Hiking Colorado's Geology

Front Cover
The Mountaineers Books, 2000 - Travel - 239 pages
Fun, easy-to-use guides to hiking and understanding the dramatic geologic formations of these regions.
 

Contents

Introduction
13
COLORADOS GEOLOGIC LANDSCAPES
14
THE COLORADO PLATEAU
15
THE HIGH PLAINS
16
THE STORY OF THE LANDSCAPE
17
IGNEOUS ROCKS
18
METAMORPHIC ROCKS
21
SEDIMENTARY ROCKS
22
THE SANGRE DE CRISTO RANGE
125
WILLOW LAKE Glaciated Crestone Conglomerate
126
LILY LAKE Glaciated Basement Rocks
128
DEVILS CAUSEWAY Bridge of Basalt
132
HANGING LAKE A Travertine Oasis
134
THE ELK MOUNTAINS
138
MAROON BELLS Colorados Most Photographed Peaks
140
CATHEDRAL LAKE Towers of Baked Ancestral Rockies Sedimentary Rocks
143

SEDIMENTARY STRUCTURES
25
GEOLOGIC STRUCTURESFAULTS FOLDS AND FRACTURES
26
PLATE TECTONICSCONTINENTS ON THE MOVE
29
PREPARING TO HIKE THE GEOLOGY
31
TOPOGRAPHIC AND GEOLOGIC MAPS
32
COLORADOS ROCKY MOUNTAINS
35
THE FRONT RANGE
44
GREYROCK MOUNTAIN Margin of a Granitic Intrusion
49
LAKE AGNES AND NOKHU CRAGS Fallout of a Granitic Intrusion
52
LITTLE YELLOWSTONE CANYON Headwaters of the Colorado River
55
GLACIER GORGE An Ice Age Quarry in Rocky Mountain National Park
58
CHASM LAKE Glacial Reflections
60
ARAPAHO GLACIER Colorados Largest Glacier
63
CHICAGO LAKES The Mount Evans Batholith
66
ROCK CREEK TRAIL Smooth Granitic Summits
69
THE CRAGS Pikes Peaks Spiny West Side
72
PETRIFIED FOREST TRAIL Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument
75
GREENHORN MOUNTAIN Volcanic Rocks Preserve the Rocky Mountain Surface
78
DINOSAUR RIDGE The Dinosaur Freeway
84
FOUNTAIN VALLEY Rocky Mountain Trap Door Shards
87
GARDEN OF THE GODS Pikes Peak Trap Door
89
THE PARK AND GORE RANGES
93
HAHNS PEAK Eroded Core of a Tertiary Volcano
95
FISH CREEK CANYON A Glaciated Hanging Valley
98
RABBIT EARS PEAK Eroded Flows of Volcanic Rock
100
BOOTH FALLS Cascades along the Gore Fault
103
THE SAWATCH AND MOSQUITO RANGES
106
MOUNT ELBERT The Top of Colorado
108
ASPEN GROTTOS An Ice Age Cavern
111
HORSESHOE CIRQUE Sedimentary Layers Line an Alpine Cirque
113
THE RIO GRANDE RIFT
117
CHALK CLIFFS White Cliffs Flag a Geothermal Area
119
GREAT SAND DUNES NATIONAL MONUMENT Giant WindBlown Dunes
122
THE SAN JUAN MOUNTAINS
146
WEST ELK MOUNTAINS Castles of Breccia
150
CONTINENTAL DIVIDE Meeting of the Headwaters and the Grenadier Range
152
BLUE LAKES PASS The Mount Sneffels Intrusion
155
BOX CANYON FALLS The Ouray Fault and an Angular Unconformity
158
WHEELER GEOLOGIC AREA Moonscape of Volcanic Tuff
160
SLUMGULLION LANDSLIDE Geology in Action
163
WEST FORK SAN JUAN RIVER Soak in a Geothermal Pool
166
THE COLORADO PLATEAU
169
COLORADOS CANYON COUNTRY
170
KNIFE EDGE TRAIL Mesa Verde National Park
175
SAND CANYON Cliff Dwellings in Jurassic Strata
178
DOLORES RIVER CANYON Salt Tectonics and Red Rock
182
UNAWEEP CANYON An Ancient River Channel and the Great Unconformity
185
RATTLESNAKE CANYON Sandstone Arches
189
MONUMENT CANYON Sandstone Monuments and the Great Unconformity
192
NORTH VISTA TRAIL Black Canyon of the Gunnison
194
CRAG CREST Grand Mesas Basalt Backbone
197
TRAIL THROUGH TIME Dinosaur Graveyard
200
HARPERS CORNER BirdsEye View of Faults and Folds
203
THE HIGH PLAINS
207
COLORADOS HIGH PLAINS
208
PAWNEE BUTTES Sedimentary Buttes Rise Above the High Plains
211
CASTLEWOOD CANYON A Conglomeration of Castle Rock Conglomerate
214
WEST SPANISH PEAK Igneous Rocks Pierce the High Plains
217
DINOSAUR LAKE Dinosaur Tracks in Picket Wire Canyonlands
219
Glossary
223
Recommended Reading
228
Key References
230
Geologic Maps
233
Addresses and Contact Information
236
Index
238
Copyright

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About the author (2000)

RALPH HOPKINS is a naturalist, photographer, expedition leader, and owner of a photography business in New Mexico.

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