Lake Powell

June 25, 2011

The next place we camped was at Capitol Reef. I think this was by far my favorite place. I’m not sure if that is because I actually started feeling better or because I really like the campground. We did have running water but we didn’t have a shower. So that means we had flush toilets, sinks, and a spigot for potable water. The campground there was a really nice set up. There was a lazy stream nearby were we could swim and about a 5 minute drive took us to a place where there was a waterfall and stream to swim in.

More about Capitol  Reef itself later……

On the drive to the Capitol Reef campground we saw some amazing sights. The first of which was Lake Powell. Here are some photos.

Laura's "Thelma and Louise" look

Don’t worry. Laura didn’t drive off the cliff like Thelma did in the movie. I would not allow that to happen.

Lake Powell, Utah

When we almost reached Capitol Reef, we saw some amazing formations that looked like another planet. This otherworldly landscape is mostly devoid of vegetation. The gray color you see is from the Mancos Shale Formation from the Cretaceous Period.

Green River Desert

Here is a graphic that shows the evolution of the Capitol Reef and Green Desert area. The Mancos Shale formations are on the right hand side. 

The entire publication where I found the above graphic can be found here: http://www.nature.nps.gov/geology/education/Foos/capitol.pdf

The next day we went out to the Green River Desert to look for fossils. It was very hot that day. In fact, it was 105 degrees Fahrenheit IN THE SHADE!!!

Here is a photo of the group fossil hunting.

Looking For Fossils

The type of fossils we found there are called Gyphaea. They are commonly called “Devil’s Toenails” I guess because they do sort of look like a toenail that hasn’t seen the inside of a nail salon for millions of years. This fossil is a genus of extinct oysters that lived in a shallow sea environment.

Here is a picture of what they look like.

Gryphaea (courtesy of Ohio State)