KIRK VS THE VOLCANO

No active volcanoes in Utah

2011-04-13T17:49:00.005-06:00

So there aren't any active volcanoes in Utah, thus I will not be fighting any fire mountains during the summer. Although I have a goal to climb all the 11,000 ft. mountains in the Wasatch, Mt. Moran, Mt. Owen, Teewinot and the Grand Teton, Gannet Peak in Wyoming, and perhaps Mt. Rainier this summer.

I will post trip reports on another blog located here: http://rooftoppeakbagging.blogspot.com/

Round 16

2011-03-29T10:10:00.004-06:00

My time is up. The extended vacation is almost over.

Isla de Socorro

2011-03-23T10:57:00.004-06:00

Socorro Island is 400 miles due west of Manzanillo, Mexico. It is a volcanic island which stands 1000 m above sea level and 4000 m above the ocean floor. It is part of a failed ridge system, yet the volcano remains active.

Excerpt from my journal:
'I can't believe what I am seeing right now. I am on a Mexican WW II navy ship, the sun is rising behind me, revealing the impressive uninhabited volcanic island in front of me. Whales begin rising, jumping, and spouting in all directions. The waves crash against large lava flow cliffs, eroding the coastline into a series of arches, caves, tidepools and impressive cliffs. The island is dotted with red and black volcanic cinder cones and covered by lava flows. The sun rises higher and the sun reflects the ocean's deep blue into our eyes. The water seems perfectly clear. We drift past floating sea turtles. The island seems to be paradise.'

The Island was paradise. Our group hiked to the peak of the volcano in preparation for the measurements we needed to do the following day. The group dropped off their heavy packs and equipment in a forest a mile from the peak, I kept going. I was planing on camping on the peak by myself. When would I get a chance to camp on the peak of a pacific island again? Probably never.

The view from the peak was incredible. I turned 360 degrees and scanned the whole coastline. Yep, I was on an island. 50 miles in the distance I could see another island, San Benedicto. Its volcanic cone was protruding from the low clouds. I watched the sunset, snapped some pictures and found a nice flat place to set up my tent on the windy, dark summit.

The wind flapped my tent all night long but I was nice and cozy. I snaked on some granola bars, read my book, and wrote in my journal. I got over 9 hours of sleep and still got up in time to watch the sunrise. I also had to use the thermal camera to record temperatures of the active lava dome before the sun rose and warmed the rocks. Shortly afterwards, I packed my things and headed down to meet the others and begin our field work.

Socorro was awesome. I want to go back to go scuba diving, which is said to be one of the top spots in the world for diving.

Mexican Travels

2011-03-14T10:47:00.004-06:00

Any attempt to describe in words this past week would be insufficient. So I will give you an overview and one story.

One of my best friends from Atlanta came on his spring break from law school to visit me in the heart of Mexico. I picked him up in Guadalajara on Sunday afternoon and we headed out.

Sunday:
Chapala - largest freshwater lake in Mexico
Guanajuato - we slept here and walked around the rich colonial city

Monday:
Cheap tour in Guanajuato. Highlight of the tour by far; 3 buck ghost house with special effects on the wall. Who needs to go to awesome musuems when they have ghost houses to visit?
Next we drove to the mountains where Monarch Butterflies stay for the winter. We camped in the middle of the forest.

Tuesday:
Horseback ride to where butterflies are located. Amazing stuff. Minor galloping of horses. Good warm up for things to come.
Drove to Morelia in the afternoon. Stayed in a hostel and explored the city. Beautiful, european-like city.

Wednesday:
Postcard disaster. Drove to Patzcuaro area. All indigenous natives. Lots of handcrafts and goods. Lots of ruins in the area. Huge mountain lake dotted with islands. George brought an inflatable raft and plastic paddles so we headed out to the islands. What a sight we were to those natives. Planned on camping but we were negotiated to dirt cheap prices on a cabin on the island.

Thursday:
Got up before sunrise and rafted to the mainland. Videos and documentary in the making. Stay tuned. More ruins and traveling through mountains to the famous and youngest volcano in the world - Paricutin. This is where details are necessary.

Parichutin is located 8 km from the nearest village so its a long day if you want to go by foot. The alternative is by horse. Tourism is the locals form of income, although many times they try to rip you off because we are gringos. If you can speak spanish, then negotiation is an option. Thats what we did. We talked them down and in return we got the craziest and fastest horses they have. They told us it usually takes people 6 to 7 hours to go to the volcano, hike up, and down and get back. 16 km's round trip. It took us 3 hours.

We saddled up and headed out. Georges horse was named Pallaso, which means clown. My horse was so crazy, the owner didn't even give the horse the dignity of a name. The horses had a lot of energy and they didn't like being told what to do. At every opportunity, they would start galloping. At first, it was a little nerve racking, but after 10 minutes we embraced it wholeheartedly. We were screaming arriba and andale, raising our hats and galloping for miles. Our guide was far behind, trotting along. We passed a super good looking Polish girl on the way up. She was on her way down. We made it to the volcano base. Hiked to the top. Walked around the crater rim and hiked down. From the top the view was amazing and the lava flows extended several km's in all directions.

We saddled up and not to our surprise, our horses were more than ready to get going again. My horse was competitve and often raced George's horse. At one point, George started galloping ahead. I held my horse back because my butt was hurting but eventually I let him free, full speed. I leaned forward in my saddle, raised the reins in my left hand, raised my huge sombrero with my right hand in the air and passed George in a full gallop. Must have been going 30 mph. No exaggeration.

George passed the Polish girl and her group (on normal horses) in a full gallop. His horse started chasing a pickup truck full of people. I stopped and started chatting with the group for about 10 seconds until my horse broke out into a full gallop. The polish girl must have been thinking, Who are these crazy american cowboys?

