Geology of the Sierra Nevada and White-Inyo Range, California
4 -11 August 2007 (8 days) GeoHostel
DAILY ITINERARY
Day 1: Aug.4 - overnight in Reno
- Fly into Reno, NV & settle into the Holiday Inn downtown (free shuttle from airport to hotel)
- Dinner on your own, then meet at 7:00 pm, for our welcome reception and one-hour lecture/slide show about the Quaternary geology of the east-central Sierra Nevada
Day 2: Aug. 5 - overnight in Mammoth
- Breakfast buffet at Holiday Inn, load luggage, and depart at 8:30am
- Head south from Reno, ending up in Mammoth
Stop 1: Conway Summit - view of Mono Basin from Hwy. 295 turnout
Stop 2: Panum Crater - hike onto rim & up onto rhyolite dome inside crater
Stop 3: South Tufa area, Mono Lake (calcareous tufa towers)
Stop 4: Navy Beach, Mono Lake ("sand tufa")
Stop 5: Inyo Craters - Arrive at Holiday Inn, Mammoth at 5:00pm, dinner on your own around town
Day 3: Aug. 6 - overnight in Mammoth
- Breakfast buffet at Holiday Inn and depart at 8:00am
- Drive 1hr south to Laws, north of Bishop
Stop 1: Bishop Tuff ash beds in pumice quarry
Stop 2: Rosette columnar jointing in Bishop Tuff, Owens River Gorge (15 min. hike)
Stop 3: Stratigraphy of Owens River Gorge (granite, basalt, and tuff)
Stop 4: "Big Pumice Cut"
Stop 5: Convict Lake - picnic lunch
Stop 6: Hot Creek (hot springs, steam vents) (5 min. hike)
Stop 7: Plant fossil locality (very short stop along road)
Stop 8: Kaolinite mine ("clay pit")
Stop 9: View from on top of obsidian dome - Return to hotel at 5:00, dinner on your own around town
Day 4: Aug. 7 - overnight in Mammoth
- Breakfast buffet at Holiday Inn and depart at 8:00am
- Tour of the Mammoth Lakes Sierra region
Stop 1: Mammoth Rock - Paleozoic metasediments & Mesozoic metavolcanics
Stop 2: Mammoth City - 1878-80 "gold rush" area
Stop 3: Twin Lakes rhyolite flows - part of Mammoth Mountain
Stop 4: Minaret Vista -view of Ritter Range part of Cretaceous caldera tilted on its side
Stop 5: Devil's Postpile - two short hikes - Lunch
Stop 6: Minaret Summit tephra layers
Stop 7: "Earthquake Fault" - Return to hotel at 5:00, dinner on your own around Mammoth
Day 5: Aug. 8 - overnight at research station
- Breakfast at hotel, pack vans, and depart at 8:30am
- Head toward the White Mountain Research Station
Stop 1: Hilton Creek fault at McGee Creek Campground
Stop 2: "Knopf's Knob" (columnar jointed granite)
Stop 3: Tahoe (late Wisconsin age) glacial moraines, Bishop Creek
Lunch at either Izaak Walton Park or City Park, Bishop
Stop 4: Devil's Gate (folding and faulting in metasedimentary rocks)
Stop 5: White-Inyo structural saddle in anticlinorium
Stop 6: Sierra Overlook (along road to Crooked Creek) - Dinner and lodging at Crooked Creek facility of White Mountain Research Station
At 7:30pm, a Power Point presentation of the geology, structure, and petrology of the White-Inyo Range and on the vegetation. Answer questions to prepare folks for the next 2 days.
Day 6: Aug. 9 - overnight at research station
- Breakfast at research station and depart at 8:00am
Stop 1: Contact between granitic pluton and Proterozoic argillite
Stop 2: Goat Springs (stratigraphy of metasedimentary rocks)
Stop 3: Schulman Grove (bristlecone pines on dolomite) - Lunch stop & hike
Stop 4: Metasedimentary contact between quartzite and argillite - Return at 4:00, dinner at research station (catch up on altitude adjustment and rest)
Day 7: Aug. 10 - overnight in Bishop - farewell party
- Breakfast at research station, pack vans, and at 8:30 head toward Barcroft
Stop 1: Patriarch Grove (bristlecone pines)
Stop 2: Contact between Deep Spring & Reed Formations
Stop 3: Mt. Barcroft facility, White Mountain Research Station and Barcroft pluton
Lunch stop - Stop at Sierra Overlook (group photo) then drive to Bishop after lunch
- Farewell dinner and program wrap-up
- Stay overnight in Bishop, LaQuinta Inn
Day 8: Aug. 11 - drive to Reno / end of tour
- Breakfast at Bishop hotel, pack vans, and head towards Reno
- Visit to geothermal plant in the morning
- Lunch stop
- Drive to Reno - End of Tour
We will be ending our tour in Reno at 3:00 pm. We will be driving back to the Holiday Inn for a drop off, and then to the airport for those who may have an evening flight. If you would like to stay in Reno for this last night, you can plan your stay at: www.reno-sparkschamber.org/