A Shaggy Sheepdog Story for an April Fool's Sunday
This was just a little fun I had today, although I had a moment of worry, wondering about the wrath of a wary guard dog. We've visited the San Luis National Wildlife Refuge several times in the last...
View ArticleThe Most Extraordinary Landscape on Planet Earth: Geotripping on the Colorado...
North Rim of Grand Canyon National ParkThere is no place on this planet like the Colorado Plateau. It's hard to find anyplace else on Earth where the crust remained relatively stable for upwards of a...
View ArticleAn Incredible Spot in the Mojave Desert, the Hole in the Wall. You could see...
Summer is coming soon. If you are casting about wondering what to do, how about the adventure of a lifetime? Our department is offering a dyad class, Geology 191/Anthropology 191, the Geology and...
View ArticleLiveblogging the Deluge: Merced River in Yosemite Reaches Flood Stage
This picture is a cheat. I'm not in Yosemite, this picture is from two years agoI was supposed to be in Yosemite right now. We had scheduled a field studies class today that would have sent us up the...
View ArticleRed Fox Family on the Tuolumne River
Be warned: cuteness alert. I was out on the Tuolumne Parkway Trail this afternoon, checking things out after more than two inches of rain in two days. It was sunny and lots of birds were out and about,...
View ArticleThe Difference a Day Makes: Yosemite 24 hours after the Deluge
Photographed by Garry HayesFirst off, thank you to the National Park Service for making the flood photographs available on their Facebook page. And second of all, kudos to the National Park Service for...
View ArticleAfter the Deluge: Yosemite Valley a Day Later (and a sight I've never seen in...
Yosemite National Park is a treasure. And the gem of the park is Yosemite Valley. There are spectacular spots to visit throughout the park and region, but ultimately, the sheer granite walls and...
View ArticleAfter the Deluge: Dam! We Almost Lost a Dam!
But for the vagaries of the weather, we would never have seen it. Running field studies courses in the winter and spring always involves an element of chance, but in the dry year that we've had, it...
View ArticleMy Favorite Moment of the Semester, and No, It's Not the End of Finals
It's possible that I have the best job in the world. I know there are people who make more money and all that, but making money can only provide so much satisfaction. I get to be involved with people...
View ArticleDo You Know the Tallest Waterfall in Yosemite Valley? You Might Be Wrong!
Quick quiz: What is the name of this waterfall?What is the highest waterfall in Yosemite Valley? Depending on the parameters one can use to determine "height", your assumption may be wrong! Most...
View ArticleIf These Cliffs Could Talk: Tis-sa-ack and Tu-tok-a-nu-la (A Geologic Love...
I've been to Yosemite Valley twice in the last month, including a day when the Merced River was still at flood stage. I was reflecting on the many journeys I've made there with my students and with...
View ArticleAnywhere Else, They Would be Exceptional: Can you Succeed at this Yosemite...
I've been privileged to visit Yosemite Valley dozens and dozens of times over the years, often dragging students, and sometimes with just me and Mrs. Geotripper. We always revel in the beautiful...
View ArticleEruption Begins in the Big Island's Puna District
Erupting vent of Pu'u O'o and the East Rift in 2009The people of Hawai'i have a lot on their hands at the moment. A few months ago, someone pushed the wrong button, and the inhabitants thought for 45...
View ArticleThe Day of the Diminutive Dogwoods in Yosemite Valley
Yosemite National Park is a place of big things. Big rock walls, big mountains, big trees, and big valleys. But for a few weeks out of the year, a little tree makes a big splash. A splash of white in...
View ArticleIce Crystals at Work in the Upper Atmosphere
There were some ice crystals in the upper atmosphere around here over the last two days, so several sky phenomena caught my attention while I was out and about. This morning, light rays from the sun...
View ArticleAt the Frontier: River Otters and the Tuolumne River
Here in California we've abused our rivers, especially in the Sierra Nevada, and in particular, the Tuolumne River, the one in my backyard. The Gold Rush of 1848 was catastrophic. Miners dug up river...
View ArticleThe Sentinels of Yosemite Valley: Giving Them a Bit of Respect
Let's consider for a moment that this is anyplace else in the world. You look up and see a waterfall that is 1,920 feet high, falling in six major steps. In what place in the world would this not be a...
View ArticleJust For the Fun of It: A Beaver on the Shores of Lake Washington
I got one of those childhood wishes at long last tonight. I've never seen a beaver up close. That might seem odd, given the time I spend on rivers all over the American West. But I've never had a...
View ArticleDear Washington State: All is Forgiven...The Airliner Chronicles Returns
The Pacific Northwest has this problem. It has two particular things in great abundance: trees and clouds. It also has volcanoes, but much of the time the first two obscure the latter. At Christmas I...
View ArticleAirliner Chronicles: Do You Know California's Biggest Volcano? You May Be...
The summit complex of Medicine Lake Highland, with Glass Mountain at the top, the Medicine flow center-left, and Medicine Lake at center-right.It's a real problem for a geologist to be flying through...
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