Spring Break 2000 Trip Itinerary

 

Friday March 10

Travel:  Leave MSU at 6:00 am. Travel through southwester North Dakota, northwestern South Dakota, west and south through Wyoming to Casper, arriving at approximately 6:00 pm MST.  (653 miles)

Highlights:  southwestern North Dakota, Black Hills, Rocky Mt. front range

Lodging:  Sunset Motel in Rawlins, WY

 

Saturday March 11

Travel:  Leave Casper at 6 am (maybe), travel southwest, west, then south into Utah to Dinosaur National Monument, arriving at approximately 1:00 pm. Spend the rest of the afternoon at the park. Travel west to Duschesne.  (426 miles)

Highlights:  Rocky Mts. of Wyoming, Flaming Gorge Nat. Rec. Area, Dinosaur Nat’l Monument (dinosaur fossils of the Jurassic Morrison Fm; fossil excavation techniques; etc..)

Camp:  Starvation State Park, Duschesne

 

Sunday March 12

Travel:  Leave Duschesne at 8:00 am, travel west to Salt Lake City, then south to Zion National Park, arriving at approximately 6:00 pm.  (410 miles)

Highlights:  Thrust Belt: Wasatch Fault and other structures, Great Salt Lake (evaporite formation, beach processes)

Camp:  South Campground, Zion National Park

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Monday March 13

Travel:  Spend some time in Zion National Park, leaving at 4 pm. Travel southwest to Las Vegas, then to Lake Mead Recreation Area (155 miles); spend some time in the evening in Las Vegas (185 miles).

Highlights:  Zion National Park: depositional environments and sedimentary structures of Mesozoic strata (Triassic Moenkopi Fm to the Cretaceous sands and shales); structural control on geomorphology, St. George Basin, Virgin River Gorge and/or Beaver Dam Mts.:  boundary between the Colorado Plateau and the Great Basin in northwestern Arizona

Lodging:  Motel 6 in Las Vegas (Motel 6 Tropicana)

 

Tuesday March 14

Travel:  Spend some time at Lake Mead and Hoover Dam; travel southeast and east to Williams, AZ, then north to the Grand Canyon National Park (234 miles).

Highlights:  Upper Lake Mead Area:  mouth of the Grand Canyon; edge of the Colorado Plateau, transition to Basin and Range province; interior basin deposits of the Miocene Muddy Creek Fm; time and manner of the development of the Colorado River and the Grand Canyon.

Camp:  Mather Campground, Grand Canyon National Park (south rim)

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Wednesday March 15

Hike:  Take West Rim Road to Hermits Rest (8 miles); Hike down Hermit, Tonto, and Monument Creek trails to the Colorado River.

Highlights:  Grand Canyon geology along the Hermit Trail; stratigraphy of the Grand Canyon; sedimentary structures and environments of deposition; evolution of the Colorado Plateau; etc...

Camp:  Granite Rapids Campground

 

Thursday March 16

Hike:  Spend some time at the Colorado River; hike up Monument Trail to the campground.

Camp:  Monument Creek Campground

 

Friday March 17

Travel:  Hike out the Tonto and Hermit trails; return to Grand Canyon Village (8 miles).

Highlights:  Reaching the top!

Camp:  Mather Campground, in the Grand Canyon N.P. (south rim)

 

Saturday March 18

Sunday March 19

Travel:  Perhaps a quick stop along the south rim on our way out of Grand Canyon N.P.; Travel south to Flagstaff area and visit Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument, east to Petrified Forest National Park and Albuquerque, then north through Denver, Cheyene, then Hwy 85 through the Black Hills and into North Dakota. Arrive home most likely Sunday evening (1,627 miles).

Highlights:  SP Mt. Cinder Cone (San Fransisco volcanic field); Sunset Crater National Monument; San Fransisco Mt.; Petrified Forest Nat’l Park; Quaternary Basalt Field, West-Central NM; Zuni Salt Lake.

Camp:  No... driving through the night.

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