Fieldtrips
Fall Field Trips are scheduled with your safety in mind! Here are the Covid 19 health safety rules for everyone:
To purchase a field trip (the fee is $5 per person), click on the button next to each field trip description. If purchasing for more than one, you can adjust the quantities in the shopping cart.
Please note: if you are not a member of the Club yet, you can sign up for one trip to see if you like what the Club offers. However if you decide you would like to attend more than one Club function, our bylaws require you to become a Club member. Fortunately annual memberships are very affordable. You can Join here.
- Drive yourself (or your "bubble" of friends and relations) to the field trip destination
- Gas up in your hometown, or wear gloves if you gas up elsewhere
- Pack your own water, snacks, hat, sunscreen, rain gear, tools, backpack; do not borrow others' belongings
- Pack your own lunch or plan to purchase take-out or patio dining at a town near the field trip site
- Maintain a social distance of 6 feet
- When you can't maintain a distance of 6 feet or when indoors, wear a mask
To purchase a field trip (the fee is $5 per person), click on the button next to each field trip description. If purchasing for more than one, you can adjust the quantities in the shopping cart.
Please note: if you are not a member of the Club yet, you can sign up for one trip to see if you like what the Club offers. However if you decide you would like to attend more than one Club function, our bylaws require you to become a Club member. Fortunately annual memberships are very affordable. You can Join here.
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SOLD OUT
Piedra River Blue Agate and Opal Hunt Saturday September 26, 11 am to 3 pm Leader - Nick Vogt This trip to the Piedra River will start by meeting at the south edge of the City Market parking lot (near McDonald's) in Pagosa Springs at 11 am on the last Saturday of September. From there we will caravan to the collection site to hunt for blue and blue-green agates, druzy quartz and common opal. This is not a strenuous hike and tools are not required. Instead we will mostly search for colorful minerals washed out from outcrops above. Bring wading shoes. This trip is led by our "extreme rock hunter" Nick Vogt. He will bring some of his colorful finds to show and to encourage your own rockhounding adventures. |
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San Juan River Agates and Hummingbird Canyon Hike
Saturday October 17, 11 am to 2 pm Leaders - Matt Torpy and Jama Crawford On this trip we will hunt for red, cream and moss agates in outcrops near the San Juan River. Those who wish may then proceed to Hummingbird Canyon for a one mile hike through sage to find colorful Navajo painted rock art and carvings. See if you can find the hidden hummingbird! Plan on some climbing. We will meet at the town of Navajo Dam or in the nearby riverfront park at 10 am. Final details will be sent to participants. Pack your own picnic lunch. |
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NEW TRIP
Cashin Mine near Montrose Saturday October 17, All day Trip Leaders - Fort Lewis College Geology Club On this all trip we will travel to the Cashin Mine in western Montrose County, Colorado. This closed copper mine and its tailings feature minerals such as Pyrite, Malachite, Azurite, Baryte and Cuprite. Because this site can include native copper, this is one trip where a metal detector is useful: bring one if you have one. The site is an example of fault lines in sedimentary rock that subsequently filled with copper bearing fluids. The trip sponsor is the Fort Lewis College Geology Club, which will admit up to 12 members of our Club. Parking is limited and therefore carpooling is recommended for the final four miles on dirt road to the mine. Please bring a mask for carpooling. Further details regarding time and meeting location will be announced to registered participants. For now, plan on an early start and an all day trip. Pack a picnic lunch and plenty of water. |
Cuprite, Barite image by Frank Karasti
Azurite/Malachite image by Frank Karasti
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If the beautiful fall weather holds, we are planning two trips in November to New Mexico and Arizona agate and quartz crystal locations. Please stay tuned for these announcements.
The following trip is an on-your-own exploration. No fee is involved.
Ah-Shi-Sle-Pah Wilderness Study Area
There are several compelling but rarely visited destinations to explore in northwest New Mexico, including Bisti, De-Na-Zin, and the Ah-Shi-Sle-Pah Wilderness Areas. The Ah-Shi-Sle-Pah Wilderness Study Area (WSA) discussed here is located in a sparsely inhabited high desert region, characterized by flat arid terrain and sandy washes. Prominent in this otherwise bleak landscape are highly eroded cliffs lining the valley walls, colorful badlands, hoodoos, balanced rocks, and other strange rock formations sculpted by the elements. As with the other Wilderness locations mentioned, petrified wood is abundant here, sometimes found in upright positions, sometimes with roots completely exposed. Bisti Wilderness to the north has many of the same geologic and fossil features.
Collecting is not permitted in this area.
Word of caution – Travel in this area can become treacherous during rain storms; travel is not advised if rain and high wind forecasts are posted. There is no cell phone coverage. Be sure someone knows where you were headed and when you are expected back.
