Geologizing

The Prospector's Dilema

The second leg of this morning's hike in Leakin Park, the leg south of Windsor Mill Road on the east side of the Gwynn's Falls was a prospecting expedition. I was looking for an outcrop of schist rock studded with garnets, which I heard about at a presentation I attended a few weeks ago. My mission was an epic geological fail. Ok, not epic. I found outcrops, but did not see or recognize any garnets, I am not even sure if the outcrops were schist or some other kind of rock, such as gneiss or granite or a combination of the three. So, like many prospectors before me, I know that there are garnets (undoubtedly industrial grade, so don't get all excited) in them thar hills, but I could not find them. Or worse, I found them, but did not recognized them. This calls for a return trip with my rock guru, Ira, preferably in the late fall, when the leaves are off the trees and vines that cover a lot of the rocks. My experience is that when looking for structures (natural or man made) in a forest, I am more likely to find them in winter when the trees and vines are bare. There are more photos of the rocks I saw here.

p.s. Unpon review of the photos, Ira said I was in the schist, but agreed that closer inspection should wait until the end of fall when the rocks are clear of leaves.

A Lazy Wetheredsville Walk in Leakin Park

After the scorching heat of the past week, this morning was only moderate relief. But I needed a hike and wanted to stay close to home. So, I walked the  Wetheredsville Road (Dickeyville) section of the Gywnn's Falls Trail, crossed Windsor Mill Road and continued on the Gwynn's Falls Trail just east of the bridge over the stream. Easy level hiking, maybe three and a half or four miles at most. This is what the beginning of my walk looked like.

Also noticed a lot of spider webs highlighted by the morning sun. Here are two of them.

Playing with new photo software

Baltimore Rocks!

Yes, Baltimore does rock, but there is no verb in the title. Talking about geology here. Went this evening to a talk by geologist Ira May at the Loch Raven Branch of the Baltimore County Library. It was an excellent presentation about geology and the history of mining in Baltimore County. Learned a lot about copper mining in Mount Washington (Bare Hills) under Smith Avenue, chromium mining at Soldiers Delight (those stunted scrub oak and pine trees are because of magnesium in the soil). and limestone mining at Cockeysville, aka Texas, Maryland. And who knew that Leakin Park has an outcropping of schist (often associated with granite) that is studded with visible red garnets. Hey, schist happens. Isaac Tyson, Jr., of Baltimore held a virtual world monopoly on chromium in the nineteenth century thanks to his chromium mines at Soldiers Delight in Baltimore County and other mines in Pennsylvania. Motivation for several hikes and photo opportunities, which I will document here in the future.

Swamp Thing

July 4th I walked early along the Howard County side of the Patapsco at Daniels. It was damp and very humid from all the recent rain, and the trail was muddy in a lot of places, but otherwise pleasant, and the trail company was very nice. Lots of people fishing, kyaking, paddle boarding, biking and hiking. Walked to the Davis tunnel, above, and back. Done by 10:30 a.m. I took only a few photos and most did not come out as well as I had hoped.

So here I add a photo, below, taken on Memorial Day at  the Middle Patuxent Environmental Area, which expresses the results of the kind of rain we have had lately and the wetlands that thrive on it.