August Rush

August was packed full of small trips, visits from the family, and a little field work.

My brother Travis and his family paid us a visit earlier this month and he gladly reminded us that we are not ready for kids yet. After his visit I went back into the field for a few days (see video here), bummed around a little, and then went on a couple of short trips with the wife and dogs. We visited a ghost town, went camping and hiking, and introduced Molly to Lewis and Clark Caverns. No more fun cause my last semester starts tomorrow. I'll let everyone know how Global Tectonics and Geophysics pans out.

Ballast for the raft.

Floating the Stone.

Small horse or large children?

Lodge at Elkhorn ghost town.

Our new house.

CaCO3

Capin' the Cod

Molly and I just spent a week lounging around Cape Cod with the Bennett Family. I've never been and would now suggest it to everyone. We whale watched, swam in the Atlantic, visited a vineyard, a lighthouse, and many restaurants. I also managed to squeeze in a seminar concerning the erosion of the beaches on the Cape (I was the only member of my party to attend). We also spenta few nights in Provincetown where I found a marine supply store that sells steel ball-bearings by the handful. I got 21 for $4 and a Belgian army mechanics jacket for $5. What a steal.

The clan.

Humpback tail.

Beach on the Bay side.

Our "sky deck".

Light reading.

Wine tasting at Truro Vineyard. Wine is still disgusting.

Why so serious?

A mid-summer nights update

My internship is quickly coming to an end and after nearly 3 1/2 weeks of hiking, I am now back in Bozeman. I was home long enough to see my wife for 15 hours before she hopped on a plane and gave me a taste of my own medicine. I have only been home for about 3 of the last 10 weeks, but it was all for the love of science. Anyway, I had the chance to see some amazing sights and get to know a great group of students from across the U.S. Here are a few pics from Yellowstone Park and the Beartooth Mountains. There is a short video of one of the many black bears we encountered. Hope all is well wherever you may be reading this.

Field Notebook

Elk rack near Slough Creek, YNP.


Buffalo Plateau, YNP.








"S"-fold in a grey-gneiss.

Managing to fit in a wedding on my day off.

My wife putting up with my beard.

Index and Pilot Peaks behind clouds, Beartooths.

Lake in Beartooths.

The treacheries along the trail to Lost Lake.

View from Mt. Washburn, YNP.

Leaving My Wife..................

........................................and heading out for my internship tomorrow. She'll get to see me again in a few weeks. I did a supply drop and recon mission with my professor a few days ago. As you can see, our study area still has some snow cover. And, the road to one of our locations was washed away yesterday by the Lamar River, so it should be an interesting trip. No road = more walking. Oh well, maybe I'll finally lose all that BBQ weight I put on in K.C.

Lamar River at peak flow.

Traffic in Yellowstone came to a complete stand-still for over half an hour because of this moose.

4/5 of Field Camp Complete

I have finally returned to Bozeman after spending the last four weeks living in various tent villages strewn across southwestern Montana. My company was 19 geology, hydrology, and paleontology majors, 2 teacher's assistants, and one professor. I had forgotten how unkempt a group of college males can get after only days away from home. We showered very little, survived on bratwurst, breakfast burritos, and cold cans of ravioli, and consumed adverse amounts of cheap beer. Strangely, it reminded me of when I used to live in Lawrence with four other guys. (Although we had a larger mouse problem in Lawrence than in any campground in Montana). I have learned quite a bit and have been able to hike in areas that would have otherwise gone unnoticed. It's too bad it is almost coming to an end. I have included lots of pictures that show what I've been up to and what I've had the pleasure of seeing. Enjoy.

Mapping contacts in Frying Pan Basin

Watching a storm pass by to the south in Frying Pan Basin




This is one of the geologic maps we had to construct. Each line represents a different geologic formation or unit.

A newborn elk in the Wall Creek Wildlife Area. I'm literally 3 feet away.

Just one of the 8 rattlesnakes I have seen in the past four weeks. This one was rather vocal.

A newborn pronghorn near McCartney Mountain.

~70 million year old Cretaceous gastropods from the Kootenai Limestone, McCartney Mountain.

Barber's chair from the saloon at the Bannack Historic Site and ghost town.

A two-story dwelling in Bannack, MT.

The Barretts campground bridge.

Chevron folds in the Lombard Limestone, Clark Canyon Reservoir.

Looking at the Madison Range during lunch.

Passing the time with lawn darts. (illegal in most states)

The infamous "fort tarpville". Debaucherous.

Our trip summed up in one picture.

Finals, Biking, and a Busy Summer Schedule

Well, my third year of school has come to end and I am now gearing up for a busy summer.

Geology field camp begins on May 16th, which entails 5 weeks of hiking around southwest Montana, deciphering the local stratigraphy and lithology, and learning to produce geologic maps. After field camp, I will have a short week to decompress before starting my summer research project in Yellowstone Park. I will be away from the wife and kids for the month of July studying the geology in the northern part of the Park. You can read all about the project here.

During my current break I have managed to find time to fit in an early season mountain bike ride at Lewis & Clark Caverns State Park. For a short video, click here.

Obviously this means that you cannot shoot people on horses while smoking.

Hard tail, 29er time out. (it's a bike thing)