<FONT face="Default Sans Serif,Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif" size=2><DIV><DIV><DIV>I was very lucky to have my own private Fan & Mortar eruption this afternoon!  </DIV><DIV>  </DIV><DIV>I biked downbasin from the visitor center around two o'clock, thinking that F&M had likely already erupted and that I'd just be replacing the marker.  I arrived at 1407 and saw the marker still in place, and better yet, High, Gold, and Angle putting out a fair amount of water.  Gold and Angle were splashing maybe two feet high, and High was pretty steady at four feet or so.  By 1414 water levels looked great, with High at eight feet or more, and I called a lock on the radio.  Nobody was around to hear, alas. </DIV><DIV>  </DIV><DIV>At 1417 everything died, stopping almost completely.  High continued to sputter weakly but Gold and Angle pretty much quit.  At 1419, everything surged back on, and a sudden huge surge in Main Vent at 1421 initiated the eruption!  I noticed no splashing at all in Mortar prior to the eruption. </DIV><DIV>  </DIV><DIV>I had things completely to myself for seven minutes, when four visitors arrived.  The shifting wind direction and the cool weather (temps in the high thirties) made this a rather difficult eruption to see, with lots of steam blowing straight towards wherever I stood, but I did get an amazing double rainbow at one point. </DIV><DIV>  </DIV><DIV>Riverside erupted at 1452, and the wind direction--which had been so difficult for F&M--was perfect for viewing.  </DIV><DIV>  </DIV><DIV>Besides that, we don't have a lot of other geyser news from today.  Supervisory Ranger Rita Garcia did see Grand on geyser predict this morning; it was a two-burster at 0828. </DIV><DIV>  </DIV><DIV>Two other things of interest: Castle appeared to have three consecutive minors on 10/16/2009, per electronic data.  0539E, 0935E, and 2056E.  I haven't seen any more eruptions out of Victory Geyser, though its water level is still high and boiling.</DIV><DIV>  </DIV><DIV>Hope to see some of you in the park for closing weekend!  It's coming up fast.... </DIV><DIV><BR>  </DIV><DIV><DIV>Cathy Bell <BR>Park Ranger (Interpretation) <BR>Old Faithful Visitor Center <BR>Yellowstone National Park <BR></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></FONT>