[Geysers] Fountain, Morning, and Morning again 7/22/13

[Tara Cross]

Trying to catch most Fountain eruptions does not leave much time for writing reports, but I will do my best to describe today's events.

To begin, we had a Fountain eruption that started at 2354 on 7/21/13.  Twig had already erupted at 2237 and there was no Morning's Thief.  The eruption was beautiful in the moonlight and we were delighted when it lasted a full 38 minutes.

So, obviously, the overlook was the place to be this morning, 7/22/13.  It was too steamy to see what was happening in Morning's pool with any detail, but as we crept past 8 hours, then 8 1/2 hours, I started to see the glint of larger bubbles in the sun when there was a little bit of wind to move the steam.  The water level in the pool was very high.

By the 9-hour mark since Fountain there was a huge throng of gazers waiting on the overlook.  At 0910, Fountain started, but of course we were hoping for Morning also, and at 0911 it domed up, met with cheers from the assembled multitude.  Morning's eruption lasted 31 minutes, during which there were several large bursts and one exceptional burst that was probably at least 150 feet if not higher.  All the while, Fountain was having large bursts as well, reaching at least 70 feet.  As we have seen so far this year, Fountain continued to erupt after Morning ended for a total duration of 102 minutes.

Lynn Stephens and several others stayed in the Lower Basin to get Great Fountain (which erupted at 1326) while most returned to the Upper Basin and got Grand at 1152 (T1C).  After some food and a nap I was ready to head back to Fountain/Morning to see what would happen next.  Looking at what's happened since May this year, there has been at least one case of the next event after a Fountain/Morning dual being a solo Morning eruption, so I wanted to be sure to be there, plus I wanted to see how the system recovered after the dual.

When I first arrived at about 1600 there was no water to be seen in Morning or Fountain.  I chatted with Lynn S. for a while, then around 1730 decided to check the water levels again.  When I went up to the overlook I could see water rising in Morning with heavy boiling.  I'm really not sure what I was thinking, other than 9 hours would be very early for another Morning eruption and the water level was still low.  But I had been noticing that be boiling was very strong, and Steve R. had been commenting that the water level was about where it had been when Morning erupted on July 2 (though that was not a post-dual scenario).  In one of my not so bright gazing decisions, I thought needed to take care of some things before the "real" window opened, so I was just past Celestine Pool when I heard Lynn exclaim into the radio, "TARA MORNING!!!!"  Apparently, the boiling had gotten even stronger after I left and the pool rose quickly and the eruption commenced at 1801.

I sprinted back up the hill past Silex and could easily see bursts of water as soon as I got to the mud pots.  By the time I got to Morning I was totally winded.  Some lucky visitor has video of Morning with me hacking up a lung in the background.  I did manage to tell her how special it was to be seeing Morning in between fits of coughing.  Other than a few dozen lucky visitors, it was just Steve R., Lynn S., and myself.  It lasted only 10 minutes, but we got some nice blue bubbles and several tall bursts.

Afterwards I rushed back to the Upper Basin so that those planning to come out for what we had thought would be the window would not have to waste their time driving to Fountain.  I got some dinner and then headed back to see what would happen next.  When I arrived, again there was no water in Fountain or Morning.  Eventually water appeared in Morning, but I did not see water in Fountain before dark.  However, the first event to occur was a very large eruption of Morning's Thief at 2202.  Super Frying Pan was ie at 2206.  Jet finally had its initial at 2332 and erupted every 7 to 8 minutes as it has been most of the time when I have been watching it this season.  Morning's Thief followed with eruptions at 2249 and 2259.  At 2309, it boiled up again, but Fountain beat it out by a few seconds.  Morning's Thief erupted during Fountain at 2309, 2311, and 2315 with some impressive bursts.  Twig never erupted.

Fountain's eruption was strong and again very beautiful in the moonlight, but unfortunately it stopped not too long after the 36-minute mark (we have had Fountain on a stopwatch recently to avoid confusion with rounding up or down to the nearest minute, since the duration has been very important to predicting a possible Morning).

And, even though there is a low probability of Morning, I still plan to be there for the next event, so that's all for now.  Go Morning!

--Tara Cross
fanandmortar at hotmail.com


 		 	   		  
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