Clik here to view.
The Mount St. Helens Eruption at 38 years, and Why it Matters Today
I'd love to say I got these photographs of Mt. St. Helens last week when I flew to Seattle, but we flew right over the volcano, so you'll have to settle for the pictures I got on a flyover back in...
View ArticleClik here to view.
America Has Other Volcanoes: Airliner Chronicles Visits Mt. Hood
The tragic and yet fascinating activity on the Big Island of Hawai'i has focused attention on volcanism in the United States, and has served to remind us that Hawai'i isn't the only place in the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
It's World Turtle Day! Honu, the Hawaiian Green Sea Turtle
It's World Turtle Day! That's nice because last May I paid a visit to the Hawaiian Islands and got these pictures and I've been looking for an excuse to post them somewhere. We saw the Hawaiian Green...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Heading Out to the Back of Beyond on the Colorado Plateau!
Geotripper may go quiet for a week or two, as I will be on the road with twenty of my best students out on the Colorado Plateau, the incredible region surrounding the Four Corners. I've been dreaming...
View ArticleClik here to view.
In Memoriam: Ron Schott
I should be getting some sleep right now, as we are leaving early on our journey to the Colorado Plateau, but I received sad news today, and couldn't let the moment pass to mention the life of Ron...
View ArticleThe Horrible Act of Dehumanizing Others
Woody Guthrie, the conscience of our nation, once even wrote a song about a Trump. But this song haunts me, especially in these evil days...Plane Wreck at Los Gatos(also known as "Deportee")Words by...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Great Valley Museum at Modesto Junior College has two Employment...
The Great Valley Museum at Modesto Junior College has existed for more than thirty years. The first three decades it occupied a 1940s-vintage building on our east campus that had just three display...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Home From Back of Beyond: Images of a Harsh Country, Part One
Sunset through wildfire smoke at Arches National Park, UtahIf you are familiar with the Chronicles of Narnia, you will remember the novel where the children go through the wardrobe into a magical world...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Jurassic World - Fallen Kingdom: A Geologist's Review
To be sure, I enjoyed myself.It was about 5:45 in the afternoon and we were out and about doing errands. I had been called into an emergency meeting about the soon to be constructed outdoor education...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Way it Was Last Week: An Island of Beauty in a Sea of Conflict
We got back from a long journey across the harsh and beautiful lands across the American Southwest, but we had an out-of-state visitor, so with a whole day's rest, we felt compelled to go and see the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Geotripper Presentation on Earthquakes at Hemet Library, Saturday 6/30 at...
IArt by A. JuneIf you happen to be in the vicinity of Hemet, CA tomorrow, you might consider stopping by the Hemet Library at about 2:00 PM. I'll be giving a presentation on "What you already know...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Deepest Pass in North America, and Finally Taking THE Aerial Tramway
Last weekend I was having lunch in Palm Springs. That might sound, I dunno, elitist or something, but we were actually in Beaumont, and we hadn't seen the city of golf courses and the idle rich in...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Home from Back of Beyond: Images of a Harsh Country, Part Two
The photo above encompasses so much of what captivates me about the southwestern United States. A trail formed from a natural weakness in the rock providing access to an otherwise inaccessible cliff to...
View ArticleClik here to view.
River Otter on the Tuolumne
I am quite lucky to have the Tuolumne River in my backyard. The river rises in the highest regions of Yosemite National Park, flows through incredible and largely unknown gorges that rival the Grand...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Home From Back of Beyond: Images of a Harsh Country, Part Three
This first photo may recall the disasters unfolding in the American West and Hawai'i with out-of-control wildfires and volcanic eruptions, but in this case it is no disaster. It is was the sunset on...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Conjunction of Inanna and Theia's Child Tonight
There was quite the spectacle in the heavens tonight, the conjunction of Inanna and Theia's child. Obviously some explanation is needed here since most people refer to these heavenly bodies as the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
49th Anniversary of the Landing of Humans on the Moon: Science, History, and...
The Moon tonight, July 20th, 2018Today marks the 49th year since humans walked on the moon for the first time. The landing was an important part of my own life, and whenever I am reminded, I am taken...
View ArticleClik here to view.
A Moment of Peace: A Minute Walk Through a Coast Redwood Forest
Give yourself a minute. Despite all the goings-on, despite all the noise, there are peaceful places and moments. Here is one minute of walking through a Coast Redwood forest in Northern California, the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
That's a Huge River! Well, Not Exactly...Sediments in the Siuslaw River Estuary
In the photo above we're on a hill overlooking the Siuslaw River near Florence, Oregon. From this point of view the river looks huge and indeed the channel is navigable and leads to a working marina a...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Carpeted Dunes of Oregon's Central Coast: The Principle of Unintended...
So how about this plush carpeting on a sand dune? What? It doesn't look like a sand dune? Some people are such skeptics....let's find a trail...There's the sand, with three or four feet of grassroots...
View Article