[Geysers] West Thumb early season report

[Ben Hoppe]

Greetings,

For those who didn't know, I am working at Grant Village for the summer of
2015. It allows me to spend a spectacular amount of time in Yellowstone's
most scenic geyser basin.

Some of the following information can be gleaned from the Geyser Gazers
Facebook page and GeyserTimes, but I wanted to make it broadly available
with Craig Pass opening for the season.

Lone Pine: I have yet to see a major eruption this season despite many
hours spent there. I saw one minor from an empty crater that lasted about
15 minutes. So far all recorded eruptions (only 3 to my knowledge) and
empty crater sightings have been in the morning.

Occasional: Due to my large amount of time at Lone Pine, I have recorded at
least 15-20 closed intervals. The shortest I have recorded is 19 minutes.
The longest I have seen is just over 35 minutes.

Twin: Dead, dead, and dead. The crater has a lot of lovely reds and oranges
but a lack of steam and water.

Central boardwalk springs  (Perforated, Ledge, Surging, etc.): Water levels
on these pools were quite low at the beginning of May. They have since
risen by a few inches over the last few weeks, with Surging Spring showing
the most dynamic change.

"Skinny": I have witnessed the only reported eruption this season. I have
seen it cycling many times with water overflowing out of the small cone,
but only the one recorded eruption.

Black Pool is a beautiful, blue abyss. Abyss Pool is black (or greenish
depending on sunlight).

King: It has not yet had a recorded eruption. However, intense boiling is
the norm. Usually it is about 1 foot high. I have seen some boiling to
nearly 2 feet.

Lakeshore: It was boiling quite fiercely from both pressure pool and main
vent in the first week of May. It has been underwater since May 8.

Lakeside Spring is probably the most interesting feature (to me) at the
moment. Janet White has recorded some great observations on her website.
The water in the spring is murky gray, and it has periodic heavy overflows.
I haven't gotten a closed interval personally, but the overflows are quite
impressive. The heaviest ones have created a wide runoff channel on the
lake shore side of the boardwalk. They also create a muddy/silty area of
water where the runoff meets the lake. A laser temperature reading where
the runoff goes under the boardwalk showed 155°F.

I will continue to report anything erupting to GeyserTimes. Any changes (or
hopefully King eruptions) will also be sent out to the listserv.

Happy gazing,
Ben Hoppe
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