Fall in Finland: October 2010

Finland trip: October 2010.

In Helsinki, atop Precambrian shield bedrock in the Dromso neighborhood.

Streets of Helsinki, Barbro, me and the sleepy boy.

Helsinki's Temppeliaukio (Rock church). Constructed out of granite, shiny interior roof is copper.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temppeliaukio_Church

Heading north to Ranea, a herd of reindeer pass the road.

Heading to the pegmatite mine.

You land in timeout if you throw snowballs at the miners in the pit.

Black tourmaline (schorl) from the Ranea pegmatite. Photo by Jeff, see more of his mineral photography here http://www.washingtonminerals.com/.

Southern Iceland - October 2010

I spent 3 days in southern Iceland in October 2010. Our first stop was the Blue Lagoon spa, southwest of Rejkavik. After that, we drove east along the coast and spent the night in the small coastal town of Vik. We continued on past the volcanic deposits from recent Eyjafjallakull volcanic eruptions (just 6 months earlier) and to Jokulsarlon river delta.

Blue Lagoon geothermal pool spa. In the background you can see the Svartssengi geothermal power station. The spa waters are temperature-controlled industrial waters released from the geothermal plant. Swimming in the waters was a fantastic way to get over jet lag. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Lagoon_(geothermal_spa)

The hut in the village of Vik where we stayed. Layers of basalt flows form the rocky backdrop.

Extensive road damage was left behind from Eyjafjallakull's volcanic eruption 6 months before our visit. This photo shows a stream cutting a channel through the recently deposits volcanic sand and silt. Road crews with backhoes and excavators were still removing volcanic debris from main roads on the day of our visit Oct 20. Some amazing photos of the Eyjafjallakull April 2010 eruptions are featured in this Boston Globe article http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2010/04/more_from_eyjafjallajokull.html.

The meltwater bay at Jokulsarlon. If the image looks familiar, it's because this locale - where a glacier sends icebergs downriver out to the Atlantic - has been featured everywhere from a James Bond movie to the Amazing Race reality television show.

Kai at Jokulsarlon.

Beached icebergs on black basalt sands at the Jokulsarlon delta, where the lucky icebergs are released to the wild Atlantic.

Ewes east of Jokulsarlon.

Unicorn Glacier, Mount Rainier National Park

A photo taken during the approach to Unicorn Glacier in Mount Rainier National Park. It was a cloudy day, so Mount Rainier was not "out."

In the cirque/alpine basin, getting closer to trail's end.

Freezing cold lake where only crazy people swim -- meltwater from Unicorn Glacier.

There were so many trails...but with a 4-year old...at least we got one in. Next stop was the Paradise Visitor's lodge.

Mt. Zion conglomerate

An encore trip up Mount Zion. Four kids, two adults. The Lyre Formation rock exposures and lush understory makes for interesting trailside viewing on the way up.

Lyre Formation pebble conglomerate along the trail.

At the peak of Mount Zion: a geologic debate heats up. 

Why is geology so much more interesting with a rock hammer in hand?

Tubal Cain mine

On an absolutely beautiful day in July, with wild rhodedendrons in bloom, I finally made it up to the abandoned Tubal Cain mine. 

There are several old adits into bedrock along the hiking trail. Bementite, a manganese silicate, is the ore mineral that was mined. Mindat has more information on this mineral: http://www.mindat.org/min-621.html.

There was old mining equipment around at the primitive campground that is surrounded by lush streams. If you hike up past the camping area, above the tailings pile, you'll find the upper adit. This really is one of the most beautiful hikes to be had. 



Third Beach, La Push, Olympic Peninsula

Found my way to Third Beach, near LaPush, for Mother's day. The wind-whipped water turned beautiful shades of turquoise-green. I found dozens of pebbles of black and red orbicular jasper along the upper portion of the beach. Small patches of the beach were blanketed in black sand -- the sand grains made of tiny pieces of basalt that have eroded from the headlands. 

 
It's slow going mining pebbles out of the conglomerate.