Fall Field work, week 1 (Inyo Mountains and Death Valley sections)

Sunday morning Kyle and I rolled out of Davis and drove to Portagee Joe campground in the Inyo Mountains in southern California. On Monday I scouted out the Cerro Gordo section, but before we left we blew out a tire on the dirt road! That was the nicest unpaved road I've taken to any of my sections, but that was the one where we blew out a tire! Thank goodness Kyle was there- I've changed plenty of tires on my car, but the SUV is totally different.

Me at Cerro Gordo, with Owens Valley in the background

After dealing with the flat Tuesday morning, we drove through Death Valley, got our research permit signed, and set up camp near Ubehebe Mine, where we did work Wednesday through Thursday.

On the way to Ubehebe Mine, we stopped by Ubehebe Crater, created by a volcanic explosion!

Teakettle junction is also on the way. This is one of my favorite sights in Death Valley- lots of people leave teakettles when they pass by!

There were petroglyphs on the rocks on the way to my section! The top photo is of writing left by most likely miners in the early 1900s, and the lower photo is a Native American petroglyph. I wonder how old it is?

Racetrack Playa is only a few miles from Ubehebe Mine, so Kyle and I visited the playa Wednesday night after finishing field work. The sun was setting, so there was no one else there since the nearest established camp ground is over 2 hours away (we did backcountry camping). The rocks move on the dry lake bed and leave tracks, but no one has ever witnessed them moving and they aren't exactly sure how they do it.

Kyle and I ready to slide with the rocks

We stopped by Scotty's Castle after fieldwork Thursday on our way to Marble Canyon. I needed to take a few more samples and finish measuring about 70 more meters of section there, which we finished Friday. We drove out to Beatty, NV that night to have our first shower since Sunday! It was glorious.