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Petro Eng involves, just a little, geology. Geology requires a couple paid of well broken in good boots. With good boots (ask the grad students and/or professors what they wear) you can go anywhere. Without you might as well stay in the lab. OH - be certain to chip in for the beer. Rocks cannot be studied without beer.
After I retire I plan on hanging around the geology/environmental science dept just to catch up on what has been learned about geology in the last 40 years. I will bring good boots and walk off some of this desk bound blubber.
Recommend a moderate jacket, like something you'd spend $40 on at REI or $25 on at Walmart; don't need to dress in layers so much. A few long sleeved shirts might be money well spent.
Hmmm...I was going to say just the opposite about "layering." While many winter days can begin quite cold, it's not unusual to need to shed clothing later in the day as it warms significantly. A good windbreaker is a must when layering (IMO).
Skin damage in both summer and winter can be a problem if outdoors with a lot of exposed skin for any length of time. Long sleeves are a wise year-around choice. And keeping a bottle of minimum 45SPF sun block on hand is a wise move too.
As for hiking boots, cowboy style boots do NOT make good hiking boots! Rocky ground in the Soccoro area can be very abrasive if the rocks are of igneous origin (basaltic). ie: need good thick waffle soles and heavy leather uppers. Not the least consideration should be shin protection against possible lechiguilla (and other cactus) and rattlesnake encounters!
Hmmm...I was going to say just the opposite about "layering." While many winter days can begin quite cold, it's not unusual to need to shed clothing later in the day as it warms significantly. A good windbreaker is a must when layering (IMO).
Everyone's got their own person body temperature regulation method, but when a cold winter day warms up and I need to shed layers, I take the jacket off.
Layering always seemed to me to be a wet-weather strategy. Even the least-water-resistant stuff has always held up fine for me in the rain and snow in NM, unlike other places.
Layering always seemed to me to be a wet-weather strategy.
My experience with dressing in layers comes from many years of downhill and X-country skiing. Building up a sweat in below-freezing conditions requires more fine tuning than simply removing a down jacket.
My experience with dressing in layers comes from many years of downhill and X-country skiing. Building up a sweat in below-freezing conditions requires more fine tuning than simply removing a down jacket.
Well, there you have it. If you plan on doing a fair amount of downhill and X-country skiing when you're walking from class to class, you have a different recommendation.
Someone posted a picture of NMT a couple of weeks ago and there was about a foot of snow. Someone here mentioned that it snows a few times a year. Is snow gear also necessary?
Heavy snows like the one you saw are actually quite uncommon in Socorro. I'd say once every 5-7 years. It's also not uncommon to go an entire year without any appreciable snow (dusting that doesn't stick is about it). It wouldn't surprise me if that huge pile of snow didn't almost completely disappear within 48 hours.
Staying inside with the heating system blasting is all you need to do; that's probably what you'd be doing anyway given your studies.
If you're an outdoor enthusiast who hates being indoors, you might consider getting some heavier gear. Still, don't let these folks scare you. You can always buy a heavy coat in town if it comes down to it. Your personal sense of comfort will guide you right once you arrive.
GregW-did you head over to Socorro during this recent trip? My wife and I stopped there for a burger in June 2014. I thought it was so small town USA-ish. Seemed innocent ta me, very small kids were allowed to walk on the main street all by themselves. I didn't think they should have been walking without adults with them. Relaxing little town, it seemed.
We did drive down California Ave on the way to T or C. We needed a break from I-25.
On the way back to Albuquerque we took Rt 52 through Winston to the VLA. That is a wonderful road through the open range. Then we took Rt 60 to Socorro. As the northbound entrance to I-25 was closed we drove through Socorro. Instead of just driving California Street the other way I did a random street approach taking a lot of smaller streets generally heading north. Some of the neighborhoods were very small houses on small lots and some a bit bigger. We did not take the time to explore the town.
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Socorro