Eventually I caught George. We went galloping onwards towards the famous historical monument. A church that remains standing in the middle of all the black basalt lava rocks. The whole village was destroyed by the lava flows, but the church remains standing. We came galloping into the visitor area where 20 or 30 Mexicans were relaxing, eating and drinking. George went towards the stable. My horse went right into the middle of the crowd, I pulled the reins, my horse bucked on two legs and did a little twirl. The whole group just starred at me in awe with their jaws dropped. I raised my sombrero like any good cowboy should and said, "Hola."

The rest of the trip we laughed just thinking about that day.

That night we drove to the beach and stayed in a crappy little place in Playa Azul.

Friday:
We went up the coast towards my home, Colima. We stopped at a sweeet beach called Maruata (famous turtle beach). We spent the day, the night and most of the next day at the beach chilling, swimming, exploring the sea cliffs, and reading.

Saturday: Beach and back to Colima. Party at night. I was the designated driver, what else is new.

Sunday: George left early.

The trip was incredible. I am coming back to travel more. There is so much to see in Mexico.

Fuegaso

2011-03-04T10:39:00.002-07:00

I took this picture 2 nights ago. Go ahead, pat me on the back. We spent last week camping on the volcano.

Vuelo

2011-02-22T13:58:00.003-07:00

So like I said, I went on a volcano flight early this morning. We brought the infrared thermal camera and circled the peak of the volcano several times. On the final pass, the volcano exploded right towards us! It is a rather slow eruption, so we had plenty of time to avoid flying in the plume, but the pilot was still worried. This flight was one of the coolest things I have ever seen. In the pictures, you can see the dome that is building on top of the crater and you can see the rock falls in the eruption photos. The peak in the background in an inactive volcano where the observatory is located.

Piedras de Fuego

2011-02-21T20:31:00.001-07:00

The professor I work for is short on money, so he made this internship program a possibility for aspiring volcanologists so that he can get help for cheap from students like me. In return I am exposed to an active volcano, field measurement equipment and methods, and lab analysis. This past week was really fun and interesting. Several volcaologists from around the world were here this past week doing some collaborated field work and we got to be right in the mix. We spent each day doing field work on different parts of the volcano collecting water, gas, and temperature data and rock samples. The highlight of the week however was our overnight field trip to a place called Playon. But first, a geology lesson...

There are many types of volcanoes and there are many ways volcanoes release their energy and heat. Volcan de Fuego periodically transitions from explosive to effusive.

Explosive eruptions only occur when the magma is silicic and viscous. The magma could contain a lot of gases that expand when they reach atmospheric pressure. If this decompression occurs rapidly, hot ash, rocks and lava could explode and be very destructive.

Effusive activity occurs in almost all volcanic settings and is characterized by passive lava flows and degassing events. The magma degasses periodically and causes a small eruption of gases like water vapor and sulfur dioxide. Effusive activity is also characterized by lava domes.

Currently Volcan de Fuego degasses several times a day and the lava dome continues to grow. Since 2005, the volcano has been building a new lava dome. The lava dome is on the crater rim at the peak of the volcano. As new magma reaches the surface and cools, fresh hot rocks cascade down the slopes of the volcano. These rock falls occur about every 30 minutes and it sounds like an explosion. At night, the hot rocks glow and often cause forest fires.

The Playon is situated just below the reach of the rock falls about 1 km from the summit. We camped there this weekend and remotely measured the gases and temperatures emitted from the dome. The volcano erupted several times while we were there and rocks cascaded towards us every 30 minutes. Each rock sounded like a thunderstorm or an explosion. Around 11 pm we were just hanging out around the campfire and monitoring the equipment when the volcano erupted and the plume rose directly over our heads. It was amazing. The moon light allowed us to watch the whole thing. Red hot rocks (literally) were propelled down the slopes. A small amount of ash collected on my tent and my shoulder. It was the coolest thing I have ever witnessed. This is what I signed up for.

Tomorrow we are going on a plane ride around the volcano.

Lago de Las Marias

2011-02-14T14:53:00.004-07:00

Buenas

2011-02-13T10:23:00.002-07:00

This week we did lots of lab work and spent a day in the field getting S02 measurements in a small village right on the volcano. It has been interesting talking to the locals about the Volcano because for the most part they do not have any clue about the hazards that loom over their villages. Some think the volcano erupts when the weather is hot, others think that it erupts snow sometimes, others think that the volcano is controlled by the Gods. On our way home we stopped in all the little villages and walked around. Without question we are starred at wherever we go, especially in these small villages on the slopes of the volcano where you don’t often see tourists. Each village without fail, has a central plaza with a fountain, benches and trees, a catholic church with a sweet bell tower, and cobblestone streets.

Last night an annual Colima party called Patetera started. It’s crazy. It started off with a parade which lasted from 9 pm to well past midnight. To name just a few of the things I saw last night: Horses, cowboys, trumpets, guitars, large sombreros, lots of alcohol, dancing, mayhem, drunk fights, thousands of people, people starring at me, police, machine guns, drunk drivers, tacos, the list goes on. It was crazy.

Good times

2011-02-07T11:58:00.001-07:00

When I hear the phrase ¨Good times¨, I think of a little melody, ¨Good times, great oldies, Fox 97.¨ It was a classic rock radio station in Atlanta. Needless to say good times are being had here and I am currently listening to Neil Young.

This week we went back up to Nevado for 2 nights for thermal and S02 monitoring. Basically we hitch a ride up the mountain in the back a truck with the local civil protection group. We set up all the equipment, make sure it is working right, get weather data recorded every 30 minutes and hang out at 14,000 ft. It was quite cold and windy. The volcano exploded a few times but it was relatively quite. After 3 days and 2 nights we hitched a ride back down.

Friday afternoon we went to a beach town called Manzanillo. It´s actually one of the largest ports in Mexico. The US gets a lot of its goods through Manzanillowhich is then bused up to Houston. It´s also a huge drug port. Apparently there is a battle going on for control of the port, but for the most part the drug lords and other port officials work together.

