Florissant Fossil Beds: Giant Redwoods in Colorado! … and More

Thursday, 25 June 2015
Peregrine Pines FamCamp; USAFA, Colorado Springs — Colorado
Temps: Hi 84F (29C) / Lo 55F (13C)

Sarah, a fellow-blogger and RVer (of See Where the Road Leads fame), took time out of the Alaska road trip she is on with her hubby and Kitty to suggest that we might enjoy visiting some fossil beds in nearby Florissant.  After a couple of hazy-skies days at home, we were raring to go somewhere fun.  So this morning we hopped in the CR-V and made the 40-mile (64 km) drive to the Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument (FFBNM) — one of only nine NPS units specifically set aside to protect fossils.

When we got out of the car in the parking lot, we wondered if our visit today was a mistake.  You see, there was a very large group of young people, all wearing hard hats, milling about.  Jumping to the conclusion that they were waiting for the ranger-led tour that we were interested in taking, we were ready to beat feet.  Turns out they were at FFBNM for a special youth program … whew!

The FFBNM Visitor Center has a variety of sustainable energy technologies
integrated into the building, including solar panels on the roof and a solar
furnace (black door on the side of the building) that serves to harness the energy
of the sun to heat the air before it is distributed throughout the facility.  Very cool!

To be honest, we didn’t know what to expect of this visit.  We made an impromptu decision to visit FFBNM based on Sarah’s recommendation, and did little more than figure out how to get to it and whether we needed to sign up for the ranger-led tour in advance.  What a great place it turned out to be.

The signage in the parking lot piqued our curiosity with the words “Beneath your feet are fossils — the remains or traces of life preserved in stone. … One of the richest fossil deposits in the world, these fossils tell us that 34 million years ago, this area looked much different than it does today. …”  We could see trails meandering around the park, but the signage suggested starting our prehistoric journey in the Visitor Center (VC).  We needed to pay the $3/person entrance fee anyway, so we did as suggested.  (Our NPS annual pass has expired; we’re putting off getting a new one for now as we don’t anticipate visiting enough national parks this year to make the price worthwhile.)

The VC has a collection of interesting interactive exhibits for all ages.

Although relatively small, the VC has some very neat interactive exhibits, dioramas, and a collection of fossils.  The ranger at the desk told us we had a few minutes to spare before the next showing of a short video on the history of the area, so we took a gander at the displays, starting with the dioramas that took us back 34 million years to the late Eocene … a time when dinosaurs no longer roamed the earth … a time when mammals dominated the animal world … a time before modern humans entered the scene.

A section of the diorama at the VC.

This rock wall shows three of the many layers of the Florissant Formation:
(top to bottom) the caprock conglomerate unit; the middle shale unit; and the
volcanic mudflow deposit … if I am interpreting the signage to the right correctly.

Poplar Leaf & Flower	Paper Shale With Cattail Fossil

Pirate Perch

My wander around the exhibits was cut short when Mui called me to the theater.  The 14-minute movie was mostly an animation of what happened in the area 34 MYA (million years ago) to make it look like what it is now — including the eruption of the Guffey Volcanic Complex; the resulting lahars (mudflows) that flowed at speeds of up to 150 mph (240 kph) to cover the region and entomb ancient redwood trees; and a subsequent lahar that dammed a stream and thus formed ancient Lake Florissant.

The eruption of the Guffey Volcanic Complex and the resulting lahars were
important factors in what we see in the Florissant Valley today, and the creation
of the land- and lake-based fossils that are encased in the Florissant Fossil Beds.

Following the movie, I had just enough time for a quick photo from the VC window before heading to the amphitheater for the ranger talk.  We’ve attended several ranger-led activities over the years and have always been very pleased with them.  This one didn’t live up to our expectations.  Instead of giving the presentation as planned, the ranger opted for a loose-Q&A format that was dominated by two or three people who obviously knew far more about geology than we do.  I’m glad we watched the movie as we would otherwise have missed understanding how the fossil beds came to be formed here.

The scenery out the VC window today may at one time looked like the image depicted on the right.
Note the petrified redwood stump visible from the VC window — one of 30 excavated at Florissant.

Not that I didn’t learn anything from the ranger talk.  I did.  For example, the petrified redwood stumps here were formed by a process known as permineralization … essentially water laden with silica fills spaces in organic tissue and replaces the wood with silica deposits.  What results is a mineralized version of the original organism.  I understand this is different from what happened at Petrified Forest National Park.

The exterior of the petrified stumps still carry the distinct look of a tree trunk;
this is a characteristic feature of permineralized fossilization as I understand it.

I also learned that there were two other fossilization processes at play here: carbonization and impression.  The first of these is described in the link above as the preservation of original organisms as a carbon film “image.”  The second — impression — happens when sturdier organisms leave three-dimensional impressions of their surfaces in the rock.  So all was not for naught after all.

Collage of images from signage at the amphitheater describing fossil types.

