Day 8 - Sam's Point

Friday, May 25 was the last day of my Geology of the Hudson Valley field course.  Once again, weather sucked as we went to Sam's Point Preserve off of Route 52 above Ellenville. It's a place that normally has beautiful views, both to the east over the Hudson Valley towards Connecticut and to the west over the Rondout Valley towards the Catskills.

It was, however, cloudy.  A student took this picture of me commenting that it was "Schimmrich in his natural habitat" (on a cloudy cliff with a cup of coffee at the start of the day).  On a clear day from this ledge, you can see all the way to High Point in New Jersey (and beyond).

We started at the Visitor's Center (where I have a video on the geology) and then a quick hike up to Sam's Point.  There we discussed some of the local history (resort hotels, huckleberry pickers, and the old Ice Caves Mountain business).  I also talked more about glaciation in the Hudson Valley since the Shawangunk Ridge is full of glacial erosional and depositional features.

The geology of the Shawangunk Conglomerate was also reviewed (it had been touched upon on Day 4 of the course as well).  From Sam's Point, we hiked to the ice caves (which had no ice in them due to the mild winter).  After lunch, a drive to a nearby park with a roofed pavilion allowed the students to take their final exams without fear of getting their blue books soaked in the rain.

All-in-all it went pretty well (other than the #%@! weather).  It is an exhausting course for me to teach (3 full days, Sunday off, and then 5 full days all outside with a lot of driving and hiking).  After a few beers Friday night with friends I went home and slept for 12 hours!