100 Years of RMAG Field Trips

By Laura L. Wray

Field trip—the clarion call of all geologists! As students, we reveled in the freedom of an outdoor classroom, seeking to understand the messages within the outcrops. As professionals, we sought out field trips to network and to better design our analogs for depositional environments and structural developments. We soaked up the knowledge of field trip leaders and fellow participants. In our retirement years, we continued to be drawn to new geologic locales and evolving interpretations, enjoying the camaraderie of all who joined the expeditions.

One hundred years of RMAG field trips clearly showcases the extensive and impressive geologic expertise within our community, past and present. It’s true that the objectives of field trips have remained the same over 100 years. But the logistical and implementation details have changed substantially.

CHANGING TRAVEL MODES

In 1926, a train trip was organized to Rifle, Colorado to visit the oil shale operations, known as Naval Oil Shale Reserves 1, eight miles west of the town. Train travel was rare for field trips because it offered very limited access to Colorado’s geology. The Cadillac of trips was in 1980 and again in 1994, when two Aspen Airway turboprop aircraft took trip participants to Jackson, Wyoming with overflights of the Wyoming-Utah Overthrust Belt and the Bighorn Basin (Kellogg, 1997). Available corporate sponsorships at the time defrayed the cost of these trips, but today, air travel for RMAG field trips is almost unimaginable due to cost.

As road conditions improved, bus travel became popular. In the mid-1950’s, trips to the Raton, North and Middle Park Basins attracted up to 200 participants, with accompanying trucks to haul the luggage and gear. Large numbers of geologists could be recruited if trips were run in conjunction with annual meetings. On some occasions, camping was arranged when necessary (RMAG Outcrop, 1956 and 1957). In 1961, “Do it yourself field trips” were advertised for the “foothills monocline” and Clear Creek Canyon (RMAG Outcrop, 1961). Today, as in the past, some trips involve camping; pre- and/or post-convention excursions are popular (though not with anywhere close to 200 people); and both existing and new road guides allow extensive options for “Do it yourself field trips”.

Through the 1970s and early 1980s, joint field trips were planned with the New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming Geological Surveys; Grand Junction and Four Corners Geological Societies; the Geological Association of America; the Association for Women Geoscientists; Desk and Derrick; AAPG; Rocky Mountain Section of AAPG; and other organizations. Today, there continues to be a strong interest in collaborating with other agencies and local geologic organizations.

FIGURE 1: On the Rocks field trips since 1999

(map by Mike Tischer)

RISE OF ON THE ROCKS FIELD TRIPS

The mid-1980’s, as many of us remember, was a dark time for all geologists and geologic organizations. Jim Lowell, RMAG President in 1985, recalls that the Board sought ways to promote weekend trips to encourage networking and camaraderie. Jim Rogers, RMAG President in 1986, remembered vividly the devastating effects of layoffs, increased oil production overseas that produced a glut on the world market, and OPEC’s decision to opt for market share by dropping oil prices from $34 to $29 a barrel. Concurrently, a severe drop in the U.S. rig count and the catastrophic plunge of West Texas Intermediate crude from $35 a barrel to $10 a barrel resulted in rampant layoffs and office closures. In response, the RMAG Board took many measures to cut costs, while still trying to serve a membership in disarray.

Despite economic woes and with the urgency to provide continuing education, the On the Rocks Field Trip Committee was created in 1986 under the leadership of Penny Frush. The inaugural trip went to the Raton Basin with a stop at the K/T (aka K/Pg) boundary and the Kaiser Open Pit Mine. Three other trips were proposed for which participants could carpool and bring their own lunch to keep expenses low, but it is unclear whether those trips materialized (RMAG Outcrop, 1986). Subsequent trips were not advertised in the Outcrop until 1994 when Bob Raynolds organized 5-6 trips and led half of them himself. He remembers the recruitment of “Red Shirts”, volunteers who helped control traffic flow around long car caravans parked along road and highway outcrops. But it wasn’t until 1998 that a larger On the Rocks Field Trip committee swung into high gear. It has been sponsoring 6 to 10 spring, summer, and autumn trips ever since.

In the three-plus decades of On the Rocks field trips (1986 to the present), the types of trips and the geologic contents have been impressive. Consider the following offerings to RMAG members which, in addition to vehicle transport and short hikes, include bike tours, river trips, and trips with camping opportunities available. An impressively wide range of geologic topics and locations (Figure 1) have been presented: fossils; building stones; carbonates; coalbed methane; geohazards; geothermal; glacial geology; kimberlites; minerals and mineral collecting; mining geology sites; mudrocks; Precambrian and older rocks; National and State parks; Paleozoic, Mesozoic, and Cenozoic igneous, metamorphic, metasedimentary, and sedimentary rocks; sandstones and siltstones; sedimentation processes; stratigraphy; structural features and relationships; vineyards and terroirs; and all varieties of volcanics. These topics reflect the huge diversity of Colorado geology in our backyard.

LOGISTICS AND MEMORIES

Not all trips run smoothly. Many of you can remember some of the snafus that occurred along the way. Ron Pritchett recalled that after a 1991 Coalbed Methane conference in Glenwood Springs, a bus tour was arranged to the top of Grand Mesa along the twisty road from the west side. The bus blew one tire along the way, but fortunately, as Ron recalled, the participants were still able to have lunch served at the top of the mesa. Priorities were important then as they are now!

Another feature of the past, the blue Schlumberger beer wagon, no longer trails the car caravans as it did in the boom days of the late 70s and early 80s. Six-packs of beer, commonly stashed in coolers, may still show up from time to time, but “cracking a cold one” does not occur until after the last stop and never by a driver.

