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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Greetings!</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2> Yellowstone called to me
and I headed for the area Friday after preschool dismissed. I
carefully made my way past the many herds of deer and elk both inside
and outside the Park. I arrived at Old Faithful at 2015, deposited my
bike, and went to check the Logbook at the Visitor Center. After I checked
the Logbook, I drove over to Great Fountain and could tell it was post eruptive
at 2115, so I turned in for the night. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2> <STRONG>Per
Logbook:</STRONG> <STRONG>Aurum</STRONG>-1058;
<STRONG>Lion</STRONG>-0958,1123 ie;<STRONG> Oblong</STRONG>-0926, 1338;
<STRONG>West Triplet</STRONG>-1501; <STRONG>Daisy</STRONG>-0510E, 0845E, 1119ns,
1442ie; <STRONG>Grand</STRONG>-0658,1542, (2330E-added on 14th);
<STRONG>Riverside</STRONG>-1400, <STRONG>Beehive</STRONG>-1234; and
<STRONG>Castle</STRONG>-(1200E added 14th)</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2> I returned to the
Upper Basin and watched Plume at 0519. It was still quite dark,
steamy down basin, & cold, so I drove to Great Fountain which was post
eruptive again. I carefully drove through the fog and returned to the
Upper Basin. Lion was ie at 0620 and Plume erupted at 0704 as I
headed out on my bike. I found Oblong ie (in eruption) at 0706 and Daisy
was ns (near start) at 0710. David Goldberg was in the cage with Jeff
Cross doing a chilly vigil at Giant. David said that yesterday a solo
Grotto Fountain had occurred at ~6 PM and Grotto finally erupted at
~9:30 PM (for 3 hours). At 0740, Giant had a 5 3/4 minute hot period
with Feather, Feather Sat., S.W.V.'s, and Rust and very little from Mastiff (it
did reach 1 1/2' briefly). Grotto Fountain was 0759 ie and Grotto started
at 0809. Polly called a Plume at 0755 and JoAnn (an Interpretive
Ranger) called Beehive's Indicator at 0837 ie. I pedalled my bike
back from Grotto and saw Beehive (0847) from the overlook as KC and Julie
hurried past Lion to watch most of Beehive's eruption from the Plume
side. Plume erupted at 0848 and I noticed a steamcloud at 0852.
Artemisia in eruption. Polly called a Hot Period at 0902, duration of
9 minutes. (This wasn't a strong hot period, even though it lasted for 9
minutes. Mastiff was mostly flat.) Aurum was called on the radio at
0933 and I called Riverside at 0934. We finally found out that Grand
had erupted at 2330E (13th) and 0605E (14th). Daisy erupted at 1037, we
had a 2 minute Giant hot period at 1037, and Oblong erupted at 1108.
I returned to the car for lunch provisions, saw Plume at 1134, was given a
Pink Cone time of 0938 ie, and was just getting ready to leave for
Grand (predicted for 1220 to 1620) when Grand was called at 1219. (It
was a one burst.) Plume-1232, West Triplet-1239 ie, Spa-1246 ie,
Daisy-1340, Castle-1351 (MJR), and a Lion ini. was radioed at 1359 as I
settled in to wait for another Oblong. Riverside erupted at 1602 and
Oblong had a large eruption at 1605 (duration of 7 minutes). Daisy-1633,
Plume-1646, and Lion-1654. I headed back to Great Fountain with one more
glance to confirm that Grotto was still erupting (Marathon). I arrived at
Great Fountain at 1715 to find it erupting very nicely. Visitors told
me that it had been erupting for 1 to 1 1/2 hours already. I was surprised
by this until a radio call confirmed the 1525 start time. MA radioed
that Fountain erupted at 1335 for 32 minutes. <STRONG>Wild phase?!
</STRONG>KC & Julie and later JoAnn arrived to enjoy some excellent
bursts from Great Fountain. I enjoyed two blue bubbles during my viewing
time. I saw White Dome erupt at 1755,1828, and 1902, before I finally
left the area at 1925 (KC, Julie, and JoAnn left at the same time).
It was time to head for Madison and some much needed sleep. I made a
plan to check on Great Fountain Sunday morning to see if it was still
in Wild Phase. (On the 15th I found out that Grand erupted again at
1838E Saturday evening.)</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2> I woke up early and I'd
say bright (but it was still dark at 0515), dressed and headed for the
Upper Geyser Basin. Great Fountain was indeed in a wild phase as of
0608). White Dome-0610 ie and Pink Cone-0610 ie. Finally, sunrise
was turning the sky pink and orange during the 0725ns Old Faithful
eruption. I headed for Grotto and found it off at ~0730
with Variable Spring down 1", but I was pretty sure that Grotto was
erupting when I had driven into the area at ~0630 (with a <U>large</U> steam
cloud showing as viewed from the main road near Black Sand
Basin). Daisy erupted at 0812 and I waited at Grand for one hour before
West Triplet started at 0854 and Grand erupted at 0912 (T1C). The wind
blew the steam north, so we were able to enjoy the sunlit morning
eruption. The eruption melted the ice off the north end of Grand's
boardwalks, making the return trip to Oblong much easier. Kelly had down
loaded Grand's eruptions (with the laptop) and was able to update the sign,
and also knew that the last eruption for Grand was 0059E and that Castle erupted
at 0307E. I returned to Oblong which erupted at 1017 (not a huge eruption
but it thumped the entire eruption) and Julie radioed her long awaited
Depression at 1020. Riverside erupted at 1043 and I radioed the
1119 ie Daisy while I stood visiting with JoAnn at Artemisia. I
finally saw a 30 sec. Atomizer minor at 1249. (The bison that was bedded
down very close to the cones slept through the eruption.) A tour
guide from West Yellowstone (sorry, I forgot his name) had told me
that Bijou had started to spit before he left Giant, so I did the math and
decided I should head back to Giant by ~1 PM. I made it back to the
cage in time to set my pack down, say, "Hi" (to Polly) and then both David G.
