Weblog? What weblog? Saturday, February 07, 2004: Sediment/Stratigraphy Field Trip Saga Part 1 I woke up this morning at 6:30am to go on our first Sed/Strat field trip of the semester. The two hours to Cleveland were relatively uneventful- until we got to our first stop on the shore of Lake Erie. First we had to go down iced over cement steps (practically vertical)- everyone fell, then we walked along the snow covered beach a little way until we reached a stream that was about up to lower calf level- and Dr. Evans decided to make us wade through it. At 10am, maybe 10 degrees out...anybody ever tell you not to have wet feet in winter? yeah, it sucks. He didn’t warn us about a stream crossing til we got there so no one had spare shoes, socks, nothing. So we waded through the stream, our feet so numb we were falling everywhere, then we stood in front of an outcrop where we couldn’t see what he made us cross the stream for due to the snow. >_< So we stood out in the cold with feet like iceblocks for 20 minutes, wondering when the frostbite would kick in- then we had to go back across the stream to the vans. That was the first stop OF 5. So we had wet feet from the get go- I poured 2 inches of water out of my boots and had to wring out my socks. We actually wound up forcing Dr. Evans to stop at K-mart and we bought a huge package of socks b/c our feet were so cold we literally couldn’t walk. Then at the second stop- feet still pretty wet- we had to go up a steep incline to reach the outcrop we wanted to see, which was pretty neat, but to get back down we had to slide down the icy slope on our butts- which was crazy because you couldn’t control your speed at all. So we were all bruised and full of adrenaline after that- and I fell 4 more times on the ice on the walk back to the van, gaining even more bruises, and everyone else fell quite a bit too. After the butt-tobogganing episode, we stopped at McDonalds for lunch, which was a relief. Then we went to another part of the shoreline where we had to slide down to the beach on our butts, and several of us fell through the ice, in the deep snow, etc. It was impossible to keep our footing due to all the ice just barely under the snow layer- and of course we had to climb back out again- the only thing we used our rock hammers for was climbing. The 4th and 5th stops were easier- just looking at sediments/structures- almost no one fell which was good, but we were all soaked and cold and beaten and bruised by that point. We got back to BG around 5:30, and I was still so numb I couldn’t feel anything. It actually felt weird to put on dry shoes and socks. Then I went with Mike and Kristin over to Gordon’s apartment where Jen, other Kristin, Renee, and Amy had just started cooking dinner, so we helped with that, and I got some hot tea and started to thaw out- I could actually feel the bruises and stiffness setting in as the numbness from the cold faded. Dinner was really nice, but by the end of it I was about asleep in my food I was so tired. I feel like I just got the crap beat out of me for the entire day, so if any of the above is mildly incoherent, that’s why. Over and Out. Comment Supreme Mongoose // 7:18 PM ______________________ Comments: Post a Comment
Sediment/Stratigraphy Field Trip Saga Part 1 I woke up this morning at 6:30am to go on our first Sed/Strat field trip of the semester. The two hours to Cleveland were relatively uneventful- until we got to our first stop on the shore of Lake Erie. First we had to go down iced over cement steps (practically vertical)- everyone fell, then we walked along the snow covered beach a little way until we reached a stream that was about up to lower calf level- and Dr. Evans decided to make us wade through it. At 10am, maybe 10 degrees out...anybody ever tell you not to have wet feet in winter? yeah, it sucks. He didn’t warn us about a stream crossing til we got there so no one had spare shoes, socks, nothing. So we waded through the stream, our feet so numb we were falling everywhere, then we stood in front of an outcrop where we couldn’t see what he made us cross the stream for due to the snow. >_< So we stood out in the cold with feet like iceblocks for 20 minutes, wondering when the frostbite would kick in- then we had to go back across the stream to the vans. That was the first stop OF 5. So we had wet feet from the get go- I poured 2 inches of water out of my boots and had to wring out my socks. We actually wound up forcing Dr. Evans to stop at K-mart and we bought a huge package of socks b/c our feet were so cold we literally couldn’t walk. Then at the second stop- feet still pretty wet- we had to go up a steep incline to reach the outcrop we wanted to see, which was pretty neat, but to get back down we had to slide down the icy slope on our butts- which was crazy because you couldn’t control your speed at all. So we were all bruised and full of adrenaline after that- and I fell 4 more times on the ice on the walk back to the van, gaining even more bruises, and everyone else fell quite a bit too. After the butt-tobogganing episode, we stopped at McDonalds for lunch, which was a relief. Then we went to another part of the shoreline where we had to slide down to the beach on our butts, and several of us fell through the ice, in the deep snow, etc. It was impossible to keep our footing due to all the ice just barely under the snow layer- and of course we had to climb back out again- the only thing we used our rock hammers for was climbing. The 4th and 5th stops were easier- just looking at sediments/structures- almost no one fell which was good, but we were all soaked and cold and beaten and bruised by that point. We got back to BG around 5:30, and I was still so numb I couldn’t feel anything. It actually felt weird to put on dry shoes and socks. Then I went with Mike and Kristin over to Gordon’s apartment where Jen, other Kristin, Renee, and Amy had just started cooking dinner, so we helped with that, and I got some hot tea and started to thaw out- I could actually feel the bruises and stiffness setting in as the numbness from the cold faded. Dinner was really nice, but by the end of it I was about asleep in my food I was so tired. I feel like I just got the crap beat out of me for the entire day, so if any of the above is mildly incoherent, that’s why. Over and Out. Comment Supreme Mongoose // 7:18 PM
