[Geysers] Geyser Report 7/16

[Lynn Stephens]

Fountain reverted to more normal intervals overnight--about 5h35m average for three intervals, then had an interval just under 5 hours for the late afternoon eruption of Fountain.  The 1156 eruption had a duration of only 28 minutes (per Tristan P.), but it was super windy this afternoon in the Lower Basin so we were all expecting the interval to be at least five hours.  (Trash, park newspapers and maps, and yellow warning sheets were flying out of cars parked at White Dome.  Most of the trash ended up in the sinter beds on the right side of the road.)
 
Gemini/Pebble started the day the same way they had been acting when I left yesterday evening at 1900.  After three "series" with intervals of:
     >96 minutes, 13, 5, 11, 8, 9, and 10
     68 minutes, 20, 15
     124, 9
 
Gemini did its fill, bubble, overflow, drain, fill, bubble, overflow, drain activity at 10 minute intervals for from about 1 pm until about 3:30 pm.  Then Gemini stopped that activity for about 45 minutes.  During this time Pebble started rising,with strong strings of bubbles breaking the surface from the main vent.  Pebble eventually covered the forked stick that is sintered into the runoff channel/crater area, then covered both the "far" and "near" vents.  It crept above the top of the sinter "wall" on the southeast side of the vent, but did not get out of the main bowl of the crater prior to the start of a more "traditional" series of Gemini.   This series started 244 minutes after the end of the previous series, had six eruptions at intervals of 9, 9, 9, 12, and 10 minutes, before having two failed attempts to erupt.  At this point I had reached the end of the 12-hour observation period I had planned for today, so I left.
 
Gazer comment of the day about my use of technical terminology.  I saw the Pink Cloud steam cloud go up at 0851, then watched the top of the water column above the trees.  Another gazer came along about an hour or so into the eruption.  When I was asked how I knew it was Pink Cone, I said, that (1) Labial's steam column, while in almost the same location when viewed from in front of Gemini/Pebble, was fatter and taller, and lasted only a minute, and (2) you could see the "spiky spiky spikies" of Pink Cone's water through the trees.
 
Visitor comment of the day:  "We're not blocking your view are we?  if so, we'll move."  I was so amazed that someone finally was actually concerned about where they had positioned their car to catch the end of an eruption of White Dome that I almost laughed.  Instead I told her they were just fine where they were (both Tristan and I could see White Dome) and thanked her repeatedly for her courtesy.
 
Visitor question of the day:  "Where is Mushroom Pool?"  He was quite persistent in trying to get me to give him an indication of where it is.  He kept pointing his arm in different directions and saying, "Isn't it over there?"  I just smiled and said I really didn't want to answer that question because I didn't want to get into trouble by telling someone how to get to an off-trail feature.  His final attempt to get me to give him an answer was "I really should be able to go look at it because, after all, "It is a historical location."  I agree, but I figure anyone who wants to know can look it up.  At least he didn't tell me he could go anywhere he wants because he pays his taxes just like everyone else does, the way a man did yesterday when I tried to get him to turn around because he was going the wrong way on Firehole Lake Drive.
 
I got stuck in the long line of traffic headed to West Yellowstone this evening.  I never did figure out what caused the bottleneck a couple miles east of 7 Mile Bridge, but traffic was backed up the Firehole Canyon Hill and traffic coming south from Norris was also backed up.  Thankfully very few people coming south from Norris wanted to go to Old Faithful, so the zipper effect of merging the traffic from Norris turning right and the traffic from Old Faithful turning left worked well, at least traffic in both directions could keep moving, albeit very, very, very slowly.  I noticed the vehicle behind me had a campground sticker in its window.  It escaped at the second long pullout on the south side of the road.  I guess they decided they didn't need to go to West Yellowstone after all.  Just past the bottleneck area I saw two cow elk, one with a calf that still has its spots, one larger calf.  I don't know how people missed seeing them, with one set close to each side of the road, but thankfully no one was slowing down to get pictures of them.
 
Lynn Stephens
 
    
 		 	   		  
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