Smell: It smells of dust here. Dry dry dry, though the sky smells expectantly of rain.

Sight: Most of this place is sight, we are up about 40 feet and the view is amazing. To my right I can see green lake. From here it looks like it got some water from the rainy nights. It also seems to be brownish red, with white near the edges. Here on the butte there is lichen growing on the walls, which extend another 20 feet up from where we are, green in places, rusty in others, often a combination of the two.

Taste: The place tastes of untouched stone. A bit dusty, very very old. Somehow coming close enough to kiss a stone impresses it’s age upon me. This place tastes older than the oldest temple known to man.

Sound: Comparatively this place is noisy. Sound travels far here, and I can hear ducks quacking from the lake below, and other birds as well. Hawks, ravens, robins. Cars spin by on the highway, and even voices echo to find me here.

Smell: On the surface is the smell of dry grass, yet beneath is a dampness. There is a sour damp smell when on the left side of the pothole or on the floor. I associate the smell with that of a swamp. This place is an interplay of hot and cold, dry and damp. The smell reflects that. Dry grass is most pogent yet beneath it lies damp moss, and the shadows beneath dark rocks.

Sight: In our area there are three potholes – The walls of the largest are jagged, but with an unmistakable pattern. Directly in front of me is a hexagonal cliff face where, if you look from above, you can see the way the rocks cracked, creating jutting angles of rock from below. In many areas the rock has crumbled creating slopes by which we can descend. Plants and trees come alive here, vibrant from the surrounding landscape in their greens yellows and reds.

Taste: The rock reminds me of Mayan temples, how I imagine they would taste against my tongue. Deep, dark, cold stone, like dark bitter gravy without the salt. The grass tastes like – well – grass, threads pressed lengthwise like dry straw.

Sound: Yesterday it was quiet, here resides silence. No sound permeates to the bottom of this pothole, and I find myself tapping just to make noise. My ears instinctively make their own sound, a high whine that might not be my own ears but rather the little bugs – gnats I think –  common to this place. As we move in we bring our own sound. The clicking of cameras, voices calling across the circle, the shuffle of feet, a cough, a clap. At one point we heard a frog croaking from the marshes nearby.

Stiff Sage, Thistle Trees, Cheap Grass, Bear Grass, Reeds (only by water)

I imagine its harder for life to grow on top of this rock, its in much more direct sunlight, further away from water, and the wind is much more strong on top of the plateau.

Rocks:

 Basalt is the most common rock, that is what the entire plateau is made of. The basalt is in two major colors on top of the plateau, the dark red and back. There are some other lighter stones as well, most likely pumice, or other minerals left by the receding waters of the last flood. The longitudinal grooves in the rock are present but much harder to spot in person, than in Google Earth.

Animals:

Golden Eagle, Sparrows, Spiders, Cows, Hornets, Bees,

Small bones of dead rodents were visible from animal scat, from a hawk or an owl.

General Notes: 

The fact that there is less water here than in the park means more of a desert landscape, and that was true. The sage grows everywhere, as if it was an invasive species, the smell is present in every breath. Other plants are very scarce, unless its grass, or smaller more colorful plants growing right in the edge of the plateau. Cow patties fertilize the whole land, some were fresh so cows must be close, if rock was something tat could be fertilized. Little dry basins, where water was once held are scattered throughout the plateau with reeds growing in a ring around the basin. There are small mounds of dirt every 20 ft or so, with black basalt surrounding them, and then branching off to surround other mounds. They look like little roads from above.

Small shrubs and grasses

The vegetation consists of small shrubs, usually no more than 12″ tall, and grasses. There are two primary types of shrubs visible; one with a reddish brown hue and the other a greenish tan. The grass is mostly dry, and tan in color.

Birds

Several birds can be heard, generally with short calls. They may be nesting along the cliff face, or perhaps in clumps of shrubs and trees that are visible at a distance.  Our view also overlooks a marshy stream feature that provides habitat for many animals.

Soil

The soil seems fine and powdery, with a reddish brown hue. There are many small rocks, 1/8″ – 1/2″, as well as larger pebbles and stones. Larger rocks are more sporadic in their placement.

Channels

Looking south, the plateau extends as far as I can see. Nearby, there are channels eroded from the bedrock. These channels range from 6′-20′ deep, and 15′-50′ wide. Larger convergences are not directly visible, but were encountered on our hike to this location.

Large Features

To our northwest, and around to the southwest, is a large distant ridge. The ridge shows signs of massive shearing, and many streams are left hanging as waterfalls.

Deep Lake is visible to the southeast, as well as the pothole and channels that we visited on the first day.

Looking northeast across the valley, I see the rock slope trail that took us to the top of the mesa, on our way to the outcropping (dubbed ‘La Mesa’). The base camp is also visible, as is Umatilla rock and the saddle.

To the south is generally smooth, slightly channeled terrain. There are occasional jutting rock formations. These formations seem to be less than 50′ tall.

Channel

The channel is approximately 10′ deep. Large stones, 6″ – 2′, cover the noddom and sides. There are piles of these stones.

Several types of shrubs grow in the channel, including sage. Most of the shrubs range between 1′ and 5′ tall. They are generally not tall enough to be visible from a distance, as they are shorter than the edges of the channel. Several dead shrubs have left twisting limbs and branches.

Spillover

The rock face seems to have been eroded away in sections where the channel meanders close to the edge of the plateau. This has left gaps in some places where water could cascade to the valley floor below. One nearby opening appears to be 30′ to 50′ across.