and Jeff C. said, "water". (Mastiff was rising.) After 1
minute with no radio call, I pulled out my radio and started calling.
Julie and KC were at the Lower Hams (with their bikes hooked onto their car
for the ride home). They took off on foot as soon as I radioed.
Andrew B. also hoofed it for the cage. JoAnn was caught eating lunch and
found that she can see Giant's steam cloud from the Government Area. The
Giant Hot Period started at 1316 with Feather and then Feather Satelite joining
in. Mastiff varied from 1' to 4' for most of the hot period. At
one point I called that Mastiff was flat only to have it pop back up to 2+
feet. I was trying to sound calm, but I think my heart was jumping up and
down with Mastiff. At ~1324 Mastiff started to get wider with occasional
pulses above Giant's cone. I remember saying, "Mastiff to the height of
the cone." "It's getting wider." "and higher" "and
wider". David G. quietly said, "Mastiff is erupting" as I radioed,
<FONT size=4><STRONG>"Mastiff at 1326"</STRONG></FONT>. By now we had
Feather, Feather Satelite, Rust, (no Cave), South West Vents, and
Turtle was ~ 4". Mastiff quit at 1328, but Giant's water continued to fill
it's vast mouth, and after ~30 seconds Mastiff returned. First, the
back vent pushed skyward and then, the left vent took off jetting at a steep
angle toward Grotto. It continued to grow with the afternoon light shining
on the water and a patch of blue sky behind Giant. The sprinters had
watched Mastiff as they made their way from Grand's area to
Giant and were finally arriving as Giant's waters started surging in slowly
increasing pulses. Half the cone, three quarters, then filling, then over,
and then the sound changed. <STRONG><FONT size=4>"Giant at 1329!"
"And it is AWESOME!"</FONT></STRONG> It wasn't a big eruption, but
considering the very windy conditions for most of the day, and the sun
coming and going, this smaller eruption was both timely and
photogenic. The cage area stayed dry, which was good, because the winds we
were having on Sunday would have easily caused anyone wet to be prone to
hypothermia. Earlier I had talked with the West Yellowstone Guide and we
had commented on how Giant was going to be 100 feet up and a 1,000 feet
long. It was more like 500 feet long (the steam cloud that is). We
briefly viewed Giant from afar as we enjoyed part of Oblong's eruption at 1353
ie. Polly had told me that just before the Giant hot period she had been
observing Oblong and that it had seemed stuck, with its pool levels not rising
or falling. Oblong's eruption was a fairly large, but we
couldn't hear the thumps due to Giant. As Giant's eruption
progressed, the blue sky patch started to shrink and was gone by the end of the
eruption. (Giant's duration was radioed in by Jeff C. It was 96
minutes.) After Giant, I headed back and heard Jeff radio Beehive's
Indicator at 1518 ie. I pedalled furiously trying to get to the overlook
before it erupted. I was sending people in the direction of Beehive and
had just settled on the benches, when Beehive erupted at 1524. I was so
happy to get a Beehive, since I was sure it had erupted overnight due to how
dead it looked Sunday morning. (I had figured I was only going to get
the eruption I had seen on Saturday.) I loaded my bike as I
watched a group of people trying to get into the Lower Ham's which
closed for the year, as of noon. I drove up to down load any missed
eruption times into the Logbook. Kelly called a 1600 ie Lion, I noticed
Castle erupting through the trees in front of the Visitor Center at 1614 ie
and Grand was at 1625 ns and Plume at 1626. I said my farewells and headed
out with the skies over the basin completely clouded in and a wind whipping the
area. You could smell the weather on the way. Even though I had
today off, I decided to be safe and head for home. The drive through the
lower loop to the East Entrance was uneventful, but the deer were out in full
force near Wapiti. Hunting season had started and they were in large
groups near the road. I managed to get all the way home without tangling
with any of the deer, although I had several times that good brakes came in
handy. Thanks for the great weekend Yellowstone. I am recharged and
ready to work with the preschoolers some more. Well the rains/storm have
finally made it to Worland as of 2:30 PM. Take care and
hopefully I get another trip in before Yellowstone closes. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial
size=2>
Sincerely,</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial
size=2>
Kitt Barger </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2> PS - Since I radioed the
hot period, I didn't get any photos until several minutes in to the eruption
when I noticed Turtle had Power :o) and was erupting to 2 feet
briefly. If anyone has some photos, especially of Mastiff that they would
be willing to send me, I am more than willing to pay for them.
Thanks! Go Giant! </FONT><FONT
face=Arial><FONT
size=2><FONT> </FONT></FONT></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2> </FONT></DIV>
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