Unique Visitors
I feel very fortunate to live in this country.
Sunday, July 4, 2010
The Ice Caves
Saturday I went for a strenuous hike up to the Ice Caves near Sam's Point Preserve. These are not the old commercial ice caves that many people easily hike to up there but the wild ice caves that are unmarked and have no maintained trails to them (and are also much more spectacular).
I went with Ray Haberski, a former school principal and educator who hikes up there each year around the 4th and knows the way. We started off Berme Road near the J&M Originals factory and bushwacked up to the Old Minnewaska Road carriageway. A short distance up the carriageway and then we bushwacked up the hill to the start of the ice cave system.
It starts with what looks like a small fracture, but when you crawl into it the fracture opens up into a major crevice a few feet wide and over 50 feet high. The sides of the walls show clear signs of having been a strike-slip fault system with fault striations and polishing (slickensides).
These large strike-slip faults, perpendicular to the fold axes of the ridge, are common. These have evidently cut down into the underlying shale allowing the Shawangunk Conglomerate to slide a bit downslope opening up these relatively large crevice systems.
Inside the first large crevice was a substantial pile of breakdown which seemed very fresh (perhaps this previous winter/spring). It is disconcerting to look at the walls in some places in the ice caves and to see how unstable some of the rocks appear.
Another view of the crevice.
Here's the view straight up...
After climbing out of the first major crevice, we were on some slabs with pitch pines and views of Ellenville. Then we viewed a few more crevices and deep holes with icy cold air coming out of them but there was no easy way to explore them (one could get in, getting out would be the problem).
The next major crevice system we traversed through had an actual talus cave (Ray told me there were others around as well but we didn't visit them). This one handily had a ladder to descend into it was was quite large inside (and dark, you need flashlights). Note also the graffiti - I hope I never find anyone writing on rock walls in beautiful, unique places like this because I'd be sorely tempted to do violence upon them.
The climb out of the crevice was a bit more challenging involving wet, slippery, moss-covered rocks tilted the wrong way. A slip and fall would leave you in bad shape in a place where rescue would be a long time coming.
We eventually reached a high point (climbing an estimated 1,300 feet in elevation from our cars by my estimation) where we came to the Grand Canyon where a crevice had widened into a true canyon between sheer cliff walls.
We descended into the Grand Canyon and hiked through it. There are a number of unusual plant species down there and thick pads of mosses.
It's a unique ecosystem for the area which exists because temperatures in the depths are much cooler than above. On the canyon rim, it was 90+ degrees with strong sunlight and at the bottom you could have worn a jacket and it was shady most of the day. Here and there were small patches of snow and ice but not as much as normal due to our very warm spring.
After the Grand Canyon, we bushwacked across to another, slightly smaller canyon which came out at the top of Shingle Gulley. We followed the gulley back down to the Old Minnewaska Road and then bushwacked down to our cars (which was rough going and left me with scratched up arms).
I was exhausted afterwards and still a bit sore today but it was a great way to spend a Saturday. I'll have to get up there again this summer just to reinforce in my mind how to find the crevice system again because if I wait until next summer I think I'd have trouble finding them (given the rough topography, you could be within 50 feet of a major crevice and never see it). I'll bring a GPS next time too (and someone willing to come along since it would be foolish to hike in this area alone).
I went with Ray Haberski, a former school principal and educator who hikes up there each year around the 4th and knows the way. We started off Berme Road near the J&M Originals factory and bushwacked up to the Old Minnewaska Road carriageway. A short distance up the carriageway and then we bushwacked up the hill to the start of the ice cave system.
It starts with what looks like a small fracture, but when you crawl into it the fracture opens up into a major crevice a few feet wide and over 50 feet high. The sides of the walls show clear signs of having been a strike-slip fault system with fault striations and polishing (slickensides).
These large strike-slip faults, perpendicular to the fold axes of the ridge, are common. These have evidently cut down into the underlying shale allowing the Shawangunk Conglomerate to slide a bit downslope opening up these relatively large crevice systems.
