Brief: A Trip to Rochester Canyon

Looking west down Rochester Canyon.

It was a partly cloudy day that progressively became overcast, and after a so-far-unreported trip up Limerick Canyon to Rolands Canyon and the lower part of the Champion Mine, MOH and I sped up Rochester Canyon to take a look at the old town site of Lower Rochester, main Rochester now being buried beneath the waste dumps of the active Coeur Rochester Mine. I didn't know whether I'd be finding anything familiar from one of my first Nevada field trips taken back in 1976 or 1977.

We were disappointed to find that the area had succumbed to one of several summer fires, a fire that had destroyed most of the wooden structures of Lower Rochester, other than those near the old Looney Mine. I took few pictures, mostly of tailings from one of the old mills.

The entire canyon was remarkably unfamiliar to me, and I suspect that the area I remember from long ago was either the main site of Rochester, or an upper site called Rochester Heights (location not presently known to me).

Pictures of Lower Rochester from before the fire can be found here.

Update from the Lake: Fall Leaves and Some Snow

While at the lake most recently, about three weeks ago, fall started acting a little like winter...

...although it seemed as though it must have been a late fall: aspen leaves were green, yellow, and orange all at once.

Yellow aspen leaf.

Reddish leaf, unknown variety, with shadows.

Another yellow aspen leaf.

Shadows of aspen trees across pine needles and aspen leaves.

The last day we were there, it snowed on the higher hills.

Leaves with raindrops.

It rained down near lake level, with snow barely sticking in a few cooler places around our yard. We decided to leave (no pun intended).

Snow along the road.

And so we left, having turned the place off for the winter. Shortly after our trip we passed into a fairly late Indian summer, and after a week or so of that, we went into winter, with snow falling in desert basins below 4000 feet.

V is for Vein

Gypsum veins form a V in sandstone.

Apologies to Evelyn Mervine and her Geology Word of the Week, but I just couldn't pass this one up.

Rock found by MOH on a barely recent hike.

Temperature Readings at Sulphur Works

Continued from this earlier post:

MOH and I went back to Lassen Volcanic National Park about two weeks ago, taking our IR thermometer and a water or snow thermometer. Our intention: measure the sidewalk temperatures near the boiling mud pot at Sulphur Works, and—if possible—get a reading or two of the boiling mud in the mud pot.

The boiling mud pot at Sulphur Works.

Approaching the boiling mud pot area at Sulphur Works.

We approached the mud pot on the sidewalk, taking our first temperature reading 60 feet west of the approximate center of the mud pot. We continued taking several readings, until we were about 105 to 110 feet east of the center of the mud pot. Most measurements were taken at the center of the sidewalk, about half way between the curb and the inner edge. Reading #9 was outside the sidewalk curb, near the outer edge of the reddish concrete of the sidewalk, just inside the black asphalt of the road. Reading #10 was near the inner edge of the sidewalk, just inside the inner curb.

MOH was in charge of our two thermometers and of taking readings, I was in charge of determining our approximate location (by pacing) from the center of the boiling mud pot, and I was also in charge of recording the readings taken.

Looking back toward the mud pot from the area of the farthest reading. The steaming mud pot is just beyond the large whitish area.

  Reading #1,        60' west,   center of sidewalk:           66.1° F
  Reading #2,        35' west,   center of sidewalk:           68.6° F
  Reading #3,        10' west,   center of sidewalk:           74.8° F
  Reading #4,          0' west,   center of sidewalk:           76.5° F
  Reading #5,        25' east,    center of sidewalk:           67.5° F
  Reading #6,        55' east,    center of sidewalk:           98.4° F
  Reading #10,      60' east,    inner edge of sidewalk:    149.0° F
  Reading #7,        95' east,    outer edge of sidewalk:     97.3° F
  Reading #8,      105' east,    center of sidewalk:          107.8° F
  Reading #9,      105' east,    beyond the curb:             128.0° F

The two hottest spots on the sidewalk that we could find were some distance from the center of the boiling mud pot. The first and hottest area—reading #10, with #6 nearby, located about 60 and 55 feet east of the center of the mud pot—was near a little side drainage from which steam was barely issuing. The second hottest area that we measured—readings #8 and #9, located about 105 feet east of the center of the mud pot—was near a small, steaming hole in the ground.

Reading #10 was taken along the inner edge of the sidewalk here; #6 was slightly closer to the center of the mud pot, near the center of the sidewalk.

Closer view of the general area beyond reading #10. 

NOTE: All measurements were taken on the sidewalk, not beyond in this hot, crusty ground. Scalds and severe burns can result from breaking through the ground in the hydrothermal areas in the Lassen area, so we didn't venture beyond the fence.

The ground was steaming slightly in this area near reading #10.

Reading #9 was taken near the outside of the sidewalk pavement, just inboard of the highway; #8 was at this location in the center of the sidewalk.

More growths along sidewalk cracks near readings #8 and #9.

This small, steaming hole in the ground is located inside the fence near readings #8 and #9.

Here we are back at the boiling mud pot, ready to measure the temperature of the mud.

After completing our sidewalk measurements with the IR thermometer, we went back to the mud pot to measure the temperature of the boiling, muddy water. Our first dip of the thermometer, which was attached by foil to a walking stick that MOH hung over the fence railing into the water, was somewhat disappointing: a mere 140°F or so, though we read the thermometer after it was pulled from the water.

We took a second reading near a small boiling area just west of the main mud pot. This time, I captured the reading with the camera: about 172°F. We went back to the main pot, and the camera captured a temperature of about 160°F.

Temperature at the center of the mud pot: about 160° F.

Temperature in a small side pool slightly west of the main pot: 172° F.

Approximate locations of sidewalk temperature readings.

All readings were taken on 21Oct2012 between 11:31 am and 12:02 pm PDT. I regret that I didn't take a GPS and instead relied on my somewhat variable 5-foot pace for locations.

Tangent Arc?

I got to thinking after taking another looking at my arc photos, that this shot may show a weak tangent arc above the also weak 22 degree halo around the sun.

Possible tangent arc with circumzenithal arc above, also showing left sundog and weak 22 degree halo.

Photos were enhanced as described in my circumzenithal arc post; lower photo is two photos stitched together. Better sundogs and halo can be seen in the circumzenithal post.