roxborough info and shopper's square-

It’s the last day of winter and Roxborough State Park is covered in a blanket of snow. Heavy wet snowflakes are falling and visibility is greatly reduced. The air is humid and low hanging clouds are embracing the rocks. There is no wind; this tranquil winter scene makes me look forward to a walk I signed up for a few weeks ago; to be specific, a geology walk. I am curious about the origins of Roxborough’s unique landscape.

I had called the Park about an hour earlier to see if the walk might be cancelled due to deteriorating weather conditions. I am delighted to hear that it’s still on.

Shortly before 2:00 PM I meet Peter Laux and his wife Lila at the visitors’ center. Peter Laux is a Geologist, he will be leading today’s group. Peter is a second year volunteer for the Park; he teaches geological history to Roxborough Park visitors. He is also actively involved with the Colorado Mountain Club and works on special assignments with the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. This is his fourth geological walk in the Park for this year.

I am surprised to hear him talk in my native language, German. Lila is fluent in it too. I find out that they lived in the northern German town of Stade for eight years, where Peter worked for a chemical company. Both share their memories and we laugh about the funny situations created by our cultural differences and the way language expresses them sometimes.

Peter and Lila also lived in Texas for some time, so did I; we have a lot in common, except the knowledge of geology, I don’t know much about it, but am eager to learn. I have heard lots of “rumors” about how the shredded looking red Roxborough rocks had developed. Today I am here to get an answer to my questions right from the experts.

Another participant for the geology walk arrives, Jill Parker from Red Rocks. Jill is very familiar with geology and its terms. She “got hooked” several years ago and developed it as her hobby. She is just as excited about the walk as I am, in spite of the heavy falling snow. There is one more surprise, Jill speaks German fluently too, she had been to Berlin for two years. Who would have thought that I am going to talk in German today?

It is 2:00 PM now and we realize that the wet weather and all the road warnings keep more people from coming to the Park to participate in the walk; many had cancelled due to the approaching storm.

Peter explains that the muddy trail conditions may prevent us from going to our destination in the Park, the South Rim. He points out that the soil in this area of the park is mostly hardened clay, called shale, and the melting snow had transformed it into a muddy mess, too dangerous to walk on.

We decide to get going as far as we can. Each of us grabs a walking stick, which the Park loans us for free. We stop at the big red boulder right outside the visitors’ center.

Peter points out the different “ingredients” in this, what he calls a sedimentary rock. Broken matter from diverse origins has formed this boulder; we find little pieces of granite and quartz in between these compressed layers of sand, which were once different layers of loose sand on the bottom of riverbeds. The small fragments of granite, quartz, etc., tell us where each layer originated. I learn that the red sandstone in Roxborough Park belongs to the oldest sedimentary layer that was formed from the ancestral Rockies, called the Fountain Formation; buried deep under our area’s surface in the form of a trough. The layer spreads almost horizontally in the center of the trough; protrudes, where it is pushed out of the ground due to opposing earth pressure from the mountains, forming almost vertical rock formations. It is interesting to notice that most Roxborough rocks are “leaning” at an angle of about 60 degrees. Oxidation of iron minerals is responsible for the bright red look of the rocks.

I learn about the existence of all kinds of different rocks here in Roxborough Park. Besides sedimentary rocks, like the one we are examining right now, there are igneous rocks that formed when molten matter solidified; there are metamorphic rocks, which have gone through a transformation of different stages according to environmental effects. There are sandstones and shales which divide Roxborough Park into distinctive parts. A younger shale, once on top of the Fountain Formation, now exposed towards the east of the Park, allows only modest vegetation.

We walk over to the South Rim Trail, across from the visitors’ center. It is made up of the same red sand and gravel as the Fountain Formation. Softened by the rain and snow of the last couple of days, all kinds of animal footprints are visible for us to inspect. We reach Douglas County road 5 and Peter points out the old barn to our left, the old Sundance Ranch, which is now unoccupied.

The weather is improving slightly, but the trail is very wet and Peter starts the trip back to the visitors’ center. Suddenly he alerts us about some special footprints in the red mud; a mountain lion must have crossed our path shortly behind us, the prints are fresh and were not there on the way out.

