Southwest Field Trip: Getting There

Over spring break, the SU Geology Club organized a field trip to Death Valley and Grand Canyon. We had an amazing week, and I have quite a few things to blog about from the trip, but first we had to get there...

We flew from Syracuse to  LA (via DC) on Friday night, and after a few hours in a motel, we got our supplies and hit the road, crossing the San Andreas fault, past Red Rock Canyon, crossing Panamint Valley before arriving at Stovepipe Wells Campground for our first night. It was a long day, and we didn't stop very often, so most of my photos were shot through the van window as we went.

Red Rock Canyon

Red Rock Canyon

Rest Stop and Gas Station in the Mojave Desert

Father Crowley lookout

@ Father Crowley point

Crossing the Panamint Valley

Late afternoon sun

View from Father Crowley Point

Since we didn't have a field trip leader who had spent a lot of time in either area, we decided to split up the organization of the field guide and the "teaching" at each field stop.  Once we had a working itinerary, the stops were split up so that each participant on the trip (14 students, both grads and undergrads) was in charge of researching and putting together notes on a specific locality.

My next blog post will be more about putting the field guide together - what worked, what I wish we'd done or done differently, etc.  In the meantime, below is a video I put together with snapshots and video from the trip (including video of driving through the volcano just east of Father Crowley Point), showing everywhere we went and giving credit to each student's contribution to the field guide.

    

Southwest Trip, Spring Break 2013 from Tannis McCartney on Vimeo.