Four Corners Monument

Four Corners Monument

To complete our southwestern spring break we took the back way home so that we could visit the Four Corners Monument. Of course, Four Corners is the only place where the four states of New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, and Colorado meet. The monument is on the Navajo Nation and is in the middle of absolute nowhere.

The original marker was erected in 1912 and was a simple cement pad, but now it is a whole circle of granite rock and brass. State flags surround the monument as well as four descriptions on when state lines were surveyed. It really is a nice monument and was a lot of fun to photograph ourselves on it.

Now you may have heard in recent years that the Monument is incorrectly placed by about 2.5 miles. That turned out not to be the case and was just an issue of interpreting survey lines of latitude and longitude from back in the days of drawing them (1860s). It turns out that the Monument is placed where it is supposed to be so no worries. 

Since the monument is on the Navajo Nation, vendors occupy all four “sides” of the monument in small cubbies with their beautiful jewelry and souvenirs. Be polite and browse--maybe even buy something.

On the way home we passed Shiprock, NM. Shiprock is a volcanic plug that has been exposed by the erosion of sedimentary layers to expose the hard volcanic rock. The highway was about 20 miles north of the formation that stood out in the middle of nowhere. The sacred formation figures prominently in Navajo Nation mythology as a giant bird that carried the Navajo from the cold northlands to the warm Four Corners region. 

Canyonlands National Park: The Needles

View Across the Way with Wooden Shoe Arch on the Right

Wooden Shoe Arch

A second district within the Canyonlands National Park is the Needles that forms the southeast corner. It is named for the colorful spires of Cedar Mesa Sandstone that dominate the area. 

View of the Needles from Afar

We only had time to walk the Pothole Point Trail, unable to hike the longer trails to view the Needles close up (a disappointment). Those trails are at least 5 miles round trip and since we stopped on the way home from Moab, just didn’t have the time (or inkling) to hike to the Needles. But the Pothole Point Trail was a nice short hike among some really great sandstone layers that formed 250 million years ago.

Pothole

Me Among the Sandstone Layers

Along the trail (and also at Island in the Sky and Arches) We saw a lot of biological soil crust. Cairns mark the walking trails so that you stay off of this delicate life form. This crust consists of cyanobacteria (the most basic of life forms) but also lichens, mosses, green algae, fungi, and bacteria. It forms the foundation of high desert plant life.

Biological Soil Crust

Maybe next time we visit we will stay at the quiet campground and go on some of the long hikes to see the Needles up close.

Canyonlands National Park: Island in the Sky

Shafer Canyon Overlook

Canyonlands National Park near Moab, UT is divided into different districts. The first district that we visited was Island in the Sky. The whole park is an example of the effects of millions of years of erosion on rock layers deposited nearly 300 million years ago. This area of southeast Utah was flooded by tropical oceans, criscrossed by rivers, covered by mudflats, and buried by desert sand. Layer upon layer of sedimentary rock were deposited.

About 15 million years ago the sea level sedimentary layers were flat. Movements in the earth’s crust caused the whole area to rise; today the average elevation is over 5,000 feet above sea level. This uplifted area is part of the Colorado Plateau and has been eroded from the Colorado and Green Rivers that cut into the plateau and formed the 2,000 feet deep canyons seen today.

Mesa Arch

The Island in the Sky mesa rests on sheer sandstone cliffs over 1,000 feet above the surrounding land. There are pullouts with spectacular views along the scenic drive through the district including overlooks at Shafer Canyon Overlook, Grand View Point, and Buck Canyon Overlook. There are several trails that criss cross the park but we only walked on the shorter ones: Mesa Arch Trail and the Upheaval Dome Overlook Trails, and only hiking 2.5 miles today.

Upheaval Dome Second Overlook

Grand View Point

Moab and the Arches

I’ve lived in the southwest for 14 years and finally got the opportunity to visit the area around Moab, Utah. We spent a few days camping in Moab and first visited Arches National Park. Arches has the world’s largest concentration of natural sandstone arches, over 2,000. The park also contains other geologic formations such as sandstone fins, balanced rocks, pinnacles, and spires. Millions of years of deposition, erosion, and other geologic events shaped the layers of rock. 

