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Since most of my hikes happen close to home right now, I can post it here as well. I live less than a mile away from several Cinder Cone Volcanoes which are part of the Red Cliffs Desert reserve, so most of my hikes happen there. I can go and do a short or a long loop, hiking anything from 3.5 miles up to 7 miles.
Having the volcanoes in my backyard almost feels like being back home in Hawai'i. I usually do not bring a camera when I hike there, in most cases my cellphone has to do the job.

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on top of West Cinder Knoll: Scoria and Cinder cover the two pit craters

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Looking into the crater: These all erupted during the middle Pleistocene, building up the two cinder cones with their typical steep angle of repose. At the end of their lifecycle, they produced lava flows that covered a small area, including the place where my house now is. Much of the basaltic lava is aphanitic with some olivine phenocrysts in it.

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walking the rim of the crater

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volcanic bomb emplaced in the crater: these are semi-molten pyroclasts ejected by the cinder cone. They cool before they reach the ground

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walking along the rim of one of the cinder cones: all the little pebbles are red cinder, also called lapilli. These lapilli pieces are smaller than 64mm and contain a lot of vesicles where trapped gases escaped rapidly.

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Looking to the north toward the snow-covered Pine Valley Mountains. The Pine Valley Mountains are actually a massive laccolith. When magma intruded between layers of sandstone, it warped up the layers into a mushroom-shaped dome. The magma cooled below the surface and crystallized, creating granitoid igneous rock, similar in composition to granite. The soft sandstone layers have long eroded away, exposing the intrusive igneous rocks.

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Sullivan Knoll - another Cinder Cone Volcano southwest of my place. Three different lava flows of three different time periods are in close vicinity. Like all cinder cone volcanoes, this one is monogenetic and erupts only once in its lifetime. The entire volcanic field is only dormant and not extinct, if volcanic activity will proceed at one time, it will create a new cinder cone nearby

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Creosote Bush: the bushes are plants of the Basin and Range Province. As soon as you drive about 4 miles to the east over the active Hurricane Fault, you'll enter the Colorado Plateau and no Creosote Bushes grow anymore. Hurricane lies in a large valley which is the transition zone between the Colorado Plateau and the Basin and Range Province. The active Hurricane Fault to the east is a normal fault, which means that the Hanging Wall dropped down. In case of the Hurricane Fault, it dropped about 5,000 ft. creating the large valley due to extensional forces.

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Another view of the snow-capped Pine Valley Mountains with Jurassic - Age Navajo Sandstone in the foreground

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Sand Mountain to the northwest, a large lithified sand dune of Jurassic -aged sandstone

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The top of East Cinder Knoll consists of a group of four cinder cone volcanoes. The crater often fills with water after heavy rains

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Looking down to the Virgin River and some of the massive lava flows on both sides of the river

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Virgin River and view to the East toward Hurricane Cliff and the Colorado Plateau: The stratified cliffs of the Hurricane Cliffs include the first step of the Grand Staircase, which are made of the Chocolate Cliffs. The Chocolate Cliffs got their name because they resemble chocolate colors and include the Moenkopi Formation plus a caprock layer of Shinarump Formation with additional outcrops of the Petrified Forest Member of the Chinle Formation, most famous in this area for petrified wood and the infamous blue clay

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panoramic view of the Pine Valley Mountains, Virgin River, and Sand Mountain

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looking across the Virgin River and some of the lava flows

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the view to the east has outcrops of massive columnar jointing

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This view to the east shows some of the massive 180 ft. thick lava flows that erupted during the Pleistocene

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a close-up view of the Columnar Jointing with created hexagonal-shaped pieces of basalt. The individual blocks of basalt are separated by joints or cracks that form when the rock contracted during cooling

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one of the steep flanks of East Cinder Knoll has wonderful beds of volcanic ash with embedded pyroclasts.

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several lava tubes can be found at the base of East CInder Knoll

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East Cinder Knoll shows the typical conical shape with a steep angle of repose which is common for cinder cone volcanoes. They are all primarily monogenetic, which means they erupt only once and usually never again.


I guess at one point I will know every corner of the cinder cone volcanoes. It's a fun hike and I can easily squeeze it in each day.
 
The "new normal" has not changed my standard day to day too much, but I am appreciating the sights and sounds around home a bit more. Full disclosure -- I used a couple of these in the "Wildlife" thread.

View from the front window. The weeping cherry is announcing the arrival of spring with its blooms.

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Beyond the blinds and screen. The pond is typically a good place to see some critters in action.

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The Canada Geese have returned to build their next once more.. She always picks the same general spot. Painted turtles usually line the bank to soak up the sun.

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A muskrat is new this year. . . at least I had not noticed it last year.

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Wood Ducks are difficult to photograph because they always scatter when people are around. I was able to get this semi-focused shot after sitting (somewhat) still by the shore for some time.

