Hi all! A new adventure awaits, as I transition from this site to a new collaboration with a fellow colleague! Come and check us out at https://culturalinfluence.blog/, where I'll be posting much more frequently! Thanks for following me here!

Always,
Dana

Old Faithful

Old Faithful about to blow sky high. My photo.

OLD FAITHFUL.

There really isn't an option of talking about Wyoming without talking about Yellowstone and Old Faithful, especially because most people think Yellowstone is in Montana. Yeah, like 5 minutes of it (it's a sore spot for Wyomingites).

Members of the Washburn-Langford-Doane Expedition spotted Old Faithful on September 18, 1870 (of course, Native Americans in the area had long been aware of Old Faithful).







Nathaniel P. Langford wrote an account of the expedition:

"It spouted at regular intervals nine times during our stay, the columns of boiling water being thrown from ninety to one hundred and twenty-five feet at each discharge, which lasted from fifteen to twenty minutes. We gave it the name of 'Old Faithful.'"

In another part of Langford's diary, he described the complete lack of understanding by white folks of the delicate ecosystem of geysers. Old Faithful was sometimes used as a laundry in the early days:

"Old Faithful is sometimes degraded by being made a laundry. Garments placed in the crater during quiescence are ejected thoroughly washed when the eruption takes place." Oh, boy. When Americans like something, we like it to death. By the way, geysers are a spring characterized by intermittent discharge of water ejected turbulently and accompanied by steam. As a fairly rare phenomenon, the formation of geysers is due to particular hydrogeological conditions that exist only in a few places on Earth, and Yellowstone is unique even within that small group. There's something about watching it erupt that makes you want to squeal out loud. I've never been able to take a good video, myself, as I'm always too much in awe when it goes. The video on Old Faithful's Wikipedia page is actually one of the best I've ever seen: Old Faithful erupting.  If you want to see it live, the National Park Service live streams it here: Old Faithful Live Stream. After the 1959 earthquake in the region, Old Faithful has decreased in both how high it gets and how often it erupts (about one less eruption a day). The decrease has been linked to a change in how Old Faithful is connected to the thermal vents underneath the surface. Take a look at my post on Hot Spots for more info. We try to go up at least once a year. The trip is a nice one, though if you're pulling a trailer make sure you have the right braking system, as the road leading up to the park is pretty windy, especially if you're coming from the south. Make sure you call ahead and find out about road closures, as they regularly have to close roads to the the constantly changing nature of the park. One year part of the road leading out the park actually melted as a heat vent made its way to the surface. Yes, you read that right. The asphalt MELTED. Wish I had gotten a picture. Oh, and if you are planning a trip, make sure you plan far ahead for accomodations. If you want to stay in any of the lodges in the park, I suggest booking a year out. If you want to camp at any of the Yellowstone camping sites, then at least 3 months, or longer if you're going in June, July, or August. Personally, I love September in Yellowstone. It's not usually too cold to camp yet, and a good deal of the tourists are gone, but the restaurants are still open. Make sure you hit Paint Pot, though. It's probably my favorite place in the park. But don't tell Old Faithful.

Hot spots and Yellowstone.

We're gearing up for a trip to Yellowstone. We haven't been back in a few years, so I'm excited to see what's changed, as well as taking Sweetie there for the first time!

Yellowstone is so unique because of the mixture of magma and water, from a tectonic "hot spot" that's been in this mantle location for around 20 million years, a the water that is naturally in the crust at this location.

Everyone kinda understands Plate Tectonics, yeah? The idea is that the top crust of the planet is made up of rigid plates that are sort of floating on the upper mantle, so they move around, like a Slip n Slide. This movement causes most of the geological activity on the planet, like earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.

Most, but not all.

Mantle activity known as "hot spots" are thought to be the result of plates being subducted under each other millions of years ago. See, when one plate is forced under another, it starts to loose water as the water in the crust heats up, being surrounded by molten magma. That water then "irritates" the mantle, to say it simply. And even once the plate has long been completed subducted and melted away, the irritation remains, causing the hot spot.

