Anywhere Else, They Would be Exceptional: Can you Succeed at this Yosemite Valley Scavenger Hunt?

I've been privileged to visit Yosemite Valley dozens and dozens of times over the years, often dragging students, and sometimes with just me and Mrs. Geotripper. We always revel in the beautiful sights, and study the various moods of iconic features like Yosemite Falls, Half Dome, and El Capitan. But there are many times when I notice other unique geological features that in any other setting on the planet would probably be the centerpiece of a national or state park. They get lost in the grandness of this extraordinary landscape. That is the reason for today's post. If you are ever lucky enough to visit Yosemite Valley, take your pictures of Half Dome and Bridalveil Falls, but keep an eye out for some of these other exceptional rocks and waterfalls.

First up is North Dome (above). Just think about it...aren't you just settling for less when you concentrate on Half Dome? Why not a whole dome? It's there if you know where to look (or you know how to read a map!).

Elephant Rock (above) is tucked away on the canyon rim somewhere where the park service didn't even worry about powerlines spoiling the view of the rock. Even more important: can you see the elephant? After 30 years I finally figured it out...

Silver Strand Falls suffers from "backwards distraction". Some sights in Yosemite are so awesome that you can't do anything but stare. And never turn around to see what is happening behind you. There is an epic sight in the opposite direction and thus you might never notice it...a 574 foot high waterfall! It's especially spectacular in winter when the waterfall may be entirely frozen.

Another sight that gets lost in the shuffle of the big views in Yosemite Valley is Sentinel Dome. It's another "whole dome", and while it is not as imposing as Half Dome, it's a great deal easier to climb. In fact, the trail to the summit is only a mile long, and the view is stunning.

Is it possible to simply not see a 1,180 foot high waterfall? It seems like it would be hard to miss, but that's the case with Lehamite Falls. It has the distinction of the only feature in Yosemite Valley that retains its original Ahwaneechee name. It's not behind some other feature. In fact, it often appears on the edge of shots of one of the iconic waterfalls of Yosemite.

There is another waterfall that can be easy to miss. Staircase Falls can be heard splattering down the cliffs behind a well-known pizza shack in Yosemite, but it often gets missed in the shuffle. It's 1,300 feet high, just short of Upper Yosemite Falls (although it descends in a series of...stairs).

Finally, can you guess the location of this stunning example of exfoliation in action? Exfoliation is the tendency of newly exposed rocks to break in planes that are parallel to the surface of the rock, causing the monolith to eventually take a dome-like shape.

Do you know Yosemite well? What features do you think don't get enough attention by park visitors?

A Kid in a Candy Shop...On the Oregon Coast

A kid in a candy shop, that's what I was the other day. All the colorful stuff, not really paying attention to the details because there was so much going on. I was covering a lot of ground in a few short hours and our stops were unfortunately brief. The pictures today come from Seal Rock State Beach near Newport, a place with no seals, but some great rocks!

It was immediately apparent that we were looking at columnar jointing in basalt. Lockwood or Dana Hunter, my Pacific Northwestern geoblogging friends, can probably say a lot more about the geology (think of them as being the clerks in the candy shop, the ones who get to see this stuff a lot more often), but what little I can find in a cursory search is that these outcrops are part of a sill, an intrusion that squeezed between sedimentary layers about 14 million years ago.

The volcanic basalt cools and contracts as it reaches (or approaches) the surface. Since the entire mass can't shrink, the rock fractures at characteristic angles and orientations. At times, the contraction fractures form prominent columns, like those at Devil's Postpile, or the Giant's Causeway in Ireland. Columnar joints are interesting in any setting, but put the rocks on a coastline, and they become spectacular!

The largest outcrop is called Elephant Rock.The alcove at the base is a sedimentary layer called the Yaquina Formation. The soft underlying sandstone is easily eroded, causing the jointed rock above to collapse. In this way, the steep cliff retains its shape over time.

Elephant rock is the largest chunk of basalt but others form a wall of sorts along the shoreline.

It was such a pleasant surprise to run across these rocks. I usually research my travels ahead of time, but never had a chance this time around. It's all new to me, terra incognita so to speak, and it makes me wonder about what all that I missed on this very rushed trip. It's ok...several cherished relatives have just relocated to central Oregon, so I will have some good opportunities to check these places out a bit more carefully in the future.

Cool columnar jointing, or the Gates of Mordor??