Summer 2008 on the Owyhee, Part 1

Spent all of last week on the Owyhee. Many rim hikes and a few forays down to the wet stuff. The latter with Liz and her students. Learned alot. Found a fault in Sweetwater Canyon (that between Jordan Creek and Hike-out Camp). Determined that the once 'dreaded' rim gravels are really the 'shockingly voluminous' rim gravels. As for the latter, there appears to be a culmination of aggradation on a platform at about 3900'. Multiple levels are present below this, mainly on the Artillery Rim. Found a tephra in a rare exposed section at the 3900' level near Owyhee Butte. Learned that the Heaven's Gate landslide complex (including an upper reach and a lower reach) is quite huge, particulary when viewed from the perspective of the canyon rim...wow. Can't imagine how this complex was not the source of multiple blockages and breaches. Liz nearly single-handedly augered a 4 m hole in a perfect closed depression. We found the Mazama, and certainly drilled into the late Pleistocene...but didn't find the fat tephra bed that we found in the slide below Bogus Point. For now, please view the following slide show for substantiation of most of the claims above (view in Google Maps or Google Earth for the full informative effect):