Inside the first large crevice was a substantial pile of breakdown which seemed very fresh (perhaps this previous winter/spring). It is disconcerting to look at the walls in some places in the ice caves and to see how unstable some of the rocks appear.
Another view of the crevice.
Here's the view straight up...
After climbing out of the first major crevice, we were on some slabs with pitch pines and views of Ellenville. Then we viewed a few more crevices and deep holes with icy cold air coming out of them but there was no easy way to explore them (one could get in, getting out would be the problem).
The next major crevice system we traversed through had an actual talus cave (Ray told me there were others around as well but we didn't visit them). This one handily had a ladder to descend into it was was quite large inside (and dark, you need flashlights). Note also the graffiti - I hope I never find anyone writing on rock walls in beautiful, unique places like this because I'd be sorely tempted to do violence upon them.
The climb out of the crevice was a bit more challenging involving wet, slippery, moss-covered rocks tilted the wrong way. A slip and fall would leave you in bad shape in a place where rescue would be a long time coming.
We eventually reached a high point (climbing an estimated 1,300 feet in elevation from our cars by my estimation) where we came to the Grand Canyon where a crevice had widened into a true canyon between sheer cliff walls.
We descended into the Grand Canyon and hiked through it. There are a number of unusual plant species down there and thick pads of mosses.
It's a unique ecosystem for the area which exists because temperatures in the depths are much cooler than above. On the canyon rim, it was 90+ degrees with strong sunlight and at the bottom you could have worn a jacket and it was shady most of the day. Here and there were small patches of snow and ice but not as much as normal due to our very warm spring.
After the Grand Canyon, we bushwacked across to another, slightly smaller canyon which came out at the top of Shingle Gulley. We followed the gulley back down to the Old Minnewaska Road and then bushwacked down to our cars (which was rough going and left me with scratched up arms).
Friday, July 2, 2010
Traveling pet peeves
Since I'm back from a long trip and a little grumpy I thought I'd just vent some of my pet peeves about traveling. Read at your own risk...
I'm only 6'1" or so, not exceedingly tall, but most of the rest area bathrooms in this country hang their mirrrors so I'm looking at my belly and chest. Look, I understand the guys in wheelchairs and dwarfs have to comb their hair too but should that inconvenience 99% of the rest of us using the damn bathroom? Can't you just paste up one small mirror at wheelchair height for a few bucks and leave the other 10 mirrors for average height people?
On the subject of rest area bathrooms, why do men feel a need to piss all over the floor and toilets? I'd rather just go in the woods than in some of these bathrooms where I feel like hosing off my sneakers when I come out.
In a similar vein, what's with those hotels that place showerheads 5 feet above the bottom of the tub? I have to bend over to wash my hair. Are plumbers in this country shorter than normal? Are they doing it to save 1 foot of copper pipe for each motel unit to economize on construction costs? Do people other than me like to bend over when showering? Who in their right mind installs a showerhead at chest level?
Why do people from cities drive like such complete idiots? The closer you get to a major city, the higher the proportion of complete morons and inconsiderate assholes driving cars. Is it brain damage from breathing all the exhaust fumes? Pent up rage from having to spend hours commuting a mile or two down the road? (I am certainly spoiled with my 1.5 mile daily commute to work on a relatively quiet county road).
Why is Canada so expensive? The exchange rate was almost par (I believe $0.96 US got a Canadian dollar) but prices were 10-20% higher in Canada for everything. And service in restaurants in Canada is typically slow and surly. I feel bad picking on them since today's Canada Day but oh well.
Why do the cheapest chain hotels offer the most free amenities? Days Inn, for example, is typically inexpensive, usually clean and decent, and offers free WiFi, newspaper, parking, breakfast, etc. When I've stayed at Marriotts or Hiltons for geology conferences they typically charge for Internet ($12/day at one place), parking ($20/day), breakfast (over $10), etc. Give me a Days Inn, Comfort Inn, EconoLodge, etc. anytime.
