Petrified Preservations

Wednesday, 11 October 2023, Florissant Fossil Beds NM

Fall foliage has passed peak in these arid hills. Trees have a few spindly, cling-to-the-end leaves still hanging on, but no more splashy, photo-worthy scenes remain. Just hours of driving in traffic.

Some small towns seemed a caricature of rural America. Villa Grove, on the way to our hotel last night, had all the required elements: a fire station, church, RV park, inn, food/gift store, and a cannabis dispensary, all surrounded by miles of scrubby nothingness.

For my final Colorado day, Florissant fossil Beds NM provided the distraction.

Bill and I had visited once before, decades ago, but we looked forward to enjoying one last day before storm clouds moved in. (My choice to reverse the direction for looping around the state and not risking crossing Trail Ridge in mid-October proved prescient, as Trail Ridge closed this morning.)

This lesser-known park, in the hills west of Colorado Springs, preserved what's left of one of the most prolific fossil beds in the world. In the Eocene Era, 35 million years ago, this area sported a temperate climate, supporting forests of giant Redwood trees. Then geology's stereotypical villain, a volcano, blew its top and sent hurricane-force winds to knock down most trees. A lahar, a mudflow carrying volcanic debris, then raced down the slopes of the volcano at 150 mph, burying the bases of the trees in up to 15' of mud.

Things calmed down for a few million years. The land recovered, and soon another lahar dammed a stream to create the ancient Lake Florissant. For millions of years, insects, fish, butterflies and more lived and died there, with occasional ash from other eruptions sealing them in layers on the lakebed.

Fast forward to the 1860s, when white settlers moved in. They found dozens of petrified Redwood stumps, along with other fossils,

and the word spread of 'the other Petrified Forest'. Scientists came and identified hundreds of species, followed by souvenir hunters galore.

The struggle between scientists searching for knowledge and hucksters searching for profit continued for a century. In 1969, developers proposed a project to build a subdivision, plowing under this trove of messages from the past - "pave paradise and put up a parking lot," as the song says.

That galvanized supporters, who barraged Congress with letters and calls. Later that year, President Nixon declared a National Monument there to kill the development and preserve the fossils.

The Florissant fossils are to geology, paleontology, paleobotany, palynology, and evolution what the Rosetta Stone was to Egyptology. To sacrifice this 34-million-year-old record ... for 30-year mortgages and the basements of the A-frame ghettos of the seventies is like wrapping fish with the Dead Sea Scrolls.

If someone had found the original Constitution of the United States buried on his land and then wanted to use it to mop a stain on his floor, is there any doubt... they could be restrained? -- Victor J. Yannacone, Jr.

Bill and I caught the park film, learning about the geologic forces that shaped this land. Outside the Visitor Center, the NPS had built an amphitheater protecting the Three Sisters, a trio of petrified stumps that had sprouted as clones from the base of one tree that had been knocked down.

A rarity like this had made the park famous.

We took the mile-long trail that looped through the forest and prairie,

linking a few of the 30+ redwood stumps thus far discovered. The 'Big Stump' highlighted the loop, a stump 12' in diameter that (depending on how they calculate the size) may be the largest such stump in the world.

From the excavation, you can see evidence of the lahar that did so much damage.

We get all tangled up in the present... The present is just a little flick in time between the past and the future. Things keep going on and on... We are just in the particular time interval, and it seems so important to us. -- Harry D. MacGinitie, paleontologist

After looping the stumps, we still had time to spare. The Boulder Creek Trail, a two-mile loop, sounded interesting, so we postponed our departure. The loop took us a mile up a gentle valley filled with golden grasses waving in the breeze from the approaching storm.

Clouds gathered above the neighboring hills and mountains. Surrounded by the pastoral scene, I reflected on how often we had to fight to protect our special lands, to keep them from despoilation.

As Native peoples we are stewards of the land. We take care not to use more resources than we need and acknowledge and respect the ancestors who were here before us. There is an energy from the spirits who are the guardians of our ancestral landscape. Can you feel it? -- Alden Naranjo, Southern Ute elder

At the head of the valley, an extrusion of boulders was framed by fall color.

Overhead, more clouds filled the sky.

Now the trail headed back. This return portion took more effort as it climbed the forested ridge on the far side of the valley.

The trail remained easy to walk, a smooth surface with few exposed roots or jutting rocks.

Aware of the three-plus-hour drive that still awaited us, I hated to see the walk end. As we exited the park past the Three Sisters, I smiled at the succinct admonition voiced by one indigenous leader, printed on an interpretive sign:

These [fossils] are old people things, leave them alone because you don't know anything about them. -- Alden Naranjo, NAGPRA Coordinator, Southern Ute Indian tribe

Wednesday evening

Finished the Colorado loop with a drive through Denver's constant rush hour. Took Bill home, did a load of laundry before heading out. Met up with Uncle Steve's son, Cousin Steve, for dinner and catching up on family news - great to connect with family. Now I'm checked in late at the hotel, dreading an early flight and a L-O-O-O-N-G day traveling tomorrow. Next stop is my final stop - time to finish my park challenge!