That night we checked out downtown, which isn´t much because it a port town. Eventually we found a hostel owned by an awesome Canadian couple. It was seriously the coolest little place. 15 bucks a night, hot showers, pool, breakfast and only a 5 minute walk to the beach. Saturday on the beach was amazing.

The rest of the weekend, we partied. Well as much as we can I guess. Mexicans love a good tequilla and apparently American Football and Applebees.

Pocahontas and Lucha Libre

2011-01-30T18:26:00.003-07:00

Jannes and Brandon went to Nevado on Thursday night and did not return until Saturday afternoon. Thus I had the house to myself for a few days.

Thursday night I went to a costume party. I dressed like a mariachi Mexican with a big leather poncho and a big sombrero. My dance moves remained white. Unfortunately I have not yet learned how to dance in the US nor Mexico, but it does not stop me from dancing. I met a cute yet quite girl at the party dressed as Pocahontas. I approached her and said, “Hola, me llamo John Smith.” She didn’t think that was funny. The party was fun though.

Friday I worked in the lab all day. I ate lunch at a place we call the Lunch Ladies. Three of four women make delicious homemade food everyday out of their house. It’s a full meal and it only costs 35 pesos, which is about $3.50. It’s a bargain.

Friday night I wandered around the city by myself. I have found the faster I try to speak in Spanish, the more difficult it is for people to understand me. Go figure. But when I speak slow I sound retarded. Either way I will probably get ripped off from people and I am pretty sure that happened Friday night.

Saturday night was the highlight of the weekend. Brandon and Jannes got back in the afternoon so Victor and Irving took us all to a lucha libre (Mexican wrestling match). I could not have asked for anything more. I wish I could portray what I saw last night in words, but I can't. I got some great footage though.

Technology

2011-01-27T10:10:00.002-07:00

Last night BYU, I mean Jimmer, played against SDSU. We tried to find the channel on our friends satelitte dish network to no avail. So we resorted to gmail chat. My dad got on video chat and carefully placed his computer in a good position so that we could see the whole TV in his house on my computer screen in Mexico. Despite the poor quality internet connection, we were able to watch most of the 2nd half and cheer for BYU with Brandon and my dad. I might want to do that for every game.

Tonight Brandon and Jannes are heading up to the Nevado Observatory(I went last week). So I will have a few days to myself. My plans so far are to go to the grocery store. Maybe I´ll find a friend who wants to go for a hike or check out some of the nearby caves or maybe the beach again.

News

2011-01-26T10:52:00.002-07:00

Our professor, Nick, is back in town and things are starting to pick up. Tomorrow we head out to the volcano for some more sulfer dioxide measurements of explosions. Saturday we are going to some hot springs associated with the volcano for some measurements. We have spanish lessons once a week for free. We all study at night together. I have been reading some of the scholarly literature on the volcano here. I am trying to decide what I want my project to be on. We now know our way around, we know the best restaurants, we know a good taxi driver from a bad one. We know cool people. My friend George from high school is coming in march to visit. We are going to travel for a week. I have a sweet little itinerary lined up. It includes another volcano, ruins, lakes, islands, rivers, the beach, tacos, and agua frescas. Speaking of islands, I get to take a navy ship out to a volcanic island a couple hundred miles off the coast in March. The only settlement there, is a small Mexican navy base. We will doing some sort of research out there. We have been cooking our own food for dinner. So far I have had eggs and potatoes and yesterday I had some fresh bread with peanut butter, a cumcumber and unripe peach. It was nice. I have had a lot of chances to learn to cook in my life and I have never taken advantage of it. I think now it´s finally time. Tonight I really hope to find a place to watch the much anticapted BYU SDSU basketball game. Go cougars.

La Playa Cuyutlan

2011-01-23T12:14:00.002-07:00

Friday afternoon Brandon, Jannes (new german intern) and I went to the beach with Victor and Irving. Victor knew a sweet spot where we could make a fire and sleep on the beach in a little palm tree grove. The name of the beach is Cuyutlan. It’s a remote little beach town about 40 minutes from Colima. Friday night we went swimming, ate tacos around the fire and played music with a guitar, bongos, tambourine and harmonica. It was really fun. The new intern, Jannes, is super chill and our two Mexican friends, Victor and Irving, are really cool and nice.

Saturday morning we went swimming and boogie boarding. The waves were huge and fun but it turned out to be quite dangerous. Irving got sucked out in a rip tide and almost drowned. Brandon thankfully is a lifeguard and swam out to help him. It was an intense moment. Besides that, Saturday was really fun and relaxing. Oh and we saw a group of whales about 200 yards out too.

Volcan de Nevado

2011-01-23T11:54:00.004-07:00

This past weekend has been quite eventful. Colima is probably the coolest place in Mexico. It is a small state with a small population. The climate ranges from high altitude alpine climate to tropical coastlands. Unfortunately, Colima has experienced several natural disasters. In 2002, Colima experienced an 8.0 earthquake destroying much of the city. Some friends of ours recounted their experiences and it sounded horrifying. They said they thought it was the end of the world. The quake only lasted for less than a minute but they felt it was hours. They said the tremor was so large they couldn’t move or run for cover. Many people just collapsed where they were. After the quake and destruction, they said there was a resounding echo of crying and screaming for loved ones. In 2004 there was a huge eruption from Volcan de Fuego that covered the city in ash and caused roofs of many houses to collapse. Additionally, the state of Colima is hit by huge hurricanes and occasionally tsunamis.

