Geo 365: Feb. 27, Day 58: Table Rock

From the same pull out as yesterday's photo, a closer look at Table Rock. You can see there's a road spiraling right to the top, though I've never been farther up the dirt path than just to the edge of the edifice. You can never tell with roads like this on the east side. Sometimes, a road that looks like it would be largely useless and unmaintained is, in fact, quite passable, even to common passenger vehicles. And roads that look as if they should be pretty commonly used and well-maintained are nearly impassable except to high-clearance, rugged 4-wheel drive SUV's. I was more willing to stick my nose in when I was driving an OSU motor pool van- they had good power and good clearance, if not 4-wheel drive. And I was cautious enough to make sure I could always simply turn around and go back. But on this trip, we were in Dana's sedan. She actually suggested that we explore farther up the road, and in other circumstances, I wouldn't have been averse to the idea. But the day was pushing on, and I had at least two other major stops I wanted to make, and just didn't think it made sense.

But I'd dearly love to see if I could make it to the top, some day. I imagine the views would be glorious.

Photo unmodified. August 20, 2011. FlashEarth Location. For a quick-and-dirty overview of the geology of this feature, see Monday's post. I'll be spending the rest of the week looking closely at the distal structures and sedimentation associated with this eruption.