I have found out that it is a pain to lug around a fifty-pound suitcase hotel to hotel on a nightly basis. Not only that, but things tend not to pack so easily once worn, and it took me twenty minutes to rearrange and stuff everything back into that stubborn bag. Poor Hyo Jung, she brought along just an overnight bag crammed with ten days worth of clothing and other equipment. She decided to use a second bag, a big plastic one for laundry, which will be packed with our sleeping bags for the plane trip back to Baltimore.

The day before, I took along with me two bottles of water to sustain me for a half-day hike. Luckily, my thirst did not exceed my rations on the hike; however, I knew we were in for a long day with four activities planned, so I made room for a third bottle in my day pack. Also, it was freezing at the Grand Canyon above the rim, and it warmed only a little when we entered the canyon. Since today we were not taking a strenuous hike and it looked a bit rainy outside, I put on an extra layer of clothing plus my fleece and my Cortex.

Hyo Jung and I were early when we arrived in the lobby, and by 7:15 am, everyone was present and munching on the Danishes and drinking coffee. It was not until 7:30 am when the vans were loaded, and Drs. Merck and Holtz gave yet another "song and dance" about today's agenda. Finally we were locked and loaded and set off on our way to our first destination: tourist-trap sandstone flat pockmarked with dinosaur tracks.

On the way there, we passed by the exposed sedimentary Kayenta Formation, which was deposited during the Jurassic Period (right; taken through the Cladovan's back seat passenger window. And Dr. Merck said it wouldn't come out, heh.) As we traveled, I saw that the weather we were approaching was dismal. The land was flat and lacking towering foliage, so we could see a rainstorm miles away. The bleary, soft gray clouds appeared to be hanging down in wisps of cobwebs, and Dr. Merck radioed the other vans and gave an amateur weather report of possible snow or rain. We turned off the highway onto a dusty, empty road and parked across the sandy lot from the abandoned souvenir stands. Fortunately, we were the only ones there for two reasons: one, it was probably not season yet for tourists to stop by to gawk at footprints, and two, we were the only ones stubborn enough to drudge out of bed on a freezing morning to gawk ourselves.

There were many outlines of tracks left in the hardened sediment, and we were put to task to find three consecutive footprints belonging to the same creature. If we could find a full stride, we could calculate how long the legs were and how fast the pace was by measuring toe-tip to "foot-base" of one print and foot-base to foot-base of Right Print #1 and Right Print #2 (see picture listed below).

Sheila's John (one of the three Johns on the trip) broke away from the group with his fingers splayed like claws and with an awful screech much like the raptors from Jurassic Park as he charged across the ancient riverbed. The bed was made up of sand-size grains, so we determined that although the water was slow enough to deposit sand, it was still too fast to deposit mud-size grains. We were not in the flood plain of a river where water flow slows considerably and shimmering silt settles, but we were instead in the river channel where currents tend to be stronger. We spent a good ten minutes wandering around and gawking, and after several tracks were deemed unusable, I found three consecutive prints (below; the tracks are circled and proceed right, left, right.)

These tracks belonged to a carnivorous theropod ("three-toed"), probably Dilophosaurus also known as "the spitter" from the movie Jurassic Park. Being movie buffs and fans of Mystery Science Theater 3000, Drs. Holtz and Merck could not resist setting the record straight. First off, they proudly asserted, this carnivore did not spit acid and did not have a colorful frill or a rattlesnake hiss. As Dr. Holtz put it, "When trying to hunt, how would popping out and screeching at prey help?"

Sigh, plus as we would find out from our calculations of the dino's hip height, there would be no way for it to fit inside Nedry's off-road vehicle. Oh well, such is Hollywood.

Meanwhile, perched on the Kayenta Formation, we learned that all dinosaurs had legs positioned directly underneath their bodies, which provided a narrow gait. The footprint of a carnivorous theropod has longer and thinner toes as compared to a print left by an herbivore. Sometimes, claw marks, deep crescent shaped gashes in the mud, are preserved and are a telltale sign that the tracks belonged to a carnivore. Herbivores never leave claw marks. (Below left; a carnivore's footprint with claw marks preserved. Below right; a carnivore's footprint without claw marks but the long slender toes differentiate the footprint from an herbivore's. Both carnivorous and herbivorous theropods would walk on the front three toes, with a fourth higher up near the heel bone.)

Once Dr. Merck approved of the stride I found, the group gathered around and learned how to determine hip height and velocity of the track's prehistoric owner. From the tracks we used for our calculations, we measured Right Print #1 to be 0.36 meters long, middle toe-tip to foot-base. From the foot-base of Right Print #1 to the foot-base of Right Print #2, the stride length measured 2.21 meters (See diagram left). We used the equation hip height equals footprint length multiplied by five. The "five" was determined experimentally that the length of leg on average came out to be five times as long as foot length by measuring both in bone fossils found. For humans, the number changes because we do not walk on our toes, but on our heels as well.