The Colima Volcanic Complex, as geologists call it, is composed of 2 enormous composite volcanoes, Volcan de Nevado and Volcan de Fuego. The two peaks are only 4 km apart but Nevado has been extinct for thousands of years. On Nevado’s peak is the volcanic observatory where I spent all day Thursday and Friday morning monitoring Volcan de Fuego. I went with 2 Mexican students from the University of Colima. We got to the top by hitching a ride with the bomberos (firemen). They go up in shifts to oversee the equipment at the top of Nevado and report an unusual activity to city authorities. So we climbed in the back of their truck with all our own equipment and warm clothes and made our way up to the 14,000 foot observatory.
I felt like I was on an airplane up there. The valleys below are 14,000 feet down. From the peak all the way to sea level. The view was awesome, but the view of the active Volcan de Fuego was the best.

At the top we set up the equipment and watched for explosions. We used a fly spec to measure S02 flux and camcorder to record eruptions. Usually we would also use a thermal camera but it was not working. While we waited we played cards, watched a movie on our laptop, ate tuna and crackers, tried to stay warm, and I went for a short hike. The volcano exploded 3 or 4 times on Thursday. It was one of the coolest things I have ever seen.

Face-to-face

2011-01-17T18:17:00.002-07:00

So there is a camera set up on the roof of a nearby building that takes pictures of the volcano every 5 seconds. We went up there this morning just as a small eruption was taking place. This evening after work I went up there alone and watched the volcano as the sun went down. I have decided to make it a nightly routine. It was awesome. The weather is perfect; high of 85, low of 60 everyday.

Kirk is hard to say.

2011-01-16T16:00:00.005-07:00

Kirk is difficult to say for Mexicans, so I have adopted Pancho as my Mexican name. This is how every conversation goes:

Mexican: What's your name?

Me: Pancho

Mexican: laughter...What's your real name?

Me: Kirk

Mexican: What? Keyrik? Kik?

Me: No, it's Kirk.

Mexican: Ok Pancho is good.

Preliminary Rounds

2011-01-16T13:47:00.003-07:00

Life is good. Especially in Mexico. Colima is such a chill town, or tranquilo as the locals would say. Colima sees very few tourists so there is a really nice Mexican feel to it. The city is centered around an old Catholic cathedral built several centuries ago. Actually Colima is one of the first places the Spanish colonized yet very few old buildings remain due to the large amount of earthquakes that occur in this very geologically active area.

The battle against the volcano is still in the preliminary rounds. We have not been up to the volcano yet for two reasons: 1)Our professor is out of town 2) We have been learning how to use all the equipment and how to analyze all the data in the lab. I'll let you know when we get up there, which will probably be the beginning of next week. I cannot wait.

Katharine, from Belgium (who leaves tomorrow unfortunately), has shown us all the cool spots to eat and have fun. On Friday a friend of ours, Hugo, drove us to a nearby town called Comala for lunch and a little tourism. The little town had the same layout as Colima with a catholic cathedral in the city center. All the buildings are white and the streets made of cobblestone. We ate all-you-can-eat tostadas, burritos, tacos, enchiladas, and flautas. Our meal was accompanied by subpar musicians looking for tips, including a classic mariachi band with guitar, violin, cello, trumpet, etc. It was really fun. After lunch we walked through a nearby museum displaying ancient clay sculptures from the region. Some of the pieces were estimated to be thousands of years old.

Friday evening Katharine had a going-away party at our house. It was really fun and a good opportunity to meet some more locals. Brandon and I were afraid no one would speak English, but we soon found out that most of the people who came speak really well. I guess that’s why they are friends with all the foreigners that come down here. Usually volcanology students come for 3 or 4 months and there are always at least a couple students living at our house. All the Mexicans that came were way cool, most of them are in college, were very friendly, and were willing to befriend us despite our Mormon values.

Speaking of Mormons…we saw a bunch today at Church. That was fun. Everyone thought we were missionaries and kept calling us Elders. I even read out loud in Sunday school – highlight of my day. I can communicate really well actually thanks to my Portuguese and the notebook and dictionary I keep handy at all times.

This week the old students leave and another new student from Germany arrives. We will be working in the lab Monday through Thursday and then Brandon and I are going to the beach Friday and Saturday. We heard there is sweet little hostel that serves breakfast right next to the beach, so hopefully we can find it.

Life in Mexico

2011-01-13T08:37:00.006-07:00

Round 2

2011-01-12T14:55:00.002-07:00

Yesterday Brandon and I traveled for almost 12 hours. One stop plane ride to Guadalajara. Taxi to Bus Station. Bus to Colima, our final destination. On the bus ride we drove around the enormous volcano which we will be studying and it was degassing a little bit! The volcano is 14,000 ft in elevation. We live with 3 other students; Katharine, Kristina, and Sebastian from Belgium, Germany and Switzerland respectively. Brandon and I share a room, two twin beds and a little bathroom. Brandon is feeling a bit out of place because he has never been outside of the U.S. or Canada. It reminds me a lot of Brazil.

Last night we dropped our bags off, got some dinner at some street cafe. I had a delicious gringa and a horchata. Afterwards, we went ice skating, yes ice skating. Despite the hot and humid weather, Mexicans celebrate the winter holidays along with all the festivities and activities.

Today we started our work and are starting to find our way around town. The other students all leave town this next week. And our advisor is at a conference in Costa Rica until the end of the month...So we have to learn how to run all the equipment, perform all the duties (which are many), learn the city and learn the language in a weeks time. Don't worry though, there is a Wal-Mart.

We do a lot of laboratory work and data analysis for Nick (our advisor). We also go on field trips once a week which usually last 2-5 days on the volcano. The data analysis consists of analyzing seismic data, thermal data, remote sensing data, and image data. There are seismic receivers all over the region and we have a few permanent cameras which take pictures of the volcano every 15 seconds. Once Nick returns we will be assigned a personal project, which I am most excited about.

Round 1

2011-01-10T23:40:00.002-07:00

Tomorrow night I hope to find myself nestled in a little home with my fellow scientists sleeping in the shadow of the Colima Volcano in Mexico. To the locals, it is called Volcan de Fuego (Volcano of Fire). I am going with another student I know from BYU, Brandon Barth. We will be working independently on our own projects related to the volcano. Supposedly there are a few other international students already there. I do not know what my research project is yet, nor do I know much of anything about anything, but I am really excited.

