More weekend adventuring

This past weekend was a long one (yay for Fridays off!), hopefully to be the first of many. We think we are going to be able to work four ten-hour days for the whole of July. Since we spend at least 2 hours in the car every day, the travel-work ratio will work out much better. And maybe with an extra day of rest thrown in there, I will actually have the energy to go a-traveling a little bit more. I had grand ambitions, but reality has fallen short due to laziness and apprehension about camping alone. As my roommates no longer have the same days off that I do, however, I've realized I need to get over this.

So this past weekend, I went for a trial adventuring run and saw some of the sites in the immediate area. I toured Cortez, which with a population of 9000 now feels like the BIG CITY. I saw a movie, which was a novel experience, especially because I was surrounded by cyclists on a round-Colorado trip. They seemed to think that I was part of the group and were unusually friendly. I'm ok with that.

Sunday I went to Hovenweep National Monument, which was built and inhabited about the same time as Mesa Verde. If you need that link, tsk tsk. Basically it was the remnants of dwellings built in the 1200s along the edges of a canyon/drainage. The coolest part of the archaeology in this area is that you can really tell why people chose to settle where they did. I wanted to live there, or at least camp there for the night.

That wasn't so true about the ruins we saw in Jordan which were situated in the exact center of desert plateaus. What were those people thinking?

At any rate. I took pictures, but it turns out I am kind of a crap photographer. I will post them anyway, though, because why not?

Hovenweep with the "Sleeping Ute" in the background



More Hovenweep. Not capturing the awesomeness




Foy Lake. Somewhere completely different. the Manti-La Sal is full of these preposterous man-made lakes that are rarely used except for by the occasional fisherman. They are pretty from the right angles, though.

Weekend adventures

This past Saturday, two girls that I live with and I risked the 3.5 hour drive to Lake Powell. Lake Powell is the second largest man-made lake in the US, and is smack dab in the middle of the Arizona desert. It is a monstrosity by any definition.

Driving across hours and hours of desert to get there was definitely strange. All of a sudden we passed through a town, rounded a corner, and there it was. Gallons and gallons of sparkling blue water. We clambered down sandstone phases and jumped in immediately. Hitting the water made the drive worth it. I'm not a big beach person, but three weeks in the desert makes you so much more appreciative of water.

I also managed to jump off of one of the sandstone cliffs into the water, I don't know how high up. I am a wimp, though, so it seemed ridiculously high.

Pictures to follow

rds.

It's weird that I am already a quarter done here.
Or rather, that the summer is already a quarter done.

We have started working on a "roads" project, which means I probably won't be finding any priceless artifacts anytime soon. Sorry guys. I will be sure to let you know when I find the holy grail or sacrificial blade, however.

Basically for this project we are walking up and down little used roads. We are surveying illegal (and some legal) roads, in part of a project to decide what can stay open and what has to be closed. It's not the most thrilling thing ever, but it's alright, and of course, it's beautiful.

Yesterday we probably hiked about 8 miles (including a little detour after we temporarily lost the car), and I think today will be about the same.

Thus ends a thrilling entry.

Continuations

So my second week has finished, and I've learned much about bureaucracy, which as many of you know . . .I love. Monday - Wednesday was district orientation, which means everyone from the entire district got together for many hours of boring lectures. It was interesting, though, to see everyone who works in the forest, because I don't run into them on a daily basis. There is the geologist, the wildlife biologists, the range people, the fire crew, the rec crew, etc. etc. The four of us in Heritage, aka, archaeology, are definetly the nerds of the bunch, but that is kind of fun :)

Some Highlights:

Watch out for meth labs in the forest. Apparently they are prevalent and can be identified by propane tanks and large amounts of prescription pain medication.

Watch out for "tweakers" wielding machine guns. I guess they are big in the archaeological site raiding business. They then sell artifacts at high prices...

So we may be the geeks of the crew, but crazed drug addicts aren't raiding the mountain bike trails or forest fires. So there.

PS. Don't worry, I don't think these things actually really happen. Forest employees favorite pastime is paranoia.

First Days

My first week has ended successfully. Like starting any new job, this week was stressful and I explored the unknown with trepidation. But by the end of three days in the field and two in the office, I feel more confident of my abilities and think this summer is going to be OK.

I am interning in the Heritage department of the Manti-La Sal National Forest. Basically, we are responsible for making sure priceless archaeological remains don't get destroyed by changing land uses. So before recreation puts in a new mountain bike trail, fire does a controlled burn, or the forest turns over land to cattle grazing, we survey the area. This entails walking, eyes glued to the ground, looking for flakes, points, ceramics, or anything else man made. If we find anything we record it and map it. If we think its important, we recommend the area is preserved in the name of heritage.

So yeah, thats what I'm doing. Hopefully it's clearer than my previous explanations that sounded something like...

"err...I'm not really sure. I'm doing something involving archaeology and mapping in the middle of nowhere."


I'm still adapting to living here, but I am enjoying myself more or less so far. If nothing else, the landscape is gorgeous, and I'm hoping to get the opportunity to explore it a little more. I meant to go adventuring this weekend, but it's nice to have a couple days off to twiddle my thumbs, read, play guitar, and veg out.

More soon.