slgwv's User Profile - Atlas Obscura

slgwv

I'm a geologist by training and have taught at the University of Nevada, Reno. I've lived most of my life in the US west and currently reside outside Reno, Nevada. I like hiking and exploring 4wd roads, and continue to check out lots of out-of-the-way spots. A disclaimer: the infelicities in the text on a number of the places I've submitted are due to Atlas Obscura's editing. In case anyone's wondering, my avatar is a picture of Fissure Ridge, a volcanic eruptive center about 15 miles west of Gabbs, Nevada. In addition, more of my travels can be found at the Ipernity photo-sharing site:

http://www.ipernity.com/home/289859

2021
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Leaderboard Highlights

slgwv's activity rankings

1^st

Places visited in Fallon, Nevada

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Places added to Nevada

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Places edited in Nevada

2^nd

Places visited in Nevada

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Places added to United States

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Places edited in Idaho

3^rd

Places visited in Hiko, Nevada

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Places added to Colorado

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Places edited in North Bend, Washington

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North Bonneville, Washington

Bonneville Lock & Dam

Boats and fish both find their way through this massive hydroelectric structure.

chicknrice

Added by chicknrice

Hagerman, Idaho

Hagerman Fossil Beds

An ordinary rancher stumbled upon one of the world’s largest collections of Pliocene horse fossils.

Added by traceywilson

Thompson Smelter

These massive concrete foundations and smelter chimney bricks still smell like smoke after a century.

Curious Crow

Added by Curious Crow

Tumalo Dam

The ruins of a failed dam that was built over land later described as a "sponge."

slgwv

Sunshine Valley, British Columbia

Hope Slide

The morning of January 9, 1965, over 46 million cubic meters of earth, rock, and snow broke free, obliterating a section of the highway below.

slgwv

Mound House, Nevada

VW Beetle Spider

On the side of Highway 50 East, between Carson City and Dayton, Nevada, sits a giant metal spider made from a vintage Volkswagen Beetle.

Andrea Leigh

Added by Andrea Leigh

Richland, Washington

Hanford Site

Nuclear reactor created the plutonium used on Nagasaki.

atimian

Added by atimian

Richland, Washington

B Reactor

A 1940s nuclear reactor built to produce plutonium for the Manhattan Project.

Mesquite, Nevada

Davidson Family Gravesite

The remote graves of a Scottish family who died of thirst while attempting to reach St. George.

slgwv

Hiawatha Trail

Cross the Continental Divide through an old railroad tunnel, and ride back to the top on a shuttle.

slgwv

Las Vegas, Nevada

Tule Springs Fossil Beds

This arid landscape was once a lush wetland. Today, it's a paleontological site filled with fossilized mammoths, sabertooth cats, and more.

CoolCrab

Added by CoolCrab

Helicopter Crash Memorial

Unopened beer cans are left at this monument to honor the Navy men who lost their lives during a training mission.

slgwv

Columbus, Nevada

Candelaria

This silver-mining camp has been active intermittently from the 1860s to the present.

slgwv

Wheatland Ferry

This incongruous small ferry across the Willamette River north of Salem, Oregon has been operating continuously since the 1850s.

slgwv

Valley Falls, Oregon

Lake Abert

Oregon's only closed-basin hypersaline lake, an important stopover for migrating waterfowl, is in danger of drying up completely.

slgwv

Kimberly, Idaho

Shoshone Falls

These falls, sometimes called the "Niagara of the West," still put on a good show at the right time of year.

slgwv

Nye County, Nevada

Easy Chair Crater

An unusual double cinder cone with a bent oval crater, in the Lunar Crater Volcanic Field.

slgwv

Palisade

Little is left of this formerly bustling railroad junction on the Transcontinental Railroad.

slgwv

Hope, British Columbia

Othello Tunnels

Railways may have forged this quintet of lovely tunnels, but now they are open to hikers.

SamM

Malad Gorge

Some 46,000 years ago, a volcanic eruption led to a flooding event that carved this short canyon with steep vertical walls.

slgwv

Las Vegas, Nevada

Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area

Dyed by iron oxide over centuries, these sandstone rocks rise thousands of feet into the sky.

canuck

Added by canuck

Morley Nelson Snake River Birds of Prey National Conservation Area

Rare and gorgeous birds abound in this protected wildlife sanctuary.

Added by ekoptev

Twin Falls, Idaho

Twin Falls Waterfall

One of the "twins" in these falls on the Snake River was sacrificed for hydropower generation in the 1930s.

slgwv

Mountain Home, Idaho

Bruneau Dunes

This Idaho state park boasts the tallest single-structured sand dune in North America.

slgwv