I do know that Colima is on the Pacific coast. The beach is less than an hour from our house and it only costs about 15 pesos to catch a bus to the beach. I do know that there is a Starbucks in town with free wi-fi. I do know there is swimming pool close to our laboratories. I do know that a few women offer to wash our clothes for cheap once a week. I do know that Colima is a relatively peaceful place despite the mayhem that has overcome the rest of the country. I do know that the Volcano is a strata volcano and it is one of the most active volcanoes in the world. It last erupted explosively over 5 years ago and is currently in a lava dome building stage. Lava domes form when the lava is extruded slowly due to high viscosity. They do pose potential dangers and can cause pyroclastic (high-speed hot ash and gas) flows.

I do not know Spanish. I do know Portuguese.

SKI

2010-12-18T20:47:00.002-07:00

Broken Ankle

2010-12-10T14:19:00.000-07:00

Don't try this at home. Or anywhere.

The Jungle

2010-10-10T17:06:00.006-06:00

Greg and his wife Heather, Luke and I went to Bryce Canyon National Park this weekend. On our way we stopped and did some rock climbing at a place called "The Jungle" which is located just north of Bryce. We then backpacked into a cool back country spot called Yokima Pass in Bryce Canyon National Park where we spent the night. I had some delicious kroger brand baked beans and some disgusting organic mac and cheese for dinner. It was a fun weekend.

Mountains

2010-10-08T13:50:00.002-06:00

I have realized I like everything about mountains. I like what they are made of. I especially like them if they are volcanic. I like hiking them. I like climbing them. I like summiting them. I like camping on them. I like making fires on them. I like what I smell on them. I like learning about them. I like the Planet Earth episode about them. If someone asked me if I was a mountain or beach person, I would say mountain.

Colima, Mexico

2010-10-05T11:08:00.003-06:00

I leave in January for Colima, Mexico. I have an internship at the University of Colima, where I will be working on projects related to the volcano that looms over the city. We will be doing a lot of field work and research on the volcano itself. I am kind of excited.

Triple L

2010-10-01T15:49:00.002-06:00

Linger-longer-looker. They are everywhere on campus. Today I was the triple L.... I saw a kid with obvious bed head. But he still managed to paste his hair with gel and flip it in the front.

"Epic Road Trip to the Northwest"

2010-10-01T09:07:00.008-06:00

The "epic road trip to the Northwest" was referenced briefly in my previous blog entry. The following pictures are highlights of some of the things we did. If you have seen the chair album on facebook, this might not be as satisfying, yet delightful nonetheless.

Updates

2010-09-29T10:48:00.002-06:00

A lot happened in the last month of summer and also in the first month of school. Here's the thing though...If you really knew me, you could write this blog for me.

A quick rundown anyways:
-I climbed the middle teton with some fellow geologists
-I passed the quarter of a century mark in age
-I took my dog on a walk
-I made a sweet music video about bike safety with Krill's permission
-I went on an epic road trip up the west coast with Luke. Destinations included Yosemite, San Fran, Redwoods, Oregon coast, Portland, Mt. Hood, Seattle, Olympic National Park, and Mt. Rainier.
-Luke and I climbed Mt. Hood(highest in Oregon). It was an intense climb. Ice axes and crampons, the whole deal.
-Luke and I traversed the entire Nebo ridge.
-Luke, Katie, Dana and I hiked Kings Peak (highest in Utah).
-I am taking 15 credits, working 2 jobs, and playing on 3 intramural sports.
-I TA a class of elementary education majors. They hate rocks, therefore I hate them.
-I have to run to class right now.

Les Trois Tetons

2010-08-16T21:42:00.010-06:00

Lone Peak

2010-08-16T18:19:00.003-06:00

Krill Lemans is my friend

2010-07-22T17:27:00.005-06:00

I have a friend named Krill Lemans. He has one passion.
It's not like other peoples' passions. Other people are passionate about politics, art, education, and such. Krill has chosen to leave these things to the professionals and focus on a much more intimate subject.

Krill married an adventurous, beautiful young lady named Jean ten years ago. Together, Jean and Krill Lemans rode side by side on their bicycles across lands as wide and diverse as God could make them. They loved each other and riding their bikes, and there was nothing in the world that could separate them, or so they thought.

Two years ago, Jean and Krill were riding to the community garden to pick up some summer squash when a neon green Honda hatchback ran a red light just as Jean was safely crossing the crosswalk. Neither Jean nor the driver could react quickly enough to prevent a collision between the reckless rice-rocket and the vulnerable cyclist. Krill watched from the other side as the love of his life was killed by carelessness on the road.

For a year after that, Krill went on a spiritual journey that included spurts of asceticism, drug-induced romps in outer-space, and trips to the tallest mountains in central Africa. Finally, after coming to peace with the world and his destiny, Krill settled in Provo, UT to team up with some of his mormon buddies and embark on a new revolution: Bicycle Safety. His mediums of communication involve musical, theatrical, and cinematic productions convincing the world of the importance of being safe on your bike.

Included in this blog is Krill's first effort in expressing his passion. It is a catchy tune entitled "Bike Safety". He teamed up with the musical geniuses at Krunkster Beats to give us this heartfelt declaration of bike-death-prevention.