So a new plate moves over this area of the mantle, and magma wells up from the old irritation. Essentially, hot spots are thought to be evidence of much, much older plate movement. Currently, the hot spot is over a good chunk of Wyoming (remember, the hot spot doesn't move, the plate does!).

However, that explanation isn't universally accepted by all geologists. The other hypothesis is that lithospheric extension permits the passive rising of melted magma from shallow depths. This isn't a really great hypothesis, as it can't really be tested, even in models, as we have no idea *how* exactly crustal extension would allow magma to bubble through it. Hopefully, we'll have an answer either way someday.

There are lots of other hot spots around the globe, Iceland and Hawaii being the more famous. But the crust in Northern Wyoming is very different than the crust over other hot spots, because it's got so much water inside it. There's an entire network of caves and underground lakes in this region, as well as a lot of natural gas. That's the reason for the numerous geysers and other thermal features in Yellowstone National Park and the surrounding area.

Identifying Igenous Rocks

So, I made a short video explaining a simple way to identify igneous rocks (explained in a previous post). You can you this method even in the field, by just picking up a rock. Of course, you need to be able to recognize if the rock is igneous, or else it might be sedimentary or metamorphic, in which case this method won't work. :) Enjoy!

Rendezvous, and the misunderstanding of "Mountain Men"

Rendezvous is an event unique to Wyoming. Experiencing it helps one understand what makes people tick in this state. The fierce pride in self-sufficiency for both men and women (remember, this is the Equality State) is evident in the different Rendezvous that occur this time of year around the state.

Rendezvous was a regular yearly event in the 1820s though 1850. Europeans and Indians all gathered in a valley "below the Green River"(near modern day Pinedale) and bartered, traded, sold, and swapped various items such as skins, pelts, guns, jewelry and whatever else they needed. 

Though it needs to be mentioned that this type of traders meet-up comes to us from Native American traditions. Meeting on neutral ground in order to benefit from the activities of tribes in the region had been happening for at least 500 years before European contact.

This year, it occurred to me, as I participated, that society has confused what "maniless", "macho", or whatever term you want to use means for the true behavior of the rugged Mountain Man. this happened as I listed to men talk to each other, and even to other women. The crude jokes, and implication that women waiting to be taken by "true men", had me explaining to whoever would listen that this was not the conversation of a "true" Mountain Man.

Men in the 19th century were raised to believe that women were delicate and in need of protection, except for the women in the West. Women living in the West were respected for their skills and toughness. Still, any man that people would associate with and regularly trade with would never have spoken about a woman that way. In general, men didn't speak about women at all, and then only in reverent tones. It was considered completely unacceptable to refer to a woman in terms of sexual conquest at all. Heck, men didn't talk about prostitutes that way.

Historical documents show us that how men spoke about women in general changes in the 1950s, most likely due to WWII and the changes that occurred in the power dynamic between the sexes, with a need to reassert male dominance.

As a side note to the image of the Western woman, I had a friend who was from the East. She had identified as a "tomboy" growing up. She moved out to Wyoming as an adult, and had an identity crises. "These girls make ME look girly!" she said, both horrified at the label and fascinated by difference in feminine expression. "These girls in the West are rough."

I think that's a pretty good indication of how the West was won.

Thought y'all would appreciate a picture....

Please leave a comment!

The Culture of The West - Or, an amazing list of all the things to see in this area

I've been asked recently about the culture of The West, Wyoming in particular. It came up in a conversation about the abundance of things to do in this area, or better yet, the seeming under-abundance of things to do, because they are "inconvenient" or lacking in practical value. Or, one could argue, lacking in "prestige value", meaning that those that have lived in the area for a long period of time don't think of going to these sites as worthwhile.

Sigh.

Though I would like to mention that I completely understand the situation of being without the resources or ability to drive to these locations. Gas costs money. Some people can't afford cars, even. But to be honest, those are not the reasons that most people I talk to have not seen some of the amazing things in their area. They just confess to not taking the time, or at best being ignorant of the existence of such places.

