Showed up at Tsankawi and who should I see but Dale. He had just finished giving a ticket to a hapless photographer who had parked at Tsankawi but didn't pay. I waved as I drove past to the meeting place. The hikers said Dale had asked if they were with the hiking group. That's interesting that his patrol extends all the way down to Tsankawi and all the way up in the Jemez Mountains to Dome Road.
Doris and Brian were the only two hikers that showed up. They agreed to do one of my suggestions which was to walk in lower Water Canyon. First, I took them into Gate 6 onto the little mesa. They enjoyed that. Doris took us down a new way. We walked in the Water Canyon drainage until it became too brushy and then we ascended a hillside to explore some cavate ruins. Everyone enjoyed sifting through the pottery shards and looking at the cliff dwellings. One of our number who shall remain unnamed (wasn't me!) found a beautiful white arrowhead. Maybe it was made of quartz. We passed under the powerline where there is reputed to be an old trail. I might have seen one winding upwards but we moved on without exploring further.
We had lunch at the Water Canyon-Potrillo Canyon saddle. I asked if they wanted to go back via the mesa trail but Doris wanted to follow the Water Canyon trail back so she could one day take her friend on that hike.
I headed for home around 1:30pm and am now finishing up a load of laundry. Tonight, grandson comes over while daughter goes to jujitsu class.
Los Alamos Geological Society talk last night was fun. I didn't really understand her explanation of why the cinder cones in Taylor Valley Antarctica are emplaced on the wall of the valley rather than on top of the mountains or in the valley. She explained it with an equation. She was very young and pretty - a post doc who recently became a full-time LANL staff member. I think that everyone gave her a pass on the explanation of her research. The best part of the talk was the slide presentation on the questions everyone asks her about her Antarcticic experience. One was what do you take and she showed us this enormous array of clothing that is issued to each person. She went during the Antarctic summer and said it really wasn't as cold as people said it would be.
There will be some good talks upcoming - Bill Johnson, Dorothy's son-in-law, in March and Bob Parmenter, chief scientist of the Valles Caldera National, in April.