But I Survived It (Or, Geology Campout: Day II)

So when we left off, the buses were pulling out of the campsite (*) and headed towards QUAIL LAKE (6) on the map below. 

QUAIL LAKE (6) is a "sag pond," or a body of water created by two plates shifting apart, essentially creating a hole that dropped into the water table and filled up, creating a stable lake water formation. In this case, Quail Lake is located on San Andreas, and was created by a shift between the North American plate (which covers this continent and ends in the mid-Atlantic) and the Pacific plate (which extends from the edge of the west coast to the Japanese trench).

It was really breezy there, and with the wind blowing off the water like that so early in the morning, I was glad I had layered two crewnecks! Here's Quail Lake:

Next, we stopped at the SOFT ROCKS (7). I don't have a picture of the Soft Rocks, but they were pretty cool. Due to the intense pressure of the fault, the granite had shattered internally, so even though it looked fairly solid from the outside, even someone of my strength could break it apart with a hammer, or even break off chunks by hand in some places.

We stayed for about twenty minutes, as we watched Dr. A clamber up and down the slanted rock face and holler about "the PRESSURE!" and took turns breaking apart the granite.

Then we got back on the buses and headed for ELIZABETH LAKE (8), another sag pond that looked basically the same. There, Dr. A assembled us directly over the active fault (contrary to popular belief, a fault is not generally a visible crack in the ground, but sometimes you can see a difference in the striation of the rock) and told us that the fault experiences these cataclysmic, over-Richter-8 earthquakes that create huge, visible land shifts that have allowed for a combined change of several miles through spurts of 9 earthquakes over the last 1500 years. 

While we stood at the shore, Dr. A informed us that those big quakes occur every sixty to 225 years, averaging about 120 years, with the last one being in 1857. "WE'RE DUE!!" He crowed. The guy gets seriously excited at the prospect of imminent natural disaster.

Once he got over his excitement, we all got back on the buses and took off for Palmdale. We were pretty psyched to get the SAN ANDREAS OVERLOOK (9) out of the way since (a) we would all go to In-n-Out for lunch and (b) the end of the trip was in sight!

So we got to Palmdale, and the buses pulled off to the side of the road. Dr. A instructed us to get out, and then led us through the brush on the side of the road - in this vast, empty expanse of worthless land, littered with broken down sofas, shattered beer bottles, and other remnants of parties past - to a spot on a hill, then pointed out a slight, though, visible, rise in the land that crossed beneath Lake Palmdale, the freeway, and the rest of the city. The San Andreas Fault, yet again. Here's that lake:

After advising us not to purchase a home situated directly over a fault, Dr. A pointed out some pretty cool looking rocks:

See those squigglies in the rock? Well, they're technically "folds," and that's what big earthquakes can do to solid mineral. Cool, huh?

We checked it out, then went to In-n-Out!

Mmmmm. If you find something in this world better than a double-double with cheese, order of fries, and a chocolate shake so thick you need a spoon to eat it, please let me know. So far, this is sort of the highest form of perfection that exists in my life.

Thus satisfied, I stopped counting down the seconds until our return to USC as we drove towards VASQUEZ ROCKS (10!).

Now, I know I haven't come off as real big on geology/camping/etc, but this rock formation IS pretty cool. It's very "The Lion King," which happens to be one of my favorite movies of all time. Think Pride Rock, where Simba lived. Here's a bunch of people from my class on top of a Vasquez "hog's back":

Actually, if you're a Trekkie, you've probably already seen Vasquez. It's the site of the Worst Fight Scene of All Time:

You know, if you YouTube "Worst Fight Scene Ever," this scene legitimately pops up? HERE'S the link, if you want to laugh/jog your memory.

Anyway, eventually we did get back to USC. And I showered. And did some (okay, a LOT) of laundry. And now I'm actually kind of proud I survived a weekend in the wilderness with my geology class, being the non-hiker, non-camper that I am....

Not that I have any intentions to repeat the experience...