Growing up Girl Scout... not really

So I thought I'd do a short post on one of the biggest aspects of Geology, field work. Last semester I took my first field class. I didn't really know what to expect, except it was a 4 1/2 hour time commitment every Thursday. I soon learned that I'm pretty ill - equipped for that sort of thing.

I spent 13 years in Girl Scouts. I went 'camping' and hiking and did outdoorsy stuff, but I was never prepared for making a pace and compass map in a foot and a half of snow on uneven terrain. Or scrambling up a blocky basalt slope at a 70 degree angle and clinging to a tree for dear life. I fall all the time while hiking and I'm usually the one holding up the group. I've even had to slide on my butt down the side off a cliff because I couldn't figure out where to put my feet and have a 50 year old man assist me back up. I suppose I'm a little bit of a geologist failure in that regard.

I do understand the importance of fieldwork though. It's much easier to imagine the local geologic history of an area when you're staring at a massive wall of conglomerate instead of a little chunk in the lab. Topographic maps are pretty helpful as well, even though I greatly disliked having to map outcrops on them for my class. The little lines are so TINY and close together! I hope that my second fieldwork class coming up next semester will be a little easier on my legs and balance skills. It's nice to get out and explore the area surrounding UMASS, especially since i'm not a Massachusetts native.

And hey, in a year, I went from only having "hiked" on national park trails (and a snowcap out on Mt. Rainer) to clmbing down steep waterfall gorges and being chased off an exit ramp outcrop by the state police. I've even had to trek through underbrush! But, I've gotten to see 2 snakes (and pet!), a salamander, a millipede (ew!), porcupines, and a random chimney in the forest.
Successful? Yes.