Ok, field vehicle is loaded, computer is backed up, I've made more Landsat images in the last 36 hours than I care to think about, and I just deposited the equivalent of half of my salary from last year into my checking account.
I think I'm ready to go. Finally!
Friday, June 22, 2007
Friday, June 15, 2007
Mileage contest
I'm back in Santa Cruz and getting ready for my June 22nd departure for the West. I recently tried to estimate the number of miles I'll drive, for a proposal budget, so here is my challenge to you:
The closest mileage estimate to the actual number of miles I drive wins something. I don't know what; a souvenir from the Corn Palace maybe? Your very own paleosol carbonate? Email or post your estimates.
I don't guarantee an unbiased contest and I'm not above being bribed.
To help get started, I drive straight to Powell, Wyoming, stay there for a few days, and the head to Nephi, Utah on June 27th, by way of Salt Lake City to pick up my field assistant. That is ~1600 miles.
Squeezing in some porch time in Santa Cruz:
The closest mileage estimate to the actual number of miles I drive wins something. I don't know what; a souvenir from the Corn Palace maybe? Your very own paleosol carbonate? Email or post your estimates.
I don't guarantee an unbiased contest and I'm not above being bribed.
To help get started, I drive straight to Powell, Wyoming, stay there for a few days, and the head to Nephi, Utah on June 27th, by way of Salt Lake City to pick up my field assistant. That is ~1600 miles.
Squeezing in some porch time in Santa Cruz:
End China
Here are some last photos: random rock shots for the geologically inclined, and some more tourist shots from Beijing.
Salt pits in the Qaidam basin:
Some good-looking ripples
The modern china conflict: construction vs. history
I like these guys:
Salt pits in the Qaidam basin:
Some good-looking ripples
The modern china conflict: construction vs. history
I like these guys:
Saturday, June 9, 2007
Dallying in Dunhuang
So, Brian and Brad returned to Golmud on the 8th, we drove to Dunhuang yesterday, and will head out tomorrow. It is hot and dry here, on the edge of the desert and the air feels thick. Maybe thats just the influence of phlegm...
The drive through Qaidam is pretty incredible. It is this vast basin with small peaks along the perimeter. I've never seen alluvial plains on this kind of scale. The peaks look as though they're being swallowed by their own sediment. The geologic equivalent of drowning in your own tears?
I'm feeling much better, slowly getting over the cold and finding ways to kill time in Dunhuang. I'll probably check out the buddhist caves this afternoon; last night we had a great dinner in the night market and entertained ourselves haggling for things we didn't really want to buy.
Anyway, I'll have a day to kill in Beijing and then back to the States on 13th.
The drive through Qaidam is pretty incredible. It is this vast basin with small peaks along the perimeter. I've never seen alluvial plains on this kind of scale. The peaks look as though they're being swallowed by their own sediment. The geologic equivalent of drowning in your own tears?
I'm feeling much better, slowly getting over the cold and finding ways to kill time in Dunhuang. I'll probably check out the buddhist caves this afternoon; last night we had a great dinner in the night market and entertained ourselves haggling for things we didn't really want to buy.
Anyway, I'll have a day to kill in Beijing and then back to the States on 13th.
Thursday, June 7, 2007
A good pun...
Just to pass the time, and because I love puns, here is a great one that presented itself on the road a few days ago. There will be a picture to go along with it.
We drove by three monks walking down the road, on their way to Lhasa. Each one was pushing a little hand cart in front of him.
Did we just see the Dolly Lamas?
(Photo by Pete Lippert, Pun by Brad Ritts)
We drove by three monks walking down the road, on their way to Lhasa. Each one was pushing a little hand cart in front of him.
Did we just see the Dolly Lamas?
(Photo by Pete Lippert, Pun by Brad Ritts)
Slightly broken
I'm back in Golmud, a little earlier than expected (supposed to be back on the 10th). The four of us in the field crew were managing the elevation change fine (minus the usual wheezing), but I came down with a cold on Monday. Worse was the cough that came with it. I spent the day in Toutou He resting, hoping maybe the cough would get a little better, but colds just don't improve when you're sleeping at 15,000 feet. And there is a good chance the cold will escalate into something worse, like pneumonia, bronchitis or AMS. So, I rode back down to Golmud with Lau Zhong Zhifu (one of the drivers), who hadn't been dealing well with the elevation.
