First timer? In this formerly once-a-day blog (then every-other-day blog and now a one-to-three-times a week blog), I have my computer select a random latitude and longitude that puts me somewhere in the continental United States (the lower 48). I call this “landing.” I keep track of the watersheds I land in, as well as the town I land near. I do some internet research to hopefully find something of interest about my landing location. To find out more about A Landing A Day (like who “Dan” is and what the various numbers and abbreviations mean), please see “About Landing,” (and “Abbreviations” and “Cryptic Numbers”) above.
Dan – Phew. At least a minor reprieve with this landing in a solid USer . . . NM; 69/78; 3/10; 4; 156.5. Here’s my landing map showing that I landed out in the middle of no where:
The only “town” anywhere close is obviously Caprock. Well, Caprock gets a bolded name on my StreetAtlas map, but check out this StreetView shot of Caprock:
That’s it! There ain’t no more . . .
Anyway, here’s a broader view:
Here’s my GE shot, showing an arid landscape marked by oil wells and the roads that service the wells:
Here’s another StreetView shot. If you look closely, you can see a faint dirt road that heads straight when the main road bends to the left (the road is along the three telephone poles you can see). Follow that road about a mile and a half, and you’ll come to my landing . . .
Not surprisingly, there are no streams anywhere in the vicinity of my landing. By looking at the GE shot, I could see that drainage headed off to the southeast. The only surface water feature east of my landing is a cluster of lakes (see my landing map): House Lake, Middle Lake, North Lake, and (drum roll please) East Lake. These lakes are internally-drained (the water goes no where).
The only information I could find anywhere about Caprock is this, from Epodunk: “The community name derives from nearby rock formation.”
A “caprock” is a hard layer of rock that overlies softer rock. The caprock is more resistant to erosion, and ends up being on top of a hill, ridge, butte or mesa. So, I went in search of the caprock formation. Being a geologist, I found it (at least I think I found it). Here’s a picture along Rt 380, just northwest of Caprock:
I found this picture of a sign welcoming visitors to the Hedgecoxe ranch just outside of Caprock:
Here’s an empty highway shot along Rt 380 looking down from the caprock hills:
I’ll close with this sunset, taken east of Caprock:
That’ll do it. . .
KS
Greg
© 2010 A Landing A Day
A Landing a Day 