<html xmlns:v="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:vml" xmlns:o="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" xmlns:w="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:word" xmlns:st1="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40"> <head> <meta http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=us-ascii"> <meta name=Generator content="Microsoft Word 11 (filtered medium)"> <o:SmartTagType namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="City"/> <o:SmartTagType namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="place"/>  <style>  </style>  </head> <body lang=EN-US link=blue vlink=purple> <div class=Section1> I know this is rather late, but for the record here are the details of the activity leading to these F&M eruptions.<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> 9/6/2008<o:p></o:p> I went down to F&M on 9/6 and was delayed for a few minutes when Oblong erupted at 0040ie when I was close on the bike path.  It always amazes me how much you can hear at night and this eruption sounded just like the start of a Grand eruption (without the cheering crowds).  I have never heard Oblong sound like that before.<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> On arrival at F&M at 0050, river was off and there was a splash in Main Vent, so my timing was good.  Bottom Vent’s runoff was dry so I think I arrived at the start of the event cycle.<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> 0101 Bottom Vent #1 d=2m<o:p></o:p> 0103 Bottom Vent quit<o:p></o:p> 0104 River Vent on<o:p></o:p> 0105 Main vent started to splash regularly<o:p></o:p> 0108 River Vent off – River Vent pause #1<o:p></o:p> 0113 River Vent on<o:p></o:p> 0113 Bottom Vent #2 d=3, Main Vent stopped splashing<o:p></o:p> 0116 Bottom Vent quit<o:p></o:p> 0116 Main Vent splashing started up again<o:p></o:p> 0121 River Vent off, River Vent pause #2<o:p></o:p> 0121 Bottom Vent #3 d=9<o:p></o:p> 0123 Main Vent splash (last one till 0135)<o:p></o:p> 0130 Bottom Vent quit<o:p></o:p> 0135 River Vent on<o:p></o:p> 0135 Main Vent splash<o:p></o:p> 0137 Bottom Vent #4 d=9<o:p></o:p> 0137 Main Vent splash<o:p></o:p> 0138 River Vent weakened<o:p></o:p> 0140 big Main Vent splash<o:p></o:p> 0141 River Vent off, River Vent pause #3<o:p></o:p> 0146 Bottom Vent quit<o:p></o:p> 0148 River Vent on<o:p></o:p> 0151 River Vent weakened<o:p></o:p> 0153 River vent strong again<o:p></o:p> 0155 Gold Vent on<o:p></o:p> 0157 Angle Vent on<o:p></o:p> 0205 Lock<o:p></o:p> 0209 Lock gets much bigger<o:p></o:p> 0212 F&M, d=27m<o:p></o:p> East vent started ~10s before Main Vent and Mortar.  Mortar stopped quickly.<o:p></o:p> 0215 Upper and Lower Mortar – very strong for d=3m – two huge noisy columns of water, both about the same height.<o:p></o:p> Initial burst lasted 16m.<o:p></o:p> Water in Norris Pool was very high during the eruption.<o:p></o:p> That was my first night-time F&M and the only eruption I have seen on my own.  It certainly made moving back and forth on the boardwalk easy with no risk of collisions and the breeze blew nicely to the river so I could stand in front of the benches and enjoy listening to the eruption and using my flashlight.<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> <o:p> </o:p> 9/9/2008<o:p></o:p> I kept the same schedule, arriving at F&M at 0042 to relieve Dean Lohrenz who watched over F&M from sundown.  I saw a series of short cycles with Angle basically on all the time.  At 0325 River, Gold, and Angle turned on and I walked up to wait for Daisy which was due.  Daisy had a long interval and I left it before it erupted as I had been away from F&M for a while.  When   I returned:<o:p></o:p> 0431 Main Vent was splashing, River Vent was on, and Bottom Vent’s runoff channel was wet so I probably missed a Bottom Vent eruption, not just heavy splashing. <o:p></o:p> 0438 River Vent off – I did not see Gold or Angle on for these 7 minutes so this looked like a River Vent pause<o:p></o:p> 0441 River Vent on<o:p></o:p> 0442 Bottom Vent d=3<o:p></o:p> 0445 Bottom Vent quit<o:p></o:p>  River Vent went very weak and may have paused briefly but it was hard to tell through the steam<o:p></o:p> 0453 River and Gold Vent both definitely on<o:p></o:p> 0455 Angle Vent on<o:p></o:p> Vents dropped to nothing at all around the time Dean showed up but then bounced right back and went into lock quickly.<o:p></o:p> 0505 Lock<o:p></o:p> 0519 F&M, Main Vent start, d=32m, initial burst d=12m<o:p></o:p> Dean and Jason came on down for the eruption which was nice, F&M should be shared!<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> 9/12/2008<o:p></o:p> Lynn Stephens already sent out information on the eruption cycle for this F&M but I will add a few of the details that didn’t get into her notes as she biked down to F&M.  Again I relieved Dean around 0045 and saw some uneventful activity followed by:<o:p></o:p> 0202 Main Vent splash<o:p></o:p> 0207 River Vent on<o:p></o:p> 0214 River Vent off, River Vent pause #1<o:p></o:p> 0217 River vent on (weakly)<o:p></o:p> 0220 River Vent off, River Vent pause #2<o:p></o:p> 0226 Bottom Vent #1 d=3<o:p></o:p> 0231 Bottom Vent #2 d=11<o:p></o:p> 0244 River Vent on<o:p></o:p> 0244 Gold Vent on<o:p></o:p> 0246 Angle Vent on<o:p></o:p> 0251 vents weakened<o:p></o:p> 0253 vents back up nicely<o:p></o:p> 0255 Lock<o:p></o:p> 0310 F&M d=24, Main vent start, initial burst d=14<o:p></o:p> For this eruption I expected Dean to show up as I had called him and heard his relays but I was happy to see <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Lynn</st1:place></st1:City> show up first, followed shortly by Dean.  The company, the moon backlighting the start of the eruption, and the elk bugling during the eruption made this my favorite eruption of the trip.<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> So that made my total of 4 F&M eruptions in 2 weeks (including the 9/3 eruption), 3 of which were at night.  All 3 night-time eruptions had the wind blowing toward the river for good viewing and listening opportunities.<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> Thank-you to everyone that took a turn watching F&M during its window and for making all the radio calls to draw us back down there for some excitement.  I hope it keeps up its frequent eruptions into next year!<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> Graham.Meech<o:p></o:p> </div> </body> </html>