POBR25 Day 11: Travel Day, 6-25-25


Day eleven we were driving. Major props to our drivers for real. They are putting hours on the road; I am thankful they’re so invested in the program we are part of. Thanks to Monet, Corbin, and Jessica! Our one stop was at the Obsidian Flow in Newberry Park where I may or may not have retrieved some of nature's 1300-year-old rocks. Obsidian is such a cool rock, and this place was unique for its development and its explosion over a thousand years ago. I know the ancestors saw this one and likely recovered some material from the source as soon as it cooled down and the gasses cleared up. This mountain is an active shield volcano which surprises me. I have seen the stratovolcanoes but not a shield or cinder. From a distance it does look just like a shield. The top of the obsidian flow was a great view of the perimeter of the shield where you can see the vastness of the miles making up the edges. I enjoyed it a lot, the view was beautiful. I was up at the top getting a brief geology lesson from Dr. Black since she is a geologist by trade, I would be too if the program was offered at HU.

My favorite part was forgetting my phone at the very top on a bench… I was so excited to see the glass in a natural space, and it slipped my mind that “hey probably grab your phone dummy” and I took off following Dr. Schuster back down the path. As I got down to the bottom and checked my person for my phone for a final picture, I realized I may have left my phone behind, and I double checked my area and where the crew was hanging out and shot right back up the steps. I am a runner and hiker by hobby so getting up wasn’t an issue whatsoever. I was more relieved to find a reason to go for a run since I have a hard time finding time and energy on this trip to run, we are so preoccupied with work it's tough to find any downtime, but it was stress relieving to make my way up and back down. The others on the trail made way for me to get by which I am grateful for because I was jumping off the trail to get around people and I quickly apologized for disturbing their peaceful ascent… I really didn’t care- I wanted my phone. I don’t pay for nothing! I did get it back though so I'm happy about that too and thanks to my adrenaline I was up and down in no time. My phone waiting for me at the top where another hiker remarks “Oh that’s yours, I was going to bring it down” but all good, I got it back and we took off on our 5-hour drive. I was ready to get back to the tent to relax. The following day was going to be busy since we had work in the morning, lunch, and afternoon that I was prepared for. 

 View from the top of the lava flow

 Some information explaining the history of the lava flows

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