The earth is covered by a several mile deep crust that contains all of the land up to the highest mountains and extends below the deepest parts of the ocean. But in super rare instances, the exact perfect conditions exist where part of the Mantle gets squeezed up to the surface. In the late 60’s and early 70’s scientists finally answered the question that had puzzled geologists since the 1840’s. Where did these unusual rocks come from and why are they here? By the 1960’s scientists had theorized a wild idea; that land and oceans exist on tectonic plates that move over time. This was a controversial subject at the time and if proven would completely flip our understanding of geology. The tablelands were just the evidence they were searching for. Geologists finally discovered that this area has several layers of earth flipped on its side, like slicing a cake and dropping it on a plate on its side. Each layer of the cake formed at a different time but at the far end, the deepest layer, the mantle was flipped sideways and pushed up. Scientists realized they were staring at part of the mantle and that the mantle can only be here if all their hypotheses’ were correct, tectonic plates are real. In 1987, when I was three, this area was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site to be protected because it provides the clearest demonstration of plate tectonics on Earth. Many geologists hope to make a pilgrimage here at some point and I can feel why. 

The Mantle comes from so deep that its soil is some of the most inhospitable in the world, only extreme survivalists can set roots on the tablelands. The soil is so full of certain metals that it is toxic to most plants. We found three different variety of carnivorous plants while hiking in the area, these plants have evolved to get the nutrients the soil is lacking from somewhere else, insect guts. 

If I’m going to take Amy to see every fancy rock on this Island, why not start with the biggest and the best. It’s hard to explain how excited Amy is for this hike and I prep the kids by reminding them that this day is all about mom and we will happily go with the flow. The tablelands get their name from the entirely expansive flat top that serves as a giant summit and really is more of a mesa. Combined with the fact that vegetation can’t take hold here and it has quite a menacing look, The Tablelands stand out in stark contrast to all the lush green covered surrounding mountains, mountains that come from the other layers of cake. Amy insists she will still be satisfied if we only hike to the base and touch it but the real prize would be reaching the top and soaking in the entire Martian looking environment. 

On the way to the area we aren’t in a hurry because we have two days camping there. A luxury. Laundry has reached critical mass and so we find the only laundromat in the area and fill water tanks and get chores done. I get annoyed with myself when we end up at a laundromat because of poor planning but this was just bad luck. As we continue on, we end up slamming on the brakes twice for unexpected fun. Our first stop took us to a mineral shop specializing in rocks found right on the island. We toured the back rooms where the stones are cut and polished and Amy got to discuss the new information she’s been reading with an expert. At the rock shop I learn about the presence of a mineral called Peridotite, one that’s formed in the Mantle. When wet or polished it makes a beautiful black gemstones that shine in sunlight. On the surface, in air, this rock gets encrusted and makes up most of the drab tan rock surrounding us, but when cracked open, the black shine appears. Amy got herself a Peridotite necklace because geology nerds fall in love with strange rocks, not diamonds. If later, the Peridotite is infiltrated in cracks with water, it will seep through removing all of the calcium, the gives it a scale like pattern and often emphasized the green hues, this metamorphosis creates the aptly named Serpentinite. Sometimes,  you’ll find a rock about half way, this is Virginite, Everest likes how this one looks. Time to go to tablelands and see if we can find the rocks in the wild now that we know what to look for. About thirty minutes later I saw a big sign that said Insectorium and Butterfly Garden. My quick reaction was a solid choice. This place was awesome, I happened to be wearing yellow so while Amy and the kids sat with arms stretched trying to attract a beautiful butterfly, I needed simply to walk by and several would latch on to their butterfly king.  Amy got jealous so we had to come back again after the exhibits so she could try to be as cool as me. The top floor was all Tarantulas and between those and the stick bugs hiding right in front of our faces, we all had a great time exploring. More unexpected fun. 

It doesn’t matter if we arrive late to camp because our big hike is planned for tomorrow. In the evening we took Maples training wheels off her bike and she instantly was off on two wheels to the playground with her brothers. At night we do explore a little and stroll along the water before heading to bed. 

The trailhead has a small parking lot and it can often fill up early, especially on weekends. I decide to just wake everyone up, get directly in our seats, drive to the trailhead and get a spot then just have breakfast and pack there. This was very smart because it filled up shortly after. This hike will not be easy, we have no expectations of what the kids will be able to complete. Many people hire a guide to navigate them around the area. There are no official trails on The Tablelands but we buy a small unofficial guide with a suggested route. It takes us all of ten minutes to lose this route in the endless rocks and pebbles strewn about. Getting to the top becomes a personal challenge with finding the path of least resistance while also getting distracted going out of the way to see every pretty rock and meat eating plant. Everything we learned about was right in front of us, but ten times cooler and a million times bigger. Being able to explain how the different rocks formed and why they were there felt rewarding. Eventually we got half way up, nearly two hours had passed and two kids had declared their desire to quit at least once. Fitz was an extremely strong leader this day, he took us up to waterfalls and crossed the stream and constantly scouted ahead to try and find a semblance of a path. He was a mountain goat on the scree strung about. At first, the motivation of reaching snow was motivation enough, but we were throwing snowballs fairly early in the climb. Fitz always being ahead meant that anyone tired would at least have to make it to him to make their argument. We kept pointing out new boulders and just saying that we’d see how we felt when we got to there. Eventually we were close, we were tired but could we really quit now? I told Amy and Fitz they can go on and that we would stay back and wait for them for the decent. This is the kind of motivation they needed, no way were they going to let their brother outdo them. And so we pushed, stopping frequently, eventually three hours after we set off, we made it, we were at the top of the tablelands, standing on the Earths upper mantle. The top was so flat you could not believe you were on top of a mountain, you could see forever in any direction. A Ptarmigan and its babies poked out to see if we were a threat. We filmed them running around and sent pics to our bird nerd friends. Amy knew any pictures would never explain the feel up here, “it just looks like we are standing on some rocks, but it’s the coolest mountain ever!”

The way down went much faster but with the added pain of several falls. Whereas every rock seemed sturdy on the way up, on the way down large rocks would let me down and pebbles would create a slide. Fitz and I in particular would hit the ground a few times but spirits remained high. We were still living off the adrenaline from making it. We did it! We took on a tough challenge and we did it. The view would have been reward enough, but this feeling of accomplishment for my kids will keep me going all week. 

In the evening Amy turned to me “I feel like your summers are a love letter to me.”