No News is Cold News. Back from radio silence.

Many photos to share (one last field session and then randoms from a trip to the US winter here in UB)
Enjoy.

A rare cloudy day.  We measured 1.2km of section in this valley!

Some Mongolian Majesty.  Fresh snow too in late Aug/early Sept.

B-Dog scoutin varmin.

Zaya, scoutin....well not sure what; but definitely scoutin.

Jim doing what he does best, corrupting young minds. lol.

Brando resting after the exhausting suspense of watching us dig this
sample pit.

The sun setting on what would be the last field session of 2010.
What a year, can't wait for 2011!!!!!!!

After the field I headed home for a 2 week vacation to Utah, Idaho, and Colorado.  The real driver for the vacation had to do with my love for human flight. Most importantly on this trip, was to learn to do this without the aid of an aircraft...    ]:)

Enter Snake River Gorge and the Perrine Memorial Bridge Idaho: (stage left)

486' (150m) of gravitational potential energy turned kinetic...feel it.

Most of the crew who assembled at the bridge for the Apex BASE course.

Since then, the Mongolian winter pretty much settled in and has continued to show us the cold shoulder :P  It has been averaging -30C at night with it dipping into the -40's at times, maybe an average of -20 during the day.  Actually it has been a very mild year by comparison....though I hear the worst month is yet to come.
The days are usually sunny, though you wouldn't know it from the smoke pollution.  This is the first place I have ever lived where the weather forecast most often calls for smoke; rather than cloudy, sunny, rainy, snowy or some other standard phenomena.  But we still get out and have a good time, so here are some snapshots of winter outings.

Skiing at Sky Resort - 500 vertical feet of shear terror about 10mins
outside of Ulaanbaatar.  Actually does the trick quite nicely for what it is.
You can see a bit of the smoke in the distance even way out here.

My good friend Behee and his wife Zaya.

Note the summit, lookers left.  Total gnar Bro, don't even try to ski here
unless you are Mongolian or have paid your dues in southern New England. 

New Years Day - about 40mins before sunrise.  We boarded the train from
UB at about 5:30 and rode for 2 hours to the Southeast.  Then stopped
in the town of Hangai and watched an annual sunrise ceremony.  Way
better than waking up hungover and confused to start the new year ;)

Traditional Shaman Sun Dance. 

Viva  Mongol

Sunrise January 1, 2011.  Might be the best first day of the year I have
had in a long long time.
Shine Onii Mend Khoorgii!!

When Old Man Winter gets tough the tough get indoor hobbies; my latest.

More fun than I could have imagined and way more productive than a TV...even if you are just staring at it!

Brando having put on his winter coat.....and then some :P
(shhh, don't tell him I said so)

More to come as stories and pictures develop , I hope everyone had great holidays and again.....
Shine Onii Mend!! (Happy New Year - Mongol Style)
~Ciao

Field Session 3

Another great trip into the vast spread of exploration blocks 4 and 5.  Found great exposures of oil shale and even did a cool field test of their viability over the camp stove :)  We made an attempt at the summit of Baga Bogd Uul (under the guise of sampling for a fission track profile; only geologists could legitimize baggin' a peak as science:))  we gained ~5000 vertical feet but got cliffed-out merely 200' from the top, gerrr.  Finished the last hour on the way down in the dark - yikes!  This trip was unseasonably cold and we even got some fresh snow in the high-country; I suppose its not all that different than back in CO...

Back in UB a little earlier than expected, but we heard the call of duty to rally on the current operation block - seeing as it's paying the bills and all.  Hopefully get a few more field sessions this season before the winter weather really sets in.

Drill trucks making holes for seismic explosives :))

Getting water for the day, Bogd Zuun style...

Healing mineral water, magic spring style...

Baga Bogd Uul approach.

The ascent, and a tired pooch sleepin sitting upright at about 3,400m elev.

Urango...the intern.

Kurt sneakin through a passage in this weird moonscape of mudstone.

Brando on the moonscape.

Zaya holding an example of why this has been called the
"Cannonball Sandstone"

Apparently, this is also known as comfortable...in the dog world.

A game of bones, simulating a horse race (line on right); you advance
by rolling a horse rather than the goats, sheep and camel that I rolled (left).

Dashka doing a traditional milk tossing ritual.  Interestingly, Mongolia has a
similar name as we do for the big dipper constellation; essentially big spoon.
Notice that a ladle is typically used for this milk toss; later in the trip we made
the connection, while staring at the beautiful night sky and meteor shower,
 that the milky way is just a giant celestial milk offering :))

The best way to find a route across the Gobi is not by GPS,
it's by asking those who live there.

The Session 3 Crew: Me, Tarro, Dashka, Odto, Moggi, Kurt, Zaya
(Urango Photo)

Look at those oil shales :))) (Dark on the hillside)

 Burnin oil shale!!!

The Gobi is dry, but the water table is shallow and often great for drinking.
A good find for a thirsty hound.

Not a bad scene to wake up to the morning you're heading back to civilization.

Each time I return to this part of the country I gain more understanding of one natural example of "less is more"; the scenery, logistical realities, great distances, people and climate all weave themselves into a tapestry that is only beginning to reveal itself.
Complex, colorful, delicate, balanced, resilient, timeless, and beautiful.