Landfill Cleanup Resumes with Radiation Detector Now on Excavator Arm

Los Alamos Monitor had brief story today by Garrison Wells: Pipe with excess plutonium halts lab clean-up.  Now, the excavator arm will have a radiation detector on it to prevent any more breaches of the allowable above ground plutonium radiation permitted at the landfill cleanup.  Idea is that the radiation detector will measure the amount of radiation before the excavator drags the contaminant above ground.  Before, the radiation detector was placed on the ground next to the hole being excavated.  That meant that they didn't know the amount of radiation until the cat was already out of the bag, i.e., after they had already drug the contaminant above ground!  This is not rocket science.  Not sure if I feel any more comforted by the change in procedure.  I HOPE that some agency other than the lab is overseeing the safety of this cleanup. 

New Mexican Story on Plutonium Contaminated Pipe at DP Road Cleanup Site

Roger Snodgrass wrote an excellent article, on 9/16/2010 in the Santa Fe New Mexican, titled Contaminated pipe halts LANL cleanup project: Cylinder exceeds allowed radiation.  Work has been shut down on the cleanup of the old landfill on DP Road dating from 1945 after a worker discovered a plutonium contaminated pipe  and surrounding soil that had radiation levels that exceeded by six times those permitted above ground during the cleanup.  The pipe and the soil it was buried in were measured to contain the equivalent of 40 grams of plutonium-239.  Before cleanup began, the whole 5-acre site was estimated from soil sampling to contain only 200 grams of plutonium.

I live near this cleanup site and I'm not happy that the LANL spokesman, Fred deSousa, said the public was not notified about this discovery because, to quote Roger Snodgrass's article, "there had been no radioactive release to the public and no exposure".  Regardless, the public SHOULD have been informed.  LANL is not being very transparent about what's going on at the landfill cleanup.

The talk is that the landfill will be cleaned up  to residential housing standards.  I don't plan to ever live there.  It's bad enough that we live so close to the cleanup site.

Eating Out Resolution

Resolved: Never order appetizers AND a meal - too much food.  Went to Jinja House for husband's 60th birthday.  He wanted to order the Tokyo Crispy Tofu as an appetizer and we shared it.  I ordered the Jungle Green Curry with marinated tofu and brown rice off the lunch menu - the portion was enormous and I, of course, ate it all even though the appetizer had quelled my appetite.  What's the point of appetizers except to make people too full to eat their real meal?  I didn't want leftovers sitting in the hot car while we shopped at Whole Foods.  I should start carrying a small cooler and ice to take leftovers home when I eat out!

Overheard at Jinja House (probably the WHOLE restaurant overheard) a motor-mouth woman talking loudly on her cell phone.  Or maybe she was pretending to converse with someone because she left no space at all for the other person to say a word.  She said she's going to move to Santa Fe, journal about the experience and write a book.  Maybe it will be a talking book... 

Daughter and son-in-law had husband and me over for dinner.  Made pork BBQ, potato salad, roasted vegetables from their garden, green salad and chocolate-iced marble bundt birthday cake.  Daughter gave husband home made plum jam for his birthday - very delicious.  I had some tonight on bread and peanut butter.

Husband at movie theater seeing The Town because he gets in free on his birthday.

Exercised on Canyon Rim Trail and Mesa Trail this morning before Santa Fe trip.  Saw coyote chasing something that ran off fast in a swirl of dust.  Saw adorable boy bicyclist, with his Dad, who was maybe all of 5 years old.  Little boy told me he liked my hat!

Last night we watched the DVD Temple Grandin, a made for HBO movie.  It utterly enthralled me.  It won loads of Emmys and I can see why - it was so well acted.  I found the story of Temple's life and career moving, inspiring and so very interesting.  Temple is one smart person!

WRSC Hikers Walk Canyon Rim and Pueblo Canyon Rim Trails

Only a small group - 3 drove up from White Rock Senior Center and met spouse and me.  We parked at the official parking lot for the new, paved Canyon Rim Trail (across from the construction site of the Los Alamos Cooperative Market on NM 502 aka Main Hill Road - slow down or you'll miss the turn off).

Had to quickly cross the busy road and walked behind the Holiday Inn to pick up the Pueblo Canyon Rim Trail (dirt trail that runs along fence on north side of Los Alamos Airport - great views of the tent rocks in Pueblo Canyon) which we took west to the airport terminal building. 

Another access can be had by walking down the sidewalk along Entrada Road at Los Alamos County's new Pajarito Cliffs site and picking up the Pueblo Canyon Rim Trail on the north side of the county warehouses.  Look for a small sign crediting the Youth Conservation Corps (sponsored by the YMCA) for the work they did on this trail and then turn left toward the airport.

After we reached the airport terminal, I continued west toward the paved Mesa Trail and East Park but the rest walked the streets back to continue on the Canyon Rim Trail at its western terminus near the fire station across from East Park (the Canyon Rim Trail will eventually extend to the Los Alamos Medical Center).  Even so, I caught up with them and we all moseyed east back to the parked cars.  I eschewed the car ride offered by spouse and instead did "walk fast-walk slow" intervals, fartlek style, back to the fire station and called it a day.   