So, that's it. Pete is with a solid crew, so he'll get lots of samples to bring back to stuff into a mass spec back in Santa Cruz. I'm kind of bummed. It is hard to think about all the time and money that other people put in to get me there, essentially for nothing. The early days in the field were initially to check the outcrops and plan the later half, so all the sample collecting is going on now. It isn't much fun feeling useless, but I guess that is kind of how it goes out here too. Anothere reason to be grateful my field area is right in my backyard.
At this stage, I'm playing the waiting game to find out how I will be getting back to Beijing and eventually home. There is a chance I'll get back early, but who knows. In the meantime, I'm sleeping a lot and set my self little mini-adventures (where is a phone to call the US? where is the internet?) to keep myself entertained. There isn't a whole lot to see in Golmud....
So, that's it. Pete is with a solid crew, so he'll get lots of samples to bring back to stuff into a mass spec back in Santa Cruz. I'm kind of bummed. It is hard to think about all the time and money that other people put in to get me there, essentially for nothing. The early days in the field were initially to check the outcrops and plan the later half, so all the sample collecting is going on now. It isn't much fun feeling useless, but I guess that is kind of how it goes out here too. Anothere reason to be grateful my field area is right in my backyard.
At this stage, I'm playing the waiting game to find out how I will be getting back to Beijing and eventually home. There is a chance I'll get back early, but who knows. In the meantime, I'm sleeping a lot and set my self little mini-adventures (where is a phone to call the US? where is the internet?) to keep myself entertained. There isn't a whole lot to see in Golmud....
Saturday, June 2, 2007
Ganbei!
Here in Golmud, the jumping off point for field work. Yesterday (the 1st) I flew to Dunhuang, met the crew (Pete, Brian and Brad, and our drivers and interpreters), got in a jeep, and we drove to Golmud.
Today, we celebrated my er-shi-chi (27th) birthday with a trip up to Kunlun pass (there is a big monument to the Kekexili nature preserve and the man who spearheaded the effort to save the Tibetan antelopes from poachers - if your curious, see the movie Kekexili, Mountain Patrol, it is filmed in the area I'm in now).
Highlights:
I logged my highest elevation ever: ~15570 feet, set in India in 2001. Kind of cheating since we drove most of the way to that elevation, but nonetheless, the slow, slow slog the additional way up was suitably wheeze-inducing. I guess that is to be expected going from sea level to 15000+ in less than two days. Mostly feel fine, minor headache and thats about it. Diamox is useful....
Second hike of the day (the theory being we would get our blood pumping high and sleep low for one more night - Golmud is ~8000 feet) sent us up a nice glacial outwash valley, and there was plenty of great geology for us all to geek out on, including the glacier.
Dinner and Piejo (beer) - we had special birthday dumplings, a number of great dishes, a goat leg for each person (yum!) and batter-fried eggplant with sweet & sour sauce with sprinkles for my birthday cake. And many shouts of Ganbei (cheers!. I also learned my chinese numbers (well, only 0-7 and 27) playing a table game involving toothpicks.
We're off to the actual plateau tomorrow to get started so there will likely be no posts until I get back to Golmud or Beijing (~10-12th). Although, now that the amazing Lhasa-Golmud train is running, who knows. One constant in China is how rapidly things change.
Today, we celebrated my er-shi-chi (27th) birthday with a trip up to Kunlun pass (there is a big monument to the Kekexili nature preserve and the man who spearheaded the effort to save the Tibetan antelopes from poachers - if your curious, see the movie Kekexili, Mountain Patrol, it is filmed in the area I'm in now).
Highlights:
I logged my highest elevation ever: ~15570 feet, set in India in 2001. Kind of cheating since we drove most of the way to that elevation, but nonetheless, the slow, slow slog the additional way up was suitably wheeze-inducing. I guess that is to be expected going from sea level to 15000+ in less than two days. Mostly feel fine, minor headache and thats about it. Diamox is useful....
Second hike of the day (the theory being we would get our blood pumping high and sleep low for one more night - Golmud is ~8000 feet) sent us up a nice glacial outwash valley, and there was plenty of great geology for us all to geek out on, including the glacier.
Dinner and Piejo (beer) - we had special birthday dumplings, a number of great dishes, a goat leg for each person (yum!) and batter-fried eggplant with sweet & sour sauce with sprinkles for my birthday cake. And many shouts of Ganbei (cheers!. I also learned my chinese numbers (well, only 0-7 and 27) playing a table game involving toothpicks.
We're off to the actual plateau tomorrow to get started so there will likely be no posts until I get back to Golmud or Beijing (~10-12th). Although, now that the amazing Lhasa-Golmud train is running, who knows. One constant in China is how rapidly things change.
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