Blogs from Colorado, United States, North America

The Late Jurassic age Mygatt-Moore Quarry is located in the middle Brushy Basin Member of the Morrison Formation. Located in western Colorado, this quarry has been worked since the early 1980s, producing a large sample of fossil vertebrate material consisting mostly of dinosaurs. For this study, 796 identifiable bones were counted from the Museum of Western Colorado's collections with the goal of characterizing the vertebrate fauna from this site for the first time. The bone sample consists of 50% sauropod bones and 30% theropod. A minimum number of 21 individual dinosaurs are represented. The most abundant taxon at the quarry is the theropod Allosaurus (29%), which is represented by 233 skeletal elements indicating a minimum of 6 individuals (5 adults, 1 juvenile); in addition, more than 190 mostly shed teeth of Allosaurus have been recovered from ... read more

For a state primarily known for its production of gold and silver, Colorado also was a coal producer. Crested Butte was the site. On January 24, 1884, a tremendous blast shook the town as if an earthquake of monumental proportions had happened. The residents, of course, knew exactly what had occurred. Rescuers brought to the surface 59 bodies after thirty-six hours of grueling effort. The town also had another problem. Avalanches. Located at the 9,000 foot level and on the side of the mountain, avalanches were a constant fear. In February of 1891, an avalanche wiped out almost the entire camp complex at the coal mine with the loss of a number of people including women and children. Crested Butte survived as a coal-mining town until train locomotives started using diesel fuel. The end of Crested ... read more

The Independence Pass corridor was probably once a summer hunting ground for primitive man in prehistoric times. In more recent times, the Ute Indian people inhabited the Roaring Fork Valley and undoubtedly roamed the Pass and surrounding peaks and valleys in the course of their seasonal travels and hunting trips. Such sites as the Ice Caves near the Grottoes recreation site may even as served as primitive refrigerators for the preservation of food. As white settlers began moving into the Colorado Mountains during the mid-1800's the Utes were gradually forced onto reservations and were finally removed from the western slope in the 1880's after the Meeker Massacre. In 1873 the Roaring Fork Valley was first surveyed by the Hayden Geological Survey and was praised in the Survey Report for its great mineral potential. In 1879 the ... read more

Early start today, we need to have our cases outside the room by 06:00!! And are to meet the rest of the group in reception at 07:00 We get up at 05:00 and finish off our packing, get the cases outside the room and go down for breakfast at 06:00. The hotel has put on a special buffet breakfast for us for $18:00 After breakfast we head to reception to find that the train has been delayed by an hour, so we wait around catching up on the newspapers. We eventually get onto the coach and are taken to the “makeshift” railway station where we have another short wait; we stand outdoors to get some of the early morning sunshine. We board the train at around 09:30 and leave around 10:00. Just after leaving and getting ... read more