Two Billion Years in Two Days
A Front Range Geology Primer
June 25-28, 2004
Boulder GeoClass
3 DAYS, 3 NIGHTS
DAY 1: Friday, June 25 - Welcoming Reception
Meet in Boulder at the Boulder Inn. Check-in and badge pick-up will be at the Boulder Inn, 770 28th Street, (303) 449-3800, beginning at 3 p.m. The Welcoming Reception will be at the University of Colorado, Benson Earth Sciences Building Terrace from 6 to 8 p.m. We will provide a van pick-up at the Boulder Inn at 5:45 p.m., for the short drive to the University. Good food, beverages, and conversation to get acquainted for the weekend to come!
DAY 2: Saturday, June 26
Breakfast will be served on the patio at the Boulder Inn from 8 to 9 a.m. Remember to grab your boxed lunch. Van pick-up will be at 9 a.m. for the drive to campus. This first day will begin with a one-hour lecture and slide presentation on local geology (Department of Geological Sciences, Room. 365, University of Colorado), followed by a trip to the picturesque Mesa Trail, in the heart of the "Flatirons" and near the National Center for Atmospheric Research. The three mile walk is relatively gentle and will take us through the various rock units that make up the local stratigraphic section-a stroll through the Mesozoic and Late Paleozoic, over 200 million of time. These units include of a wide variety of ancient depositional environments; from the thick Cretaceous Sea deposits, to the lakes and streams of the renown Jurassic Morrison Formation, to the cobble filled conglomerates of the Fountain Formation that represent the detritus of the Ancestral Rockies. After lunch, we travel to nearby Flagstaff Mountain, with wonderful views of the city to the east, and the high peaks of the Front Range to the west. Here we can touch the "Great Unconformity," a rock boundary that amounts to nearly 1.5 billion years of missing time. We can also examine a Laramide sill that harbors information on the rotation and mountain building that brought about the rise of the modern Rockies, at the end of the Cretaceous. We'll return by 4 p.m. and participants can either relax at the Inn and/or explore Boulder's shops, galleries, and museums.
DAY 3: Sunday, June 27
Breakfast will be served on the patio at the Boulder Inn from 8 to 9 a.m. Remember to take your boxed lunch. Van pick-up will be at 9 a.m. to begin an all-day field excursion to the Indian Peaks Wilderness, near Nederland, Colorado, to view the Precambrian basement rocks and the much younger intrusions associated with the northeast portion of the Colorado Mineral Belt. A four mile round-trip hike (with minimal altitude gain, but at nearly 10,000 feet above sea level) will take us through meadows with alpine flowers, along rushing streams, and into a region of polished rocks and glacial lakes. We'll return by 4 p.m.
Farewell Dinner Party
University of Colorado, Benson Earth Sciences Building Terrace, 6 to 8 p.m. We will have a van pick-up at the Boulder Inn at 5:45 p.m. for the short drive to the University. Participants can chat about the weekend's adventures and sights over a country-style picnic dinner party with plenty of food, beverages, and desserts.
Monday, June 28 -
Enjoy breakfast. Check-out is 11 a.m.