Ridge Report v19 no2

Ridge Report
Volume 19, Number 2
(note - formatting of this page is different from printed copy)

Scout Isaiah Curtis
With the designed "Event" patch
for the May 5, 2007 Boy Scout Day
At Dinosaur Ridge
Volume 19, Number 2

Status of the Ancient Environmental Center Photovoltaic panels (32) were installed on the "solar" porch in April and they are producing 5KW of electricity, or about 25% of our needs. The renovation of the inside of the barn has been completed with the installation of the " dinosaur track" patterned floor on the first floor. The murals and exhibits will be installed over the next five months for the October Grand Opening. The Boy Scouts will complete the outside with the installation of the stonework ,S!, around the base of the addition to the barn and painting the outside of the barn in May.

Status of the new and/or Improved Visitor Center The Jefferson County Commissioners approved commercial/retail zoning for the Rooney Ranch including the area around our existing visitor center. It appears that it is only a matter of time before developers Bill Jenkins and Greg Stevinson develop the land around us. They will probably want us to move further west on the property they will own, when they exercise their option to buy the Rooney Ranch in December 2007. Andrews and Anderson/Civitas will be hosting a meeting of the Visitor Center Design committee in June to present options for the development of a new visitor center on Grandma Rooney's site along Rooney Road (north of Alameda Parkway.) Discussions have taken place between CU and Dinosaur Ridge with regard to bringing the CU Dinosaur Tracks Museum to a new Dinosaur Ridge visitor center/educator position, and space for housing the collection are being discussed. It is hoped that Dinosaur Ridge will, play a greater role in educating future teachers by providing a field experience for teachers. Dinosaur Ridge already provides this function through the Teacher Training we offer twice a year through the School of Mines. Hopefully, this role will be expanded through our association with the CU Denver and Boulder campuses. A brainstorming session will be held this summer to further discuss the benefits and costs of these concepts with all parties involve. ROCK OUT AT THE RIDGE It is time to start the planning for the upcoming "Rock Out at the Ridge." This special event is scheduled for November 2nd at the beautiful, great new Red Rocks Visitor Center.This is a very special annual fund raising event for Dinosaur Ridge and includes delicious food, an interesting program and a great auction which makes a very special evening. WE NEED YOUR HELP... we are asking Friends of Dinosaur Ridge to help us with interesting auction items for this special event. Some of the items that have been very popular at previous auctions are: symphony, theater and sporting event tickets, condo time shares, jewelry or gem stones, mineral or fossil specimens, artwork and gift certificates to B&B's, spas, restaurants and golf courses. Please contact us if you have items to donate or good ideas and contact information for auction items. It is also time to make a list and invite your friends now and let them know to "Save the Date" - November 2nd. Thanks for your help - Beth Simmons, Barry Jankowski and Janie Bennett ROCK OUT FOR THE RIDGE AUCTION COMMITTEE 303-986-9693

*For years the Tours (Attendance) figures have included guided tours on the Ridge, at the Visitor Center and most recently at the Triceratops Trail AND educational programs given elsewhere (mostly at schools). In 2007 as in 2006, Norb Cygan, board member and volunteer, and Erin Fair, staff member, have presented most of the school programs. Norb is very active in Douglas County and Erin does a lot in Jefferson County, particularly with Bear Creek High School. If you would like to present dinosaurs to kids in the classroom, give me a call. As you can see below the attendance for School Programs is very significant: it influences the amounts of grant money we receive. The breakdown for Jan.-May'07 is as follows:

Organizations that are supporting one or more of these events through their participation include Boy Scouts Order of the Arrow, Colorado School of Mines Geology Museum, American Hiking Society, Bear Creek Lake Park, Jeffco Open Space, Geocaching Colorado, FODR Authors, and the Girls Scouts Mile Hi Council. Thank you Note: We are still looking for a sponsor for the Open House at Triceratops Trail at Parfet Prehistoric Preserve on Saturday, September 22, 2007. Dinosaur Detectives - A New Program Saturday March 10, the first Dinosaur Detectives, a class for 6-10 year olds, was held at the Track Pit at the Visitor Center followed by a short trip by Vanosaurus (for a lucky few, the rest followed in cars) to the Main Track Site. Erin Fair, programs assistant, conceived and delivered the program aided by Doris Walker, Don Walker, and Cassie Windham. Attendance was 80 including 53 children. The event was promoted in YourHub.com and although it was free, Gift Shop Sales spiked to $700 compared to $200 the following day. The second Dinosaur Detectives program, scheduled for November 10, will discuss dinosaur bone fossils and will include the Dig Pit at the Visitor Center and a trip to the Bone Site. Annual Meeting, Volunteer Awards Banquet, Dedication of the Chevron Classroom, and a Re-created Lecture: All in 2 Hours! On Wednesday, March 28, members gathered at the Visitor Center to honor 20 volunteers for their outstanding service during 2006. Thanks to Jan Jacobs and Holly Temple for serving a delicious meal. Then upstairs after a short business meeting was held including election of officers and a new board, the Chevron Classroom was dedicated with a plaque sent from Chevron that reads: "Funding for this classroom generously provided by Chevron in honor of their employee and retiree volunteers who have donated their time and efforts to Dinosaur Ridge." Chevron contributed $10,000 toward the remodeling of the hayloft of the barn into a beautiful classroom. Other contributors include Norb Cygan (Chevron retiree), $100, Northeast Elementary $25, and Jayne Sieverding, $100. Following the dedication, the classroom saw its first public event, "Reenactment of Arthur Lakes 1878 Lecture" with Martin Lockley, Bob Raynolds and DuWayne Ebertowski dressed in period costumes and sharing the reading of an Arthur Lakes lecture. Chris Carroll portrayed O. C. Marsh. About 80 people attended.