How Arches Form from Erosion

Arches lies near the heart of a high desert called the Colorado Plateau at an elevation an average of 3,000 feet above sea level with peaks over 12,000 feet above sea level. Roughly 65 million years ago the area was a dry seabed. The red rock formations seen currently in the park were buried beneath the seabed at that time. Geologic forces wrinkled and folded the buried sandstone to form anticlines (kind of like a carpet that has been pushed inward to form lumps across the middle). As the sandstone warped, fractures tore through it.

Skyline Arch

Next, the entire region began to rise, climbing from sea level to thousands of feet in elevation. The forces of erosion carved layer after layer of rock away and exposed deeply buried sandstone layers that expanded and fractured enough to allow water to seep into the rock and further break it down. Water continues to shape the environment through freezing and thawing cycles that break off chunks of sandstone and rain eroding the rock and carrying sediment down washes and canyons. Little by little fractured rock layers turn into fins and then the fins turn into arches.

Broken Arch

Most of the exposed arches are of the Navajo Sandstone, Carmel Formation, and the Entrada Sandstone Slick Rock Member that was laid down during the Triassic period, roughly 150 million years ago. The Carmel layer is a mix of sand and clay and form a rock more dense and less porous than the Entrada Sandstone, which was once a massive desert of fine-grained sand that turned into a very porous sandstone. Underneath these sandstones lie a thick layer of salts that flowed and bulged upward into long domes that forced the sandstones above to crack. As water soaked into the porous Entrada sandstone, it puddled above the more dense Carmel Formation where it eroded the sandstone into a cavity, and in time, an arch.

Tunnel Arch

Turret Arch

There are many types of arches: cliff wall arches such as Park Avenue Arch, Biceps Arch, and Visitor Center Arch; free standing arches such as North Window Arch, Delicate Arch, Landscape Arch, and Double Arch; natural bridges (which required a hike too far to see this time); and pothole arches such as Pothole Arches and Bean Pot Arch.

As we drove the scenic drive through the park, we stopped to hike easy trails to various arches and rock formations. We hiked a total of 7 miles today, enjoying Double Arch, the Windows Arches and Turret Arch, Balanced Rock, Sand Dune Arch, Broken Arch, Skyline Arch, Tunnel Arch, Pine Tree Arch, and lastly, Landscape Arch. There were great overlooks as well including the Firey Furnance, Delicate Arch, Courthouse Towers, and Park Avenue. We stood on the hill overlooking the Moab Fault valley and saw a 40 million year difference between the Entrada Sandstone we were standing on and the Wingate Sandtone exposed across the valley. All in all, a fantastic day--no higher than 70 degrees and sunny with a slight breeze.

Landscape Arch

Ground Zero: Trinity Site

Ground Zero Monument

Trinity Site is where the first atomic bomb was tested on July 16, 1945. According to the pamphlet given to visitors on the one day a year that they open the site to visitors (first Saturday in April), “The 19-kiloton explosion not only led to a quick end to the war in the Pacific but also ushered the world into the atomic age.”

The story of the Trinity Site begins with the formation of the Manhattan Project in 1942. “The project was given overall responsibility for designing and building an atomic bomb. At the time it was a race to beat the Germans who, according to intelligence reports, were building their own atomic bomb.” Along with sites at Oak Ridge, Tennessee and Hanford, Washington, Los Alamos, New Mexico was established as the place that the bomb was designed and built. Many of the greatest scientific minds of the day studied nuclear theory and labored over the actual construction of the bomb.

Two bombs were designed at Los Alamos: one using uranium 235 and another using plutonium. The uranium bomb was simple enough that scientists did not think it needed testing but the plutonium bomb was more complex and worked by compressing the plutonium to a critical point that would set off a chain reaction that split atoms in the explosion. The test of the plutonium bomb occurred the early morning of July 16th just before dawn at the Trinity Site. The shock wave broke windows 120 miles away and was felt by many at least 160 miles away. There was not much of a crater left, but the desert sand was scooped up into the fireball and melted into a new rock called “Trinitite” that covered the ground.

