From the Road: Conway Summit

I'm having a little trouble keeping up with the road trip--for one thing, the mobile app thingy doesn't really work very well, so it's easier to just wait until I have wifi, and I don't get any of that when camping (!)--but here are two photos from Conway Summit.

The first looks south at Mono Lake. The Sierra Nevada is on the right, and the White Mountains are on the far left (they don't look impressive in this photo, but they are). The Mono-Inyo Craters, with the caldera rim of the Long Valley Caldera beyond it (they are indistinguishable in this photo) form the hills that provide a nice backdrop to Mono Lake. You can barely see Paoha Island in this photo; it's the light-colored island behind the dark land mass left of center. The dark land mass is Black Point, a 13,300 year old basaltic cone. Negit Island is easy to see: it's the smallish, dark-colored band to the left of Paoha and Black Point. Paoha and Negit are both volcanic islands, although it looks like the lake is low enough that Negit is not currently an island. The lake looks really low--I thought they were maintaining it at a higher level; maybe it's the drought, maybe the water accord has failed.

The roadcut across from the Conway Summit pullout (just below Conway Summit, actually) exposes grusy, unglaciated granite. There's also quite an exposure of glacial till in the hill above the granite, and in the hill and roadcut leading up to the summit proper, which you can see when driving north or south on 395.

Cliffs of the Ruby Mountains: Some Pretty Pictures

And while we're waiting an even longer time for me to get around to posting about the nappe in Lamoille Canyon, here are a few of my favorite pretty pics taken from our campsite at Camp Lamoille in late September. I can say that a bit of the nappe can be seen in a few of these photos, if you know where to look!

Cliffs (with sunset, first night) and the U-shaped valley of South Fork Lamoille Canyon about where it merges with the main part of the canyon.

Oooh! Cliffs and colors!

Oh, besides the nice colors on the cliff walls (sunset, still the first night in camp), this photo shows part of the Lamoille Canyon nappe.

Sunset colors and burning orange aspens.

Alpine glow on the cliffs behind the roof of the wood-heated lodge.

Back to a view of the U-shaped valley.

Our camp and lit-up lodge, with granitic gneiss in the core of the nappe barely visible in the dark cliffs behind the tent.

The next day, noonish: the upper part of the cliffs that were in darkness in the previous photo.

The same cliffs on the morning of the third day; orthogneiss in the core of the nappe showing in the lower left of the photo.

A red-tailed hawk soars overhead just before the downpour of the second day.

Dinner bell at the lodge.

Cliffs, clouds and chimney on the second day.

The rocks of the chimney blend in with the not-so-distant cliffs.

A dusting of snow, cliffs, and orange aspens; early morning of the third day.

The sun rises behind a hill. The shallow slope to the right of center is part of the lateral moraine of  South Fork Lamoille Canyon.

Related Posts:
Cliffs of the Ruby Mountains: More Views from the Hanging Valley Pullout
Links: Lamoille Canyon Geology
A Hanging Valley in Lamoille Canyon
Cliffs of the Ruby Mountains: Mt. Gilbert
First Trip into the Ruby Mountains of Nevada

Links: Lamoille Canyon Geology

Geologic Map of the Ruby Mountains, Nevada - USGS Map I-1136 (Howard, Kistler, Snoke, and Willden, 1979)

Geologic Map of the Lamoille Quadrangle, Elko County, Nevada - NBMG Map 125 (Howard, 2000)

Geology of the Lamoille Quadrangle, Elko County, Nevada - text for Map 125 (Howard, 2000)

Lamoille canyon nappe in the Ruby Mountains metamorphic core complex, Nevada - GSA, Cordilleran Section, DNAG, Centennial Field Guide, v. 1 (Howard, 1987)

New investigations of Pleistocene glacial and pluvial records in northeastern Nevada; Day 3: Elko to Logan: The Lamoille Type Locality and Lamoille Canyon (p. 20-24) - in Geologic Field Trips to the Basin and Range, Rocky Mountains, Snake River Plain, and Terranes of the U.S. Cordillera; GSA Field Guide 21 (Munroe and Laabs, 2011)

Links: Headwaters of the Susan River and Lassen Volcanic National Park

Geologic Map of Lassen Volcanic National Park and Vicinity, California:
main page at USGS

