I was ready…
I had the day off, and the eruption was due. The camera was packed, batteries charged, memory cards cleared. Ready to go!
Work, as usual, is the complicating factor when it comes to volcano photography. I had been planning for a week. Some experiments at work required me to go in on Saturday. This giving me a chance to trade for a day for off in the middle of the week. Careful checking of the USGS telemetry showed that day would be Tuesday. Thus I arranged Tuesday off and was ready to go…
As Tuesday approached it still looked good. Tiltmeters showed increasing pressure right on schedule, building to the exact same point the last few episodes had started. The two AM alarm beeped, and I grabbed the iPad and checked the telemetry, still no signs of an impending eruption, I expected lava later that day and I was ready…
Tuesday progresses as I spend a quiet morning doing some 3D design work on a telescope mount. Live video of the vent in the corner of my second monitor, it looks very quiet, no precursor activity, no gas pistoning, no overflows. A little frustrated but still ready to go…
Come evening there is a little activity, some spattering from the vent. I consider making a night run even if I must work the next day, but still no real eruption. The vehicle sits in the driveway, camera gear loaded, gas tank full, ready to go…
Wake up at 2am Wednesday morning, roll over to grap the pad and check the feed, nope. No activity. I could still make a dawn run, watch sunrise and make it to work… A bit late. I have gotten some sleep I am ready to go.
Lava. The small fountian appears at 4:10am, just a few minutes before dawn, too late for me to get there before sunrise. The whole point is to get shots of a high fountain in the dark. I have photos of a tall fountain in the day time. Yes I am ready to go… To work.
The eruption lasted just a bit over nine hours, ending about 13:20. Pau, try again in a week!!
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