Trinitite

After visiting Trinity Site, I have come to the conclusion that every New Mexican (and even every American) should visit this historic monument. It is a sobering experience when thinking about the power that was unleashed there 69 years ago--the power that led to such destruction and loss of life that ended World War II.

Mushroom Cloud After 15 Seconds at 10 Miles Away

“The effects could well be called unprecedented, magnificent, beautiful, stupendous, and terrifying. No man-made phenomenon of such tremendous power had ever occurred before. The lighting effects beggared description. The whole country was lighted by a searing light with the intensity many times that of the midday sun.”--Brig. Gen. Thomas Farrell

Returning from Spring Break

So I'm thinking that the average person gains 5 pounds after a week's vacation. What do you think? My scale verified that for me this morning so now it is time to un-do what I did this last week. But was it worth it? Oh, yes!

We spent a week in Orlando, Florida, which meant a beach trip and a visit to the four Disney parks. Each one has something wonderful to offer and we had an amazing time. One thing I do suggest, if at all possible, take a 2 hour break in the afternoon back at the condo to rest and recharge before going back for evening activities. It made a major difference for us.

Coming back to northern New Mexico, I realize how much that I miss warmth. It is springtime here, which means cool days with high breezes. In Florida, it was in the 80's all week, and although overcast many days, was so heavenly. Now I'm back in jeans and jackets instead of the shorts and tank tops. But the good news is that there is no humidity here in my region of the world, so my hair isn't poofy like it was in Florida. But again, bad news is that the humidity kept my contacts moist and now I'm suffering from the dryness by 8 pm where in Florida, my eyes weren't irritated at all. And there's no beach in New Mexico. But the skies are blue with pure white puffy clouds and it is beautiful in its own way.

But it is good to be home from vacation. I did sleep in until noon today, really feeling the effects of the go-go-go week, something that we always seem to do when we're away. Seems when we vacation, we see and do so many things that we need a vacation from our vacation when we return. But it was worth the time and energy and we had a wonderful week.

Now for the 7 week crunch until the end of the school year, and yet another vacation. This time to celebrate my oldest graduating from high school and my parents' 50th anniversary a few months ago. We'll see if it all pulls together.

Already April

So a couple of things.....

1) My New Year's Resolutions have taken a back burner to life and I haven't been succeeding. Life has intervened..middle kid ended up with an appendectomy, older kid ended up stressed over final semester of senior year, hubby traveling so much. Anyway, at this moment it doesn't matter too much since spring break has begun and I'll be on the way to Disney World tomorrow. I'll get back on track after I get back from vacation.

2) Something humbling occurs to a person when they are making out a will and a trust for the kids for after you die. The whole power of attorney thing, both financial and medical, turns over your own self to the person you choose, in faith that they will do the right thing by you. Who needs to renew their marriage vows! The same commitment to a marriage can be made by signing over your power of attorney to each other. It's an act of total faith in your spouse that recommits you to your marriage. Faith and trust made stronger after 20 years.

Spring Break Adventures, Day 2

We got up and got moving fairly early on Sunday morning and drove to Chaco Culture National Historic Park, south of Farmington.

There is so much information on the internet and on the Chaco Culture website about the history, geology, and nature of the national park so I can just summarize some thoughts and interesting information here and if you’re inclined to learn more, just Google it or follow the link I’ve embedded HERE.

Fajada Butte rising out of the valley floor (taken from the Visitor Center)

Cliff House Sandstone on top of the Menefee Formation (horizontal layering)

Fajada Butte rising out of the valley floor as seen from Una Vida ruin

Chaco Culture National Historic Park is located in the San Juan Basin region of northwestern New Mexico. The park's elevation ranges from 6,000-6,800 feet above sea level and consists of three prominent land forms: the valley floor of Chaco Canyon, the Cretaceous sandstone mesas, and a number of side canyons, called "rincons" eroded into the sandstone faces.


