Rowan Discovers the American National Parks

Today we visited Glacier National Park. This park is home to a diverse population of animals and plants. The trails here are a combined 100 miles long, and the landscape has been carved over thousands of years by the glaciers that give the park its name. We visited one of the trails and were astounded by the turquoise lakes and waterfalls. The mountains were made of beautiful green and red shale, and we were able to take pictures of a few black bears. After a picnic lunch, we traveled around the park to our next destination. The park is only open for a limited time due to the tremendous amount of snow they receive . Even today in July, the main road was closed due to this.

Next we were able to horseback ride along Montana’s woodsy trails. All of us were nervous but the horses and staff were knowledgeable and accommodating. We then had a barbecue at the ranch and retired to our cabin suites in the woods.

Samantha and Lana

Today was not much of a national park day, however we did see the effects of tectonic activity that occurred on August 17, 1959. This earthquake that reached 7.5 on the Richter scale was, at the time, the largest earthquake recorded in the United States. The Alaska earthquake of 1964 reached 9.2 on the Richter scale. The Hebgen Lake earthquake that we studied today ranks 4th nowadays. The extensive damage we observed was due to the fact that people had no knowledge of the fault line that existed in the area.

When we made a stop at the Earthquake Lake Visitors Center we were informed that a landslide of 80 million tons fell in the valley of the Madison River. Due to the extensive displacement of the Madison River, a near campground was fully submerged killing 28 people and creating Earthquake Lake.

After the visit we stopped in the town of Ennis to check out the variety of shops and talking to the friendly locals. We then stopped in Virginia City, a place that was founded through the discovery of gold. During the time of the Gold Rush, the population of Virginia City reached about 30,000 people but today it has a mere 200 residents. We had lunch at the Virginia City Cafe and an ice cream at the Virginia Creamery which were both original buildings from the Gold Rush. We then had a 3 and a half drive to the town of Choteau, near Glacier National Parks, where we had a delicious dinner at John Henry’s Restaurant where we played a fabulous game of telephone with the entire group.

Amanda I. and Alanna

We started day 10 of our trip by heading back to Grand Teton to get to Yellowstone National Park. Our first stop was a mountain landscape shaped by glaciers where lateral moraines were extensive. Rivers carved valleys in these mountains and reworked the glacial deposits.

We entered Yellowstone National Parks, and traveled over the calderas formed when the successive volcanoes collapsed when their magma chambers underneath their cones were empty. We saw several majestic waterfalls and streams flowing around the snow covered mountains, a change of scenery and climate compared to the more than 100 F weather we started out with.

We had another picnic lunch before heading off to see the Old Faithful geyser that erupts about every 93 minutes. The eruption we viewed lasted about 5 minutes and was quite a sight. We continued on to see several smaller geysers and hot water springs that showed white and orange colors due to the mineral deposits. We then went to the Mammoth Hot Springs that are large mounds and basins of travertine produced by the flow of calcium carbonate rich spring water.

Also throughout the day we saw plenty of wildlife including one bear, dozens of elk, dozens of bisons, one ostrey, 3 picas, and many ravens. Even one bison interrupted traffic when it decided to walk on the yellow line dividing the main road of the park. The bison was followed by a ranger car telling the visitors on a loud speaker “move on, move on” there is nothing to see here!

We ended the day in Montana with an Italian style dinner preparing ourselves for another full day ahead.