The Canyon Rim Trail is close to 2 miles RT if you do an out and back on it.  The Mesa Trail is close to 1 mile RT out and back.  A sign at the Canyon Rim trailhead suggests an almost 4 mile loop by walking on the Canyon Rim Trail, the Mesa Trail and the Pueblo Canyon Rim Trail.  The eastern continuation of the Pueblo Canyon Rim Trail connects with the Camp Hamilton Trail near  Eastgate Industrial Park.  This opens up a number of possible hikes utilizing the trails in the Pueblo Canyon and Bayo Canyon areas. 

Up FR181 from West Jemez Road

Went up FR181 from twin water tanks on West Jemez Road. In the past, I've thought I was going 4 miles RT by turning around at the big meadow where the road splits but then comes together again.  This meadow is well past the turnoff to the Perimeter Trail.  But in reading Craig Martin's Los Alamos Trails more carefully, I realized that I was probably only doing a 3 mile RT hike. 

Today I didn't turn around until the first road to the left past the meadow.  This is the road that Craig says is 2.1 miles in from West Jemez Road and goes in .6 mile out to Red-Tailed Hawk Point, a fantastically scenic overlook into Water Canyon as long as you have the patience and stamina to wade through giant pick-up sticks from the Cerro Grande Fire in 2000. 

Craig doesn't mention it but a few tenths of a mile further  southwest along FR181 (American Springs Road) is another road to the left that will also take you to Red-Tailed Hawk Point.  There is no avoiding the eventual mish mosh of downed wood along the way, though. This other road runs along a ridge that separates two of the three branches of upper Water Canyon and you will have beautiful views along the way. 

To read more about Red-Tailed Hawk Point, see Dorothy Hoard's Los Alamos Outdoors.  Craig's hiking book is indispensable to learn the nuts and bolts of the hiking trails in and around Los Alamos County but Dorothy's book still provides an almost poetic interpretation of what you'll see along the way.

It was warm and dry today - too much so.  The purple asters and yellow sunflowers are putting on a cheerful show but the aspens are still holding back their display.

Cañada Bonita to Guaje Canyon Overlook-Fleeting Seasons

The main hiking leaders are out of town attending a high school reunion so the substitute hiker took the eight of us on the Cañada Bonita Trail.  One hiker stayed behind at the Pipeline Road overlook into Valles de los Posos.  The rest went to just above the start of the downhill to the Guaje Canyon Overlook. 

I walked down to the overlook and took photos of Caballo Mountain.  Several times, I heard some scruffling nearby and looked back, expecting to see one of the other hikers but saw no one. 

I somehow managed to miss seeing the Cerro Rubio turnoff on the way to the Guaje Canyon Overlook. We all enjoyed the various viewpoints into the Valles Caldera along the way.

There are golden aspen leaves here and there on the trail but nothing large scale is happening yet.  At the Cañada Bonita meadow, one of the hikers sang a line of the folk song "Where have all the flowers gone?"  They were splendid while they were here.  The same hiker pointed out on the way back where he had photographed loads of orchids in the Spring.

At the hike's beginning, seeing all the fireweed gone to seed, I had made the comment  that it seemed like Spring just happened a few weeks ago.  That's the only downside of the change of seasons - it can be sad to know that a season is past and to think that I may not have fully appreciated it while it was here.  I feel the same way when I look at photos of our daughter as a baby.  If I had only known how short and precious that time would be, would I have appreciated it more instead of letting myself get embroiled in the everyday ephemera of life? 

Change of Seasons-Kudos to Canyon Rim Trail-Dr. Oz's Colonoscopy

I'm in love with the change of seasons.  I get bored easily as a season wears on and on.  Too much of anything is boring but at a season's beginning, with its promise of what's to come, I'm excited.  Fall is coming on in northern New Mexico with all its yellow - billows of sunflowers and barrels of chamisa and the promise of hillsides soon to be festooned with golden aspens.  I can't wait!

I did intervals on the Canyon Rim Trail today and am continually amazed at how well used that trail is.  Apparently there was a crying need in Los Alamos for a paved trail for people who prefer that to walking on the uneven surface of a dirt trail.  Some scoffed at the cost of the pedestrian bridge on the Canyon Rim Trail and called it the bridge to nowhere.  Not hardly!  It's enabling many to have an enjoyable outdoor experience.  Build a trail and people will have fun!

I recently watched an episode of the Dr. Oz show in which he revealed that his  colonoscopy showed he had an adenomatous polyp which is a type that can turn into cancer.  I thought it was very brave for him to reveal this because some will say that eating healthy, exercising and staying slim didn't do Dr. Mehmet Oz any good since he developed this precancerous polyp despite his healthy lifestyle.  I disagree.  Maybe these measures aren't an ironclad guarantee of good health but I'd rather hedge my bets by practicing a healthy habits than by following the Standard American Diet (SAD) and being a couch potato.  Long live Dr. Oz!!

Burnt Mesa Indian Plaza - Nailed!

