Dusty Jeans & Genes - Part 19 - Craters of the Moon National Park

Wednesday, 2 May 2018

On our way between Elko, Nevada, and Grand Tetons National Park, we decided to visit Craters of the Moon National Park.

Craters of the Moon is a relatively recent lava flow (2000 years old) that is associated with the same volcanic "hot spot" that underlies Yellowstone, and has left calderas across the Snake River plain. It is a truly otherworldly landscape. Not too surprisingly, it is reminiscent of Hawaii and Iceland. I was recovering from an early morning bout with food poisoning (or a flu-like virus?), so Lon took a couple of very short hikes by himself. I'd like to return and spend a whole day here.

The landscape is mixture of lava flows, large "cinders", and ash deposits.

Brightly colored lava rocks with lots of gas pockets.

Inferno Cone (at right) has a smooth ash-like surface. What looks like a shadow (or a flare in the camera lens) is actually the trail to the top of the cone. At the right is Paisley Cone, and the Lost River Mountains are in the far background.

At the top of Inferno Cone.

Inferno Cone is at the left, and "spatter cones" are at the right. Spatter cones are formed by lava being tossed out of the center, and the resulting lava rocks ("cinders") building up the cone.

Snow Cone is a spatter cone that still has some winter snow deep in the shadows at its center.

Dusty Jeans & Genes - Part 18 - On the Road

Tuesday, 1 May 2018

Our goal for the day was to drive from Lodi, California, to Elko, Nevada, so that we would be well-positioned to get to the Tetons tomorrow. Elko was the last city of any significance that was likely to have hotels and a decent grocery store.

We had never seen Lake Tahoe, so we decided to take the scenic route and travel up the west side of the lake.

Looking up into the mountains from Emerald Bay.

The subtle colors of "basin-and-range" in Nevada.

Rain showers on mountains in Nevada.

Dusty Jeans & Genes - Part 17 - Pinnacles National Park

Monday, 30 April 2018

We heard about Pinnacles National Park while we were at Caltech -- specifically, it's where you might have a chance of seeing a California condor. Unfortunately, all we saw were turkey vultures -- the condors were hanging out on pinnacles one ridge over. But we did get a nice short hike out of our visit.

Pinnacles lies along a mountain ridge, and has the feel of a large state park rather than a national park. We literally drove up the San Andreas fault to get here. It's remote. The east side of the park is not accessible from the west side of the park, and the road to that side is only one to one-and-a-half lanes wide. (We visited the far more accessible west side!)

Near the top of our trail.

These trees along the trail had gorgeous smooth red bark. I think they are manzanitas -- trees/shrubs in the Heath family (Ericaceae), genus Arctostaphylos.

Some of the rocks were covered with brightly colored lichens.

At the start of the trail was a dead tree riddled with woodpecker holes.

Acorn woodpeckers were responsible for those holes.

Dusty Jeans & Genes - Part 16 - Galapagos "Bootcamp"

Saturday, 28 April, & Sunday, 29 April 2018

We finally get to the "genes" of the title...

The official reason for our road trip was to go to Caltech (Pasadena, California) to attend a weekend seminar on evolution, genetics, and molecular biology, in preparation for our trip to the Galapagos in August.

We started by measuring the beaks of three finch species. These are not Galapagos finches, but more common species. But who knew you could get taxidermied finches on Etsy?

We measured the beaks (3 dimensions) with calipers. It's trickier than it sounds. Finch speciation in the Galapagos provoked Darwin's development of the idea of evolution.

Later we extracted DNA from chicken, turkey, and duck meat. We then amplified a portion of our extracted DNA that codes for the ribosome (a universal cell component) and checked its purity with gel electrophoresis.

The scan of our product was disappointing, but the "ladder" markers came out fine!

Dusty Jeans & Genes - Part 15 - Four Corners & Beyond

Friday, 27 April 2018

Today we're making a long drive (750 miles) from Mesa Verde to Los Angeles.

Chimney Rock is not too far from Mesa Verde along US 491 in Colorado.

We couldn't go right by "Four Corners" without stopping, even though it's a total rip-off. The actual location where Utah, Colorado, New Mexico, and Arizona meet at a point is on Navaho land, so there's a steep ($5/person) entrance fee to enter the plaza and see the marker.

Been there. Done that. Got the photo.

All along the road are interesting rocks sticking up from the desert floor. This was along US 160 in Arizona.

The temperature reached 103°F (39°C) as we passed by Needles, California, but was pleasantly in the low 70s (22°C) for our weekend were in Pasadena.

Dusty Jeans & Genes - Part 14 - Mesa Verde Views

Wednesday, 25 April, and Thursday, 26 April, 2018

Mesa Verde National Park also has some breathtaking scenery to enjoy.

Soda Canyon. Balcony House is off-photo on the right. The flat mesa tops are now scrub forest, but at the height of the Mesa Verde civilization, they were intensely farmed.

The area is primed for wildfires. This is the remains of the 2002 Long Mesa fire as seen near Cedar Tree Tower. Note how slowly the vegetation regenerates in the desert environment.

The view north from Park Point. The San Juan Mountains are in the distance.

Shiprock, in New Mexico, is visible 32 miles distant looking south from Park Point.

An evening view of Knife Edge from Montezuma Valley Overlook.

Dusty Jeans & Genes - Part 13 - More Pueblos

Thursday, 26 April 2018

In addition to the cliff dwellings, Mesa Verde has many other pueblo ruins.

Far View Sites

The Far View Sites is an ancient farming community that contains about 50 identified villages within a half-mile square area. Six of these structures are located on a short walking trail.

The Pipe Shrine House is in the foreground, and Far View House in the background.

Kiva in Coyote Village.

Coyote Village: A row of "metates", which along with the hand-held grinding stones ("manos"), were used to grind grains.

Two kivas at Far View Tower.

This circular structure is 90 feet in diameter and 12 feet deep. Most archaeologists think it was a reservoir used to collect and store rain water.

Cedar Tree Tower

This site has a tower and kiva that are connected by a tunnel.

The Weatherill Mesa area of the park was still closed for winter. There's enough left to see for another two days on a return trip.