Big Horn Mountains

At the Deer Park Campground we were able to sleep in a bit before we headed to the hotel. On the way there we made several stops to enjoy the views and learn about the geology along our route.

The first stop was on the side of Route 16, about ten miles west of Buffalo. Here we were able to see and discuss an exposed thrust formation that was created in the Laramide Orogeny. This formation essentially flips the rock units upside down, so the oldest rocks are on top and the youngest are on the bottom, like an inverted layer cake. We were able to see each layer due to the blasting for the building of Route 16. 

As we continued on towards Riverton we stopped to take pictures of the Big Horn Mountains, and to have a quick lunch of sandwhiches and/or wraps. Before our last geologic stop before the hotel we made a stop in the mountains where several of us began a snowball fight. We also stopped at a hot springs where we all enjoyed a twenty minute mineral soak. Our last stop if the day was at Owl Creek where a major fault was visible.

“Geology gave us the immensity of time and taught us how little of it our own species has occupied"- Stephen Jay Gould.