To find relative stride length, we divide stride length measured by hip height calculated. According to a charting system, dimensionless speed was 0.5, and from here, we can determine how fast the Dilophosaurus was traveling. Actual speed comes from the equation of dimensionless speed divided by the square root of hip height times gravity (g = 9.8 m/s^2).

So, our numbers become:

Hip Height = footprint length * 5 = 0.36 m * 5 = 1.80 m

Relative = stride length (meas.) = 2.21 m = 1.228

Stride Length hip height (calculated) 1.80 m

Dimensionless Speed = 0.5

Actual = dim'less speed = 0.5

Speed (h. height * g)^-2 (1.80 m * 9.8 m/s^2)^-2

(A. Speed) = 0.118 m/s

Also, the hip height of Dilophosaurus was about six feet tall, and considering the creature had a short stride (a bit over six feet long), the low velocity mathematically makes sense.

Our eating habits on the trip were largely unpredictable, and the running joke of second, and third breakfasts was not too far from the truth. Since breaking out the coolers and the boxes of foods was time-consuming, we would make breakfast and after eating, we would prepare a sandwich for lunch. In addition, our day-time meals involved digging around in the cooler for a favorable food or tracking down some missing fruit or a bag of plain bagels from on the three vans (right; a small group gathered around the cooler).

Even though there appeared to be a wide variety of food to choose from, for every favorite food a person may have, there were two others they would not like to eat. For me, my breakfast consisted of two granola bars and my sandwiches were peanut butter and jelly. There is just so much PB&J one person can take in a matter of few days, and I predict that after this trip, it will probably be weeks before I can withstand the mere scent of peanut butter. Good thing I had packed little bags of Goldfish and cookies in my carry-on to snack on between second breakfast and first lunch.

Second breakfast was set up after the disappointing calculation of a slow-paced dinosaur. I think we secretly wished to discover some record of a Jurassic stampede instead of one creature bobbing its head slowly like a pigeon behind some tall marsh plants. Then again, it was probably on the prowl. There was a second set of tracks we could have measured, but by then, everyone was growing restless from the chilly air and the hollow emptiness in our stomachs.

At this point, the bitter wind brought with it icy droplets of drizzle. We hurriedly finished eating and packed up for our next drive to Wupatki, a cluster of ruins once an ancient melting pot of many ancient tribes.

We got back onto the highway, and the drizzle turned to heavier rain. We began to worry that it would last the entire day, but within a half hour, the rain did let up. However, as we looked across the sandy tan rocks and bare foliage, we saw ahead of us gracefully rounded mountains covered in fresh snow (Below; as taken through the windshield).

After a short drive (translation: roughly forty minutes), we entered the Wupatki National Monument as a veil of quarter-sized snowflakes swirled around us. The snow did not last long and as we ventured deeper into the basalt-encrusted hills, the precipitation became again a tame drizzle. We anticipated that the trail might be closed temporarily due to rain, but the ranger reassured us that only in cases of heavy snow do the trails close.

After briefly allowing us to roam the Information Center's gift shop, Dr. Merck and Dr. Holtz rounded us up and ushered us outside. Dr. Merck reigned this day, as it was his responsibility to be the informed one. He described to us that Wupatki, a Hopi word for "Long Cut House," was an ancient apartment complex surrounding by a lava flow formation of basalt. Basalt is an igneous rock of dark black color. The basalt in the vicinity was filled with holes that were formed by gases trying to escape the cooling lava (Below; a panoramic view of the hillsides of Wupatki. The basalt was deposited by a 1064 AD volcanic eruption from Sunset Crater, 14 miles away. Some Wupatki ruins quietly sit on the left).

The holes give basalt a porous characteristic, and acting like a sponge, the rock helps retain moisture in the soil. This gives the valley an upper hand when it comes to agriculture; however, game consisted of only reptiles like snakes and few mammals such as small deer. For the people who once occupied the region, they needed more protein in their diet. So, Dr. Merck explained, they would pick up a mouse and chew like it was a stick of gum. Since this "Bazooka gum" included fur and bones but sadly no lame comic, the chewer would spit out wads known as "mouse quids" as he or she walked along. I do not know if the mouse was alive when first ingested, and since I owned a gerbil I shudder to imagine sticking that smelly little thing in my mouth.

The apartment complex of Wupatki could have been home to at least three ancient cultures: the Anasazi, the Sinaguan, and Cohonina peoples. Each culture had a signature design for pottery and textiles, and the different designs of each tribe has been excavated from the Wupatki site. Hence, Wupatki was home to and estimated 100 citizens of different cultural heritage. Descendants of Wupatki inhabitants include the Hopi and the Zuni. The site had four major structures (Below; a complete view of Wupatki as seen high up on the Pueblo Trail).

On the left side of the picture are the ruins of the 100 rooms of the complex. Rooms included small living spaces and pantries as well as burial chambers. Several people would live in a room with the floor space of about a four-person tent, and storage space kept a year's harvest of corn, Juniper seeds, and water. Corn and seeds were ground into flour by rolling a smooth stone over the grains gathered on a flat, broad stone (right). Water was gathered from a nearby spring far off the trail and then stored in jars.

