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Geyser gazers, from left, John Slivka, Jere Bush and Mary Beth Schwarz watch an eruption of Grand Geyser on Aug. 11 near Old Faithful in Yellowstone National Park. The Geyser Observation and Study Association spends hours monitoring the many geothermic features in the park. NEWS&GUIDE PHOTO / BRADLY J. BONER

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Mary Beth Schwarz didn’t take her eyes off the geyser in front of her. Her jaw was slack in awe as she raised the radio to her mouth.

“Vents overflowing. There are waves on Grand and vent is overflowing.”

Lowering the radio, she urged on the natural wonder in front of her.

“It’s trying. It’s gonna go.”

This summer alone, Schwarz, 61, has seen Grand Geyser in Yellowstone National Park erupt dozens of times. As a member of the Geyser Observation and Study Association, Schwarz volunteers her summers in Yellowstone watching and recording the activity of geysers in the park. No matter how many times she and other “geyser gazers” see an eruption, to them, the boiling of anticipation and the awe of the burst never gets old. Every eruption yields a different height or lasts longer or shorter.

“It’s like seeing fireworks several times a day,” she said.

Schwarz first came to Yellowstone in 1961.

“I just fell in love immediately,” she said.

 In 1980, her family began vacationing in the park every summer. In 1987, she met a geyser gazer and joined.

The summers let the stay-at-home mom with a degree in geology be a scientist again.

Now every June she comes from Dallas to live in Yellowstone and watch the geysers until October.

Schwarz knows Grand Geyser and several of the others so well she can differentiate their eruptions by sound.

Turbine goes hard and fast. Grand has a big boom and then a whoosh.

Hearing the geysers in the quiet aftermath with the tourists gone, she said, is almost as good as seeing them.

Almost.

“I want to see it above the trees!” Schwarz said as the first burst of water from Grand shot to the sky. “Bigger please.”

As the water hissed and fell, Schwarz picked up her radio.

“Grand at 10:45.”

Recently Grand has had multiple bursts, meaning after the initial eruption comes another, often bigger and better.

Schwarz and the other gazers hushed, watching, willing another burst.

“Come on, baby,” said John Slivka, standing up on a bench in front of the geyser.

“Get ready,” he said as he noticed waves forming. “Wahoo!”

A woman down the row started to pack up her things.

“Ma’am. Ma’am! Turn around!” he shouted. “This is it!”

The geyser erupted again, higher this time, to applause and hoots.

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Geyser gazers John Slivka, left, and Mary Beth Schwarz, bottom, react to a second burst during an eruption of Grand Geyser. Many gazers know the patterns of several of Yellowstone's geysers and can see when a geyser will have multiple eruptions in succession. NEWS&GUIDE PHOTO / BRADLY J. BONER

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“That’s what a lot of us wait for, the second burst at Grand,” Schwarz said making a note in the tiny yellow book she carries to document all the geyser activity she observes.

Schwarz logs information including the time of the eruption and its duration.

Every year she looks for differences and finds new geysers dormant or active as compared with the year before.

The data is logged in a book in the Old Faithful visitor center and is used to help predict future eruptions.

“Now let’s see if we get a third,” Slivka said, settling down and scrutinizing the pool in front of him.

Slivka and his wife, Karol, of Buffalo, N.Y., have volunteered as geyser gazers for 12 years. They first ventured to Yellowstone on their honeymoon in 1967. They were fascinated.

They now drive four days to Yellowstone every summer, spending about a month in the park monitoring the geysers and living in a cabin. They work most days and occasionally break to hike.

They are drawn by the energy of an eruption, Karol Slivka said. Especially when there are a lot of people waiting, the anticipation builds.

Gazers come from all across the country to volunteer and spend hours watching a geyser. They might go days at some, such as Fan and Mortar, before seeing an eruption.

Schwarz keeps snacks, books and gear in a backpack laden with supplies. She will spend up to 40 hours a week watching the geysers in all weather.

There are 200 registered gazer families, Schwarz said. On the busiest weekends, like Fourth of July, 100 might be in the park. In the winter there might be none.

Volunteers pick what geysers they want to monitor. Grand is Schwarz’s favorite. She often watches it three times a day.

As Grand Geyser settled down, after shooting an estimated 150 feet in the air, Schwarz kept watching.

The show still makes her laugh and ooh and ahh after all these years.

“Even the afterplay is beautiful,” she said softly as the water sputtered in retreat.

She packed her things, ready for her traditional lunch of lemonade and gathering with other gazers to share stories of the day at one of the Old Faithful stores. She marked the sign to let people know when the next eruption might happen and sighed.

“It’s been a beautiful day to watch geysers,” she said.