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GCMQ8J
Mines Geology Trail EarthcacheType: Earth | Size: Not chosen 
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| Terrain:  By: mtnbirders (via Earthcache Master) @ | Hide Date: 02/07/2005 | Status: Available Country: United States | State: Colorado Coordinates: N39° 45.094 W105° 13.569 | Last updated: 08/30/2019 | Fav points: 32 This Earthcache is located in Golden, Colorado on the Colorado School of Mines Campus. The 5 stops on this cache are less than 1 mile round trip, on mostly-paved or flat surfaces, and are rated a 1 for terrain. Stop 2, fossil locality, is the only reason for the 1.5 terrain since it is a short walk off trail. The coordinates above are for the Colorado School of Mines Geology Museum. The Museum is free, and the hours are Monday - Saturday 9am to 4pm and Sunday 1pm to 4pm. The trail does not close and can be accessed off hours, but since it is located on campus please use discretion. To receive the full enjoyment of the cache, we recommend doing this cache during daylight hours. Stop in at the Museum first to obtain a fascinating pamphlet to accompany this Earth-Cache entitled "Lessons from the Mines Geology Trail." The Mines Geology Trail continues for 3 additional stops not included in this EarthCache, but is also very interesting. These stops are described in the brochure "Mines Geology Trail" available at the Museum. After touring the Museum, proceed to Stop 2 - fossil locality - located at N 39 44.958 W105 13.569 . The vertical rock wall to the east is a sandstone formation (the Laramie Formation) that used to be horizontal. Extensive faulting that occurred at the time the mountains to the West were formed caused the layers to be tilted to almost vertical. Picture the area you are standing on millions of years ago when it was flat. You would be standing in mud, leaving footprint impressions just as the dinosaurs did. There also could have been downed trees lying in the mud around you. Later, sand was deposited on top of the tracks left, and the logs were also buried. Millions of years later, after being tilted to near vertical, the softer layer of earth created from the mud has eroded away, leaving the harder sandstone layer and preserving the tracks of the dinosaurs, seen as bumps, and the impressions of the logs, seen as long indentations in the rock. By looking carefully you can also see fossils of palm fronds and leaf imprints. Use the pictures and diagrams in the brochure, and the signs on the wall to align your location, and to locate the various fossils and faults. Stop 3 - Mined Clay and Environments - is located at N39 45.006 W105 13.572. By the use of the fossils and coals found here, this stop teaches us what the earth was like when these rocks were deposited, and is important for understanding how economic products, like clay and coal, were formed. Beginning in the late 1800's, there were mines in the area for clay and coal, read more from the trail pamphlets. Proceed north to Stop 4 - End of Ridge - at N39 45.031 W105 13.633. Here you can see where a fault has occurred in the rocks to the south. Although it is now mostly covered by the parking lot, you can see how the resistant sandstone wall of the Laramie Formation comes to an abrupt end. It has been faulted at this point, so that on the far side (south side) is the sandstone rock wall of the Laramie, and on the close side (north side) is the softer Pierre shale that has been eroded away. Stop 5 to the north -Rock Garden- located at N39 45.063 W105 13.667, is a chronological history, in rock, of the Colorado Front Range, and other rocks of Colorado. Each rock type has distinctive properties, and is named for the area where it can be found. Take time to look in the distance at various examples of geology that can be seen from here. Three types of rock, Metamorphic (rocks that have been altered by heat or pressure), Igneous (rocks created by lava flows), and Sedimentary (rocks laid down in layers of sediment) can be seen from here. The mountains to the west are very old, hard Metamorphic rock, the Table Mountains to east are capped by hard igneous rocks from lava flows that occurred about 64 million years ago, and the area where you are standing is composed of softer sedimentary rocks that have eroded over time to create this valley. Now enjoy the various types of rocks that have been collected and laid out here. Search out the State Rock. To claim this cache, please e-mail to mtnbirders@yahoo.com the name of the State Rock, and its neighbor to the west. Include in your e-mail a description of your favorite rock. Unless you are continuing along the rest of the Mines Geology Trail, please retrace your route back to the Geology Museum. I would like to give special thanks to Dr. Robert Weimer, Professor Emeritus, for setting up this trail, and Linda G. Martin who assisted on the computer graphics for brochure, and to Dr. Murray Hitzman, Head of the CSM Geology Department and Paul Bartos, Curator of the Geology Museum, for graciously allowing us to post the Mines Geology Trail as an Earthcache on Geocaching.com. Your efforts to teach others about the geology of this grand planet we live on are inspiring. 
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19 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  Photo
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