G Camp Day 3

Wow! Today was a busy day! We left Vernon, TX at 7 am and started our route to Trinidad, CO. On our way there we saw a small windmill farm and I managed to get a few pictures from the bus, so don't mind the glare.

We still had a few lectures to cover so Rick went over some information on Igneous Rocks and Environments. I thought I would show you how our "Lecture on Wheels" sessions go. :) 

Along the way we saw "Rabbits Ear Peak" which has an interesting story. Short version: Settlers from Oklahoma would use that to gauge their distance to Texas. Apparently, if you go to the backside of the peak you can see wagon wheel ridges still in the ground. The "mountains" we saw today are actually a result of volcano activity, which I thought was pretty cool. I always think of volcanoes in the ring of fire, not in the middle of the continental US.

Here is Mount Capulin Volcano. I climbed to the top, walked the rim and climbed into the bottom!! Holy Cow! I got some exercise today. Capulin is a cinder cone and has not erupted in 30,000 years. However, you can still see the rocks that resulted from the eruption and see the lava flows, which are VERY cool! So, we asked the park ranger which way to take and she suggested to go to the left. She said it was a steep walk up but an easy walk down. Man! She was not kidding. I never felt so nauseous from walking in my life! I'm sure the altitude change didn't help much. 

I finally made it to the top!! It was so amazing to see all of Earth around me and the amazing land forms, volcanic flows, critters and butterflies.... HUGE butterflies. They wouldn't stay still long enough for me to get a good picture, which made me sad but I managed. I couldn't get a picture of the butterflies, but at the top of the mountain there were tree trunks and branches COVERED in ladybugs! It was unbelievable!
On my Picture a day blog, I will display another one of my favorite pictures from today. Hint: It has to do with ladybugs!

Here I am with some Scoria (I think), a type of Volcanic rock. This rock was all over the place, around the rim, inside, and throughout the surrounding area. I even have a few pieces that we picked up (not in the National Park) for my own collection.

I just thought this was a fun picture for you. Cristina and I never stayed on the trail. We did whatever we had to do to get the perfect picture. At this point we were traveling down the volcano so I was feeling good. :) After Capulin, we traveled about 10 miles further to the K-T Boundary. At this area you can see the difference in rock from the Cretaceous period and the Tertiary period. It marks the end of the Mesozoic and beginning of the Cenozoic, which is associated with the mass extinction event that wiped out the dinosaurs, which is why we have the black layer between. 
Here is a picture of the Boundary and the black part is actually coal. The rocks on top are younger and progress to older rocks. The black rock is considered the Tertiary period.

This picture displays cross sectional cuts. I will tell you more about this later! I hope you are enjoying the blog as much as I am enjoying G Camp. My random "fact" that I learned today is that we should not say that Earth or any part of it behaves a certain way because this is Geology... not Psychology. We should say it responds. Everything that happens has a scientific explanation. I have a lot of reading so I am going to get to that before I fall asleep. Feel free to leave comments!!