Lavabeds in Oregon: Lava upwellings of various kinds are all over the place; they're all a little different. These are flat and the result of a lot of lava flowing out of a cone, not real fast:
These are pressure ridges: the lava flowing from upper left to lower right has made waves -
This is a crack, caused by the laver cooling and shrinking after it had solidified.
Wider pressure ridges:
Nearby, more ' postpiles,. We'd seen really regular ones at the Devil's Postpile National Monument; these are not as regular but still striking.
Lots of up-and-down driving around here.
On to the John Day Fossils Beds:
The unique thing about these is that there is an almost continuous record from about 50,000,000 yrs ago (the Clarno time) to a few thousand, all preserved in lava generated by repeated volcanic eruptions. So it's all here in one place...
Some palisades, nearby.
These are pressure ridges: the lava flowing from upper left to lower right has made waves -
This is a crack, caused by the laver cooling and shrinking after it had solidified.
Wider pressure ridges:
Nearby, more ' postpiles,. We'd seen really regular ones at the Devil's Postpile National Monument; these are not as regular but still striking.
Lots of up-and-down driving around here.
On to the John Day Fossils Beds:
The unique thing about these is that there is an almost continuous record from about 50,000,000 yrs ago (the Clarno time) to a few thousand, all preserved in lava generated by repeated volcanic eruptions. So it's all here in one place...
Some palisades, nearby.
John Day sort of lucked out here; there is a town, a river, this National Monument and some other stuff all named after him. What he actually did was get himself captured by Indians, who contrary to usual practice didn't kill him but merely took all his belongings, including his clothes; he and a companion wandered around nekkid for two days before they got to help. This happened two hundred miles from here, where the John Day River joins the Columbia. Nevertheless they named the whole river for him, and thereafter the fossil beds.
Leaf fossils - rather rare.
Interesting rock strata
More of these Devil's Postpile things:
A ranch-museum at John Day; this is a hay-baler and loader.
An Indian bow, from a small museum there. This is a compound bow: The wood, which is stronger in tension, is on the outside, and sinew, which is stronger in compression, on the inside. This makes the total bow able to be pulled harder without breaking. I always had heard thaat the Mongols invented this; never saw an Indian one before.
A replanting project of some kind:
This bull was really carrting on - bellowing and wandering around, and eating some bushes. We think he probably had eaten something that disagreed with him.
Now he's taking a dust-bath.
Interesting rock strata
More of these Devil's Postpile things:
The back of this guy's jacket says 'Riding for the Son'. I never have quite figured out whether Jesus would have ridden a motorcycle - they certainly are economical on gas, so maybe - these folks generally ride around on cycles, but live clean and don't make a ruckus like Marlon Brando (actually, there are a lot of motorcyclists of mature years out here, almost all of them very nice folks).
A ranch-museum at John Day; this is a hay-baler and loader.
An Indian bow, from a small museum there. This is a compound bow: The wood, which is stronger in tension, is on the outside, and sinew, which is stronger in compression, on the inside. This makes the total bow able to be pulled harder without breaking. I always had heard thaat the Mongols invented this; never saw an Indian one before.
A replanting project of some kind:
This bull was really carrting on - bellowing and wandering around, and eating some bushes. We think he probably had eaten something that disagreed with him.
Now he's taking a dust-bath.
This is called the Painted Hills. Impressive -
The principal mineral here is Bentonite, a clay that absorbs water thirstily and does not let it go again so that plants can use it. There being very little water around to begin with,
Nothing - but nothing - grows here.
We have Salmon Festivals now, but it wasn't our original idea:
A Wind farm. These windmills are really massive up close; a single blade requires a semi trailer to haul it. Some people don't like them; I think they're rather graceful (in any case, I think we ought to get used to them. Global warming and all that).
The Hagerman Fossil Beds. This is the Hagerman Horse, found only here (and a long time ago). It's actually a species of Zebra.
We camped right in the middle of a lava field.