Erin and Lauren

Today we woke up bright and early again and enjoyed a light but delicious continental breakfast at Country Inn and Suites in Bountiful, Utah. We departed at 7:50 with a temperature of 82 degrees. On our way to Grand Teton National Park we took a scenic route that allowed us to see more examples of fossil beaches. While driving through the water gap of the fast flowing Logan River we also saw some beaver dams.
We stopped at Rick Spring which is a reappearing river that comes from a water source further north. It looks like the water is coming right out of the rock. We were instructed not to ingest any of the water flowing from the spring because it is contaminated with Giardia which is a bacteria that nests in the stomach for months.
We then stopped to see an amazing view of Bear Lake which borders Utah and Idaho. This spot became even more spectacular when we witnessed the acrobatic hummingbirds flying and feeding. During our journey we also stopped at Salt River Pass, elevation 7630 and gazed out on the gorgeous view of the Wyoming Range, a section of the Rocky Mountains. We cut through many small towns including Smoot which has a population of 100.
For lunch we stopped at a small rest stop and enjoyed a picnic lunch prepared by the wonderful Dr. Lemaire. Everyone enjoyed the delicious spread of meats, cheeses, fruits, vegetables and other goodies. We took another quick stop along the side of the road where wildlife is very abundant. We saw various types of birds. Our luck was minimal though because we did not see the Osprey despite seeing its nest 20 feet away. We arrived in the area of Grand Teton around 2:30 p.m. Dr. Lemaire discussed how the Grand Teton Mountains were formed and shaped by glaciers, the forming of horns . We took a 40 minute hike around Jenny Lake and we were able to see four moose at 3 different locations. Our final stop was at Gros Ventre Landslide. This mass wasting event occurred on June 23, 1925 and displaced material at such a rate that geologists say it could have carved the Panama Canal in 54 minutes. On our way to the log cabins for the night we saw 4 buffalos and 3 antilopes. We concluded our day at O’Rourke which was an Irish restaurant in Driggs, Idaho.
Eric Schenk and Bill Sihr

Welcome to Rowan University Blogs. This is your first post. Edit or delete it, then start blogging!

Tonight we will be in Driggs, Idaho and I don’t believe we will have a wireless Internet connection. I may have to wait until West Yellowstone to post today’s blog.

Dr. Lemaire

Today we enjoyed a continental breakfast at our hotel and then headed to our first geologic stop–”book cliffs” which are aptly named for their joints and strands that resemble a bookshelf.    The grey material here is oil sands, but unfortunately the oil would be too expensive and cumbersome to extract from the sand.  We then stopped at an active underground coal mine, where a layer of coal was exposed along the rock near the road. We noticed that the underlying rocks were orange. Dr. lemaire explained that this was because a fire somehow got started and began to burn the coal, turning other rocks in the area to metamorphic through heat.

After a few more hours in the car and a big change of scenery ( from barren terrain to green forests) we arrived in Salt Lake City. The group enjoyed lunch at a food court in Temple Square, where many of us dined on Chinese food.  Then, we were first given a tour of the Temple Square Visitor Center by two informative Latter-day Saints missionaries.  The two women led us to a beautiful statue of Jesus Christ in the center of a surreal mural of the universe.  Next, we went to the original Salt Lake Temple, a magnificent feat of acoustic artistry built in 1853.  The missionaries talked briefly about the history of their religion and read an excerpt from their sacred text, The Book of Mormon.  We were given an impressive demonstration of the powerful acoustics when a missionary ripped a piece of newspaper, dropped a pin, and spoke briefly, all of which we could hear perfectly from our seats in the back.  Then we entered the smaller nearby tabernacle, where we learned that the pioneers were so dedicated in their determination to make a place of worship that they painted the pews to look like oak and the columns to look like marble; had we not been told this, we’d never have known!  Though there was definitely an attempt at conversion on their part, the beauty of the architecture made it well worth it.

Finally, we went to the Conference Center, which boasts one of the world’s largest pipe organs and holds over 20,000 people.

We were fortunate enough to enjoy a brief recital, which was absolutely breathtaking and made even more impressive as the colored lights on the wall behind the organ changed from blue to orange to red with each song.  We were all impressed by the organist’s ability to master such a complex and grand instrument.

We then spent a few hours relaxing at the hotel, where some of us enjoyed the pool and hot tub and others simply a chance to lie down and relax for a while.    Before dinner, we had one more geologic stop–Great Salt Lake, of course!  We could see the shore lines of where the massive, prehistoric Lake Bonneville once existed.  Seeing clouds in the sky for the first time in 7 days was another notable part of the day.  Though it was full of  bugs near the water we were able to see how high the water level used to be over 10,000 years ago by the vegetation growing on the high fossil beaches.