Was going to hike Sawyer Mesa with Monday group but only one local hiker could make it so we switched the hike to finding the Indian plaza ruin on Burnt Mesa.  After she recently saw a depiction of an Indian plaza on Burnt Mesa at the newly reopened Bandelier National Monument Museum, she asked if I would take her there, quite possibly because she remembered my mentioning it.  I didn't have the map because we didn't change the plans until we met at Ponderosa Campground this morning to leave a car for the Sawyer Mesa car shuttle.

I knew the general area of where to turn off the main Burnt Mesa Trail.  We wandered a little, looking back all the while to see landmarks to find our way back.  I have a GPS but why use it if you don't need it.  Eventually, we saw what looked like a mound and then also spotted a large elk exclosure and I remembered that the plaza was near an elk exclosure so we moseyed over to the mound and, bingo, there was the plaza!  It's small, doughnut-shaped and right next to it is a straight line of blocks outlining a foundation.  We both sat at the edge of the plaza for a long time, enjoying the 360 degree views.  From here, you can see across to Frijoles Mesa where another Indian plaza is located. 

We decided to head due north from the elk exclosure, back to the main trail, to see where we came out.  We saw a number of stakes along the way but it wasn't clear what they were marking.  We both have a good idea of what landmarks to look for that tell us to turn off the main trail. 

We continued walking out to the end of the main trail.  I pointed out various small house mound ruins.  We passed a male hiker walking back from the end and said hello.

As we approached the cars, we met a ranger.  He was touching up some trail work that young volunteers did this summer.  They filled some trenched and eroded portions of the trail with old pieces of wood.  The ranger is hoping that they will come back next summer and as there is more trenching and erosion to address. 

The ranger said that the Bandelier supervisor, Jason Lott, is very interested in improving the trails.  I'm happy about that!  He suggested that we email Jason Lott to give kudos for the Burnt Mesa trail work.  I will but I'll also ask for an update on turning the official route up Cerro Grande into a real trail and if the national park will take over the Valles Caldera National Preserve anytime soon.

The ranger told us that red-haired ranger is retiring next month.  When you reach a certain age in national park law enforcement, you're forced to retire.  Everyone's hoping they will find another position for him at the park.  He's young - only 57? - and has a son in high school.

Cerro Grande Walk and Talk

Tom Ribe, author of Inferno by Committee: A History of the Cerro Grande (Los Alamos) Fire (read it!) gave a walk and talk on Cerro Grande yesterday.  It was sponsored by PEEC (Pajarito Environmental Education Center).  Twenty seven people showed up and all but 3 made it to the top - two turned around because they had other commitments and one's trick knee wouldn't permit him to go to the top but he made it to the high pass.  I'm sure that a lot of people had never been up Cerro Grande before and this event gave them motivation.  The pace was slow and some made it up before others.

In the parking lot, Tom first pointed out on a map various features about the fire so it was a while before we started walking.      Some WI hikers attended.  Two of them got tired of all the stopping and standing around and headed for the top from the high pass, including the marvelously fit 85 year old.  At a certain point, I too headed for the top. We all had lunch on top. I stayed with the group during the rest of the hike and we didn't get back to the parking lot until around 2:30 pm.

The most interesting part for me was seeing where the prescribed burn escaped from the west fireline as a crown fire and jumped NM4, going uphill on an eastern arm of Cerro Grande. We didn't walk over there but it was somewhere in the meadow with the small exclosure and then headed across the flat area near the big elk exclosure and downhill into Frijoles Canyon, jumped NM4 and tore uphill in a narrow path on an eastern arm of Cerro Grande. 

Near the top of Cerro Grande, Tom showed us where the test burn was started in May 2000.  I had seen this area before courtesy of a hiker who pointed it out to me so it was good to see it confirmed.

I'd highly recommend reading this book.  Tom started researching it back in 2000 when the ground was still smoking from the fire.  The author has had some fire fighting experience and this shows in how he's able to explain fire behavior.  For those who want to delve deeper, the book is well footnoted.  There is some repetition in the book but that served to help me  better understand the Cerro Grande fire.

Trashy Afternoon

Did housekeeping chores on Route.  Cut down remainder of spindly trees left by tree-snapping trail foe.  Picked up 2 plastic grocery bags of trash and a short section of 1' tall, white-painted metal picket fence.  Trash included a small bottle, half-full, of Leroux Peppermint Schnapps (I poured the schnapps out) and a large, empty bottle of Sobieski Vodka from Poland - woo, wee!

Weird that the national lab held their annual employee picnic on 9/11.  Spouse, daughter and grandson went and had a good time.

Really enjoying new season of Dr. Oz.  Show is better than ever with news I can use.  I like the new Pulse segment that analyzes recent health news like the meta-analysis that concluded that people taking calcium have more heart attacks.  Dr. Oz said continue to take calcium if you're taking it but add magnesium and Vitamin D which I already do.  When they talked about the female condom, though, they did something new - trailed a warning across the screen about mature content.  Might be better to have Dr. Oz give his usual verbal warning as well.  Some little toddler is going to get an earful!