Why do NJ and OR not have self-serve gas pumps? Is there some strong lobbying organization fighting to save those miserable, minimum-wage, gas pumping jobs? Are people in those states too dumb to pump their own gas? I prefer to pump my own rather than wait for some surly attendant to do it. And why is NY the only state without those locks to hold the gas pumps on so you don't have to stand their squeezing the handle to whole time? Legislators in this state can't get a state budget in on time for the past few decades but they have time to pass laws about gas pump clicky things.
Do they really have to fence in the entire western part of this country with barbed wire? There must be billions of miles of the stuff, even in remote areas completely devoid of cows. The only places not wired are towns and National Parks.
I'm only 6'1" or so, not exceedingly tall, but most of the rest area bathrooms in this country hang their mirrrors so I'm looking at my belly and chest. Look, I understand the guys in wheelchairs and dwarfs have to comb their hair too but should that inconvenience 99% of the rest of us using the damn bathroom? Can't you just paste up one small mirror at wheelchair height for a few bucks and leave the other 10 mirrors for average height people?
On the subject of rest area bathrooms, why do men feel a need to piss all over the floor and toilets? I'd rather just go in the woods than in some of these bathrooms where I feel like hosing off my sneakers when I come out.
In a similar vein, what's with those hotels that place showerheads 5 feet above the bottom of the tub? I have to bend over to wash my hair. Are plumbers in this country shorter than normal? Are they doing it to save 1 foot of copper pipe for each motel unit to economize on construction costs? Do people other than me like to bend over when showering? Who in their right mind installs a showerhead at chest level?
Why do people from cities drive like such complete idiots? The closer you get to a major city, the higher the proportion of complete morons and inconsiderate assholes driving cars. Is it brain damage from breathing all the exhaust fumes? Pent up rage from having to spend hours commuting a mile or two down the road? (I am certainly spoiled with my 1.5 mile daily commute to work on a relatively quiet county road).
Why is Canada so expensive? The exchange rate was almost par (I believe $0.96 US got a Canadian dollar) but prices were 10-20% higher in Canada for everything. And service in restaurants in Canada is typically slow and surly. I feel bad picking on them since today's Canada Day but oh well.
Why do the cheapest chain hotels offer the most free amenities? Days Inn, for example, is typically inexpensive, usually clean and decent, and offers free WiFi, newspaper, parking, breakfast, etc. When I've stayed at Marriotts or Hiltons for geology conferences they typically charge for Internet ($12/day at one place), parking ($20/day), breakfast (over $10), etc. Give me a Days Inn, Comfort Inn, EconoLodge, etc. anytime.
Why do NJ and OR not have self-serve gas pumps? Is there some strong lobbying organization fighting to save those miserable, minimum-wage, gas pumping jobs? Are people in those states too dumb to pump their own gas? I prefer to pump my own rather than wait for some surly attendant to do it. And why is NY the only state without those locks to hold the gas pumps on so you don't have to stand their squeezing the handle to whole time? Legislators in this state can't get a state budget in on time for the past few decades but they have time to pass laws about gas pump clicky things.
Do they really have to fence in the entire western part of this country with barbed wire? There must be billions of miles of the stuff, even in remote areas completely devoid of cows. The only places not wired are towns and National Parks.
Thursday, July 1, 2010
Mega road trip - Days 29, 30, & 31
June 29 was a visit to Wall Drug (I'm not a big fan but it's impossible not to stop with kids who know what's there) and a drive and hike in the Badlands in the morning and then a long slog through 400 miles of South Dakota and 150 miles of Minnesota to Albert Lea, MN for the night. We're back in the flat midwest and starting the final push home.
June 30 was from Albert Lea, MN, down into Iowa, and then east on I-80 to Fremont, IN. Corn fields and soybean fields galore with nasty rush hour traffic around Chicago.
July 1 was the final push home on I-90 from Fremont, IN to Erie, PA and then east on I-86/NY-17 through the Southern Tier of NY State. Safely home.
June 30 was from Albert Lea, MN, down into Iowa, and then east on I-80 to Fremont, IN. Corn fields and soybean fields galore with nasty rush hour traffic around Chicago.
July 1 was the final push home on I-90 from Fremont, IN to Erie, PA and then east on I-86/NY-17 through the Southern Tier of NY State. Safely home.
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