I am perched on a ledge at 7,000 feet on the underside of a cliff. There is an ancient cliff dwelling directly in front of me. My hands are touching it. It feels firm, architecturally secure, almost like it was constructed in modern times. I would not guess it dates back to the 12th century. [...]
Archive for May, 2006
Exploring An Ancient Tree House
Posted in Culture on May 11, 2006 | Leave a Comment »
“Take only photographs, Leave only footprints”- Only You Have to Be Even More Careful On The Colorado Plateau, In Watching Where You Walk!
Posted in Conservation on May 10, 2006 | Leave a Comment »
Low impact trekking wasn’t my primary learning objective for the Plymouth State University students accompanying me on a travel study course to the Four Corners region of the U.S. However, as an environmental educator, treading lightly and responsibly is certainly an important message I want to convey to others. The Bioregional Outdoor Education Project staff [...]
First Impressions of Arches National Park
Posted in Geology on May 10, 2006 | 1 Comment »
Driving down US 191, just north of Moab (the largest town in southeast Utah), red arches of Entrada sandstone began to emerge in the distance. The sun was midway over the red sandstone cliffs along the northern edge of Moab. It was 8:00 am and music was blasting on the rental Suburban stereo as our [...]
Wondering About the Varying Sizes of Native American Reservations in the Four Corners Region
Posted in Culture on May 5, 2006 | Leave a Comment »
Having lived in Arizona, I certainly was familiar with the relative large size of the Navajo Reservation (27,000 square miles- the largest Native American Reservation in the U.S.) compared to the much smaller Hopi Reservation (6000 square miles). However, I knew virtually nothing about the Ute Reservations until visiting the Four Corners Outdoor School. We drove by signs [...]
Sleeping Ute, Sacred Ute!
Posted in Culture on May 5, 2006 | Leave a Comment »
Standing outside at the Four Corners Outdoor School base camp outside of Monticello, UT, one can see the Sleeping Ute off in the distance. The Sleeping Ute mountain range resembles a person laying down. Features that can be made out are a head, arms crossed over the chest, hips and legs. Ute legend tells of [...]
Treasuring Butler Wash Petroglyphs
Posted in Culture on May 4, 2006 | Leave a Comment »
One of the neatest parts of the Four Corners trip was seeing the petroglyphs at Butler Wash. Butler Wash is a side canyon off of the San Juan River, whose cliff faces are covered in petroglyphs. The panel which we stopped at is perhaps the most famous of these petroglyphs and can only be reached [...]
Research and Reflections on Visiting Arches for the first time
Posted in Geology on May 3, 2006 | 1 Comment »
Arches National Park is 76,519 acres or 119 square miles long and lies in Utah. The park lies atop underground salt beds; basically a sea flowed into the region and eventually evaporated leaving behind the salt. The salt bed was eventually covered with an ocean that deposited sediments that accumulated and compressed to form sediemtnary [...]
Animal Encounters on the Four Corners trip by Alyssa Langley (edited by MaryAnn McGarry)
Posted in Biology on May 2, 2006 | 1 Comment »
One of the main things I was looking forward to on this trip was encountering the wildlife of the West. I thought it would be neat to experience different animals than we have in the East, as well as see if there were any differences between animals of the same species from the East and [...]