We didn’t have to wander far for our first glimpse of petrified redwood stumps.  One was visible from the exhibit area in the VC; another was on the path leading to the amphitheater.  Yet two others were at the amphitheater itself.  Perhaps I should adjust the latter count as one of the redwood stumps at the amphitheater was The Trio — the world’s only known trio of petrified redwood trees.

The Trio and one other petrified redwood stump behind them are on either
side of the stage at the amphitheater; they are protected by a metal roof.

The way I understand it, if the “parent redwood tree” — main trunk — is damaged for whatever reason, the dormant stems start to grow, using the parent tree’s established root system for nourishment and support.  Effectively cloning themselves as genetically identical trees to the parent.

Ancient Clones

One of the wonders of this part of the world is the ‘Petrified Forest’ … between Colorado Springs and Fairplay.  This remarkable relic … bids fair to disappear very shortly, unless the … tourists cease their work of destruction.  Everyone must needs take a specimen, and some of the stumps are ‘growing smaller’ at a very rapid rate. … Colorado Springs Out West, June 13, 1872

Truer words could not have been written.  Before FFBNM was authorized by President Richard Nixon in 1969, collecting fossils and destroying petrified trees by chipping away at them was rampant here for nearly 100 years.  Stumps were dynamited out of the ground and visitors were allowed to climb all over them for photo ops.  One developer wanted to build a subdivision in the valley, promising that every house would come with its very own petrified wood stump!  It took a long legal battle, but luckily those in favor of protecting this special land prevailed  — land that has yielded over “… 50,000 museum specimens from fossils of over 1,700 species …” including “… one of the world’s only known fossil records of the tsetse fly, now found only in equatorial Africa.”

In 1893, when this photograph was taken, tourists still had access to the
shale fossils and petrified woods that abound at Florissant.

At 11:00a we joined the ranger-led walk.  All started out well at first.  Gathering on the patio behind the VC, we were given a quick summary of what Mui and I had learned from the video.  Then we were led a short ways up the ½-mile Ponderosa Loop Trail where the ranger stopped to tell us about the ancient redwood clones.  Our next stop on the trail was at a shale outcrop not dissimilar from the rock wall display in the VC.  By the time we had walked another five minutes to the trunk of a ponderosa pine that had been struck by lightning some years ago, raindrops were falling and thunder was booming.

It was at this point that the ranger decided to call a halt to the tour, fearing lightning may well accompany the thunder booms.  I can understand her point of view — Teller County … in fact much of this part of Colorado, is second only to Florida in the number of lightning strikes received.  But we had seen no lightning, and the thunder was actually moving further from us with each boom.  I have to wonder if the young boy who was glued to her side, making irrelevant comments — “I flied the plane coming from Las Vegas,” being one of them — didn’t have something to do with her decision to call it quits.  I love seeing young kids show an interest in tours — my own nephew was like that when he was in grade school; but unlike today’s little guy, he kept silent and just soaked in the guide’s comments.  If he asked questions, they were appropriate to the topic/tour.

Struck by lightning, this Ponderosa Pine is now home to at least one flicker
family as you can tell from the round hole in the trunk (image on the right).

Oh well, whatever the reason, the group headed back to the VC.  Mui and I checked the sky and saw that it was blue above us.  The clouds were actually moving in the direction of the VC and thunder was getting more and more distant by the minute.  So we decided to continue the tour on our own by connecting to the mile-long Petrified Forest Loop, which runs through the bed of ancient Lake Florissant.

Western Wallflower	Wild Iris
Blue Flax	Cinquefoil

From the flowers to the birds on the trail … a blue and gold kind of day.

Mountain Bluebird perched on a Cinquefoil bush.

The trail lives up to its name, affording close views of several petrified tree stumps.  I mentioned there are 30 of these stumps excavated — mostly from before FFBNM was formed.  When we asked the ranger earlier whether it was known how many stumps are in fact still underground, she said there was no way to know.  They’ve apparently used sonar to try and determine the number.  Unfortunately, because the stumps are essentially silica at this point, the sonar was unable to categorically differentiate them from the ground in which they are buried.

The Big Stump is what remains of a redwood tree that was likely 230 feet (70m) tall
and 750 years old at the time it was buried by a lahar from the Guffey Volcanic Complex!!!

Behind the stump are some of the key geologic layers of the Florissant fossil beds … Caprock (remnants of volcanic mudflow); Shale (remnants of the ancient lake containing thousands of insect and leaf fossils) and Volcanic mudstone deposit.  I’m quoting from the signage at the stump site … after all, I’m really not a geologist and wouldn’t know the difference myself! 

Panorama of the Big Stump and part of the Florissant formation behind it.

Excavated by local residents in the 1800’s, you can see the broken saw blades that
were left behind after attempts to saw the Big Stump into ‘moveable’ pieces failed.

Somewhere near the base of the sandstone hill visible in the distance from where we stopped to view the meadow near The Big Stump was the homestead of Charlotte Hill.  She is described as a homesteader-turned-naturalist who raised seven children and ranched with her husband.  All the while collecting fossils.  As the copy of the signage I inserted into the collage below explains (click for a larger image), Charlotte Hill played an important role in establishing Florissant’s name as a prime fossil site.

