Dauberts had already been there for about 2 hours before me and
reported that Jet had been active when they arrived, but that it stopped
erupting around the time of a Super Frying Pan eruption around 0700.  Super Frying Pan erupted again at 0841ns and
1001, and during Fountain at 1137ie. 
When I arrived, “Peanot,” the new pool at the base of the hill near
Twig, was several inches below overflow, somewhat murky, and bubbling
vigorously.  As the morning progressed it
gradually filled to near full.

 

The entire morning it was very
calm with only a slight wind.  When I
first arrived it was too steamy to see into Fountain.  When I checked around 0830, I could barely
see water.  I didn’t check again, as it
was being monitored by other gazers after that. 
Because of the lack of wind it was also hard to see Morning’s pool with
any detail, but it looked like it was convecting and bubbling based on the
steam.

 

By 1000 the entire overlook was
completely full of gazers, in addition to those waiting the boardwalk
below.  We also attracted some interested
visitors.  Based on activity in the past
month, everyone was waiting for the 9-hour mark since the previous
Fountain.  So when Steve Eide called the
Fountain rise at 1006, just 8h37m after Fountain, our hearts sank momentarily.  But I’d been thinking in the back of my mind
that it was so calm that maybe Morning would go early, so I kept my eyes glued
on Morning’s pool.  Just after Fountain
started, Morning was having heavy convection and the water level rose.  The water from Fountain still hadn’t made it
across the channel, and Morning had a heavy boil—and then a huge dome, and the
eruption was on.  Others reported to me
that just after Fountain started, there was water in Morning’s Thief, but that
wasn’t enough to stop Morning this time.

 

At first it looked like the best
viewing might be from down by Clepsydra, so I saw several very impressive
bursts from Morning from that location before moving over to the Twig side
about 5 minutes into the eruption to see the amazing blue of Morning’s
pool.  Most bursts started with doming
boils and massive waves, but there were some good bubbles, too.  I estimated the height of the best bursts at
around 150 feet.  Fountain was very
powerful as well, with many strong bursts throughout its entire duration of 109
minutes.  Morning lasted 33 minutes.

 

As the eruption progressed,
Clepsydra’s steam vent got louder and louder and more powerful until it was
shooting at an angle to 30-40 feet.  I
was not able to stay in the area to see how long this lasted after Fountain
quit but it was quite impressive.

 

The whole show was quite a
spectacle to behold and it was really fun to see it with so many good friends.  Go Morning Go!
--Tara Crossfanandmortar at hotmail.com


 		 	   		  
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