<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:m="http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/2004/12/omml" 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 12 (filtered medium)"><style></style></head><body lang=EN-US link=blue vlink=purple><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Comic Sans MS";color:#1F497D'>Happy post-solstice! We (my wife, Janet, our son, Eric, and his wife, Reanna) were there on opening day for a way-too-short (isn’t it always?) visit on an Alpen Guides Bombardier. Having to break trails in sugary snow limited our movement so we saw only a few geysers, Depression, Lion, Old Faithful, Rusty ie, Jet, Clep ie and Great Fountain ie.  Knowing our time was very limited I wanted to be out in the basin so I only stopped by the VEC except for a quick bathroom break.  Memo: especially if you’re one of the first ones in bring snow shoes or XC skis. Alpen Guides forgot, too. Doh!<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Comic Sans MS";color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Comic Sans MS";color:#1F497D'>Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. Have a great time. We’re looking forward to your posts.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Comic Sans MS";color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Comic Sans MS";color:#007600'>Thanks,</span><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'> <br></span><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Script MT Bold";color:#007600'>Udo Freund</span><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'> <br></span><i><span style='font-size:7.5pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'>"Even if you're on the right track, you'll get run over if you just sit there."  --Will Rogers</span></i><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Comic Sans MS";color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div style='border:none;border-top:solid #B5C4DF 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in'><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"'>From:</span></b><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"'> geysers-bounces@lists.wallawalla.edu [mailto:geysers-bounces@lists.wallawalla.edu] <b>On Behalf Of </b>Bell, Catherine<br><b>Sent:</b> Friday, December 20, 2013 4:47 PM<br><b>To:</b> geysers@lists.wallawalla.edu<br><b>Subject:</b> [Geysers] greetings from Old Faithful<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><div><p class=MsoNormal>Hello and happy almost-solstice from Rita, Annie, Landis, and Cathy (me), the winter rangers at the Old Faithful Visitor Education Center.  <o:p></o:p></p><div><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal>The interior of the park opened for the winter season on Sunday, December 15.  Things have been steadily picking up here over the course of the week, but there haven't been many visitors out in the geyser basin yet.  Winter is a wonderful opportunity to enjoy the geyser eruptions in peace, quiet, and solitude.<o:p></o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal>We continue to use the same intervals for the predictable geysers as we did in late summer, with good results:<o:p></o:p></p></div><blockquote style='margin-left:30.0pt;margin-right:0in'><div><p class=MsoNormal><b>Old Faithful</b>: 90 min. after a long; all observed eruptions so far have been longs<o:p></o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><b>Castle</b>: 13 hrs 30 min.; all eruptions this week have been majors<o:p></o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><b>Grand</b>: 7 hrs 30 min.<o:p></o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><b>Daisy</b>: 2 hrs 45 min; nice and consistent<o:p></o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><b>Riverside</b>: 6 hrs; we've had terrible luck seeing it (or even seeing overflow) and so haven't had predictions for it for most of the week<o:p></o:p></p></div></blockquote><div><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal>As you may know, a likely eruption of <b>Fan and Mortar</b> was reported on Tuesday (12/17 1117ie VR).  On Wednesday morning, we verified that F&M had in fact erupted.  We will continue to check on F&M for signs of eruptions throughout the winter.<o:p></o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal>Optimistically, I've been checking Giant, too.  Not surprisingly, it remains dormant.  We've seen nothing from Giantess or Plume, either.<o:p></o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal>We've had a few lovely midafternoon eruptions of <b>Beehive </b>this week.  The indicator has allowed us to get some visitors out there to enjoy it.  <b>Lion</b>, too, has been putting on a nice show, with good daytime series observed on December 15-19.<o:p></o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal>I'll be sending updates to the listserv throughout the winter season.  If there's anything in particular you'd like me to include, please let me know.  I'm generally not going to give a laundry list of specific eruption times because <a href="http://geysertimes.org">geysertimes.org</a> seems to fill that need.  Additionally, please feel free to contact me with any questions, comments, or observations!  I'd love to hear from you ... or perhaps see some of you in person?  It would be lovely if any of you could make the journey here this winter.<o:p></o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal>Finally, we at Old Faithful would like to give a great big thank-you to Carolyn Aaronson for her sharp eyes on the webcam--it's always a real help, but especially at this time of year when there are few people around in the geyser basin.<o:p></o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div><div><div><div><div><p class=MsoNormal>--<o:p></o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal>Cathy Bell<o:p></o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal>Park Ranger<o:p></o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal>Old Faithful Visitor Education Center<o:p></o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal>Yellowstone National Park, WY 82190<o:p></o:p></p></div></div></div></div></div></div></body></html>