Another National Monument: Craters of the Mooon, in Idaho. This stuff is called Pahoehoe - a Hawaiian word. It's lava that is cooler, and therefore more viscous, on top and more fluid underneath - so the surface gets pushed and wrinkled up. Sort of like the pressure ridges we saw above, but much smaller. Another type - small, jagged chunks - is called Aa, as in "Aah-ahh! Mustn't do that!" Also a Hawaiian term.
Brain not full yet? Here's some more fascinating stuff about volcanoes. Bet you didn't know that some lava is acid and some basic, and that this matters -
A place called the Devil's Garden. It was named by a minister. I suppose he'd be more likely to know---
This didn't come out very well: The pie-chart says that about 3/4 of our green energy comes from nuclear power, and most of the rest from hydro. The two tiny slivers at the top are solar and wind. So, like it or not, for the near future at least, green energy is mostly going to have to come from nuclear...
The principal mineral here is Bentonite, a clay that absorbs water thirstily and does not let it go again so that plants can use it. There being very little water around to begin with,
Nothing - but nothing - grows here.
We have Salmon Festivals now, but it wasn't our original idea:
A Wind farm. These windmills are really massive up close; a single blade requires a semi trailer to haul it. Some people don't like them; I think they're rather graceful (in any case, I think we ought to get used to them. Global warming and all that).
The Hagerman Fossil Beds. This is the Hagerman Horse, found only here (and a long time ago). It's actually a species of Zebra.
We camped right in the middle of a lava field.
Another National Monument: Craters of the Mooon, in Idaho. This stuff is called Pahoehoe - a Hawaiian word. It's lava that is cooler, and therefore more viscous, on top and more fluid underneath - so the surface gets pushed and wrinkled up. Sort of like the pressure ridges we saw above, but much smaller. Another type - small, jagged chunks - is called Aa, as in "Aah-ahh! Mustn't do that!" Also a Hawaiian term.
Brain not full yet? Here's some more fascinating stuff about volcanoes. Bet you didn't know that some lava is acid and some basic, and that this matters -
A place called the Devil's Garden. It was named by a minister. I suppose he'd be more likely to know---
View from the top of the Inferno Cone.
Then, on. This was the world's first nuclear power plant, and our first and only Breeder Reactor. That is, while producing power it also generates more nuclear fuel. An economical idea. Unfortunately, we decided it was a bad idea for people to be able to produce bomb-making material while running power plants, so we stopped developing the idea.
Other countries, of course, do do it. Also, it turns out there's so much Uranium around that there's plenty for bomb-making and power plants too, without making more. A little piece of history, anyway.
Nearby there is a site of one of the Minuteman A missile sites. Didn't get to go in that. Cute sign on the wall, a la Domino's: "Guaranteed delivery in 30 minutes or less - or the next one is free."
This didn't come out very well: The pie-chart says that about 3/4 of our green energy comes from nuclear power, and most of the rest from hydro. The two tiny slivers at the top are solar and wind. So, like it or not, for the near future at least, green energy is mostly going to have to come from nuclear... The chart upper left is about how much CO2 is generated by various power sources. According to this calculation, even solar and hydro involve some - from construction and maintencance maybe. By this calculation, nuclear generates less than solar or wind, slightly moare than hydron, and of course a whole lot less than fossil fuels.
Idaho's wooden Indian. Those from Groton, Connecticut will remember that an itinerant sculptor showed up in Groton a few years ago and carved and gave to the town a statue like this. His idea was to put up one in every state. Groton's, unfortunately, did not tolerate our weather very well and was put into storage.
Do cows climb hills? We have had discussions about that. These cows must have gotten up to the top of the hill somehow, but didn't seem keen on climbing back down; they'd hiked along the edge of the road like this for about a half-mile.
Meanwhile, down below, this calf had gotten left behind. He looked a bit forlorn. The cows up top mooed at him, but didn't go back down, and he wouldn't come up.
At last - a real cowboy, with dogs
Herding some real cattle.
Idaho tells you all about the geology. The sign on the left points out Bighorn Dolomite, from the Ordovician; the one on the right, Gros Ventre FM (?) from the Cambrian.
