Moominmama's Adventures: High and Low Elevation

 


In which Moominmama learns about the fossil record of Fruita, Colorado, and what a difference a little elevation can make...

The town of Fruita, Colorado, is home to a unique collection of dinosaur and other Jurassic era fossils. So much so that the small city has selected a "town dinosaur" (Ceratosaurus), and several other species are named in its honor: Fruitadens, Fruitachampsa (related to crocodiles) and Fruitafossor (a small rodent-like mammal.)

Still a region of active research by paleontologists, Fruita is home to the Fruita Paleo Area, a one-half square mile spot of rock, once a river bed, where an astonishing number of finds were uncovered in the 1970s, including the chicken-sized Fruitadens, modeled at left, dating back roughly 152 million years. 

Other finds include, but are not limited to: footprints, eggshells and burrows, 10 types of early mammals, a pterosaur flying reptile, two theropod dinosaurs (Ceratosaurus and Allosaurus), two sauropod dinosaurs (Apatosaurus and Camarasaurus) and three ornisthichian dinosaurs (Dryosaurus, Fruitadens and Stegosaurus).

As a result, the community has gone all-in on dinosaurs and with a sense of humor in its public art. This town is not just known for its fossils but also for mountain biking so the photo above just captures the town perfectly. The city has chosen a "town dinosaur," the T. Rex-sized Ceratosaurus seen here -- capable of eating the Colorado State dinosaur, the Stegosaurus. And I thought folks just chose state birds.

One can now hike a loop around the Fruita Paleo Area and find placards that show you where key finds were uncovered, including the Ceratosaurus skull. 

After a week in Fruita, Moominmama moved just a bit east to enjoy a spot in a riverside park at the foot of the Grand Mesa. The Island Acres section of the James M. Robb Colorado River State Park turned out to have a clear and cold pond. So on a hot day shortly after arrival, Moominmama took to the water for a swim! The West Coast heat wave had penetrated western Colorado and brought temperatures into the 80°s.

It has moderated since then fortunately, making for more comfortable hiking near the base of the Grand Mesa, one of the largest flat-topped mountains in the world, reaching over 11,000 feet. This trail is the Lower Palisade Rim Trail near Palisade, Colorado.

Yesterday, Moominmama finally packed a lunch and drove 6,000 feet up to the top of the mesa, which towers over Palisade and the other towns in the valley. Called by the Ute "Thingunawat," it was home to the thunder birds, who could shoot lightning from their eyes and shake the mountain with their thunder. 

I could see the snow from below, so I had my spikes and my skis with me. I figured I'd stop at the visitor center and get some recommendations for hiking or skiing. But the visitor center was half buried in snow and not yet staffed! Still, someone had gone to the trouble of plowing a path to the porch, which provided access to restrooms, a welcome discovery.

The welcome center is at 10,225 feet of elevation and near a set of lakes that draws visitors in July and August. As it was, Moominmama was able to strap on her skis and follow a snowmobile trail alongside a couple of those frozen, snow-covered lakes. Uphills were a workout in the thinner air!

It was a crazy to be skiing again, on a May day, just two days after swimming in a natural pond. But that's how elevation works! There are entirely different climates in the mountains and in the valleys -- and for a traveler, I get to pick! What an adventure!








Location: Palisade, CO 81526, USA

Comments

  1. NMLMay 8, 2023 at 2:39 PM

    Glad it is you, not me spelling all those dinosaurs’ names! I was reminded by your description of elevation and its impact on weather of when I was growing up in California’s Central Valley. If we drove into the mountains for a picnic, we could feel the heat in the air as we descended back into the valley on our way home. We didn’t have air conditioning in the cars either!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Image
  In which Moominmama visits one of the bayous of Louisiana and has a scare.... Moominmama had no intention of feeding the alligators and watched very carefully where she put her feet for fear of slipping into the giant alligator feeding dish of the bayou. I was in the Barataria Bay Preserve which is part of the Jean Lafitte National Historical Park south of New Orleans. Moominmama was walking in the steps of the pirates! Jean Lafitte and his crew supposedly smuggled goods in and out of New Orleans using the bayous of Barataria Bay. Even the name of the bay has a crazy history. The name is taken from the novel "Don Quixote," where Quixote's trusty but gullible sidekick, Sancho Panza, is promised an island to govern. That imaginary island was called Barataria by author Miguel Cervantes. The name got applied to this bay off the Gulf of Mexico! I wasn't literally walking in pirate footsteps, however, because the nice National Park Service has built an elevated walkway th...
Read more
Image
Rochester, N.Y. and the Genesee River on a typical cloudy day! In which Moominmama wishes everyone a Happy Mothers Day and celebrates daughter's recovery from surgery... Moominmama is back to mothering for a short time and is pleased to report that all went well with older daughter's surgery. Daughter is experiencing some pain and general discomfort but also knows that this will pass. She remains in good spirits.  While she was getting some much-needed rest, I ducked out on a rare sunny afternoon for a walk in my all-time favorite park, Highland Park. This time of year, it is spectacular, and I'm happy to be here to watch the lilacs come into full bloom in the coming days and weeks.  For those of you who don't know Rochester's Highland Park, it is home to about 1,200 lilac bushes, representing 500 different varieties.  Over 50 new varieties have been developed by horticulturists here but some of the original bushes, dating back to 1892, also remain. Though Rochester...
Read more
Image
  In which Moominmama visits Los Alamos to learn about the Manhattan Project, a contrast with an earlier journey to the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park.... In 1932, we have the first recorded, successful splitting of an atom (a lithium atom). Less than a year later, Adolf Hitler became head of the German government. By 1939, the Germans forbid the sale of uranium from a mine in Czechoslovakia. There were good reasons to fear that Germany knew about the potential of fission and was exploring the development of an atom bomb. This was the background that led to Project Y, also known as the Manhattan Project, America's bid to build the most powerful weapons in the world and to get them first. Ironically, the war with Germany would end before the American effort was successful. Instead, the two slightly different atom bombs were used on Japan. Hiroshima was the first, and for its people, there was absolutely no warning.  If you recognize the picture above, you'll know it's not New...
Read more