Grande Cache

What a day is all I can say.  With yesterday a holiday and the morning drizzling we stood at the picnic table looking at our skimpy provisions of only a little cereal and not enough milk.  Quite quickly all agreed to head to town for a carry out breakfast. We found egg sandwiches and even the classic 2 eggs, bacon, hash browns and toast available for carry out at A&W.

With such fortifications, we headed for the mountains just outside of town.  The plan was to head to the mountains and ridges to collect on bedrock surfaces. We first drove up Muskeg Ridge, scanning the bedrock, which was a good sign.    We drove up and down logging roads tramping in logged areas as well as into the forests.  We were all armed with our bear spray, calling out periodically to prevent a surprise arrival.  There were cobbles in the till but the sandstone bedrock had produced lots of fine sediment, or the till.  The layer of till was thick, not providing the large boulders.  With no boulders in site we left for a ridge of Flood Mountain.  As we were getting ready to checkout a hillside rain struck.  Time to don our rain gear and head out across a bog and up a hillside. We found several boulders. While crossing a bog I saw more Linneas.  Such a treat.

Off next to Grande Mountain.  Hopes were high to find some good boulders.  At this point we had five samples.  Little did we anticipate the adventure that awaited us.  Last night as we watched the sun set we had seen lights on the top of Grande Mountain.  Today we were driving to its top on its back side on a road now labeled for all terrain vehicles.  It was washed out mountain surface road from the start.  One could only guess the last time it was graded.  The shoulders were washed out with ditches and boulders and no place to pull over.  The grade was steep with sharp switchbacks.  The walls of the mountain were crumbling.  We saw an old mine shaft and seams of coal.  Bedrock cropped right through the road surface and Berto had to carefully maneuver around these outcrops.  This road made the Cow dung reservoir road to the Hanksville Burpee quarry look like a thoroughfare.  Finally we reached a point with the grade so steep and the bedrock so prominent like steel ridges; we could go no further and had to creep back down to a fortunate turn off of an old road long abandoned.  There we left the Ford Explorer and headed up the steep grade to walk the last two and a half miles to the top on foot.  The rain in the morning had filled the ruts and potholes with water.  Fortunately it was sandier than clay, although it was quite greasy.  Beds of lupines flanked the shady side of the road.  Near the top, Alpine flowers now filled the shoulders.  Boulders were found thickly covered with lichen.  We sampled boulders that were on top of the slope and not on the side where the mountain would have sheltered. We spread out, some to the shoulders were and some to prospect.  Jorie and I armed with our bear spray and calling out announcing our arrival headed for the summit.  Clouds were threatening rain and we all kept our eye on the sky.  This was not place to be if rain were to come.  The view was spectacular as we proceeded up Grande.  The meadows spread to the side of the little road.  Forget-me-nots in their rich, rich blue spread across the wind swept Alpine meadows.  I took pictures of several plants I had not seen before for future identification.  At the top we only found weathered sandstone bedrock.  No boulders.  We returned to the others and reported the lack of boulders on top.  As Heather finished her notes at the last site, Anders and Berto headed back up to grab the 4 small cobbles of Gog, a Cambrian quartzite. Time to head back to the Explorer.

Slowly slowly, Berto crept down the mountain in 4 low dodging the outcrops and avoiding the washouts.  The 15% grade made it impossible for him to see the road immediately in front.  Anders stuck his head out of the window to give him directions.

The lack of till or sediment on top was probably a result of very thin ice flowing over the mountain top, thus hot being produced.  The boulders were riding on thin ice resulting in a localized distribution near the summit but not at the summit.  As we were on our way, Anders asked, “What did we learn today?”  Heather responded, “Stick to the field plan.  We went and did what we came to do and it worked.”  

Tonight Heather and Anders arranged the samples from the last three days consecutively according to their sequential number of when collected.  The 39 samples were backed in three Roughneck tubs.  To keep the specimens from slipping sheets are stuffed in the top.  Britta will now drive these back to Edmonton where they then will be shipped to Oregon State University.  First load on their way.

Yes, on Mount Grande we found our “grande cache” of specimens.  Today produced 21 samples.  17 samples from Mount Grande of which 4 are cobblers of Gog found on bedrock up on Grande.  Mount Grande made for a grand day of collecting.