Dinosaur Track Site

We started the day back at Goose Egg Mountain to go over our mapping from a few days ago. Nat had the honor of digging through surface sediments to find units, and that he did. And yes, we scaled to 400ft ridge of bentonite to get out...again. I must say it was much less unpleasant the second round through.

We spent lunch in Greybull, watching the homecoming parade and thrift shopping, where many picked up some priceless items. Ed took us to Dinosaur Track Site, where we tracked dinosaurs. Yep, real, extinct, dinosaurs. And we did it by marking their tracks with nothing less than Starbursts! It was pretty surreal to see actual footprints in the rocks where these creatures walked millions of years ago. It was a fun day, and the apparel made it even better.

Thermopolis

Today, Nat Warner brought us to Thermopolis, a regional hot spring in the southern Big Horn Basin. As for keeping up with our pushups, some of the guys tried some extreme group pushups to pass time at the gas station. When we got to Thermopolis, Nat walked us through permeability and porosity, complete with soil demos. We discussed groundwater flows and geothermal gradients in order to figure out why the spring happens where it does. Driving up the Wind River Canyon, we saw all the units the water flows down and through as it travels to its destination. After a long, hot day, we all got the chance to soak in the springs.

Mapping Goose Egg Mountain

So after a nice day of relaxation yesterday, we headed back into the field to do some more mapping. Today we traversed Egg Mountain, just north of Sheep Mountain. The terrain was quite a bit more challenging and the structures more complex, but it was really stimulating to discuss how the area was formed. Also, it was Patrick's 22nd birthday. Happy birthday Pat!

Mapping Sheep Mountain

For the last two days, we all set out from Iowa State's Field Station outside of Cody, Wyoming, to map an area called Sheep Mountain. We ventured into the field with just a compass and clipboard with some notes on the units. Part of the area is rich in bentonite, commonly mined for kitty litter, which looks like gray popcorn when it absorbs water. After long hours in the field, stepping over rattle snakes, lizards, and such, we colored our way to a beautiful geologic map of the area!

Drive to Bighorn Basin

We left Bozeman, MT, and our fond memories with Bob, to travel to the Bighorn Basin, where we will be spending the next week or so mapping and looking at the rock record there.

Next to rocks, music and fitness are essentials. With that in mind, we chipped in for a Stretch guitar that will travel with us and hopefully with Stretchies for years to come. After many hours in the vans, we decided to do pushups at every rest stop to keep in shape. We even got Ed and Nate to do them with us. We have a bit of "Stretch Cross-Fit" going on this year.

Now in a more arid environment, we are embracing the west. The red rocks, cacti, roaming cattle, and Johnny Cash jams all bring us into a mindset of cowboy Wyoming.

Change Day 1

Last night, the Stretchies and staff bonded while watching She's the Man in the cabin at the bottom of the hill. At this point, Nate Hamm and Ed Meyer joined us, as Bob will be leaving when we get to Bozeman. We woke up to a spectacular view overlooking the mountains outside St. Mary's, MT. And then we drove south.

Glacier National Park

The snow continued, but we were back in the States! We made our way up the path to Grinnell Glacier to go through the rock record. Rocks on rocks on rocks!