Scrabble

2010-07-21T14:52:00.003-06:00

Words with Friends provides bonding opportunites with my brother and I. Words with Friends is scrabble game and it's awesome. If you want to play me, my name is kirkkrunk. Anyways, I had a conversation today with my brother via g chat. It went as follows:

me: i see you

Andrew: ...
busy
play scrabble
you can not beat me

me: you are a homo

Andrew: under any circumstance

me: of course i can
i already did

Andrew: never again
MARK
MY
WORDS
YOUNG
PADAWAN

me: im putting this on facebook

Andrew: ha ha

me: the entire conversation

Andrew: please do

me: and then when i win i will refer back to this

Andrew: although you called me a homo.
some people will be offended

me: i will put it on my blog
and i will say that it contains offensive material

Andrew: this part too?
If I don't see the entire convo, including this, I will bruise your face
now, I really must be off
toddaloo
toodaloo

me: this is embarassing
come down for anti-matter

Andrew: I want to

me: let me know.

Andrew: How about Friday or Saturday?

me: im going to beirut tomorrow night

Andrew: may we join you?

me: i think im busy this weekend, climbing and such
yes

Andrew: maybe we should meet up over here?
you can park your car

me: my buddy is not going to the concert

Andrew: we can walk and take trax

me: oh...yea for sure
k talk to you later
Andrew: ok

Stay tuned for score updates and notable words...

Pheifferhorn

2010-07-16T20:01:00.006-06:00

Up Little Cottonwood Canyon

Hawaii

2010-07-04T10:13:00.001-06:00

Lava

2010-06-13T22:38:00.000-06:00

Lava erupts and forms rocks.

Rocks erode into gravel, sand, and mud.

Gravel, sand and mud turn into rocks.

Rocks melt and erupt as lava.

Field Camp Week 6

2010-06-10T23:33:00.000-06:00

Due to technical difficulties*, no pictures will be posted of the final week of field camp. It's a shame because the desert has a lot to offer us geologists. We had to make a geologic map of a fairly extensive region this past week. I was able to enhance my tans lines, my hiking skills, my loner skills (we mapped alone), my pb & j making skills, my homeless skills, my compass skills, my rattlesnake awareness skills, my first aid skills, my sunscreen appliance skills, my wilderness survival skills, my thinking skills, and some geology skills. Good times were had.

*My camera broke thanks to an over-anxious, clumsy, silly geologist as I was taking a picture of a rattlesnake.

Field Camp Week 5

2010-05-30T22:26:00.000-06:00

The Beaver Dam Mountains: Good for Nothing is Good for Me

Field Camp Week 4

2010-05-23T23:53:00.001-06:00

Diamond Fork Canyon: A great place to herd cattle

By Kirk Schleiffarth

Field Camp Week 3

2010-05-16T19:45:00.001-06:00

This week we went to Capitol Reef National Park located in south central Utah. The park is pretty awesome. Our group stayed in the park field station which is run completely on solar power. The facility was really nice, simple, and clean. We were instructed to limit our use of energy, water and trash. It was refreshing to live so simply and comfortably in an essentially impact-free facility. I feel motivated to live more simply and get over the American or generational mindset that I can't make a difference.

The geology of the park was a lot of fun to study. My group of 3 was assigned a certain formation in the Triassic period and we spent 3 days finding exposed beds, analyzing, and measuring the entire unit, which represented over 100 million years of deposition. Based on the composition of the rock and sedimentary features we could interpret the environment and climate of the past.....Anyways, I think it's sweet.

Field Camp Week 2

2010-05-09T21:16:00.001-06:00

We went to Yellowstone this week.

It was practically vacation.

Field Camp Week 1

2010-05-02T17:02:00.000-06:00

Field Camp is what I like to call geology camp. We spend each week of 6 in various areas around the intermountain west studying different geologic subjects. This past week we studied the ground water system surrounding Pilot Valley out near the Utah/Nevada border. We learned how to analyze groundwater systems, drill our own wells, use geophysical techniques to decipher the water table depth, etc. Next week we will be focusing on geothermal systems in Yellowstone.

V-Neck Cave

2010-04-27T17:10:00.000-06:00

So yesterday my buddy Billie (fellow geologist) and I traveled up to a cave. The cave is about thirty minutes up Little Rock Canyon, the canyon south of Slate Canyon. It's not a popular canyon and the cave is only a small v-shaped crack, barely big enough to slide through. I therefore name the canyon, V-Neck Cave. When I see a male wearing a v-neck t-shirt, I feel a little bit uncomfortable, especially the deep ones. This cave made me feel uncomfortable, because it was deep, dark and narrow. We went a good 100 meters deep and it required all sorts of crawling, maneuvering, and climbing and a head lamp.

Who is the White Bible?

2010-04-17T10:12:00.000-06:00

A few matters of business:

My blog will now be focusing on my travels, whether they be to a foreign land or to my imagination.
The White Bible is me. This was my "rapper" name in high school. I put quotations on rapper because I do not rap with style, but I rap nonetheless. The name was given to me by my friends, because I was white and religious.

This is why I am a geologist

2010-04-15T13:18:00.000-06:00

Geologic Map of Middle Earth
Just in case you wanted to know.....

Frodo cast the ring into a rift zone basaltic volcano.
Gandalf fell to his apparent death within an ancient subduction zone granitic batholith.
The Shire is located on an ancient pelitic metamorphic continental craton.

Otter

2010-04-11T19:45:00.000-06:00

Yesterday I went on a field trip. Yes, a field trip. I saw an otter amongst the rocks. I love otters. I also love rocks.

Poet Schleiffarth

2010-03-07T11:15:00.000-07:00

The Giants Lair

The ever-looming presence of a giant

Looking down from above

I feel the penetrating gaze

The view I only dream of

As I approach the mysterious wonder

Something blocks my view

The fortress is hidden deep within

Anxiety was due

The castle walls are steep and green

Rising to the clouds

Rivers flow from the heights

The pristine source it shrouds

Ascending slowly in the mist

I was almost there

The sun broke through, the view was true

In the giants lair

2010

2010-01-01T17:51:00.000-07:00

It is 2010. If this is the future, where are the flying cars? and hover boots? I thought the future was supposed to be better. The performance of Lady Gaga and Green Day on the NBC New Years Eve show confirmed that the future is very much worse. At least I don't have a neighbor named Biff.