		Walk and Talk Geology by Angelika Koehne
	It’s the last day of winter and Roxborough State Park is covered in a blanket of snow. Heavy wet snowflakes are falling and visibility is greatly reduced. The air is humid and low hanging clouds are embracing the rocks. There is no wind; this tranquil winter scene makes me look forward to a walk I signed up for a few weeks ago; to be specific, a geology walk. I am curious about the origins of Roxborough’s unique landscape. I had called the Park about an hour earlier to see if the walk might be cancelled due to deteriorating weather conditions. I am delighted to hear that it’s still on. Shortly before 2:00 PM I meet Peter Laux and his wife Lila at the visitors’ center. Peter Laux is a Geologist, he will be leading today’s group. Peter is a second year volunteer for the Park; he teaches geological history to Roxborough Park visitors. He is also actively involved with the Colorado Mountain Club and works on special assignments with the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. This is his fourth geological walk in the Park for this year. I am surprised to hear him talk in my native language, German. Lila is fluent in it too. I find out that they lived in the northern German town of Stade for eight years, where Peter worked for a chemical company. Both share their memories and we laugh about the funny situations created by our cultural differences and the way language expresses them sometimes. Peter and Lila also lived in Texas for some time, so did I; we have a lot in common, except the knowledge of geology, I don’t know much about it, but am eager to learn. I have heard lots of “rumors” about how the shredded looking red Roxborough rocks had developed. Today I am here to get an answer to my questions right from the experts. Another participant for the geology walk arrives, Jill Parker from Red Rocks. Jill is very familiar with geology and its terms. She “got hooked” several years ago and developed it as her hobby. She is just as excited about the walk as I am, in spite of the heavy falling snow. There is one more surprise, Jill speaks German fluently too, she had been to Berlin for two years. Who would have thought that I am going to talk in German today? It is 2:00 PM now and we realize that the wet weather and all the road warnings keep more people from coming to the Park to participate in the walk; many had cancelled due to the approaching storm. Peter explains that the muddy trail conditions may prevent us from going to our destination in the Park, the South Rim. He points out that the soil in this area of the park is mostly hardened clay, called shale, and the melting snow had transformed it into a muddy mess, too dangerous to walk on. We decide to get going as far as we can. Each of us grabs a walking stick, which the Park loans us for free. We stop at the big red boulder right outside the visitors’ center. Peter points out the different “ingredients” in this, what he calls a sedimentary rock. Broken matter from diverse origins has formed this boulder; we find little pieces of granite and quartz in between these compressed layers of sand, which were once different layers of loose sand on the bottom of riverbeds. The small fragments of granite, quartz, etc., tell us where each layer originated. I learn that the red sandstone in Roxborough Park belongs to the oldest sedimentary layer that was formed from the ancestral Rockies, called the Fountain Formation; buried deep under our area’s surface in the form of a trough. The layer spreads almost horizontally in the center of the trough; protrudes, where it is pushed out of the ground due to opposing earth pressure from the mountains, forming almost vertical rock formations. It is interesting to notice that most Roxborough rocks are “leaning” at an angle of about 60 degrees. Oxidation of iron minerals is responsible for the bright red look of the rocks. I learn about the existence of all kinds of different rocks here in Roxborough Park. Besides sedimentary rocks, like the one we are examining right now, there are igneous rocks that formed when molten matter solidified; there are metamorphic rocks, which have gone through a transformation of different stages according to environmental effects. There are sandstones and shales which divide Roxborough Park into distinctive parts. A younger shale, once on top of the Fountain Formation, now exposed towards the east of the Park, allows only modest vegetation. We walk over to the South Rim Trail, across from the visitors’ center. It is made up of the same red sand and gravel as the Fountain Formation. Softened by the rain and snow of the last couple of days, all kinds of animal footprints are visible for us to inspect. We reach Douglas County road 5 and Peter points out the old barn to our left, the old Sundance Ranch, which is now unoccupied. The weather is improving slightly, but the trail is very wet and Peter starts the trip back to the visitors’ center. Suddenly he alerts us about some special footprints in the red mud; a mountain lion must have crossed our path shortly behind us, the prints are fresh and were not there on the way out. What a great experience, I will never again look at a rock the same way as before this educational walk. I gained even more appreciation for the striking beauty of this area, its age and the forces of nature. __________________________________________________________ Angelika Koehne

from left to right: Susan Dunn (sitting in front), Ray McCarthy, Jill Parker, Lila Laux and Geologist Peter Laux

...some special footprints in the red mud; a mountain lion must have crossed our path shortly behind us; the prints are fresh and were not there on the way out.