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Partial Solar Eclipse from California (and What a Sunspot!)
Wow. Just wow. Yes there was a partial solar eclipse today that was visible across much of the country, and yes, it was pretty spectacular. But what caught my attention was the huge sunspot. It is the...
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Saying Good-bye to the Glaciers of Glacier National Park
The view north from Logan Pass in Glacier National ParkMake no mistake about it. Glacier National Park is one of the most spectacular parks in the United States, and indeed is one of my favorite places...
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The Blind Men and the Elephant, as Told by Geologists: The Channeled...
A dry channel in basalt on the Columbia Plateau in central Washington (photo by Mrs. Geotripper)I'm sure most are familiar with the parable of the blind men and the elephant. Several men investigate an...
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Northern Convergence: America's Most Dangerous Volcano, and the End of the...
Northern Convergence as a name for this blog series was all about the role of a convergent plate boundary in the production of the scenery of the Pacific Northwest. The compressional forces that...
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The Airliner Chronicles: the San Andreas Fault in Southern California
The San Andreas fault at Cajon Wash and Lone Pine Canyon at the eastern end of the San Gabriel MountainsOh how I love flying. I don't get all that many chances to do it, and flying on days with clear...
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A Scary Story for Halloween: Rainfall Totals in My Neck of the Woods
It's Halloween night, and a lot of children are no doubt disappointed that it is raining outside. We've had four kids in one group so far. Waiting for trick-or-treaters this evening has been a little...
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The Way it Was Today: Fall (and a bit of Winter) in Yosemite Valley
It always comes back to Yosemite. I travel many places, explore many mountains, see the most incredible geology, but the circle of my life always involves a valley of granite in the Sierra Nevada. I...
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How it Was Today: Sunset at the Gateway in Yosemite
So, yesterday was work. I simply had to take those students to Yosemite Valley, let them get cold, experience nature and all, and learn stuff. Someone needs to do it. Today, I knew I needed to go back....
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Seeing Half Dome from California's Great Valley
It isn't easy to see...There aren't many places where one can do it, and there aren't many days when the air is clean enough to allow it, but the iconic cliffs of Yosemite Valley, Half Dome and El...
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If These Cliffs Could Talk: Leaning Tower and Bridalveil Fall in Yosemite
Bridalveil Fall and Leaning Tower on Sunday afternoonNature abhors cliffs as a general rule. Gravity dictates that cliffs will be a rarity in most parts of the world, because most rocks are simply not...
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If These Cliffs Could Talk: The Cathedral Rocks vs.the Cathedral Spires
Cathedral Rocks and Bridalveil Fall from the Gateway View (April 2014)Yosemite Valley has such a richness of sheer and spectacular cliffs that I imagine any one of them would rate being a national park...
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What happens when a Canadian Goose goes on a tropical vacation?
Can you imagine a four foot long goose? That's what happens when a Canadian Goose decides to take a tropical vacation and chooses to stick around.I've been developing another blog over the last few...
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A Different Canada Goose, the Cackling Kind: Evolution on the Continent
Isolation brings about evolutionary change, and the Canada Goose clan has been doing some changing over the last few thousand years, especially in Hawaii, but also here in California. Today's blog is...
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To Explore a Wild Cave: The Underground Wilderness of the Sierra Nevada
There is a treasure in the Mother Lode of California's Sierra Nevada. It lies hidden beneath the surface, but it's not gold. It is a wilderness, but has no beautiful trees or distant vistas. It is dark...
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If These Cliffs Could Talk: A Sentinel People Sometimes Miss in Yosemite
If you saw this picture out of context, perhaps in the opening frames of an adventure movie, you might think of this cliff as being an otherworldly precipice full of allure and mystery. Maybe dragons...
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If These Cliffs Could Talk: Tis-sa-ack and Tu-tok-a-nu-la (A Geologic Love...
Tis-sa-ack (Half Dome) from near Yosemite FallsA love story...Unnumbered snows have come and gone since The Great Spirit led a band of his favorite children into the mountains, and bade them rest in...
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"Science" Doesn't Have to be Craptacular
Source: http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Space_Science/Rosetta/J_marks_the_spot_for_Rosetta_s_landerI get so depressed sometimes...We live in the most spectacular of times, and in so many ways humans...
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Why did the San Andreas Fault Cross the Road? Why did the Road Cross the San...
2002First off, I've been leading geology field studies trips to lots of places in the American West for 26 years. Second, I entered the digital age of photography in 2001, which led to a personal...
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Dinosaurs, Volcanoes, Monsters of the Deep, and Other Stories Told by a Pile...
One of my most vivid childhood memories was Southern California Gas Company's Disneyland Night. My dad worked for the company at the time. Once a year the company rented Disneyland and practically...
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"A City Divided!""Rift Tears City Apart!""Slip-Sliding Away!""Creepiness on...
Blogging has certainly given me some perspective on life at newspapers or internet news services. The title of a piece is all you've got to convince people to click through. I am constantly irritated...
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