Leaning Towers Of... Arizona EarthCache
Leaning Towers Of... Arizona
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Difficulty:
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Terrain:
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Size: 
(not chosen)
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For this earthcache, you are going to visit a great overlook where
you will see some cool pinnacles.
Just one thing worth noting - if you are allergic to wind, you may
want to pass on this one. 
Pinnacles are products of surface weathering and erosion by running
water guided by deep joints/cracks in the rock. The pinnacles that
you will observe for this earthcache are granite.
The joints (cracks) that you see in pinnacles serve as pathways
through which water and tree roots penetrate the granite.
Fracturing of the rock occurs when the water freezes and expands,
and also by wedging by plant roots. This causes the joints to
enlarge.
Along the joints, chemical decomposition from acidic rain water and
snowmelt causes the mineral biotite to weather to clay. This
weakens the interlocking mineral grains in the granite, causing it
to break down into its major component minerals, quartz and
feldspar.
Then running water flushes the weathered products from the joints,
cutting them deeper and wider. The rock between the joints is left
standing as pinnacles.
How To Complete This Earthcache:
Bring some thin string and a heavy weight!
The posted coordinates lead you to a popular scenic overlook in the
Santa Catalina mountains, where you will see some good examples of
pinnacles.
To get there, you need to take the Catalina Highway, which is a
paved mountain road that runs north out of Tucson. There is a small
fee ($5 or so) for recreational use. You completing an earthcache
is recreational use.
At mile 14, you will reach the Windy Point scenic overlook. Plenty
of parking is available. After you park, you will walk up to the
overlook platform, which is located at the posted coordinates. The
elevation here is around 6500 feet I believe.
When you get to the coordinates, look down over the side of the
overlook platform toward the south/southeast. There you will see
some well formed pinnacles.
Have Fun! Post A Photo Of Yourself.
Sometimes, things become misguided. Earthcaches and geocaches are
supposed to be all about the fun and the experience of the
location, and about performing simple tasks and getting into the
spirit of the earthcache. Try to embrace the original spirit of
this earthcache and use one of the most powerful tools available to
the field scientist - the camera. Try to take a photo of yourself
with the pinnacles appearing in the background, and post it with
your find log. A photo used to be listed as a requirement for this
earthcache (prior to 15 May 2011), and as the past logs show, it
was fully supported without any protest or controversy. It is a
simple task that has always been completely reasonable, with
everyone being supportive of it. However today, a photo is not
required, due to the poor administrative practice of levying
control over a small benign detail that affects nothing outside of
the individual earthcache.
For this earthcache, a photo is simply requested, and is in line
with the spirit of this earthcache.
Click here to see a photo example. Is my photo rotated? Yeah,
it sure is - for some reason it seems that I tilted the camera.
I don't care about your GPSr being in
the picture.
LOGGING
REQUIREMENTS:
In order to claim this earthcache as a find, you must complete the
following tasks.
Requirement #1 - Measure The
"Lean": Man, those pinnacles sure do lean a lot! They
are going to topple over! Wait, do they really lean? You need to
find out. Basically, you need to establish the verticality of those
pinnacles. An easy way to do that is with a plumb line, which is
what the thin string and heavy weight is for, and which I describe
how to do in red text below. If you have an alternate way to do the
same thing, then do that. However, I want you to use some
structured process to determine the verticality. Don't just say
"well it looks like..." "Looking like" is not a good enough field
exercise, and does not meet the spirit of earthcaching.
How to make your plumb line... Try to use thin
strong string. Thin, because it is very windy here and thin string
will be affected less by the wind than thick string. For the same
reason, use a heavy weight. A half-ounce fishing weight won't do
the trick in that wind. Use a brick. Tie your string to the top
rail of the fencing there at the overlook. Tie the heavy weight to
the bottom of the string so that it hangs near the floor of the
overlook. If you do it right, you should end up with a taut
vertical straight line through which you can sight the pinnacles.
If the wind is giving you fits, figure it out. You're smart. Maybe
tie an anchor line - that's what I would probably do.
Using the plumb line... Step back so that you can sight through the
plumb line to the pinnacles below. Close one eye. Move left or
right to try to line up the plumb line with the vertical joints in
the pinnacles. Do they line up? Or are the joints at an angle to
vertical? If so, how much of an angle would you estimate is there?
Next, use the plumb line to sight various sections along the
vertical sides of the pinnacles. In doing this, assess whether
these rock towers are actually leaning, or are standing straight
up.
If possible, take photos of your plumb line or the process that you
follow, and upload them with your find log.
Requirement #2 - Email Me Your
Findings: Send an email to me that documents your
conclusions about the verticality of the pinnacles. Your email
should provide answers to the questions listed in the red font
above. Also your email must describe the process that you took to
determine verticality. Do not post your answers in your on-line
log.
Logs not accompanied by email within a reasonable amount of time
will be deleted per earthcache rules. I don't like doing that. So
please be careful to get done what you need to get done.
You need to complete the requirements. They are not difficult and
are designed so that anyone can fulfill them. If you don't complete
them, then you don't complete the earthcache. That's the way it
is.
Remember Your
Requirements:
Determine Verticality, and
Send Your Conclusions and Methods In Email.
And Please Post A Photo Of Yourself If You
Can.
I hope you have fun.
Additional Hints
(No hints available.)