28th ANNUAL SDSU GEOLOGY ALUMNI FIELD TRIP
MOJAVE NATIONAL PRESERVE
Saturday and Sunday, April 5-6, 2014
sponsored by
SDSU GEOLOGY ALUMNI ASSOCIATION
The 28th Annual SDSU Geology Department Alumni Field Trip/Campout will be in the Mojave National Preserve, eastern Mojave Desert, this year. Dr. Mario Caputo, who graduated from SDSU with a BSc degree in geology in 1976 and is a current SDSU lecturer in sedimentary geology, will moderate this year’s Field Trip. Mario received his PhD in geology from the University of Cincinnati and has held various prestigious positions, received numerous awards and has authored several geological publications during his career. Career highlights include: four years with Mobil Oil Corporation in Denver, Colorado, seven years as tenured professor at Mississippi State University, four-time recipient of the Outstanding Educator Award at Mt. San Antonio College from where he took early retirement, twelve years of office and continuing in the Pacific Section SEPM (Society for Sedimentary Geology) with Honorary Membership and an Outstanding Service award as Managing Editor, and involvement with global SEPM, Utah Geological Association, National Association of Geoscience Teachers, Pacific Section AAPG, Rocky Mountain Section SEPM, and Cordilleran Section GSA as author, field trip leader, session chair, guidebook editor, and conference organizer.
Note: Mario has promised not to flunk anyone on his quizzes on this Field Trip……..or………… issue F-‘s as Dr. Threet was famous for!
We will be camping in the Granite Mts. at an elevation of 3,800 feet so be prepared for a little cooler weather than the lower Mojave for April. This is a primitive dry camp in an area of large granitic boulders with abundant cactus so it may be best to leave your dog home this time. Bring your own firewood, water etc. Trailers and RV’s are not recommended due to ruts in road and tight turns. That doesn’t mean you can’t park elsewhere and join us for the trip. Low clearance vehicles need to be cautious!
Camp coordinates are: N34-48’-31.10”, W115-37’-20.25”
Directions to Campsite: Take the I-15 north to Barstow, take I-40 east about 77 miles to Kelbaker Road. Turn left (North) on Kelbaker Road (paved but not in good condition) and drive 7.8 miles to Microwave tower on your right. About 100’ past Microwave tower there will be a cattle guard in the road. About 50’ past cattle guard turn to left onto dirt road and past “NO WOOD CUTTING” sign. Look for SDSU Geology signs and flagging to direct you to camp turnoff which will be about 1/2 mile from pavement on left. Some of us will try to get out there Thursday night to reserve the larger area for our group. There are several other established campsites within 1/4 mile of the one we would like to occupy.
First stop on trip will be in camp Saturday morning at 0900 to look at granitic features. We will then proceed to Kelso Dunes for stop #2, Kelso Station for lunch and maybe an overview of the Providence Mts. by Joe Walsh and finish the day with a stop at the Vulcan mine on the way back to camp. Sunday morning we will depart camp about 0900 and head south to Bristol Dry Lake and Amboy Crater ending the trip. For most people from San Diego it would probably be quicker to go south from the last stop through 29 Palms and then down to I-10 and over to the 215-S.
Supplies/Services/Fuel: I would advise everyone to top off their fuel tanks in Barstow as the only gas station between there and Camp is in Ludlow which may or may not be open. Victorville or Barstow both have supermarkets and fast food outlets, watch for signs.
Communications: No phone service was noted during our reconnaissance trip in November. Family Service Radios (FRS) channel 4 with no “Tones” will be monitored and used during caravanning. Just call for the SDSU Geology Field Trip Group and remember that the range on FRS radios is limited to a couple of miles! For those with 2 Meter Amateur Radio capability the Ludlow and Barstow Repeaters are linked. Barstow 147.180- (pl 151.4) & Ludlow 147.885-(pl 151.4). We could not reach either from camp but will be monitoring the Ludlow Repeater and 146.520 simplex, meaning no offset or tones
As always…. If any of you SDSU Geo-Alumni are interested in becoming involved with any of our Alumni Activities such as our Annual Banquet planning (April 18th this year on Campus), our monthly lunch meeting or would like to assist with future Field Trips, or, you have a special place in mind that would be good for a future Alumni Field Trip, please let me know. If you have any questions regarding this trip, email or call me. If you think you will attend try to let me know so we can have enough handouts for everyone and possibly occupy an additional area for overflow.
Thanks, Joe Corones, SDSU Geology Alumni Field Trip Chairman
jcorones@gmail.com Home 858.484.3582, Cell 858.603.5545