Thunderstorms!

Thunderstorm over the La Sal Mountains (my view from the entrance station!)

I love thunderstorms! I don't like being out in them...sometimes at work I'm afraid to get out of the vehicle to walk across the parking lot, so I end up running. People scare me--they like to go up to the Point overlook to watch the storms. Not the best place to be if you don't want to be stuck by lightning! I think there is a actually a USU scholarship in the name of someone who died from a lightning strike at Dead Horse Point.

Out in the park's entrance station it gets a little scary sometimes too. A past seasonal swore he saw the ball on top of the flagpole get struck by lightning--I believe him! I did notice some black smudges up there...haha.

We don't get a lot of precipitation--most of it comes during summer thunderstorms where we get flash floods and waterfalls all over the place. I've only been able to be out during a few of the waterfall-storms but they are pretty cool. If I get lucky enough this summer I'll take some pictures :)

Talking About the Weather....

It steals your hat, makes electricity and can tear down buildings. What is it? Wind, of course! ....and we've been getting a lot of it in Utah recently. I was curious about where it comes from so I looked up some information and decided to share it here!

Air molecules are moving constantly and are always bumping into each other. The more air molecules there are in a certain area, the higher the air pressure. Air pressure is just the amount of force (or weight of the air) that is hitting any given area at a certain time. Changes in air pressure over horizontal distances causes air molecules to rush from areas of high pressure to areas of low pressure.

In other words, as the sun heats the air, it rises. Cooler air rushes in to fill in the space, making wind.

I was interested in looking up the wind because we've been having a LOT of it here! Yesterday at the park we had 60 mph gusts and steady wind all day of about 30 mph. The sky was brown with all the red/brown dust in the air. The last time I saw it that bad, when it rained everything was covered in mud. I sent my after school club kids home early so they wouldn't be caught in the storm! My roommate was riding her bike home at the time and came home splattered in red mud.

I like wind sometimes--like when I'm working or at home but I don't like hiking in it. Yesterday I had sunscreen on so that meant I was covered in sand by the time I got home. Also it's no fun setting up your tent in the wind...our group site campers left early because the wind destroyed their tents! That brings up another memory (sorry!)....last year I was asked to do some overtime at the park, so I had planned to just camp on top of the mesa at the Long Canyon road--I was supposed to work until midnight and didn't want to drive all the way into town and back. It was really windy when I was setting up my tent but I loaded it with pillow and sleeping bag. I decided it was time to call it off when I had to go get it out of a tree!

Work, work, work

I haven't posted much lately...work got busy fast and I'm been getting out as much as possible on days off--trying to get some exercise and work off my winter weight...Dave bought us an exercise bike so even when it's really cold or really hot we can get our workout without a trip to the gym.

I am finally getting into a Master's program and USU Moab offers a Recreation Resource Management degree.  I am going to a week-long field school from May 16-21 and have to give a presentation.  I picked "The role of environmental interpretation in recreation resource management."  Hopefully it'll go over well.  The minimum talking time for grad students in this class is an hour.  With the outline I came up with, it could last 3-4 hours...but I don't really want to take up the entire afternoon.  It should be a fun class though.  It's got LOTS of reading (even including Edward Abbey), an afternoon in Arches, the River Portal, Mill Creek...and an overnight camping trip down towards the Needles District of Canyonlands.

Another part of the Master's program is a project.  Somehow this just happened and I fell into the middle of it, but Dead Horse Point State Park is now setting up a partnership with the Moab Charter School.  I'm working on the schedule of events right now so I can meet with them on Wednesday.  They want to move from an artistic program to more of an environmental education program.  Anyway I can get credit for working with them.  Now, all I need to do is take the GRE (oops) and officially get accepted to the college so I can continue.  I'm thinking it should be a great program.

...Learning to measure use impacts. water quality sampling, surveying and a ton of other stuff...

Plus it's taking place here, which is a bonus.  I'm taking the week off work and getting 3 graduate credits for it.  I'll take pictures and post after that week is over!

Hiking in Arches: Park Avenue

After a day of exploring by truck, we (I) decided to do some hikes.  (I was really tired of Dave's suspension bouncing me around aaaaalllll day loooong)  Dave's done a few hikes in Arches, but we (I) decided he needed to see more.  He hadn't been to the Windows, my favorite, or Park Avenue, so that's what we focused on.  Park Avenue is one of my favorite hikes because it's usually not crowded and it's a quick two-mile hike to get in on the way home from work or in a free morning.

View of rock formations along Park Avenue.  Named for New York's Park Avenue, the canyon walls are huge, tall rock fins of Entrada Sandstone lining a narrow wash.  (Entrada is the arch-forming sandstone in Arches, which is home to over 2,000 named arches)

Dark red fins in front of a clear blue sky.

Nefertiti Rock--looks like an Egyptian Queen.  What I want to know, is "how did this happen?!"

Park Avenue is impressive enough looking up at those huge rock formations, but when you look closer at some of the smaller wonders, it's too much to take in all at once!  This Newberry's Twinpod caught my eye in a sandy area of the wash.  What usually happens is this:  Dave looks at the rock formations and knows in what environment it was deposited and its time period.  I look at the ground for tracks and scat, flowers and other cool little things.....

......like this!  Crossbedded sandstone making fun patterns on the floor of the wash.  Dave walked right over it, so I called him back to "look at the ground."

I've got pictures of some very "cute" tracks in the sandy places of this wash, but I'll save those for another post.  Happy hiking!

Earth Day Clean-up

I received a text from my friend Wendy on Thursday asking if I wanted to do a quick Earth Day clean-up along Mill Creek in the center of town.  We did one last year and found lots of garbage and recyclable materials, so I decided it would be a good idea to get back out there--plus it's great exercise and the weather had been super nice.

A walking/biking path follows Mill Creek through the city of Moab.  It's peaceful and quiet and we heard a lot of birds singing as we cleaned.  I use the Mill Creek path to walk across town--it avoids the busy streets and passes under Main Street.  It's the easiest (maybe not the fastest) way to get to the store and even across town.  The part we cleaned was right next to/under Main Street and below Woody's Tavern.  ...Not against the bar...except when people throw beer glasses and garbage over the fence and into the creek.  Most of what we picked up was broken glasses, beer bottles and food containers (ew).

My friend Wendy who invited me along.

My friend Sara Melnicoff, who organizes these events!  Yay Sara!  Her website, http://www.moab-solutions.org/ is awesome--projects, green tips, etc.

Sara and her display about Moab Solutions.  She makes portable exhibits out of recyclable materials.  One can be seen at the Wabi Sabi Thriftique in town and she takes them with her when she gives presentations or holds events.

The group of us.  Me, Wendy, Dean, Sara, Carole and Breezy.  We all felt a little grungy after wading in the creek and mud, going after garbage and recyclables but it was worth it!

I know it's over, but Happy Earth Day!