Maybe that's what this blog is for. Wyoming is so rich. I hate to see it go to waste. Or for people to leave, because they mistakenly think there is "no culture here". The culture is different than other places, that's for certain, but we do have culture. You have to be willing to explore it for yourself, it won't come to you.

And that's the culture of The West in a nutshell. It won't come to you.

So. A list of all the places I strongly urge you to visit in the next year, or at least make a strong effort. I will post more information about these locations as I get to them. This is your country. Enjoy it.

1. Fossil Butte National Monument
2. Seedskedee National Wildlife Refuge
3. Boar's Tusk
4. Killpecker Sand Dunes
5. The White Mountain Petrogyphs
6. Natural Horse Corrals
7. Medicine Wheel National Historic Site
8. Linwood, the Town that Drowned - at the Lucerne exit on the Flaming Gorge
9. Sinks Canyon
10. And Yellowstone. Because. :D

 This is hardly an exhaustive list. I'll post other lists at a later date. Let me know if you go to any of these, and what you thought about them!

Hubby and Sweetie at Scott's Bottom, Green River, WY

Along WY-28 and WY-131

One of my favorite roads is WY-28, and one of my favorite places is Sinks Canyon, just off WY-28 near Lander. The middle fork of the Popo Agie River(*Puh - Po Shuh) "sinks" into a limestone cavern and then reappears on the other side of the ridge. It can take water up to two hours to make the journey through the cavern. It's a incredible place.

Not for those without good walking shoes or agility, however. There's a bit of scrambling up and down the enormous rocks that were left there from the last Ice Age. The ice scraping down the canyon exposed the deeply buried Madison Limestone Formation and then billions of gallons of water from the melting glaciers flowed into the soft rock, creating the underground passages.

The Sinks are still slowly eroding from current of the river, but haven't changed much over the past hundred years. Historic photos from the early 20th century show the cavern to be almost identical to how it looks today. Which is kinda cool, geological speaking. :)

Get a sandwich at The Breadboard in town while you're at it. I highly recommend the Hot Pastrami.

Red Canyon: remember, red usually mean IRON!

*How Do You Pronounce Popo Agie?

Between Manila and Mountain View

Let's try some video.



Important:
When wandering around looking at the beauty of an area, please remember to respect any posted signs or private property.

As a side note, I've been having trouble loading photos (and even finding certain photos) on my phone because I have so many. The hubby carries a camera most of the time, but I'm very fond of my smartphone. Remember to back up your pictures and video somewhere, be it on your computer or using a cloud service. It would be terrible to lose pictures of such splendor!

Please leave me a comment! Tell me what you think!

Everywhere but Wyoming - and the benefits of paper maps

These last few weeks have been travel-packed. Washington, Colorado, Kansas, Texas. But like I said, driving around doesn't take a lot of planning, even with kids. Make sure you have plenty of water, a full tank of gas, good tires, and a map of the area your headed to.

A paper map is essential. Wyoming is a VERY large state that does not always have reliable cell phone reception. Using your smartphone's GPS is not always an option. Mapquest.com is a good resource, as well as AAA.

Friends are also great resources! If you're new to an area, talk to a friend that's been there before going, or bring them along for the ride. The trip is always more fun with people to share it with.

I went to Peru!

I do want to talk about our travels to other places. Hope that's Ok. :)

Our travels mix geology and anthropology so seamlessly, it's hard to talk about them separately. But to shorten each post, I'll give it a whirl:

Peru is smack in the middle of the Andes. Because of this geography, one side is Amazon Rainforest, and the western side is mostly desert (Google "rainshadow"). I was on the western side for my recent trip, so the similarities between where I visited and southwest Wyoming were striking.

The rocks of Peru are amazing. Andesite, one of the fundamental types of igneous rocks (made from magma and lava), was first understood by studying the rocks of the Andes. The geological of the Andes is similar to the Cascades in Washington State, but different because of the availability of different elements and minerals in the crust there.

Here are a few photos of both landscape and rocks I found during my time in Lima, Cusco, and at Machu Pichu. I took LOTS of pictures, more than I can possibly share.

And yes, I love taking pictures of rocks.

PS - The food is AMAZING. The original home of the potato!