Ohio's Scenic Geology

For additional info, please see yesterday's Ohio video.

Ohio Rocks - Geology, Ice Age Features, Fossils, and Resources

Ohio is a state through which I have passed several times, initially in 1974, but I haven't spent much time there, other than visiting the Hudepohl and Schoenling breweries in Cincinnati in 1981 and 1982. 

After our van's minor breakdown in Cincinnati afternoon traffic during our August 2021 trip, we stayed the night in Sharon, OH on the north side of Cincinnati, but left out for Michigan as soon as repairs were complete.

That being the case, no slight was intended towards the state, it has just been "in-between" our starting point and our destination on numerous journeys, as have been Alabama and Mississippi (except for Civil War sites in Corinth and Vicksburg during the Spring 2021 van "shakedown cruise" and a 2015 stop at a loess outcrop in Vicksburg).

So today's and tomorrow's videos are for my own learning, in the hopes of being able to visit any geological sites if we are able to make another Michigan trip next year (to visit my wife's hometown of Traverse City).  This year we were constrained by needing to make a family reunion in Traverse City and other than visiting Frankenmuth, MI there were no other stops planned.

A Few Days in Ohio ...

Figuratively speaking, studying Geology and other Earth Science-related subjects by way of posts, videos, and links.

In my past travels (including August 2021), I have crisscrossed Ohio, but I don't think I have ever spent the night there.  It was one of those un-visited, in-between places between home and a further destination.  

As with other subjects, as personal schedules don't allow for as much planning and writing as I would like, the choice of Ohio (for a few days) was a spirit-of-the-moment thing.  But it does serve the purpose of giving me (and my wife) ideas for possible future van camping travels.

At the moment, I can think of no "Bucket List" items in Ohio, perhaps because I don't know the state well enough.  Perhaps as a place to photograph some Glacial Features and maybe pan for some "glacial placer" gold.

Former Shorelines of the Great Lakes

The Other Grand Canyon of the West

I visited the Black Canyon of the Gunnison twice in the late 1970s, in 1977 (North Rim) during the Summer Field Camp field trip and then again during my 1979 Summer Job (South Rim).  As there was good weather during both summertime visits, the views were spectacular.

One of the striking aspects of the Canyon is its narrowness in comparison to the Grand Canyon.  Its narrowness suggests erosion associated with rapid uplift.

Lake Superior and the Precambrian Midcontinent Rift

Barry County Science Festival 2020 - Geology in Michigan

TOP 20 PLACES IN UTAH YOU NEED TO VISIT!

My initial visit to Utah was to Salt Lake City and westward across the Great Salt Lake on our family vacation in 1973, though any of my Dad's photographic slides were misplaced or lost due to humidity-related algal and/or fungal damage during the following years.  (Though some Mesa Verde National Park slides remain from 1973.)  

There was a quick revisit to Salt Lake City during my 1974 Road Trip (with only a Kodak Instamatic), then followed by a 1977 Geology Field Camp visit to Dinosaur National Monument, Canyonlands National Park, and Arches National Monument (now National Park). 

Because a temporary camera-shutter failure during the 1977 field trip left me with zero 35 mm slides of Arches National Monument, I returned there in 1979 but the same malady again befell my Miranda Sensorex II.  (Oddly enough, the 1977 shutter malfunction somehow "fixed itself" so at least I had some slides from Mesa Verde and Canyonlands.  During the shutter malfunction, the camera operation sounded normal.)

Figure 1.

Figure 2.  ("Dressed up for educational uses.)

 

After the 1979 total shutter failure, though I purchased two more used Miranda cameras (a Sensorex and another Sensorex II) to use as back-ups, there were no significant Utah revisit opportunities until 2016.  With the subsequent passage of the years, my desire to "defeat the Moab, UT camera demons" was elevated to moderately-obsessed "Bucket List status".

In 1982 I purchased a Pentax MX to replace the Mirandas and then I "went digital" in 2002, though only with "point and shoot"cameras because of the initial costs, until June 2015 when a friend gave me a Nikon D10 DSLR. 

After returning from Arizona Trip of 2015 #1, I then purchased a Pentax K50 when I decided to make Arizona Trip #2 later in July 2015.  [In the wake of my first wife's passing on May 1, 2015, I needed some more "solitary time" away from Georgia.]