Then we had dinner at Sizzler, which has a great buffet salad bar.We eventually headed back to our hotel to prepare for the day ahead in Wyoming and Idaho.
Amanda and Drew

Today we began our adventure by visiting Mexican Hat, the welcoming structure of the town we stayed the night before. This sculpted rock was eroded by the San Juan River which no longer surrounds the rocks. We continued on to Gooseneck State Park, with its interesting meanders that weave in and out of the rocks. The erosion caused by water flow from the San Juan River created these incised (or entrenched) meanders.  This river has been downcutting as the plateau, through tectonic uplift, was rising.

The next stop we made was at Natural Bridges National Monument. It was declared a monument by Theodore Roosevelt in 1908 and was Utah’s first national park. This is where rivers carved through both sides of two consecutive outer banks and created a natural passage through the rock. We hiked to the Owachomo Bridge and headed to Blanding where we had lunch.

On our way to Arches National Park we discussed the Moab Fault and how the fault scarp reveals various movements that occurred on secondary faults. We arrived at Arches and were taken aback by the naturally formed arches in the Entrada sandstone rocks. These arches differ from the natural bridges because they are formed by the freeze-and-thaw alongside the vertical joints in the rock. This was our final geological stop of the day before we went to the Comfort Inn in Green River, had a good dinner at Ray’s Steakhouse, and solemn slumber.

Kelsey and Lauren

Our day began as usual with an early wake-up call, breakfast at the Mexican restaurant where we had dinner the night before, and a departure on time  at 8:30 a.m. We headed toward Page passing along the Vermilion Cliffs. We stopped to observe mushroom rocks, rocks that have a large resistant cap rock sitting over a narrower part made of a less resistant material. We then went to Lee’s Ferry the only passage over the Colorado River until the construction of bridges, and Lake Powell the reservoir of the Glen Canyon Dam on the Colorado River.

After lunch, we visited Monument Valley, a park located in an Indian reservation 20 miles southwest of Mexican Hat, Utah. The park is beautiful but the dirt road isn’t. Drivers had to use their skills to not hit the bottom of their cars in the many potholes… and everything went well.

At the restaurant of the San Juan Inn in Mexican Hat, many students tried Navajo bread (fry bread served with honey) and enjoyed it. As soon as I find the blog the students gave me yesterday morning, I will replace my text with theirs! We had no Internet access yesterday.

Dr. Lemaire

Today we started our journey with a nice breakfast at the Golden Hills restaurant, part of the hotel where we spent the night. The plans for the day were visiting Bryce Canyon and Grand Canyon. Our first stop on the way to Bryce Canyon was Red Canyon visitor center. Here we took beautiful shots of the scenery. We continued towards Bryce Canyon and worked on our activity sheets to pass the time until we reached the canyon at 10 a.m.

Once there, we went to the exhibit room to learn more about the canyon and pick up gifts. Driving up in elevation towards Rainbow Point we saw some local wildlife. Dr. Lemaire took a spectacular picture of a prairie dog up close.  Rainbow Point (9115 ft above sea level) offered us a beautiful view of the canyon. We followed this stop with four others as we descended in elevation (Black Birch Canyon, Ponderosa Point, Natural Bridge, and Creek Swamp Canyon). We were able to get some amazing photos at these locations. After, we stopped for a quick lunch at Golden Hills.

Re-energized, we packed back into the vans and took a two-hour-trip to the north rim of the Grand Canyon. We enjoyed the breathtaking view of the canyon behind the lodge. Finally we went to Imperial Point and learned about the stratigraphy in the canyon and what era they correspond to. For example the older rocks at the bottom of the canyon date back to the Precambrian: Vishnu schists. We concluded this long day with a wonderful Mexican dinner as we discussed the upcoming visit of Monument Valley tomorrow.

Alanna and Daniel