Transcription of images can be found at the bottom of the page. For a blog post based on these journal entries with a bit more thought put into phrasing and coherency, also lots of photos, please click here (er… don’t click there yet. There’s nothing to see there. I have good intentions, but I’m going to post this now anyway because it’s already five months late and the regular blog post isn’t finished yet. Maybe someday!)
Transcription of text from above photographs of hand-written journal pages:
Sunday May 1 and Monday May 2, 2022
DINOSAUR NATIONAL MONUMENT
Approaching from afar, I could already tell I would be a fan of this park. Split-Top Mountain appeared, jutting out of the otherwise dark-green ridge like a massive scar.
90% of visitors, we were told at the Visitors center, come to see the dinosaur quarry and then go home, but we completely skipped the quarry on our first day because I wanted to go check out those rocks.
“Dinosaur NM?” How about “Great Rocks NM?”
We decided on the Sound of Silence and Desert Voices double loop trails, which the ranger we talked to described as “geology forward.”
The formation of the Rocky Mountains 50 million years ago squeezed and bent all the rocks out here, causing previously horizontal layers to turn on their sides, providing geologists with a wet-dream of a geologic library. We hiked mainly through The Mesozoic layers, winding our way through mazes of Carmel formations that had a lot in common with the Badlands at home, and clambering up towering ancient sand dunes of the Nugget formation. I’ve gotten to love these crazy dune rocks so much, it’s almost impossible for me to believe that only a year ago I’d never seen one.
A lovely Storm lurked out on the horizon from our view atop the tallest dune. (MUCH easier to climb still sand) so we decided to get a move on.
We camped for the night at the Green River Campground, which was not an especially magical place on its own merits. Summers must turn it into a 200, but at least it was fairly uncrowded here at the beginning of May. We did have an excellent view of Split-Top Mountain from our picnic table, and that is a view worth. the otherwise uninspiring campground surroundings.
In the morning we headed to the Dinosaur Quarry. As soon as we stepped into the building, which was super cool on its own- I knew all my tiny nephews would be so into this place (maybe the big nephews, too, they just don’t talk about dinosaurs so much any more). The quarry preserves the excavation layer of Morrison Formation Sandstone, showing all the uncovered bones still half-embedded in the stone, exactly how and where they were found. No more excavation is being done here. The bones are simply there, in situ, to draw your eye along a diplodocus spine, or let you feel the ancient textures of a stegosaurus femur. More than 1,500 bones are visible, from (maybe?) eleven different species.
In between rocks and dinosaurs, we also made a few stops to explore the human history in the area. This part of Utah was frequented by indigenous people associated with the Fremont culture, which we encountered on several of our stops in this part of the country last year. The rock art they created is fantastic, and here in particular can be. found a few found images anywhere else, namely, these incredibly excellent lizards. The one from this photo is surprisingly large in real life – Six feet? And looks just like he’s not feet long, maybe? Scampering up the wall. There are many images familiar from other sites were visited, including dudes wearing very cool hats, and lots of antelope. Also, an antelopepepepepe, which I can only assume is the correct name for this magnificent beastie.
Thither & Yon 