Somewhere in this meadow was the Hill Homestead.  The houses barely visible in the
distance mark the location of the Hornbek Homestead, which we will stop by to visit later.

Housed at Harvard University now, the Prodryas persephone was the first fossil
butterfly found in North America.  The credit for finding it goes to Charlotte Hill.

The Petrified Forest Loop is a flat and easy walk; the only thing missing … shade from the brutal sun.  Luckily, at this elevation — about 8,200 feet (2,500 m) — the heat generated by the sun is often mitigated to a degree by light breezes.  That and staying hydrated kept us going.  In the tall grasses on either side ground squirrels scampered from one hidey-hole to another, giving me fits since I wasn’t carrying my DSLR with me.  Oh well, they were fun to watch anyway.

Clouds are moving in; but no thunder booms as we continue on the Petrified Forest Loop.

Cat’s Eyes (Popcorn Flower)	No Idea

I’ve mentioned redwoods several times in this post.  Redwoods — these giant trees are always associated with California, but at one time they were here in Colorado, too.  Turns out the Rockies used to enjoy a different climate 34 MYA … the summers were wet; the winters mild.  In fact, studies of fossil leaves have led to the conclusion that back in the Late Eocene, Florissant had a climate that was not dissimilar from what San Francisco enjoys today.

A close look at the petrified stump reveals that the tree rings are still visible in many places.

Another major petrified redwood stump deserving of a photo op … or two.

The loop returned us to the VC.  Initially, we planned to find some shade, have a snack, and go for a walk on one of several moderate trails.  But thunder was booming again, and this time it looked like the storm clouds were headed towards us.  So we switched plans, deciding to drive over to the Hornbek Homestead and peek through the windows … which is what the ranger advised us to do since the doors were locked and we didn’t want to hang around for the ranger tour scheduled for later in the afternoon. 

Artist’s rendition of life on the Hornbek Homestead.

The Homestead Act of 1862 was passed “to accelerate the settlement of the western territory by granting adult heads of families 160 acres of surveyed public land for a minimal filing fee and 5 years of continuous residence on that land.”  While married women were unable to take advantage of this Act, the clause “adult heads of families” opened the door for single, widowed, divorced, or abandoned women to do so.  And that’s how Adeline Hornbek came to be a homesteader in the Florissant area in 1878.  She was widowed from her first husband; separated from her second husband; and was living alone with her four children when the opportunity to take advantage of the Homestead Act presented itself.  Adeline’s story is an interesting one and worth a read on the NPS page I linked to in her name above.

old-timey sepia processing seems appropriate for this distant view of the homestead.

This one I like in B&W.

Only the Hornbek House (left) is original to the site.  The remaining structures —
(L to R) well house [adjacent to the house]; bunkhouse, carriage house, and barn —
were brought here from other homesteads within the park’s boundaries.

The Hornbek House (1878) was one of the first in the valley, and was the site of many-a social gathering back in the day.  The adjacent well house dates back to 1909; The Bunkhouse is from 1880.

Carriage Shed (1928)	Barn (1890)

As anticipated, the buildings were locked up tight.  And our attempts to peek in through the windows of the two-story house yielded little as lace curtains were pulled across all but two of the windows.  The brochure we were given at the VC said the house was not typical of a homestead cabin — often more modest in size; a single dirt-floor cabin with a window and a door.  Those were the minimum requirements of the Homestead Act.  Once established, the homesteaders would build a bigger house, repurposing the original structure … often as a barn.  That Adeline built a big house from the outset is taken as an indication that she was a woman of means, perhaps from her family or from her previous marriages.

Atypical of the kind of cabins initially built by a homesteader,
this two-story house indicates that Adeline was a woman of means.
The kitchen and parlor were on the first floor of the section to the Left;
Adeline’s bedroom was behind them.  Three other bedrooms were upstairs.

All we get to see of the interior of the house when we peek through the
windows is the kitchen.  Behind the table in the photo on the right was the pantry.

One last Two to Travel postcard-op before we leave the homestead.

Mui returned to the car after we were done peeking in the windows.  Curious about a structure built into the side of the nearby hill, I took a detour.  Unfortunately there was no sign to explain what the building was — we later debated whether it might have been the ice house or some kind of a root cellar for storing provisions.  No one to ask about it; but the latter makes sense to me.  In any event, heading up that way afforded me the distant images of the homestead I shared earlier in this post, so I was a happy camper.

I’m going with root cellar or similar storage structure … any other opinions?

Another bonus to my detour — I managed to sneak a couple of photos of the fleet-footed ground squirrels scampering about.  I also came across a rabbit, but it hip-hopped away just as I clicked the shutter, so I ended up with just a fuzzy image that in no way resembled it ;-)

Gotcha!  Even if you did make me work for these images.

We really enjoyed our day at Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument — thanks for the recommendation Sarah; without it, we probably would not have ventured in that direction.  If not for the 80-mile R/T drive, we would consider returning to walk the trails and tour the Hornbek Homestead since the admission we paid is good for seven days.  But, this won’t be our only trip to CoS, so we will leave all that for another time.

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