From the website, Chaco Culture:
"From AD 850 to 1250, Chaco was a hub of ceremony, trade, and administration for the prehistoric Four Corners area--unlike anything before or since. Chaco is remarkable for its multi-storied public buildings, ceremonial buildings, and distinctive architecture. These structures required considerable planning, designing, organizing of labor, and engineering to construct. The Chacoan people combined many elements: pre-planned architectural designs, astronomical alignments, geometry, landscaping, and engineering to create an ancient urban center of spectacular public architecture--one that still awes and inspires us a thousand years later."

Chetro Ketl, one of the Great Houses (AD 950-1250)

The Plaza of Pueblo Bonito

It is interesting to know that in the valley was a major center of Puebloan culture 1,000 years ago in spite of it’s cold winters, short growing season, and limited rainfall and water, but it was. The Chacoan people inhabited the valley in about the year 850 CE and flourished for 300 years. They constructed massive stone buildings with hundreds of rooms and were unique to other Puebloans.

According to the website,
“The great houses of Pueblo Bonito, Una Vida, and Peñasco Blanco were constructed [during the middle and late 800s], followed by Hungo Pavi, Chetro Ketl, Pueblo Alto, and others. These structures were often oriented to solar, lunar, and cardinal directions. Lines of sight between the great houses allowed communication. Sophisticated astronomical markers, communication features, water control devices, and formal earthen mounds surrounded them. The buildings were placed within a landscape surrounded by sacred mountains, mesas, and shrines that still have deep spiritual meaning for their descendants.

Casa Rinconada Great Kiva, one of the largest in the Southwest (AD 1100)

In the 1100s and 1200s, change came to Chaco as new construction slowed and Chaco's role as a regional center shifted. Chaco's influence continued at Aztec, Mesa Verde, the Chuska Mountains, and other centers to the north, south, and west. In time, the people shifted away from Chacoan ways, migrated to new areas, reorganized their world, and eventually interacted with foreign cultures. Their descendants are the modern Southwest Indians. Many Southwest Indian people look upon Chaco as an important stop along their clans' sacred migration paths-a spiritual place to be honored and respected.”

Here's some geologic history of the area: During the late Cretaceous period 75 to 80 million years ago, New Mexico was covered by the Great Inland Sea (see photo below). During this time, the Chaco region was situated at the edge of a shifting coastline of the ancient inland sea. The area is covered in layers of thin shale, mud and siltstones, sandstones, and coal seams, all part of the Menefee Formation. There are mesas and buttes rising out of the valley that consist of the more resilient Cliff House Sandstone, part of the greater Mesa Verde Group (with shrimp burrow trace fossils throughout). The Cliff House Sandstone was eroded down 2 million years ago, during the Pleistocene epoch. About 50,000 years ago, the softer Menefee Formation was eroded away, leaving the Chaco valley looking much as it looks today.

Paleogeography of North America about 75 Million Years Ago; box outline is approximate location of Chaco.

Our first stop was to the Visitor’s Center, as we usually do at every park. There we picked up brochures and maps so we could take ourselves on a tour of the valley. There were six major sites located along the 9-mile long Canyon Loop Drive that we stopped at. These sites include: Una Vida, Hungo Pavi, Pueblo Bonito, Chetro Ketl, Pueblo del Arroyo, and Rinconada. We also walked the short Petroglyph Trail.

Great Kiva at Chetro Ketl

Masonry at Chetro Ketl

Apartment rooms in the Great House of Pueblo Bonito

Petroglyphs above Una Vida

Spring Break Adventures, Day 1

Spring Break 2012!


This year we're mixing a bit of pleasure with business. Our plan is to drive west through our Jemez Mountains, drive north at San Ysidro, and head toward Cuba on our first day with a detour to the Rio Puerco valley and the Cabezon Peak area on our first day. Cabezon Peak is one of the most well-known landmarks in the western part of New Mexico, yet, of course, only I was aware of it and made the suggestion to check it out. All others in the family are coming along, one thrilled and willing (my young geology geek), and one totally against because he knows we'll be hiking again. The other two (the oldest two men in the family) tend to just go along for the ride but always find enjoyment in what we do.


