The first day of Field Camp -- in Big Bend National Park. L-R, kneeling: Katy, Jessica, Traci, Mindy. Standing: Dr. Barker, Seth, Emily, Jake D, Louis, Amanda, Derrick, Ben, Zack, Jake A, Ned, Dr. Nielson.

Texas

Measuring the attributes of folds at Ernst Tinaja in Big Bend.


Jessica rests her hand on a brecciated fault zone in the Buda Limestone at Ernst Tinaja.


Seth stands before creeping folds in the Marathon area. Look for a similar picture in the "Mass Wasting" chapter of your physical geology textbook.


Ben and Louis find a friend at Davis Mountains State Park.


Hey! That's my cookie!


Deer attack!


Sunset in the Davis Mountains.


It was hot, dry and windy in the playa.


Beautiful El Capitan in the Guadalupe Mountains near the Texas/New Mexico stateline.


New Mexico

Folds in the Castile gypsum.


Carlsbad Caverns.


In the grotto.


Airborn at White Sands National Monument.


Ben does a flip...


...And flys through the air! (Student picture.)


Cheering Nielson's roll down the sand dune.


Dusted with gypsum!


Louis - always making a fashion statement.


A field camp birthday party.


Field Camp 2008 motto on a beer coaster!


Meanwhile, back at the dorm, Team Pink relaxes after a hard day's field work. (Student picture.)


Beating the deadline on drafting day. (Student picture.)


Knight's Peak, one of our mapping areas. It's higher than it looks and cut by faults.


A proghorn antelope checks us out...


...And then takes off.


Team Pastel prepares for a hard day of field work.


There's a little surprise in the grass. A diamond-backed surprise.


Travis demonstrates how to take strike and dip.


The Bear Mountain Marathoners! Congratulations to winners Ned and Ben.


Arizona

Yeehaw! Derrick rides a wild one at Petrified Forest National Monument.


Early morning at the Grand Canyon. Keep a tight hold on Jessica!


TA Travis approves of his first view of the 'Big Ditch'.


Can you find the great angular unconformity?


Three on a ledge.


Katy at the Canyon. (Student picture.)


Finding the zen of Jakeness.


One last view of the Canyon.


Utah

At Checkerboard Mesa in Zion National Park.


Amanda sits on cross-beds in the Navajo sandstone at Zion.


Inside one of Zion's many slot canyons.


Texas kids can't resist a snowball fight! At Cedar Breaks National Monument.


Travis gets into the melee.


A view from the south end of Bryce Canyon National Park, looking at the Kaibab Plateau in Arizona on the far horizon, with the ridges and plateaus of the Escalante Staircase National Mounment rising upward in the middle distance.


At Bryce Canyon.


Towering hoodoos at Bryce. Note the people for scale.


Still more hoodoos.


A view north toward the Aquarius Plateau.


Looking west at the Wasatch Mountains. The urban sprawl of Salt Lake Valley lies right on the other side of these lovely mountains.


The oncolite recovery team in Hobble Creek Canyon gets grubby!


Living on the edge, my friend. (Student picture.)


There's just not enough gear in that Honda Element. (Student picture.)


At the overlook on the east side of the San Raphael Swell in central Utah along Interstate-40. Those are the LaSal Mountains in the distance -- our next destination.


At 'Park Avenue' in Arches National Park. Travis is stylin'.


Mount Tukuhnikivatz ('Tuk') in the La Sal Mountains of southeast Utah. 'Little' Tuk (also called Tuk North) is the triangular peak in front. It rises to about 12,000 feet, while Tuk proper, in the back, is actually 500 feet higher. Our last field camp project was in the alpine valleys at the base of these majestic laccolith mountains. The next picture is from the top of Little Tuk.


Whew! That's a long hike to the top of Little Tuk -- but what a view! That's Moab valley in the background.


High above the tree line, the narrow ridge that leads from Little Tuk to Tuk proper is part of the 'Razor Fang' trail which goes from peak to peak in the La Sal Mountains. Mount Tuk, in the upper left, is about half a mile away. The next picture is from the top of Tuk.


The spectacular view from the top of Mount Tuk, looking back at the 'Razor Fang' trail (the narrow arete, or ridge) and the summit of Little Tuk in the middle distance.


The hardest part was the steep hike back down the mountain.


The Field Camp group gets ready for the 'terminal' project in the beautiful La Sal Mountains.


Sunset in the La Sals.


Hey, Alumni -- have more pictures of your SFA field camp? Let us know!

Photos by C. A. Barker unless otherwise noted.
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