2009-12-17T12:32:00.000-07:00

So the other day I wrote a check for tithing. If you are unfamiliar with tithing, it is a choice of mormon church members to pay 10% of our income to help sustain and help people of the church. So I was writing this check and I, for some unknown reason, wrote an extra zero. The result was a withdrawal of money I didn't have. I didn't notice for a few days and I don't have overdraft protection, thus the amount was even more expensive. There went the small amount of savings I had and any cool presents I was planning on buying for my family. So basically I got screwed over for being faithful. FML.

2009.

2009-11-24T15:13:00.000-07:00

2009 Timeline

February - Park City

May - Atlanta

June - Florida

July - Glacier National Park

Mt. Timpanogas

Mt. Nebo

August - India

October - Santaquin

November - Arches National Park

Thanks.

2009-11-21T19:21:00.000-07:00

In light of thanksgiving.....

If I were a living turkey, I would be a Jain, I would hope humans convert, and I would be thankful to be alive.

DISTRICT 9

2009-10-28T16:03:00.000-06:00

Last night I saw District 9 at the dollar theater. The movie was interesting and quite entertaining. I dropped off a few friends afterwards, including my friend Andre Abamonte. As we drove towards his house, we unleashed a toy laser gun, which lights up and has laser sound effects as well. Don't ask me why that was in my car. With a combination of craze, adrenaline and overtiredness, we agreed with enthusiasm to "shoot" the gun at a passerby. We pulled up alongside a guy getting out of his car, after he had parked it on the side of the street. I lowered the window and yelled, "Fire!" Andre pulled the trigger just as this kid opened his door. The laser noise and red light went off. The kid jumped and cowered behind his car door in fright. It was quite possibly the funniest thing I have seen, ever. Andre and I laughed really hard for about 10 minutes. Hopefully that kid didn't crap his pants.

Bike crash

2009-10-20T15:34:00.000-06:00

A few days ago I was at the bike rack on campus, about to head home for the day. Suddenly a seemingly nerdy guy on a mountain bike rode by really fast. My curiosity as to why he was cruising by so fast inside the bike rack area caused me to watch him as he rode by. He nicked the curb and tumbled to the ground. I held my laughter in. He got up really quickly, looked at me and said, "Don't worry, I am always doing tricks and falling." I couldn't hold in the laughter any longer. Unfortunately, I think my pleasure was about equal to his embarrassment.

On Two Feet

2009-10-13T14:11:00.000-06:00

I have always been a thrill and adventure-seeker. I always want to get to the top of my challenge. I always find a way to get hurt. I have always been fascinated by mountains, particularly the Himalayas, the largest mountains in the world.

Last fall, the geology department at BYU announced they would be accepting applicants for the annual mega field trip. The field trip was planned to go to the Himalayas in northern India in August. I was pumped. I filled out the application right away. The professor hosting the trip was the very professor for whom I was hired as a research assistant. I found out a few weeks later that I would be able to go on the trip. My parents were willing to help me with the expenses. All I needed to do was to get in shape, because the trip would require a lot of backpacking in high elevations.

The winter came, along with ski season. I went home frequently to spend time with my dad. We often went skiing at Deer Valley, his favorite resort. Deer Valley is known for its' ritzy lodges and facilities. It is also known for the exceptional groomed runs. "Hard-core" skiers like to bash Deer Valley because it offers little backcountry skiing. Yet, I really enjoy skiing there with my dad. We practice our form all day as we carve through the soft, dry, groomed snow.

One particular day in February, as we were chatting on the lift, we decided to ski down to the race course and time ourselves through the flags. I was really excited about the idea. I hopped off the lift with enthusiasm and bolted down towards the race course. As I skied down the steep, bare face I saw a jump, situated adjacent to the only tree on the entire mountain face. I made way towards it, adrenaline and anticipation for the race flowing through me. I cut hard in front of the tree to hit the jump straight on. Unfortunately, the snow behind the tree was icy and unresponsive to my cut, I lost my edge, and slammed into the tree going approximately 20 mph.

There was an indescribable crack, as my body flung in spirals down the slope. When my body stopped rolling down the mountain, I looked at my right leg, which was now essentially in two pieces. I immediately started screaming in pain. The crack I heard was not the tree, but my femur snapping in half. Someone on the rising ski lift above me, asked casually, "Do you need help?" I impatiently and instantly yelled back, "YES!" When my dad caught up to me, he found me helpless, ski-less and witless yet very full of emotion. His sense of panic, which was ineffectively hidden, horrified me. As ski patrol arrived, I was in a state of conscious shock. My mind raced to the fleeting Himalayas. I thought my leg would surely have to be amputated.

I had surgery the following day in the University of Utah Hospital. I left the hospital a week later with a permanent steel rod inside my surgically aligned femur with a estimated healing time of 12 weeks. Full recovery was estimated to be about a year. Everything considered, I was lucky to be alive. The large arteries in your thigh carry tremendous amounts of blood. If an artery were to be severed, I could have lost my life in 15 minutes. If I had struck the tree in any other spot, I would have had permanent damage or would have died.

At my first check-up with my surgeon, I asked if it would be possible to make it the Himalayas in August. He simply looked back at me and said, "It's up to you."

The possibility of going to Himalayas was my motivation to rehabilitate quickly. After a month, I quit physical therapy because they were treating me as if I were a retired grandpa with a broken hip. I hit the weights and the pool everyday. The progress was sluggish. My right leg was considerable smaller in size. In fact, I measured it in July and it was still 2 inches smaller in diameter than my left leg. My once full butt cheeks resembled the backside of a malnourished indy rocker. Yet, the progress was very evident after looking back in larger intervals. I was off the wheelchair and crutches by May. I began hiking, backpacking and climbing in July. When August arrived, I was ready.