We're stopping at Cabezon on the way to the next day's destination: Chaco Canyon National Park (more on this in my next entry). Then after that we'll be driving to Albuquerque and Socorro to visit universities for my high school junior Monday and Tuesday.

Cabezon Peak is what is called a "volcanic plug" in geological terms. It is the largest and most prominent one in the area with roughly 50 of them that extend to Mount Taylor to the south in the western region of the state. Cabezon Peak is is in the middle of nowhere, NM, between San Ysidro and Cuba, and rises to an elevation of 7,785 feet. Cabezon means "big head" in Spanish. One Navajo myth says that it is the head of a giant that was killed by gods on Mount Taylor, and whose blood flowed to the south to form the Malpais, or "bad land" volcanic flow to the south. Last fall we visited El Malpais south of Grants and found it remarkable.

A volcanic plug (or neck) is formed when magma from an existing volcano solidifies in the pipe (or neck) and then later the surrounding rock material gets eroded away. Since the rock that makes up the plug, basalt, is harder than the surrounding sediment, it stays behind. In the case of Cabezon, the volcanic neck formed when molten lava worked its way to the earth's surface through Cretaceous sedimentary rock layers (shales and sandstone) deposited by an ancient inland sea that covered the area over 65 millions of years ago.

The drive along dirt roads to Cabezon Peak gave us plenty of opportunities to photograph it along the way. The road wound up and around to a road that lead directly to the peak. Once we got to Cabezon Peak we got out of the car to enjoy the view. We decided that we didn’t need to continue onto the smaller, narrow road to gain a closer vantage point since the one we had was already satisfying. Of course, we didn't climb to the top but we did get to experience the amazing sight. While we were preparing to take pictures, all of a sudden, we heard moo-ing and a small herd of cattle started rushing up to us—three big black cows with three babies. They weren’t vicious but they definitely didn’t want us there so we stayed long enough to get a few pictures and then left. It was really cool.

We headed back on the road and headed north to Cuba for a late lunch, then on to Farmington, where we located our hotel and settled in for the night. What can I say about Farmington? Not much except that it is another New Mexico town in the middle of nowhere. I'm glad I live where I live!

Tomorrow: south again to Chaco Culture National Historic Park.

An Afternoon in the Jemez Mountains

It is hard to be the mother of three boys because there is very little that I have in common with them. I don't play video games or LEGOs. and in my house, they're the top two modes of recreation. Well, besides reading, but it's hard to be together when you're doing something solitary. So much of the time I feel that I can't relate to them. So what do I do? I create opportunities for us to spend some time together and I try to pick things that I think they'll enjoy. This is spring break so we've got time to get out and do things together. Each night this week we've been watching a Star Wars movie together, complete with popcorn. Monday we went bowling, which was fun. Today we rode bikes and scooters to the tennis courts and played doubles (rather poorly, I might add). But what I like to do the most with my boys is to get out and explore places, go camping, and walk on trails. I love to walk in the woods and find such peace when I do. It is how I recharge my batteries. I want to instill this kind of peace and joy that I get when walking on trails into them but they don't seem to want to cooperate half the time.

Yesterday we went exploring in the Jemez Mountains, visiting the Gilman Tunnels, railroad tunnels blown out of the rock (Paleozoic shales) for the purposes of a logging train in the 1920s. The boys seemed pretty impressed with the tunnels and the canyon carved by the Rio Guadalupe. The little river cascaded down the rocks in the very narrow canyon. Beautiful.

Anyway, after the tunnels I thought it would be a good idea to walk a trail that we haven't been on yet. At first, the boys were all for it because that meant that they would be missing TaeKwonDo. But about a half a mile in, the youngest started to complain. And he wouldn't stop. I might have well been taking them on a Death March through the woods. So much for peace and joy on a trail. And it was only about 4 miles. They've walked longer. Maybe it was just because it was later in the day. But one thing that stood out was youngest son's stubbornness. All three of my boys have a stubborn streak. When they don't want to do something, boy, they'll be miserable about it and make sure you know it!

