[Geysers] Trip Report 9-30-13

[Stephen Eide]

Greetings and Salutations:

I have a short trip report for 9-30-13 and part of 10-1-13.  I got in late
on Sunday so I was not out at the crack of dawn on Monday.  I went out to
the Fountain area and found Fountain ie at 1058 and it stopped at 1109.
Twig started at 1110.  Jelly was nearly full, but it looked like that was
due to runoff from Spasm.  I did notice on the way in that Silex was milky
white.  I don't think it erupted, it would be dark ash grey if it had but
either it has a bit of bigger steam bubbles in the bottom of the pool or
one of the small earthquakes shook it up.  You could see about one to one
and a half feet into the pool of Silex.  The bacteria mats were intact.  On
the Firehole loop I noticed Lemon Spring was also milky but other than that
everything looked normal.  I did catch A-0 and White Dome but nothing else
erupted for me.

I walked down to F & M and I did catch one event cycle, with one river
pause and just one splash out of Main Vent.  It resulted in nothing.  The
steam from Artemisia was seen at 1520 ie.  Riverside was at 1546 and Daisy
was at 1335 and 1555.  It was quite windy.

I went back to the lower geyser basin to try to catch Fountain again.  I
was in the Fountain area at 1815 and actually at Fountain at 1830.  Silex
was still milky.  The area was all wet because of the afternoon rain but I
could see water in Morning and Fountain, somewhat low but not post eruptive
I believe.  All I saw was Jet about every nine minutes until 1955 when I
left without Morning or Fountain because it was getting dark and I said I
would cook supper.

The morning of 10-1-13 was beautiful, with a nearly clear sky.  Bronze
Spring, Silver Spring, and Plume were all full of water.  Little Squirt
looked like it was occasionally blurping but I didn't see it erupt on the
first.  Beehive was doing frequent splashing so I decided to trust my luck
and wait around.  Lion 0742 and 0847.  I think the 0742 eruption was not an
initial.  Aurum was at 0900 and 1237 so Aurum may be in winter mode.  A few
more data points would be helpful though.  Grand was ie at 1059 and Castle
started at 1242, a major.  I missed a Depression, likely just after 1000.
There were about seven coins in Ear Spring.  Plate was full of water also
but did not erupt for me.  Giantess did no significant boiling for me.
Infant Geyser was very full, almost at overflow but not quite.

Beehive just kept splashing nicely.  I did see a law enforcement ranger
making the rounds on the other side of the Firehole River then at about
1300 she made it to the Beehive loop.  We had a nice talk and I learned I
needed to leave the hill and all the boardwalk areas.  I could take my time
walking back, but I needed to start back off the boardwalk.  So I put on my
pack and after I had walked about 30 feet Beehive gave a Herb Warren splash
to about 15 feet high.  Then just a few seconds later there was a second
surge, then another, then the eruption was on.  The indicator never joined
in, the whole erupt was without the indicator.  There was a stiff wind so
the eruption was not that tall but we did get rainbows in the spray.  I
thought it was a great way to leave the hill.

I thought about an act of civil disobedience but decided not to.  For one
thing, my senators and representatives would never hear about it and if
they did, they wouldn't care.  Second, I like the LE Rangers and have no
desire to make their job harder.  Third, I don't need a rep as a trouble
maker.  And lastly, it could reflect badly on other gazers which no
one needs.

Also, the other reason I went to the park was to help Andrea and Michelle
mover out.  They finished the season just before the shutdown.  So I spent
the rest of Tuesday and most of Wednesday packing, loading, and cleaning.

I checked out on Wednesday.  I could have stayed until Thursday but I would
only be allowed to stay in my room or in the area of the Snow Lodge or
Inn.  I could have watched the hill from either the sidewalk at the Inn or
taken the viewing spot in the lower Inn parking lot but I decided to just
go on with the move out.

I hope common sense will return and I can make it to the park for the usual
closing week.  We will see.

Stephen Eide
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