"I think one travels more usefully when they travel alone because they reflect more."

                                                    Thomas Jefferson,

                                                    Letter to John Banister, Jr.,

                                                    June 19, 1787.

Other than revisiting Monument Valley to find "the place where Forrest Gump got tired of running" (below) and photographing a few other Monument Valley sites in both Arizona and Utah, my next goal was to return to the Flagstaff, AZ area to revisit Sunset Crater the next day and then on to Phoenix to see my daughter and her family again.

Figure 3.

My first "digital age" significant visit to Utah was my 2016 Arizona trip.  As with the first Arizona visit of 2015, after my daughter's family made a summer return to Georgia to avoid the Phoenix heat, I again ferried their car and dog back to Phoenix, while she and her kids flew back there.  

This 2016 trip gave me a little more time to plan my return to Georgia by way of Kingman, AZ (for a Turquoise stop), then Zion National Park and Arches National Park in Utah.  After a brief beer stop at Total Wine and then a burger stop at a Freddy's Steakburger, due to the fading daylight and motel reservations in St. George, Utah, there were no further nature photo opportunities possible in the Las Vegas area.  And spending any time - by myself - on the Las Vegas Strip offered absolutely no appeal.

During my planning for the journey, I entertained the idea of swinging west into California to visit the numerous geologic features of Death Valley and then the Mammoth Lakes, California area, but doing Death Valley in early August just didn't seem like a wise idea area.  [However, after generous winter El Niño rains, springtime wildflower photography in Death Valley is definitely a Bucket List item.]

After a gas fill-up near the Las Vegas Motorspeedway, as I wheeled onto I-15, to the northeast I was greeted with an ominous gray wall of thunderstorm clouds in the distance.  From that point, there was a race to cover as much ground as possible in the last vestiges of daylight before the expected deluge.  As I was reaching Glendale, NV in the post-sundown gloom, the rain was beginning as a prelude to the intense lightning storm that still awaited.  

 

Northeast of Littlefield, AZ, where I-15 snakes through the Southern Virgin River Gorge, during the intense lightning flashes, I could tell that the scenery was spectacular and worthy of a future, daylight photography visit.

[More to come.]

McClung Museum Lecture: Eastern North American through Two Supercontinen...

Continents Collide: The Appalachians and the Himalayas

Geological Journey - The Appalachians

Returning home, figuratively speaking.

Survival Instructor Explains How to Find Your Way out of the Woods

From one who has wandered Georgia forests for work and "just exploring" by myself and sometimes with a few friends/ coworkers, engaging the "buddy system" before you enter the forest is a good starting point.

IOW, from my experiences, a little planning helps. 

1.) Before you leave your vehicle(s), check for cell phone coverage.

2.) Make sure that at least several water bottles are taken along. Being able to take a quick drink seems to help calm you down if you realize that you have "gotten turned around".

3.) Depending on the size of the group hopefully, someone will have a book bag in which to carry a first aid kit, at least a partial roll of toilet paper, and a small notepad and pencil and/or pen.

4.) Carry along a good stout walking stick, in case you encounter any hostile animals, most notably feral dogs, and feral hogs, in Georgia. Also, if there are likely to be snakes, sporadically "pound" the ground with your stick to create vibrations that give the snakes a warning to "move aside", as most of the time they don't want a confrontation, either.

That being said, I have "gotten lost" a few times (for a few minutes until my instincts kicked in), just some suggestions if you lose your way in a forest, aside from Cherry Dragon's advice:

1.) Don't panic and don't begin wandering with no plan of action.

2.) Start to make note of distinctive trees as landmarks (including fallen trees and partially-fallen trees leaning against other trees) to avoid "looping around" (wandering in circles). 3.) If you are with other people, periodically stop walking and talking and just listen, for any "road or other anthropogenic noise" and/or sounds of moving water. More to come ...

Uninvited: The Spread of Invasive Species

Not Geology, but within my Environmental Science sphere of interest.

Geology Field Trip with New Mexico Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources

Evolution of the Rio Grande

Having spent 14 years in El Paso and in the Chihuahuan Desert (by default), I have to come back and mentally visit the region and the Rio Grande from time to time.

Geologic Oddity in Oregon; Pure Obsidian Lava Flow

Biodiversity in the Bluegrass Region | Know Ohio