Thursday, June 30, 2011

Geo-RoadTrip 2011: The Fossil Cabin

Not far from Medicine Bow, WY, near the Como Bluff area, stands the fossil cabin! It was built and 1932 and claims to be made up of 5,796 different dinosaur fossils that were excavated nearby.



Here's a closer look at some of the fossils:


They also make the claim that Como Bluff is the "Geological Loction of Petrified Life"...whatever that means.


There is a house next to the cabin had some pretty big fossils on display out front but they also had a sign saying that they were gun owners and did not appreciate trespassers. So we got this quick shot and got right back on the road.


Video coming soon!



Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Geo-RoadTrip 2011: The Medicine Bow Museum

We made a stop in Medicine Bow, WY to see the Medicine Bow Museum but unfortunately it was closed at the time we got there so we had to make due with getting pictures of the outside:


Including this monument to local cattle ranchers and their brands:


There were also some monuments to author Owen Wister (author of The Virginian) who was known as the father of western fiction:


This Wister monument us made of petrified wood (which pleased the geologists in our group):


And just across the street is the historic Virginian Hotel, thought to be named after the novel Wister wrote in Medicine Bow.


Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Geo-Road Trip 2011: Shell Falls


Our next stop along the Bighorn Scenic Byway is the beautifully majestic Shell Falls:


The massive, raging waterfall pours over steeply pitched granite and into a flowing creek:


Here's one of the smaller falls that can be seen in the area:


It was a great location to take the EMI group picture:


Video coming soon!

Monday, June 27, 2011

Geo-Road Trip 2011: Red Gulch Dinosaur Tracksite

Today's stop is at the Red Gulch Dinosaur Tracksite near Shell, WY. They've got a nice little area to view some preserved dinosaur tracks:


One of the tracks of a three toed Theropod:


Devin gets a closer look at one of the dino footprints:


Another three-toed track:


As usual, video coming soon!

Sunday, June 26, 2011

Geo-RoadTrip 2011: Petroglyphs

We're still tooling around in the Big Horn Mountains at this point in the trip and we decided to check out one of Wyoming’s premier archaeological sites.

Here are some pictures of some of the petroglyphs (Native American rock carvings) that are found at Medicine Lodge Archaeological Site (they are easier to see if you click the pics for the larger image):





Video coming soon!

Saturday, June 25, 2011

Geo-RoadTrip 2011: The Bighorn Mountains

For the next road trip entry we've got several shots of the beautifully diverse and extremely photogenic Bighorn Mountains and Bighorn National Forest:





Video coming soon!

Friday, June 24, 2011

Geo-Road Trip 2011: Ayres Natural Bridge Park

Our next stop in Wyoming took us to the beautiful Ayres Natural Bridge Park. This area was close to the Oregon Trail and was one of Wyoming's first tourist attractions.


Devin gets a look at the bridge from the bottom:


And the top:


And here's a semi-out of focus shot of a sign there that explains a little about the park.


An old Indian legend says that a young brave was struck by lightning and killed on the bridge and that an evil spirit lives beneath. We didn't see any evil spirits...just other tourists.

Video coming soon!



Thursday, June 23, 2011

Geo-Road Trip 2011: World's Largest Jackalope

Our next stop on the Geo-Road Trip 2011 took us to what may or may not be the World's Largest Jackalope in Douglas, Wyoming:


There's always controversy surrounding anything that claims to be the World's Largest Something so I usually take it with a grain of salt. I think this one is slightly larger than the one I saw in South Dakota but can't be sure without seeing them side by side (which would be really cool).


The Jackalope sits next to the Douglas Chamber of Commerce and the Douglas Railroad Interpretive Center so here are some bonus train pictures:



And yet another bonus! Remember when we mentioned we were shooting a quick Food Field Review before we left on this trip? Of course you do.

Here it is: Devin takes on both the Tactical Sammich and the Candwich:


Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Geo-Road Trip 2011: Famous Formations

Our road trip took us to Nebraska next where we saw some historically significant rock formations. Rock formations like these were often used by pioneers, trappers and travelers to help navigate the the difficult journey across the west.

Here's Court House Rock & Jail Rock (sorry that they are so small in the frame. They were really far away from the road!):


And some information about them:



Next is Chimney Rock:


And its historical marker:


Which was next to monuments commemorating the Oregon Trail:


And the Pony Express:


Tomorrow the journey continues with more pictures from the trip!

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Geo-RoadTrip 2011: The Sternberg Museum

One of the first stops on the historic Geo-RoadTrip 2011 was at the Sternberg Museum on the campus of Fort Hays State University in Hays, KS. We were very impressed by the place and definitely recommend it. Here are some pictures:


Devin checks out one of the "Terrors of the Deep."


They've got a multitude of giant dinosaurs on display (and some of them move which is very surprising).


One of the museum's big claim to fame is the "Fish-Within-A-Fish" fossil.


I'm always a sucker for a good fluorescent rock display!


Devin checks out yet another sea creature (he loves 'em)!

Thanks to Fort Hays State University for putting together some great exhibits! Check out the museum online:

http://sternberg.fhsu.edu/

(Video coming soon!)

Thursday, June 16, 2011