My anticipation to see the high Himalayas during the first few days was overwhelming and obvious to all those on the trip. The gorges we drove through were so steep, we rarely saw the tops of the mountains, let alone the high Himalayas, which towered over all the mountains. The first five days, my eyes were peeled to the horizon in search of the high, snow-covered mountains. They were either blocked by our perspective in the deep valleys or covered in monsoonal rain clouds. My anticipation was transitioning into impatience!

On our fifth day in India, we arrived a small town called Joshimath. A tram from Joshimath, rises over 1000 meters to a settlement over looking the valley from 13,000 ft. We rose at a steady pace over Joshimath, Ganges River and green mountains. Eventually we rose into the clouds. The clouds slowly dispersed, revealing a whole different world from the one we left below. Above the green mountains, were the high Himalayas. The sight was magnificent! I couldn't stop expressing my thoughts out loud to my group in the tram, who seemed to be looking on as if this was a familiar sight.

I realized at that moment that this moment had much more significance to me than it did for the others. I reached a goal which seemed unachievable and I had every reason to be happy about it, and I did on two feet.

INDIA

2009-10-04T21:12:00.000-06:00

So I lived in a "third-world" country for two years. This country was Brazil. I was told that India is unlike any other place in the world. For some unknown reason, I set aside these statements, assuming it could not be any different or more impoverished than I had already seen. After 15 hours of playing video games, watching movies, snacking to my hearts delight, using the restroom occasionally, and sleeping on the flight, I arrived in New Delhi, India. As soon as I stepped off the airplane, heat, humidity, and horrid smells filled my senses. Sleeping in such a place seemed impossible. As soon as I left the airport, I was overwhelmed by the drastic and seemingly unending poverty. My sense of appreciation skyrocketed immediately as did my embarrassment as I walked amongst such hard-working, sincere and humble people. This sense of gratitude transitioned into duty as my trip wore on.

The purpose of my trip was primarily geologically related. Yet, most of my attention was directed towards the fascinating culture and people. Our first significant geologic and cultural stop was Haridwar located at the foothills of the Himalaya mountain range along the Ganges river. The source of the Ganges comes from a sacred mountain named Nanda Devi. Nanda Devi was once thought to be the highest mountain in the world and is named after the bliss-giving goddess. The sacredness of the mountain is inherited by the Ganges River, which flows down into the Indian continent. Haridwar is where the Ganges exits the himalayas and spreads its' power to the majority of the country. This power can be interpreted to be figurative and very much literal, as much of the country depends on its' water to nourish the billion people that live on the Indian continent.

Every evening on the banks of the Ganges river, the people participate in a religious ceremony where the creamated dead are emptied into the strong current, accompanied by traditional Hindu music, chants, singing, prayers and occasionally bowing gestures. It was easily, the most foreign thing I have ever seen, heard, or been a part of. Here I was, a day off the plane from Chicago, drenched in sweat, surrounded by Indians, participating in a very spiritual, cultural, and religious experience.

I remember having an overwhelming feeling of insignificance and ignorance, shortly followed by gratitude. Firstly insignificance because I grasped very briefly, how small and inconsequential I am in this big world. My insignificance was followed by ignorance, because I was experiencing something that I had only glanced over in my world religions class at BYU, as if it were a fictional, romanticized, story. My gratitude was deep and sincere as I observed the simple, humble believers during the ceremony. I was grateful to have my eyes opened to a new culture, grateful to know that these people have strong religious beliefs to guide them, and grateful to know that I too have strong religious beliefs that continually guide me and allow me to accepting of others.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

The following week we spent driving in a crammed bus on an uneven, narrow, and essentially "two-laned" one-way road. I am not one to get car sick, yet this ride, which consisted of three consecutive days along the Ganges River gorge, made everybody in the group nauseous. The Ganges River Gorge is very much a gorge. Every summer between May and September, torrential rains attack the Himalaya Range. As the storm front collides with the Himalaya range, the clouds are forced upwards, condense and precipitate in large amounts on the south side of the mountains. This rain, which is essentially

continuous during these summer months, erodes the mountains down at very quick rates leaving behind deep, steep gorges and swift, sediment-loaded rivers, such as the Ganges. These roads along the gorges walls leave no room for error. Often, landslides and rockslides cover the road inhibiting transportation for days.

More than once, our bus was stopped because of a landslide which covered the road. At one particular point, we were stopped because a tributary stream covered the road and toppled boulders all across the already narrow road. We were somewhere between Joshimath and Badrinath. Badrinath, our destination, is a sacred sight for Hindus and Sikhs. It is where the road stops, just 10 km from the Tibetan border. Hindus and Sikhs make pilgramages to this sacred spot as often as possible. Thus, there were several buses, cars and countless mopeds full of religious people stopped at this landslide.

The street along which we were stopped, quickly filled and the street venders quickly emerged. We were the source of attention in the streets. Mostly the three girls were the attention. I assume that the locals see plenty of male trekkers and climbers up in these parts, but rarely see blue-eyed western women. The whole group dispersed along the street in search of cheap, hand-made items. I bought a few scarfs, ate some fresh, fried potato treats, and chatted with some sikhs. These sikhs had traveled all the way from Mumbai and were obviously very educated. I asked them all sorts of questions about their pilgrimage and lives. I could tell they thoroughly enjoyed the attention and the opportunity to speak english.

Dancing ensued, as we became more comfortable and the spotlight for all the locals and pilgrims. I made a few quick, uncoordinated dance moves to the indian music which was playing in the street. My decision caused quite a stir. The indians gathered around and insisted I continue. Others from my group began doing hip-hop moves to the traditional Indian music. The people were fascinated and very entertained by our dancing. One Indian man, jumped into the circle and showed us how they do it in India. The other men in the circle, watched on with crossed arms and ashamed smirks. It was quite the sight to see; Gringos and Indians hip-hop dancing to traditional Indian music, in a small Himalayan village, surrounded by the largest mountains in the world.