Geologic Map of Lassen Volcanic National Park and Vicinity, California:
Sheet 1, geologic map

Geologic Map of Lassen Volcanic National Park and Vicinity, California:
Sheet 2, correlation chart

Geologic Map of Lassen Volcanic National Park and Vicinity, California:
Sheet 3, figures

Geologic Map of Lassen Volcanic National Park and Vicinity, California:
pamphlet (write up of the geology)

Susan River (Wikipedia)

Susan River Area Rapid Watershed Assessment (USDA NRCS)

Bizz Johnson Trail and Susan River (BLM)

Bizz Johnson Trail and Susan River (Friends of the River)

Great Basin (NPS)

Great Basin (Wikipedia)

Ishi, Thousand Lakes & Caribou Wilderness (order the wilderness map)

A Hanging Valley in Lamoille Canyon

Getting back to Lamoille Canyon, a place of stunning cliffs and glacier carved valleys, I'm going to take us to an up-canyon viewpoint where we can see one of many hanging valleys. MOH and I initially came to this valley by way of the last stop on our second-day, GBR field trip. The roadside pullout, compleat with descriptive sign, can be reached easily by paved road by driving about 1.5 miles past Thomas Canyon campground.

The hanging valley, as seen from a pullout along NF-650,
looking up (way up) and to the southwest.

From the vantage point of the pullout, you can look straight up and see the hanging valley above a rocky, vegetated cliff. A narrow, V-shaped rill is curving it's way down the 450 feet of cliff below the U-shaped, glacially carved bowl above, which we can barely see from this vantage point. The triangular peak behind the dark green cleft in the cliff towers over us at just over 11,000 feet.

By Yosemite standards, this cliff is really not that high above the valley floor, and there isn't a waterfall pouring out of our hanging valley, the way Bridalveil Fall rushes over the cliffs near Cathedral Rocks, but our little cleft is green with dense vegetation, indicating that the creek flows at least part-year (a feat in and of itself in Nevada) — and you can drive right to it. On pavement! (Pavement in Nevada is a real bonus.)

Before leaving the pullout, you can read a sign about the hanging valley and the tributary glacier that created it, and if you have the time, you can take the Hanging Valley nature trail through the aspens to Lamoille Creek and a beaver pond or two. Not sure if the trail continues uphill into the hanging valley — the cliff looks quite steep and brushy — but I suspect you can get to the valley via some other route.

Turning to look at the opposite canyon wall, you'll see a sheer cliff with a narrow chute carved into it. The slicked canyon rocks show where water has flowed persistently, probably with small casdcading waterfalls at some times of most years; those areas are now marked by black vertical lines where water has deposited dark minerals, often manganese oxides of some type, and where algae or lichen might get a toe hold.

Topo map of the area (USGS TNM 2.0 Viewer link), centered about on Thomas Creek, showing several hanging valleys around the area.

"Our" hanging valley marked by a star.

Topo map (TNM 2.0 Viewer link) centered on our valley, also showing most of two other hanging valleys to the northwest and southeast of it.

Google Earth view approximating the view shown in the last topo map.

The views all around from the hanging valley pullout are stunning, and a drive up Lamoille Canyon in the Ruby Mountains is always well worth the time.

Cliffs of the Ruby Mountains: Mt. Gilbert

The glacially carved cliffs around Camp Lamoille are truly spectacular — and while we were, now nearly a month ago — they provided us with constant fascination and wonderment amid the ever-changing light and cloud effects. To the south of us, besides Ruby Spire and the Wolf's Ear (seen in this earlier post), Mt. Gilbert towered over us at 11,120 feet.

A view of Mt. Gilbert, the highest point near an unnamed spire, as seen on the second day from the trail near the South Fork beaver ponds.

A closer view of Mt. Gilbert and the same spire;
photo taken on the second day from the main part of camp.

In the view above, you can see a couple spots of snow high on the cliffy slopes, probably left over from the previous winter (2013-2014).

Mt. Gilbert is a pyramid-shaped peak, possibly qualifying as a glacial horn, AKA pyramidal peak (British usage?). As you can see below, it's bounded on the west by the large bowl-shaped head of the glacially carved, U-shaped Seitz Canyon; it's bounded on the northeast by a high, well-defined cirque; and it's bounded on the southeast by an irregularly bowl-shaped area, also a cirque.