I'm hoping that they might not be so reluctant to walk tomorrow. Yes, I'm going to take them out for a walk again tomorrow. No, I haven't told them yet. But I will. Later. Much later. Maybe after the Star Wars movie we watch tonight.

Spring Break Trip: White Sands National Monument

We drove to Alamogordo today, another lovely (and I say that with total sarcasm) southern New Mexico town. Alamogordo is situated in the Tularosa Basin, a low spot caused by the downward movement of the land between parallel faults. These faults are considered part of the Rio Grande Rift system that fractures the state from north to south. To the west of Alamogordo are the San Andreas Mountains and to the east are the Sacramento Mountains. I find these names funny since I grew up in California, near Sacramento and very much aware of the San Andreas Fault system nearby.

Just outside of Alamogordo is the White Sands National Monument. These are not your ordinary silica (quartz) sand dunes. The sand at White Sands are made of fine white grains of gypsum and encompass about 275 square miles. Three things are needed to form sand dunes: a source of sand, plenty of wind, and a place where the sand can be deposited.

The main source of the white sand is the erosion of the San Andreas Mountains to the southwest of the dunes. When the Permian sea evaporated 250 million years ago, it left behind deposits of salts and gypsum, and turning into the limestone rock that underlie this whole area between Carlsbad and Alamogordo. The area was uplifted and exposed 10 million years ago and over time, the rock has broken down into sand-sized particles that were carried by the wind to be deposited at the monument. The other source are alkaline lakes that evaporate and leave behind gypsum deposits that get transported by the wind.

Our first stop at White Sands National Monument was the Visitor Center, where we rented sleds. We got a park map as we journeyed out on a 16-mile driving tour through the dunes. At the halfway point where the Transverse Dunes were, we found a really great hill to sled down, spending a lot of time climbing up the dune and sliding down it. The sand was so soft and cool; I loved how it sparkled in the sun. On the way back, we stopped to get out and walk along some trails. We walked on the shorter trails, the Big Dune Nature Trail (1 mile on the Parabolic Dunes), and the Interdune Boardwalk (1/3 mile). Both were great and wonderful to explore.

I do have to say though, all that sand and no ocean....but it was quite the experience!

P.S.: Transverse dunes form perpendicular to the prevailing wind, Parabolic dunes are u-shaped.

~~~~~~~~~

Neat

"Let all that you do be done in love"
1 Cor 16:14

Spring Break Trip: King's Palace Tour

After the Living Desert Zoo and Gardens Tuesday morning, we went back to Carlsbad Caverns to go on a ranger-guided tour of the King's Palace portion of the caves. It was a 1.5 hour, 1-mile tour that descended into the deepest part of the cave that is open to the public, 830 feet below the desert surface.

Immediately when we entered into the section of cave known as the King's Palace, memories flooded back to me from when I was a kid visiting with my family. I guess this portion of the cave was open to the public, without a ranger, when I visited then. It is amazing how a memory can be forgotten, then retrieved again so quickly.

We walked along the trail and saw more amazing decorations, entering into the Papoose Room, Queen's Chamber, and the Green Lake Room (yes, there is a small green lake there). There were fantastic stalagmites and

columns and so many "curtains." We saw helictites, a chaotic, dendritic cave form on the ceiling. This section of the cave was a lot more active than the Big Room that we toured the day before. We saw water dripping onto a growing stalagmite in the Queen's Chamber that looked like an ice cream cone.

While in the Queen's Chamber, we all sat on the rock wall while the ranger shut out the lights. We witnessed a total black out! Could you imagine exploring the caves before lighting was installed and then having to navigate with only a lantern? I don't know if I'd be brave enough!

It's just amazing what can happen when sufuric acid can do to limestone! We could even see the "bashful elephant" in the flowstone in one formation.

~~~~~~~~~
Neat

"Let all that you do be done in love"
1 Cor 16:14