Prairie Dogs
And, some of their unwanted guests. Rattlesnakes drop in for respite from the heat of the day; coyotes, badgers and birds of prey just drop in for dinner.
Wyoming: They were the first state to give women the vote,in 1869 (the first vote was actually cast in 1870).
In 1886, Laramie County opened the first free public librqry in the US (Benjamin Franklin's was members-only). They also were the first to ban the sale of unwrapped bread (1913), and to play football at night (1925).
Idaho's wooden Indian. Those from Groton, Connecticut will remember that an itinerant sculptor showed up in Groton a few years ago and carved and gave to the town a statue like this. His idea was to put up one in every state. Groton's, unfortunately, did not tolerate our weather very well and was put into storage.
Do cows climb hills? We have had discussions about that. These cows must have gotten up to the top of the hill somehow, but didn't seem keen on climbing back down; they'd hiked along the edge of the road like this for about a half-mile.
Meanwhile, down below, this calf had gotten left behind. He looked a bit forlorn. The cows up top mooed at him, but didn't go back down, and he wouldn't come up.
At last - a real cowboy, with dogs
Herding some real cattle.
Idaho tells you all about the geology. The sign on the left points out Bighorn Dolomite, from the Ordovician; the one on the right, Gros Ventre FM (?) from the Cambrian.
Prairie Dogs
And, some of their unwanted guests. Rattlesnakes drop in for respite from the heat of the day; coyotes, badgers and birds of prey just drop in for dinner.
Wyoming: They were the first state to give women the vote,in 1869 (the first vote was actually cast in 1870).
In 1886, Laramie County opened the first free public librqry in the US (Benjamin Franklin's was members-only). They also were the first to ban the sale of unwrapped bread (1913), and to play football at night (1925).
The Devil's Tower, in Idaho:
A view of the backside
Can you see the three climbers?
The Indians have a non-geological explanation for the tower: A bevy of young Inidian maidens were being chased by a grizzly bear, and cried out to the Great Spirit, who raised up the ground they were standing on so the bear couldn't get at them. The scratch marks made by the bear explain the vertical striations. That's a bit more interesting than the geological story.
Some worship items left by the Indians. They consider the Tower holy. White people merely want to climb up it. They are asked politely not to do so in June and July; mostly, they comply.
Miscellaneous things from the road: a sign in a shop:
Various places get up fiberglass figures for people to decorate: Seattle has pigs, Bermuda fish, etc. Here it's cowboy boots.
We just happened on the Vore Buffalo jump, in western Idaho. A good idea for the Indians - beats shooting or spearing each buffalo individually. They used every part of the buffalo - the skin for robes, the brains for use in tanning - and dried the meat they didn't need immediately.
Some jumps were cliffs; this one was a sinkhole about 100-200 yards across and about 50 ft deep. It's partially filled in, now; they say there are the bones of at least 15,000 buffalo down there. The site is being developed by some local people.
If yiyu really want to squint - all sorts of interesting tidbits about the Indians.
Can you see the three climbers?The Indians have a non-geological explanation for the tower: A bevy of young Inidian maidens were being chased by a grizzly bear, and cried out to the Great Spirit, who raised up the ground they were standing on so the bear couldn't get at them. The scratch marks made by the bear explain the vertical striations. That's a bit more interesting than the geological story.
Some worship items left by the Indians. They consider the Tower holy. White people merely want to climb up it. They are asked politely not to do so in June and July; mostly, they comply.
Miscellaneous things from the road: a sign in a shop:
Various places get up fiberglass figures for people to decorate: Seattle has pigs, Bermuda fish, etc. Here it's cowboy boots.
We just happened on the Vore Buffalo jump, in western Idaho. A good idea for the Indians - beats shooting or spearing each buffalo individually. They used every part of the buffalo - the skin for robes, the brains for use in tanning - and dried the meat they didn't need immediately.
Some jumps were cliffs; this one was a sinkhole about 100-200 yards across and about 50 ft deep. It's partially filled in, now; they say there are the bones of at least 15,000 buffalo down there. The site is being developed by some local people.
If yiyu really want to squint - all sorts of interesting tidbits about the Indians.
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