Saturday, January 5, 2013

Geo 365: Jan. 5, Day 5: Guano Valley

It looks like our first rain of the year (aside from a brief, light sprinkle on Thursday) is coming in today, so I thought I'd put up something a little dry. Okay, very dry.
Looking eastward across Guano Valley to "Doherty Slide." Route 140 turns abruptly south, and runs diagonally right up the cliff face. While not terribly obvious at this scale, if you click on the photo for full-size, it should be apparent. While the road is brilliantly engineered, with a lot more room than you realize, the first time up or down this stretch is very disconcerting. However, once you accept that you're not going to die, the views from that grade are spectacular.

This area's main geologic claim to fame (aside from being fabulously gorgeous) is that it is the source of the USGS Andesite Standard, AGV-1. I've not seen the exact location of where it was collected, but it would make sense that it might well be right along the road- perhaps even at the wide pull-out that I've often stopped at. In addition, there is a hang glider launch area at the top of the grade that is apparently quite famous.

Photo unprocessed. Augst 19, 2011. FlashEarth location (approximate).

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