While there, I visited their aircraft museum, and was finally able to get a picture of the incredible SR-71 which was able to fly at Mach3, developed more than 30 years ago, and still the fastest and highest -flying production aircraft. I first heard of it while serving in Viet Nam in 1967.
Leaving Edwards, I took a short hop to Ridgecrest, CA where I stayed at the ELKs Lodge, waiting for a late winter storm to pass and for the roads to be cleared at higher elevations. While there, I drove about 30 miles east to view the Trona Pinnacles, where there are more than 500 tufa pinnacles, up to 140 feet high, lying in the Searles Dry Lake basin. These calcium carbonate pinnacles formed under as much at 600 feet of water during ancient times when calcium-rich hot springs spewed into the bottom of the lake of carbonated brine. A little high school chemistry resulted, giving birth to the ever-rising pinnacles until the lake level decreased and later, dried up.
A close-up shot of the tufa shows its interesting construction. We were warned that if struck by something hard, it can shatter like glass.
The following day, I drove 25 miles or so north of town to see the BLM's Fossil Falls. Again, during ancient times, there was volcanic activity in this area, and a swath of basalt was laid down, and then during the more recent recession of the last Ice Age, this was a fertile, temperate and well-watered area. A river ran from Owens Lake, now dry thanks to Los Angles, through this area through ancient China Lake and on into Death Valley, which then contained Glacial Lake Manly, nearly 100 miles long and 600 feet deep! It must have been quite verdant back then.
Anyway, the basaltic rock formed a dam and when the waters ran over it, a waterfall resulted, and the waters eroded the basalt into a myriad of smoothly carved, intricate and random forms.
And of course, there were collared lizards everywhere.
There was also a nearby deposit of obsidian, aka volcanic glass, which the Native Americans used to create tools and weapons. According to Wikipedia, "the cutting edge of [obsidian is] only about 3 nanometers thick. Even the sharpest metal knife has a jagged, irregular blade when viewed under a strong enough microscope; when examined even under an electron microscope an obsidian blade is still smooth and even."
I spent an hour here, walking about, finding obsidian chips throughout, and musing on the life and times of the peoples who used to live here.
Back at Ridgecrest, I happened to step outside just in time to catch a brilliant sunset. Note: this picture is NOT enhanced!
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