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GC2MEWV
I-70 Road Cut - North SideType: Earth | Size: Not chosen 
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| Terrain: By: jsarche @ | Hide Date: 01/15/2011 | Status: Available Country: United States | State: Colorado Coordinates: N39° 42.243 W105° 12.083 | Last updated: 08/30/2019 | Fav points: 0 
A short walk along the geologically famous Dakota Hogback road cut on the northern side of I-70. *** April 8, 2011 -- Please note: Some jerk has spray-painted over the first couple of signs at the bottom of the walkway, but that shouldn't affect your ability to collect all the information you need to answer these questions. *** To log this EarthCache, you'll need to answer a few questions. All the information you'll need can be found on signs posted along the roughly quarter-mile walk along this road cut from the parking lot to the end of the path. It's a very gentle climb, and a the path is usually in good shape, but there can be mud from small landslides, so watch your footing, especially after rain or snow.
Interstate 70 cuts through the Dakota Hogback west of Denver near Morrison and provides an excellent view into Colorado's geological past. On both sides of the highway, there are parking lots and easy footpaths along the road cut. This EarthCache focuses on information found on interpretive signs along the northern road cut. The cut, made during interstate construction in 1971, exposes rocks from the Morrison Formation and Dakota Group. These rocks were laid down in the Upper Jurassic and Cretaceous periods, or from about 160 million years ago to about 65 million years ago. The land here and along much of the eastern fringe of the Rocky Mountains was thrust upward between 80 million years ago and 50 million years ago during an event called the Laramide orogeny, which was responsible for raising the Rocky Mountains. Posting a photo taken from the site is no longer allowed as a logging requirement, but it would be great to see some pictures besides the not-so-great one I've posted here. Please go ahead and log your find, and as soon afterward as you can, send me answers to the following questions in an e-mail (send it through my profile link at the top of this page). Oh, and don't forget to find the nearby multicache! 1. What caused the variations in color of the rocks, and what kinds of minerals were affected to make the colors? 2. What do the light and dark laminations in the clay bed indicate? 3. What caused the black color of the rocks about halfway up the walk? 4. Why can you use your sense of smell to know you're in the right place at a certain point along the walk? 5. How thick are the various layers of rock here, and how many years did it take for each layer to build up? Sources:
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10 Logs:
Midwest Tour through AmericaAfter arriving at Cincinnati airport, we‘ve started out trip through mid-west USA Our first stop was at Louisville before we continued towards Evansville, Saint-Louis, Kansas City all the way to Denver- Skyline of the Rocky Mountains. We’ve stayed in Colorado for a couple of days and drove to the Rocky Mountains to Mount Evans and past the beautiful Echo lake. We took the historic steam train in Georgetown to explore the Rocky Mountains – what an unforgettable experience. We’ve visited the open air arena in Red Rock Park and have informed ourselves about the historic and musical past of this area. We soon had to leave beautiful Denver to continue further towards the north Via Golden, Fort Collins, Cheyenne. We’ve took a bit of time to hike through the Toadstoll Geological Park- beautiful hiking destination. We’ve crossed the border to South Dakota and visited the many sights along the way - Hot Springs in the Black Hills, Wind Cave NP, Jewel NP, Grazy Horse NP, Custer-State-Park – we were even able to spot some wild bison’s there. We’ve then continued our tour towards Sylvan lake along the panorama road -“Needles Highway”. This windy road leads to needles past the many pine forests along the way. Continuing further towards the Rushmore National Memorial. We then weren’t far away from rapid city or the city of the presidents where we took part of an impressive sightseeing tour where we got to see 43 bronze statues of all of the US former presidents. We took a quick detour to South Dakota before we continued towards the south towards the Badlands NP – a plateau with edged mountains, deep canyons and steep cliffs – impressive to look at. After we have left the Badlands, we continued towards Mitchell along the Highway 90. We visited the corn place with its special artefacts and paintings made out of corn. The next days are leading us back again towards the east towards Sioux Falls. We saw many sights here for example the Sioux Waterfalls, Old Courthouse etc We went shopping at Spirit lakes before continuing towards Minnesota. We also went shopping in the Bloomington Mall of America. We went for a city stroll in Minneapolis visiting the many parks near the Saint Anthony Falls and the Washburn A Mill. We have visited the cathedral of Saint Paul and the Minnesota State Capitol. We left Minnesota after Saint Paul and have crossed the border to WISCONSIN continuing towards Madison to see the State Capital. We have visited the famous Harley-Davidson-Museum in Milwaukee. We collected a number of Petoskey stones while strolling around north Michigan Lake. These stones are unique to this region. We are now continuing towards Chicago where we will spend a couple of days as well. We’ve done a bit of shopping and got to know about the skyscraper history. The first skyscrapers were built in the 80s and 90s. One of the most impressive ones is the trump tower directly at the Chicago River. The facade mirrors the Wrigley Building and the Chicago Tribune Tower. We then had to say bye to Chicago after a couple of days. We then continued towards Gary (INDIANA) and New Buffalo (Michigan). We have covered 3 states: Eck Michigan, Indiana and Ohio We now have to go back towards Indianapolis where the legendary race took place. We have also planned a visit to the Hall of Fame Museum before going back to Cincinnati. Going to the GIGA event: We have met many friendly cachers and we have talked about our mutual hobbies and our trip in and around Cincinnati. We have covered approx. 4000 miles and have experienced a lot. Everyone was very welcoming and helpful as well. Thank you to all the owners for placing and maintaining the caches. Best greetings from Bavaria Team sissifalke
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