After-dinner activities in the “olden days” involved retiring to a room for a scotch or other hard liquor, perhaps with a cigar. Today’s smoking bans and health concerns snuff out most opportunities in buildings, buses, and cars. Alcohol consumption is not openly advertised, and it is increasingly frowned upon for safety and liability reasons. Today, it would be unlikely to find a contest such as that sponsored by RMAG in the 1960’s that awarded prizes for the best responses to the question “Why I go on field trips?” First place prize in the 1960s was a $10.71 bottle of Scotch; second place was a six-pack of Coors Banquet Beer; and third place was one shot of Scotch on the rocks. RMAG now has liability insurance for field trips and requires waivers and safety forms for everyone. Trip costs remain reasonable, covering insurance and administrative expenses, which adhere to the philosophy that field trips are a truly a service to RMAG members.

GEOLOGIC GUIDEBOOKS AND ROAD LOGS

Field trip scope has evolved in the last 100 years. In 1937, a guidebook accompanied a three-day tectonics field conference that was run by RMAG (then called the RMAPG, P for petroleum) in conjunction with Wyoming and Montana geologic societies. Included in the book was an extensive multi-page bibliography, road logs, cross sections, black and white photographs, and hand-drawn sketches of outcrops and terrain. A 1947 field conference in Central Colorado (Figure 2) was designed for a car caravan to travel from Denver through Leadville, Glenwood Springs, Rifle, and Cripple Creek, examining classic structural and stratigraphic outcrops interspersed with historic mining sites. Among other leaders of this trip were two well-known local geologists, F.M. VanTuyl (Colorado School of Mines) and Odgen Tweto (U.S. Geological Survey). The guidebook included detailed geologic descriptions and illustrations provided by the USGS and Denver-based companies, while the pre-trip instructions to the participants ordered them to stay in their assigned cars, be quiet during lectures (Figure 3), bring along snake bite kits, and check nightly for ticks.

FIGURE 2: Today and Yesterday: Top from 2013 On the Rocks trip to the Snowy Range, led by Art Snoke, photo by Ron Parker. Bottom from 1947 field trip to Central Colorado led by Carl Heiland and others, photo from RMAG First 40 Years. The 1947 group is dressed in khakis and several are wearing ties! There is one woman, possibly Margaret Boos (right center), in the group. Dress and gender attendance are quite changed in 2013.

The quantity and high quality of geologic materials produced in association with field trips and conferences are astounding, and today provide invaluable pre-urbanization data. Throughout the 1950s, for example, publications led to field trips in six of the ten years during the decade, covering Front Range geology from Denver to Colorado Springs (Figure 4), northwestern Colorado, the Denver-Boulder Foothills, the Raton Basin, North and Middle Parks, and selected locations for Cretaceous rocks in Colorado and adjacent areas. Not to be outdone, five years’ worth of publications in the 1960s included: road logs for Colorado, edited by Robert J. Weimer and John D. Haun; new guidebooks for Front Range and Foothills with a manual for high school classrooms; and updated guide books for the Raton Basin, northern Denver Basin, and southeastern Colorado. Trips in the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s supplemented additional geological publications with field guides and road logs in the Piceance Basin and in southwestern, west central, and western Colorado.

FIGURE 3: General Instructions from 1947 field trip suggest that some things haven’t changed too much. But some of you will remember typewriters before the advent of computers.

TECHNOLOGY AND SPONSORSHIPS

As we moved into the 21st century, technological advances greatly assisted the composition and production of field guides and road logs. Digital guides lowered publication costs substantially, allowing inclusion of colored diagrams, photographs, and larger-scale cross sections and maps. Acrobat PDF copies of field guides can be emailed and used on tablets or phones in the field. GPS data are used to locate or document field trip locations and road logs. During the pandemic, RMAG pivoted to virtual field trips, which are now in the mix for the future. Most recently, an ArcGIS Online interactive web app, developed by Mike Tischer, allows you to explore and learn more about RMAG’s upcoming field trips. Check out the 2022 field trips here.

FIGURE 4: The 1955 Field Trip to the Geology of the Front Range shows how the views have changed. This photo is taken from the east side of the hairpin on Alameda Parkway (now closed to vehicles) looking southeast. No roads, no houses, no racetracks!

In the past, sponsors were enlisted to support field conferences, field trips, and the production of the field guides and road logs. Fifty-four Denver-area advertisers from 1960’s include such company types as exploration, drilling, logging, completion, geophotography, surveying, explosives, microfilm service, banks, testing, petroleum information, geophysical, engineering, printing and supply, investment, seismograph services, newspapers, and restaurants. Field trips now are self-supporting.

TODAY AND ONWARD

Today, On The Rocks field trips are designed to maintain reasonable costs; opportunities for professionals, students, and families; a variety of physical challenges and geographic locations; and diverse topics to be discussed. It is no wonder that in the last RMAG membership poll, field trips ranked very high in terms of program popularity. Because field trips are an inherent component of every geologist’s life, it is no doubt that RMAG trips will continue to be developed and offered every year.

SOURCES

• Thanks to editors Donna Anderson, Jane Estes-Jackson, and Matt Silverman

• RMAG Outcrop as cited

• 1947 RMAG Guidebook to Central Colorado

• 1955 RMAG Guidebook to the Front Range

• The First 40 Years History of RMAG

• Kellogg, H., 1997, The 75th anniversary history of the RMAG: The Mountain Geologist, v. 34, no. 4.

• Interviews and personal recollections of RMAG members.