In the middle of the picture is a shallow circular structure called a kiva. This was a ceremonious spot as well as a place for official town meetings, where leaders sat and discussed the welfare of the village. In the far background, the third structure is another circular but larger and deeper structure, known as the northern-most ball court discovered. The ball court was the setting of a game involving two teams of three or four men with a hard rubber ball and was played much like tennis crossed with soccer, except the players could not touch the ball with their feet or their hands (Left; a close-up of the ball court. According to the Pueblo Trail Guide, this ball court is the most recently built and northern-most masonry court known).

It is speculated that the ball game went hand in hand with gambling and trading, much like the gladiator games of ancient Rome. Here, people traded shells, salt, and cotton from the south for macaws, copper, and turquoise brought from the east. Dr. Merck pointed out that there were petroglyphs, or symbolic pictures carved on rock faces, of people owning macaws as pets, and he gave the description of one that represented a traveler carrying a caged macaw. The trading of beautiful macaws for turquoise hints that the trade in the ancient Southwest was very extensive, as macaws are not native so far north and shells used for jewelry come from hundreds of miles away.

The forth structure, which cannot be seen in the photograph, is a geological structure known as the "Blowhole," which is a deep crack in the ground that leads to a system of caves. The air within the earth maintains a constant temperature, and compared to the frigid weather that day, the air forced from the hole was relatively warm. The air beneath the ground and the air above the ground attempts to equalize their pressure, and if one knows his or her chemistry, when the pressure above ground is lower than the constant pressure below, air blows out of the hole. When the pressure above ground is higher than the pressure below, then air is forced into the hole. We were there on a drizzly day, and since we knew that barometric pressure drops with rainy weather, we should have predicted that air would blow out of the hole.

It is believed that the Wupatki village sprang up in this arid region because this fascinating feature was tied to religious beliefs and was deemed sacred. In Native American lore, the first people emerged from caves far below the surface of the earth and began to spread across the land. Caves, sinkholes, and blowholes are representative of gods and the first people and are revered as Meccas for the people in surrounding regions. As Drs. Merck and Holtz have mentioned many times before, remains taken from the ground of a reservation is sacred, so it is difficult to remove fossils from sites since these prehistoric skeletons may be the burials of the first people, who may not have been human form.

In the case of the blowhole, since it "breathed," the ancient cultures believed that it was the breath of the earth as it inhaled and exhaled. When Earth exhaled, it released "good air" and brought rain; when Earth inhaled, it sucked up the good air and brought only dryness. Thus, the blowhole provided a natural barometer to the Wupatki villagers, and it is not surprising that many cultures immigrated to this area.

However, when we were marveling at the blowhole, several of us had ponchos. Add the blowhole vent to big, billowing plastic, and we get what the Hopi would condemn as blasphemy. First, April hopped up on the square stone masonry protecting the blowhole and pushed down her poncho for her impression of Marilyn Monroe. Then, Hyo Jung, draped in a bright, cherry red poncho, posed over the hole and puffed up like a huge red tomato. Good thing no Oompa Loompas rolled her away. Sigh, all hail ELT forever!

The trail hike was not over yet. We first traveled between the complex and the kiva while Dr. Merck read aloud from the Wupatki Pueblo Trail Guide down to the ball court and finally to the blowhole. Our ascent took us behind the apartment complex where there was one room we were allowed to enter.

All national parks are very serious about rules of preservation. Throughout the trail guide, we were warned not to touch anything and not to venture off trail. At other parks, like the Grand Canyon, we were advised not to feed the animals or chip off pet rocks. These rules are very understandable, since when I traveled to Stonehenge in high school, one fact stated that a large percent (over 50%) of the "erosion" of Stonehenge occurred this past century due to people seeking souvenirs. Having the fear of hefty fines drilled into us, we were weary of stepping inside the inviting room despite the urgings of the guide that we were welcome to do so. I enjoyed the little ceiling-less two-story room, and having all thirteen of us in there at once, I could feel just how cramped the living space was.

We viewed a burial chamber and a few more living spaces before heading back towards the Information Center. We had a few more minutes and some us wandered down the trail to try to spot some birds. At the front of the trail, on a prominent rock, Hyo Jung identified a petroglyph that looked like the College Park Scholars' sunspot. Some of us joked that the Arizona group of 2000 graffitied the symbol in the rock, but according to a ranger, it was an authentic petroglyph of a sunspot.

We headed back to the Center, and while a few browsed the shop again, Drs. Holtz and Merck decided that we would eat first lunch in the parking lot of Sunset Crater after the hike around the volcano. We hopped into the vans and departed from the Wupatki ruins to start the second half of Day 3: a hike around Sunset Crater and then another hike through Walnut Canyon to view cliff dwellings ruins. With the air growing drier and colder, I was glad to relax in the van for another short drive.

Day 3 continued - Sunset Crater and Walnut Canyon
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