today my geology class took a field trip to heggie’s rock conservatory in appling, georgia. it was like no place i had been to before. it was about a thirty minute hike from where we parked to the actual site. the trek up was beautiful, familiar even. it reminded me of the trail up in hitchcock woods from the dibble road entrance to the chalk cliffs.
anyway’s once we got onto the actual reserve, the landscape seemed to change. instead of the rich soil we were so used to being beneath us, the ground turned to hard granite and moss. the moss was one of the highlights, to me. it was so old and rare it was actually protected by law, under no circumstance would we step on it. it was part of the ice-age tundra landscape over 15,000 years ago. this made for more difficulty navigating the tricky terrain, but to me the moss was what made this place so special. the moss was located in these pools that were also apart of the landscape. the whole mass of mafic, igneous rock was a dome shape, so when there is rainfall, the water stays in the little craetors that had been formed by weathering, 
it was such a beautiful day for this little excursion. it was like God was saying, “hey! this is a really special place! enjoy the cool temperatures and a nice breeze every now and then.” and it was, it was so special and that was evident to everyone there. it reminded me of the concept of the hunger games arena, where the terrain was so alien to the climate but seemed to fit in perfectly, like a movie set. the large dome of rock steeped out towards the sides, really showing us the curvature, plus it was overlooking a quarry!
overall it was such a great experience and i would love to go back when it has just rained to see the pools filled, which i heard is a pretty spectacular sight.
our next stop was an old quarry mining site about 45 minutes from the mossy dome. we were on the hunt for mineral deposits contained in iodized rock formations. we found TONS of muscovite mica, which i thought was pretty cool. morgan had my phone and snapped a ton of “candids!!” as she put it. 
today was such a cool experience. it inspired me to pick up rock climbing (something i’ve been wanting to do for awhile) and gave me an excuse to write. nature is incredible, my friends. don’t take it for granted. and just a reminder: we’re not killing the earth, we’re killing ourselves. safe our species and reuse, compost, recycle, reduce your waste. leave no trace, not even footsteps.