The cave, part 2 (and a bit more fieldwork)

I headed back to Nevada for one last gasp of field work before the quarter starts. I've been trying to coordinate with a grad student, Peter from UNLV who works on rocks in Sheep Pass Canyon. However, other, slightly more rational folks than I, don't work in Nevada in the middle of July. So, once again, I got on an airplane and flew to Las Vegas. Remember the picture of Paul and hammer in front of cool conglomerates interfingered with limestone? Of course you do! Same section, but much more goal-oriented this time around. The grand goal was to get samples through the 1 km+ thick section in four days. We almost made it; I think we made it through ~700 meters of section. Poor weather that dumped early snow in the Sierras mostly just rained on us all morning Saturday. We tried to wait it out, but left when we realized if it continued, we wouldn't be able to drive out the road. While it did cut short the field work, the rain was useful for a couple of things: I realized I need to re-seamseal my tent, and my raincoat needs to be re-waterproofed. Also, I got to use my pick to scrape mud from the tires, to improve traction down the road, and it always makes me feel better about flying with bulky, heavy tools if they serve multiple purposes.

Sunday, Peter's friend Mike joined us and we went caving in nearby Whipple Cave. I've been in a couple of caves before, but nothing quite like this. The cave formed in fractured Cambrian limestone, and most of the passageways are the result of dissolution along these fractures. The opening is a hole in the ground, so you have to rappel down into the cave, and then ascend the rope to get out. Though the gear is a little different, the basic idea for both rappelling and ascending are the same as climbing, so I finally got to use the skills I learned for climbing out of a crevasse. Actually quite fun. We spent a good three hours seeing all that we could of the cave, and then headed back to Las Vegas and I headed home.
Entrance to the cave: Happy, happy!
Edges of empty pools; I've seen a few pictures on the internet with these pools full.
This kind of stalactite formation always reminds me of the stylized paintings of steep, Chinese hillsides with draping trees and mist.
Popcorn "formations"

The Oregon Coast

I spent a long weekend with my parents on the Oregon Coast. They rented a place in the town of Yachats (pronounced "ya hots"). They're looking for a replacement for the north shore of Lake Superior, and I think they enjoyed the coast. I gave them a hard time about dressing alike, but I guess that's what happens when you've been married for almost 40 years. My friend Jean visited from Portland for a couple of nights and we reminisced about rugby songs and caught up on the last couple of years.

Vacation time with the parents always involves seeing things so we drove up and down the coast,stopping for cool coastal views/phenomena, lighthouses,
bird watching and stopping to smell the flowers.
Good geology too; I liked how the basalt at Cooks Chasm weathered back in rectangles because of the parallel-trending parts of the rocks that were composed of slightly different basalt. They would break first, dictating the initial fracture that the surf would slowly chip away at.

I bored mom and dad at Seal Rock with an impromptu game using cross-cutting relationships to put together a story about the coastal sandstones, Columbia River flood basalts and some conglomerates. It would be a fun little field exercise for a geology class. Now, if someone wants to give me a job in Oregon.... Even a nice little lake along Hwy 101 that reminded me of northern Minnesota. Good weekend.

I know I said no more driving....

So, I'm getting back in the car tomorrow, to meet the 'rents on the Oregon coast. So I'll get a little bit of vacation. Then back in SC for a day, then to Nevada for one last field work hurrah before the quarter starts. Then no vacation until Christmas, nose to the grindstone, pedal to the medal, burning the candle at both ends, you get the picture.

And more transience. I'm coming to grips with the transience. Considering how much advance planning I don't typically do, I feel like I'm starting to see how the next 2 years map out. It evens seems possible that I'll spend more time away from Santa Cruz than in it. But that is jumping off the bridge before I get to it.

Anyway, I'll post some Oregon coast pictures when I get back. In the meantime, we had an unprecidented number of people in the lab, working away today, and were entertained by this episode of the This American Life called "Running After Antelope." which is mostly the story about a man chasing antelope. According to Kena, this man's brother (referred to throughout the story) is a big-whig in the animal morphology world - Kena's students are often entertained by hearing about the lizard that can't breath when it runs. Give it a listen if you have samples to weigh out or plants/rocks/animal parts to crush. Or any other brainless activity to do. Or want inspiration for a new training regime (the campus deer, perhaps?). We were all rooting for the guy to catch the antelope.....

The Cave

So what have I been up to, you may ask, now that I have all this home time? Data processing, tying up loose ends and getting ready for a real vacation (woohoo!) and some more field work (see, fooled you! I'm getting back on a plane AND in a car). But that isn't very fun to write about.

I've also been cleaning cobwebs. The spiders seem to be out in force, in a way I've never seen. Getting into the backyard through the gate is often a gauntlet of 4 or 5 spider webs with big spiders in the middle of them. I know I'm supposed to like them, since they eat other bugs that tend to eat us, but I'm just really not a fan. They're kind of shifty. I can't think of a time a spider bit me (or tried) in broad daylight. But let the cobwebs collect too long in the skylight and I wake up with lots of bites. See? Shifty.....

You don't really want to hear about my recent cobweb cleaning obsession though. The most interesting thing recently was a lunch time excursion with Kelsey and Nadine to the cave near Porter College. Campus is underlain in places by marble, which has influenced the topography in the area (sinkholes, caves, etc. are common features of "karst" topography; think Puerto Rico and the giant sinkhole that houses the radio telescope at the Arecibo Observatory). It was an interesting building challenge the school has had to overcome and the campus also has old quarries that were dug for the lime. The department sends undergrads there for one of the classes, but I hadn't quite managed to get there yet.

Anyway, the cave was fun, people have made odd figurines out of the clay that coats the floor and it makes for a fun lunchtime break. And now I can say I've finally been to the campus caves. One more thing checked off the list of things to do in Santa Cruz before I graduate....

Entrance to the cave:
Clay dinosaur figurine, and a tiny figurine at the bottom clinging to the ledge for dear life. You might have to look hard, above Kelsey's hand....
Tree roots lining the floor of the cave. My favorite part.