Driving directions - From Bloomfield, NM, travel south on New Mexico State Highway 550 approximately 25-30 miles to the Blanco Trading Post (now closed, 2016). Turn right heading southwest on Road 57; the first 5 miles is paved but full of deep potholes and depressions, drive slow and take care in driving, deep potholes could rip your tires and demolish your suspension. The dirt road thereafter is in better condition, however be cautious after snow melt or rain storms and do not drive through washes if water crosses the road. Road 57 is the old north access route to Chaco Canyon which is now closed at the park boundary. The Ah-Shi-Sle-Pah Wilderness Study Area is approximately 13 miles from Highway 550 on the right side of the Road 57. Total driving time from Durango is 2.5 to 3 hours one way.
What to take - Camera, hat, wind breaker or rain jacket, lots of water and snacks, sun block.
Ah-Shi-Sle-Pah Wilderness Study Area
There are several compelling but rarely visited destinations to explore in northwest New Mexico, including Bisti, De-Na-Zin, and the Ah-Shi-Sle-Pah Wilderness Areas. The Ah-Shi-Sle-Pah Wilderness Study Area (WSA) discussed here is located in a sparsely inhabited high desert region, characterized by flat arid terrain and sandy washes. Prominent in this otherwise bleak landscape are highly eroded cliffs lining the valley walls, colorful badlands, hoodoos, balanced rocks, and other strange rock formations sculpted by the elements. As with the other Wilderness locations mentioned, petrified wood is abundant here, sometimes found in upright positions, sometimes with roots completely exposed. Bisti Wilderness to the north has many of the same geologic and fossil features.
Collecting is not permitted in this area.
Word of caution – Travel in this area can become treacherous during rain storms; travel is not advised if rain and high wind forecasts are posted. There is no cell phone coverage. Be sure someone knows where you were headed and when you are expected back.
Driving directions - From Bloomfield, NM, travel south on New Mexico State Highway 550 approximately 25-30 miles to the Blanco Trading Post (now closed, 2016). Turn right heading southwest on Road 57; the first 5 miles is paved but full of deep potholes and depressions, drive slow and take care in driving, deep potholes could rip your tires and demolish your suspension. The dirt road thereafter is in better condition, however be cautious after snow melt or rain storms and do not drive through washes if water crosses the road. Road 57 is the old north access route to Chaco Canyon which is now closed at the park boundary. The Ah-Shi-Sle-Pah Wilderness Study Area is approximately 13 miles from Highway 550 on the right side of the Road 57. Total driving time from Durango is 2.5 to 3 hours one way.
What to take - Camera, hat, wind breaker or rain jacket, lots of water and snacks, sun block.
Fossils/Rocks to Be Seen
These sandstone, mudstone, and shale layers from the Fruitland Formation are very colorful, from the brown-ochre tones of the badlands to yellow-orange rock formations and hoodoos, as well as light gray mud hills, charcoal colored badlands and occasional coal seams. Fossils include petrified wood and many animal fossils, including dinosaur bones and early mammals. Again, no collecting is allowed. During the Cretaceous Period, the San Juan Basin is believed to have been a beach/marsh complex resembling coastlines such as modern Louisiana or the Carolinas today, with land to the west and inland sea to the east. Palm wood is common throughout the San Juan Basin as are dinosaur fossils of both herbivore and carnivore species.
References
BLM Website - http://www.blm.gov/nm/st/en/prog/blm_special_areas/wilderness_and_wsas/wilderness_study_areas/wilderness_study_areas/Ah_shi_sle_pah_WSA.html (retrieved Sept 2016)
American Southwest Website - http://www.americansouthwest.net/new_mexico/ah-shi-sle-pah/ (retrieved Sept 2016)
Chaco Canyon 1:100,000 scale topo map
Google Earth 36 deg 10 min 29.33 sec North 107 deg 52 min 42.12 sec
Submitted by Tom Strain, Sept 2016
These sandstone, mudstone, and shale layers from the Fruitland Formation are very colorful, from the brown-ochre tones of the badlands to yellow-orange rock formations and hoodoos, as well as light gray mud hills, charcoal colored badlands and occasional coal seams. Fossils include petrified wood and many animal fossils, including dinosaur bones and early mammals. Again, no collecting is allowed. During the Cretaceous Period, the San Juan Basin is believed to have been a beach/marsh complex resembling coastlines such as modern Louisiana or the Carolinas today, with land to the west and inland sea to the east. Palm wood is common throughout the San Juan Basin as are dinosaur fossils of both herbivore and carnivore species.
References
BLM Website - http://www.blm.gov/nm/st/en/prog/blm_special_areas/wilderness_and_wsas/wilderness_study_areas/wilderness_study_areas/Ah_shi_sle_pah_WSA.html (retrieved Sept 2016)
American Southwest Website - http://www.americansouthwest.net/new_mexico/ah-shi-sle-pah/ (retrieved Sept 2016)
Chaco Canyon 1:100,000 scale topo map
Google Earth 36 deg 10 min 29.33 sec North 107 deg 52 min 42.12 sec
Submitted by Tom Strain, Sept 2016