30 Days on a Mountain

A Look Into the Life of a Field Geologist

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June 26 Sierra Nevada Aquatic Research Lab"

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June 25 "Two flat tires"

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June 24

“Goodbye WMRS Crooked Creek”

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June 23 [part 4]

“Goodnight Campito”

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June 23 [Part 3]

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June 23 [part 2]

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June 23 [part 1]

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June 22

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June 21

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June 20

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June 19

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June 18

“Brunton in Action” Well earlier, I explained a bit about how important a Brunton Compass is to a geologist, so here’s me in action, finding the bedding orientation of some volcanic flows. This is Black Point, with Mono Lake in the background. During the last Ice Age, Mono Lake was about 500 feet deeper, making this volcano a subaqueous volcano! Mono Lake is famous for its unique salt spires called “tufa”, and it can be found at the tops of this volcano. 

The purpose of taking measurements really helps tell a story. Certain rock-types, such as lava, often deposits at an angle since it’s so “sticky”, but thanks to gravity, most sediment deposits in horizontal beds, so If I find a sandstone bed tilting at 45 degrees... SOMETHING HAD TO HAPPEN! This helps geologists decide if rocks were faulted, folded, or tilted. 

*To be honest, this picture was taken on the 13th, but my buddy Derek Bays sent it to me today, and wanted to share! Today I didn’t really take many pictures, so it worked out.

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June 17

“Thinking About You” Well, this trip has been boot camp for my body, my mind, and my brain, and I’m having such an amazing experience out here, but I can’t stop thinking about two wonderful ladies every day- my mom and my girlfriend.

So Mom, here are some alpine wildflowers I picked on the side of a cliff, and Ashley, here’s the closest thing to a heart-shape rock I could find. I love you and miss you both!

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June 16

“Crusted Eyes, Messy Hair, and Nobody Cares” All I need is my cup of coffee, a hearty breakfast, 4 Liters of water filled, and a lunch packed, and I’m good to go. I believe that God’s greatest gift to us is salvation, but the coffee bean is a runner up.  Well…this is my first morning here at the Crooked Creek research center. It used to be a naval facility in the late 1940′s! In these mountains, scientists tested infrared devices… a pretty important discovery in my opinion… making this facility very special. In the 1980′s, University of California bought it, and now people like me get to use it.

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June 15

“Up, Up, AND AWAY!” Today, we left the WMRC Bishop facility, and we’re on our way to the WMRC Crooked Creek facility. The eastern side of the Sierra Nevadas off in the distance. PROS: -it’s located at 10,150 feet in elevation -it looks like a ski lodge -the cook has been referred to as a chef -better rocks

CONS: -less oxygen -no cell signal -extremely limited internet service -beer is 2 hours away

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June 14

“The Day We’ve All Been Waiting For” LAUNDRY DAYYYYYYY!!!!! Well, technically it’s our day off, but it’s not worth fighting for the one washing machine and one dryer at the research facility, so a group of us went down to wash our clothes and grab a beer at Rusty’s Saloon across the street! And pardon the suggestive washboard, but it deserved some attention.In the picture is my buddy Noe Lopez; one of the nicest guys you’ll ever meet...

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June 13

“Third Map Down, Three to Go” This is the PERFECT way to spend my evening after completing my third map project. The Black Point project was uniquely difficult, I must say, and this sunset sucked the stress right out of me. Tomorrow is a day off, and our time at WMRS Biship is comingto an end! When I took this shop, some of my buddies playing volleyball in the sand court behind me. it was quite a glorious night.