Topo map from USGS TNM 2.0 Viewer (link), with Mt. Gilbert right of center.

Same map, with the outlines of three circular depressions or bowls formed by glaciers. As you can see, the west side of Mt. Gilbert is essentially one arête. Other horns and arêtes are present in the topo image.

It just occurred to me that the unnamed spire might also be a small horn, but only if the indentation into the cliff below it to the east consists of a small cirque formed from a small hanging glacier (I wish the USGS would provide individual links in their Glossary of Glacial Terminology, but they don't).

What do you think? Is it a horn?

Rain and hail from an intense, long-lasting embedded thunderstorm (or set of storms), pounded the Lamoille Canyon area late on the second afternoon and long into the second night. When we awoke the morning of the third day, the tops of the cliffs and peaks around us were well dusted with snow:

Mt. Gilbert with snow, as seen from camp on the morning of the third day.

A closer view from the same time, same location. The snow highlights the foliation of the metamorphic rocks — gneiss and marble,
possibly with sill-like intrusions of granite.

USGS Glossary of Glacier Terminology

First Trip into the Ruby Mountains of Nevada

Would you believe...a geologist living mostly in Nevada since 1975, who had never been into the Ruby Mountains until two weeks ago? One who had been over Secret Pass several times and down Ruby Valley once, but never into the mountains?

One reason to go to Lamoille Canyon, if you've never been there, is the excellent scenery. Another reason would be the excellent geology...including geology related to the metamorphic core complex that makes up the Ruby Mountains — along with several, and more than one type, of low-angle faults — and also geology related to the Pleistocene glaciation of the mountains.

Terminal moraine of Lamoille Canyon,
beyond the field that happens to be part of an outwash plain.

The photo above wasn't our first view of Lamoille Canyon, when MOH and I visited about two weeks ago on our way to the NMEC 2nd Annual GBR. That photo is from the second day's morning field trip to see some of the glacial geology of the Rubys (or would that be Rubies?), led by Dr. Mike McFarlane. Instead, our first view of the canyon was as pictured below:

Looking into Lamoille Canyon from just before the entrance to the Ruby Dome Ranch (Google Maps location).

Unnamed hill 9942 forms the flattish-looking knob just right of center, and although it's hard to tell for sure, even from repeated viewings in Google Earth, the jagged knobs in the distance on the left appear to be Ruby Spire at 10,835 ft on the far left, the Wolf's Ear at 10,788 in the center, and an unnamed peak at 10,835 ft on the right (seemingly lower because it's behind the other two jagged knobs). I've gleaned the names Ruby Spire and Wolf's Ear from Panoramio and Google Earth photos rather than from USGS topo maps of the area, suggesting to me that at least some of the supposedly unnamed peaks and knobs of the Rubys may have names known by the locals and other frequenters of the area.

Another view looking into the first part of Lamoille Canyon,
this time from the 2nd day.

With these first views of the canyon, the valley appears to be dominantly V-shaped: the overall U-shape of the valley has been modified by the post-glacial down-cutting of Lamoille Creek.

At this point, where a falling rock sign appears on the side of the road, the overall U-shaped nature of the glacially carved canyon can be seen.

The main part of Lamoille Canyon forms the foreground right of the road and highway sign, and it continues to the far left where cliffs of brownish gneiss, marble, and granite abound. The Right Fork of Lamoille Creek shoots off to the right, into the U-shaped canyon where its eastern, sunlit slopes are covered by green, yellow, and orange aspen trees.

The GBR was located at Camp Lamoille (AKA Lion's Camp Lamoille or the Boy Scout Camp), nestled in a flat area along Right Fork Lamoille Creek (or South Fork Lamoille Canyon). Photos of the area shown below are from Days 1 and 2 of the three-day outing.

Looking south up the South Fork of Lamoille Canyon. Back in the rocky section of the canyon, Ruby Spire and the Wolf's Ear are on the left;
Mt. Gilbert is on the right.

This photo is centered on a lateral moraine of South Fork Lamoille Canyon, which blocked the main canyon (to the left) and has been breached by Lamoille Creek.