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The clouds, grass, sky, and barn were all lit up by the sun yesterday.

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A couple days prior I could hear turkeys gobbling in the field. A morning fog provided some atmosphere.

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Morel Mushroom season is fast approaching -- hopefully I can get into the woods and find a few. I'll post back if I do! :)
 
Time for installment #2 of my quarantine home shots. More walking in the foothills and more sitting on the deck. I've also been doing quite a bit of forestry behind the house (view improvements and fire safety) and home improvement in the basement (making an apartment). Added a propane fireplace to the deck to make it feel a little more like camping.

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To show how close the foothill hikes are, this photo on the deck was taken the same evening as the hiking photo above (notice sun position).
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My officemates.
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Time for installment #2 of my quarantine home shots. More walking in the foothills and more sitting on the deck. I've also been doing quite a bit of forestry behind the house (view improvements and fire safety) and home improvement in the basement (making an apartment). Added a propane fireplace to the deck to make it feel a little more like camping.

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To show how close the foothill hikes are, this photo on the deck was taken the same evening as the hiking photo above (notice sun position).
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My officemates.
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@Nick - Amazing views from your place and I see 3 cute kitties!
A peaceful snoozy ginger, a kitty contemplating an escape to the outside and a (horse riding?) kitty printed on your MOUSE PAD! :heart_eyes:
 
@Nick - Amazing views from your place and I see 3 cute kitties!
A peaceful snoozy ginger, a kitty contemplating an escape to the outside and a (horse riding?) kitty printed on your MOUSE PAD! :heart_eyes:

That cat with the golden gun is riding a fire breathing unicorn. :) We do actually have three real cats though. The other one is old and just sleeps in the cat hammock next to the desk.

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Still mostly staying home. Had some wildlife visit the front porch Saturday morning. Took me a few to figure out why the dogs were so upset.

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The deck fire pit has been a very worthwhile addition. While a gas fire isn't really ideal, it sure is nice to go sit down for sunset and just turn it on and off. IMG_4497.jpeg

The first foothills wildfire of 2020 came really early today. This must have been up near Layton/Fruit Heights area. (taken tonight 4/26/20)
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And then there's the home improvement. I built these stairs today, and they were a beeeeotch! (and not even done!) Back in 2008/2009, I did so much home improvement that I barely went camping. Now camping is legal again in Utah, but I've taken on too much home improvement! I'm having a big internal debate about getting out next weekend, or continuing with the job, knowing that it must be done ASAP so it's ready for our renters on July 1. But at the very least, I have the encouraging news that Dinosaur National Monument is tentatively planning on re-opening the rivers as of 5/21, which is particularly great because I happen to hold a permit to float Gates of Lodore on 5/21. I wouldn't mind being the first group to float through there in 2 months.
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it's only May and we're already burning everywhere
Had a fiery scare today, when one brush fire less than a quarter of a mile ignited between my cinder cone volcanoes and the golf course just across the street. Luckily it burned only 60 acres.
The next fire was a bit more massive and was 5 miles away from where I live. The Anderson Junction fire in Toquerville burned after 300 acres in less than hours.
I got a few shots while I was on my daily hike.

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looking north toward the fire with the town of La Verkin in the foreground

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the DC-10 air tanker flew over my head

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dropping the load of fire retardant
 
that's why I hate summer in Southern Utah: it's just hot, dusty and stormy like hell down here
I got caught in this storm while heading from the gym at my complex back to my place.
Today I can barely see anything and my lungs are really bad. I'm glad I have all my rescue inhalers, lol.

It was totally insane yesterday, at one point we had sustained winds of 50+ mph for hours

 
A Bald Eagle has been flying around the farm this year so this weekend I tried to take some time to get a picture. He/she has sharp eyes and can usually see me from far off -- a very cautious bird when it sees people.

Before one of my walks out mother deer and her twins made an appearance in the back yard. The clover is growing strong after the first cutting of hay is off the field.

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I walked over to the stream with a lot of trees/cover that is along side one of the fields the eagle seems to favor. The water is down low enough to create a pleasant trickle sound over the stony creek bed.

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I waited and waited, but no eagle. Luckily the black raspberries were starting to ripen. These were consumed shortly after this pic was taken (the ones that were ready!).

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So its very possible that the eagle could have come and went while I was focused on berries. My ears did tune into the rattle call of a different type of bird and I caught a glimpse of this Belted Kingfisher.

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It did not stick around long but a number of dragonflies were regularly buzzing about. They presented in a variety of showy iridescent colors.

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After awhile I gave in and started to walk back home. As I'm walking I look across the field and wouldn't you know the eagle is flying off. I took this sketchy proof of bigfoot-esque type pic, but you can make out the white head and tail.

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I will keep trying. Maybe next time I'll wait/watch a bit longer before I start thinking about berries. ;)
 
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