2017 Grand Canyon Gallery
GEOL 290 Regional Geology Trip
The GEOL 290 Regional Geology class offered this spring took its field trip March 8-18. Myself and five students made the trip to the Colorado Plateau, Basin and Range, and Snake River Plain provinces. The notable stops along the way included the Powder River Basin, Flaming Gorge, Dinosaur National Monument, Arches National Park, Goosenecks State Park, Monument Valley, Grand Canyon National Park, Zion National Park, Great Salt Lake, Shoshone Falls, and Craters of the Moon National Monument. A highlight of the trip was a three-day, two-night backcountry hike into the Grand Canyon. We hiked down the South Kaibab Trail to camp at the Bright Angel Campground along (near) the Colorado River, near Phantom Ranch. The second day involved a hike part way up the Bright Angel Trail to camp at Indian Gardens. The third day was the hike out, going the rest of the way up the Bright Angel Trail. In all, the hike was a little more than 16 miles. I think everyone would agree that it was a challenging but very rewarding experience. Throughout the trip, we had great weather – above average temperatures throughout (at least once we got away from North Dakota). We also saw evidence of snowmelt from a good snowpack in the mountains – something that has been much needed out west.
John Webster