In the photo above, besides the breached lateral moraine, the upper portion of a couloir called "Terminal Cancer" can be seen on the far left. Ruby Spire (Google Maps location) is in the center distance (highest spire of the jagged ridge on the east side of the Right Fork of Lamoille Creek. The Wolf's Ear (Google Maps location) forms the center of that jagged ridge.

We've arrived in camp. The Wolf's Ear is still visible as the highest jagged knob near the center of the photo.

Rapidly changing lighting at Camp Lamoille.

Wolf's Ear is on the left (east side of the South Fork canyon). Mt. Gilbert is the tallest peak on the right.

Our campsite below the cliffs. You can see in this photo the very minimal spots of snow below Mt. Gilbert, fairly unusual in the Rubys for late September.

A closer view of the Wolf's Ear.

Looking up the same canyon from one of the trails near the beaver ponds.

An even closer view of the Wolf's Ear (dark knob on the left), taken on the stormy second day.

Another view of the South Fork of Lamoille Canyon, taken during a downpour featuring multiple hail events and (later) lightning directly overhead.

Camping in the stormy weather of two weeks ago was fascinating. The overall camping experience, which could have been a disaster, was mitigated by the presence of a wood-heated lodge or dining area, and abundant free food and drinks.

Across the West and Back Day 2: Over the Wasatch Range

Possibly I can now -- now that holidays are over -- get back to the western road trip MOH and I took last August, where, if you remember, we're still on day two, and about to head into American Fork Canyon south of Salt Lake City, Utah.

As a reminder, we're here on Utah S.R. 92.

As we approach, it appears that the canyon bisects an anticline, with bedding dipping north on the north side of the canyon and south on the south side.

Closer view of the south wall of American Fork Canyon.

South of the canyon and on the left side of the photo, the sequence of mostly Mississippian sediments is definitely dipping southward, according to the online, interactive geologic map of Utah. The section includes the Deseret Limestone, Humbug Formation, and Great Blue Limestone.

A closer view of the north canyon wall.

On the north side of the canyon, the geology is more complicated, but at least part of the section dips to the north.

As we head into the canyon, the road fairly suddenly becomes a very narrow two laner (? -- more like 1.5!!) and goes upward and into the mountains. Not knowing at all what to expect at this point, we hope we have made a good choice in not turning back toward SLC (you'll have to read the last installment to find out more about why we ended up in American Fork Canyon in the first place).

Nevertheless, despite the demanding road and my migraine, we see some good scenery (and awesome rock formations).

North Timpanogos Peak (or North Peak), rising to 11441 ft
(3487 m), reportedly underlain by the Bear Canyon Member of the Pennsylvanian Oquirrh Formation. 

Here we are a little farther on, looking back down South Fork toward American Fork Canyon.

Much of the drive was through fairly dense trees, often aspens. And, like I said, the road was fairly narrow, and it lacked a viable shoulder, making some of the curves and brief overlook sites rather startling.

We approach the summit, which is marked at 8060 ft.

More aspens.

Our first glimpse of Mt. Timpanogos, 11749 ft (3581 m), also in the Bear Canyon Member of the Oquirrh Formation.

Something not clear from most of these photos: it was a dark, cloudy day, always threatening rain. 

Roberts Horn, with the peak at 10993 ft (3351 m), same formation as before, looking about the same.

Roberts Horn is a true glacial horn, surrounded by several cirques: Primrose Cirque, with two cirque basins (Emerald Lake and Hidden Lakes basins) above the main cirque, lies to the south; the Timpanogos Basin to the north is an elevated cirque that above the Giant Staircase, a cirque and glacial valley.

At this point in our trip across the Wasatch, we've almost made it down S.R. 92 to our next road, and hopefully the last section of the trip report for Day 2.

View Day 2: Elko, NV to Vernal, UT in a larger map

Related Posts:
Across the West and Back Day 2: Are We Lost Yet?
Across the West and Back Day 2: A Hike along a Limestone Ridge
Across the West and Back Day 2: Across the Salt Lake Desert
Across the West and Back Day 2: A Side Trip in West Wendover
Across the West and Back Day 2: Pequop Summit to West Wendover
Across the West and Back Day 2: Looking for an Old Roadcut
Across the West and Back: The First Day
Intro to Recent Western Loop Trip