Hoof prints

On the level ground, near the channel, we notice hoof pronts from grazing cattle. Some of the prints are sunken 2″ – 4″ into the ground, indicating that there may have been a decent amount of moisture in the soil at some time.

Lichens and moss

Many of the nearby stones are spotted with various colors of moss. The colors are primarily amber, green, and occasionally dapples of red.

Wind

The wind feels to be rolling in from west northwest. It is generally still or faint.

Sky

The sky is overcast, and the air seems to be increasing in humidity. To the northwest, there are a few patches of blue sky along the horizon.

Clouds to the west

To the west, clouds seem to be lined up along the large land mass, and may spill over. These gathered clouds, however, do not seem to threaten our location, as the general motion of the sky is slow and southward. The clouds would seemingly flank our camp.

Animals:
Darkling beetle (Gonopus tibialis)
Sparrows
Cows (in the form of cow pies) (Bos primigenius)
Gnats (Culex pipiens)
Ants (Formicidae)
Deer (Cervidae)
Coyote (scat) (Canis latrans)

In this area we also identified several patterns in the nature around us, including concentric, spiral, parallel, tessellate, and scatter patterns.

At the southern escarpment, it was windy and slightly rainy, which created the sound of rattlesnakes rustling in the grasses. There were some light clouds but mostly dark grey ones covered the sky. A rainbow appeared towards the north midway through the day. There were plentiful gnats and bees at lower elevations and between bluffs, but once we were on top of the bluffs they disappeared. There are signs of trauma in burned wood on the ground.

Orange, green, white crustose lichens

Basalt loose rocks and cliffs

Sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata)

Cheat grass (Bromus tectorum)

Cattails

Nettles

Wild Roses

Saddle fungus

Rotting Elf fungus

Algae

Animals:

Gnats

Bees

Wasps

Gardner snake

Bull snake
Rattlesnake skin

Hobo spider

Golden Eagle (Aguila chrysaetos)

Crow (Corvus brachyrhynchos)

Sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata)

Orange, green, white crustose lichens (Mycophycophyta)

Cheat grass (Bromus tectorum)

Animals:

Gnats (Culex pipiens)

Wasps (Vespula Spp.)

Bees (Apis mellifera)

Darkling beetle (Gonopus tibialis)

Deer (Cervidae)

Trash:

Fishing line

Cigarettes

Water bottle

Beer cans

Plastic bits

Stiff Sage Brush, Lichen on North faces of rock formations, Queen Ann’s Lace, Cheap Grass, Wheat Grass, Reeds, Purple Sage, Common Cattail, Wild Rose

Rocks: 

Basalt is the major rock type in the area. The loose rocks that litter the area range from a few inches to a few feet in diameter. There were no Granite erratics in the area that we could identify. The lakes are surrounded by a large cataract. A small cave can be seen to the east of the lake on the ridge at the bottom of the solid wall of the cataract just above the loose rocks. It seemed to have been inhabited by small animals, as scat covered the floor of the cave.

Animals:

Gardner Snake, Bull Snake, Raven, Bees, Flies

Coyote scat, Deer scat, Rabbit scat

Field Notes: 

The dried up lake bed of Green Lake was covered in calcium deposits, which was caked on top of the mud. As a result, the surface had become spongy in texture, and formed large cracks as the mud/calcium mixture began to dry. Sage brush was littered throughout the area, and tall Reeds had grown around the edge of the lake. Red Alkali Lake was about 200 feet north of Green Lake, and had almost identical features, except for it didn’t have the calcium layer on the lake bed. Red Alkali Lake was also surrounded by tall Reeds, which were accompanied by a few scattered Wild Roses.

This is the Dry Gully. Dry Gully is about 2,755 feet from North to South, and is about 310 feet across. Talus slopes seem to surround the gully almost completely, except for the South East corner. The basin can be broken up into four areas, dried wetland, the talus slopes,  the outlet out of the basin, and dry land. The dried wet land is characterized by the alkali dirt that has dried up at the bottom of the basin. The wet land has become so dry that all of what use to be mud has lost its moisture and started to crack. The talus slope area is surrounding the edge of the gully. Over time the basalt rocks have fallen from the cliffs, and made the edges of the gully slope into the basin.  In the area that does not have talus slopes cascading into the basin, there is a large grouping of sagebrush. This area is much like the dry land. The dry land is anywhere that does not have dried alkali, or basalt rocks. On the dry land many shrubs and grasses grow.

The canyon is about 2/3 mile in length, and about 1/10 mile wide.  The canyon runs west for about 1/4 mile, then south until the mouth opens to the cliff with a 150 ft drop to Deep Lake.  The cliffs of the canyon are about 180 ft tall, with talus slopes leading to the base.

At the northwestern corner of the canyon (at the bend), there was a cave in the cliff where the cliff and the talus slope meet.  From the cave, the entire canyon is visible.  In the gave is a ring of rocks, evidence of human activity in the canyon.  Further evidence that points to human activity includes barbed wire, a cattle skull, hoof prints, and cow patties, all evidence of grazing practices.

Along with the human activity, wild deer and rodents have used this canyon as a place to eat, and possibly take shelter.  We had multiple sightings of deer and rodent feces, as well as deer tracks.

The floor of the canyon is littered with granite eratics.  The floor of he canyon is covered primarily by sagegrass.  Other grasses, including cheatgrass, bunchgrass, bentgrass, and basin wildrye have populated the canyon as well.