Dinosaur Discovery Day - Boy Scout Day (DDD-BSA) During a break in the otherwise wet weather the DDD-BSA was successfully held May 5, 2007. Thanks to event sponsor Rocky Mountain Association of Geologists. An estimated attendance of 2200 visitors (a modern record for ODD) included 1893 Cub Scouts, Webelos, Boy Scouts, scout leaders and family members. Thanks to the 133 volunteers and helpers who contributed their time and expertise. Many worked the entire event. The Order of the Arrow of the Boy Scouts skillfully directed traffic and parking and fed those volunteers working at the Visitor Center.

The Chevron Classroom was dedicated at the Annual Meeting March 28, 2007 Norb Cygan (Right) Chevron retiree & -Board Member was there on behalf of Chevron. Bob Reynolds (left) FODR Sec posed as Arthur Lakes.

Thanks to eight dedicated Merit Badge Counselors approximately 200 Boy Scouts earned the Geology Merit Badge. Supervised by leaders and parents, about 700 Cub Scouts and Webelos worked to earn pins and other awards at many decent-facilitated stations. Thanks to the Colorado School of Mines Geology Museum for loaning study sets of minerals, rocks and fossils that were an important part of the scout program. The next DDD-BSA will be held Saturday, May 3, 2008. Discussions are taking place with the idea of changing the Merit Badge Program from the "rocks and minerals" or physical geology option to the "fossils" or earth history option. Heretofore the earth history option was not viable because it required fossil collecting, which is not allowed at Dinosaur Ridge. Because of inquiries by Clare Marshall, the requirements for the Geology Merit Badge are being changed nationally. With the earth history option the number of stations in the scout program will increase because cubs and Webelos will continue to study rocks and minerals, so more volunteers will be needed! Please consider helping! The Hands-on Dinosaurs portion of DDD-BSA at the Visitor Center grew to eight stations for 2007 and in 2008 we should have the option to add a ninth - the Exhibit Hall in the Barn (with still more docents). On the Ridge we may add such stations as Fish Scales, the Fault, the Morrison-Dakota Contact (the Hiatus), Morrison Formation Channels and Jurassic Tracks. These plans would allow us to accommodate more visitors, but at the same time we will require more volunteers in order to maintain the quality of the experience. Some of these decisions will ultimately be made in April, 2008, upon review of the pre-event registrations. Thanks to Clare Marshall for her excellent preparation and organization. Her ideas for registration and check-in worked well and her success at finding many more volunteers than last year was remarkable. Thanks to Kermit Shields for conducting two orientations for event guides prior to the event in addition to performing duties as a merit badge counselor. During the last two frantic weeks of registration I had occasion to talk to parents of boys returning to Boy Scout Day after attending in 2006. Perhaps repeat attendance is the highest praise for these events and those associated.

Event Patch - DDD-BSA About 700 Event Patches were sold for the DDD-BSA. Patches sold for $3; six-hundred were sold at the event and orders were taken for another one-hundred. The colorful design was depicted in black and white in the previous issue. Isaiah Curtis, whose picture is on the front of this issue, is the proud winner of the Patch Design Contest. We will have an event patch for the DDD-GSA on October 6. Achievement patch: Success of the event patch has encouraged us to continue with an educational program that has an achievement patch called the Junior Paleontologist. Currently we are working on a joint program with the Morrison Natural History Museum. Souvenir patch: Roger Bennett, Gift Shop Manager, is currently considering souvenir patches as a revenue source for the store. Adopt-a-Track Program This new program has adopted out 50 of the tracks at the main Track Site on Dinosaur Ridge. Funds are going toward preservation of the site. Bookmark this Web Site - www.infoquest.org Art Ballard, vice chairman of the board of Infoquest, stopped by the Ridge to demonstrate that organization's outstanding web site. Infoquest is a small nonprofit devoted to science education, particularly paleontology and dinosaurs. Their web site includes virtual expeditions to Mongolia and Argentina, based on explorations led by Dr. Lowell Dingus, chairman of Infoquest and paleontologist at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. Art recently moved to the Denver area and is receptive to possible joint projects between FODR and Infoquest. •*•-,

This year the weather has really caused a slowdown in visitors as well as sales. Hopefully things will be picking up soon. We have many new items in the gift shop and receive many compliments on not only what we carry but our prices. We seem to be getting more people visiting us from all over and they mention our brochures. We have a new structure on our front porch area called the "Snack Shack" where Holly Tempel is setting up a food and drink stand to help us in our fund raising. It has only started and is open on the weekends and should be open during the week when school is out. We look forward to seeing it going full steam ahead this summer. We are also getting a lot of interest on the construction at the barn and can hardly wait till the new indoor museum opens up hopefully by October. Our casting area has been moved to the new room in the barn which freed up some badly needed storage space. The dig pit off our deck has been a great hit for the young kids. It's amazing to watch them play out there for very long periods of time. So for now Jack, Barbara, and Brian Davidson and I look forward to a very busy summer and hope to see vou all soon. • .--. ;. - ,, . ,,....

As you all know the large accumulation of snow and rain made it a bad winter and spring for rock
falls throughout the mountains of Colorado. Dinosaur Ridge has not been spared from this calamity.
As you wander the Ridge, you probably noticed the tremendous number of cobbles and boulders on
the sidewalks and roadway that have fallen from the steep slopes. The Preservation Committee has
been assessing the various rock falls for visitor safety and long-term stability of the various
features on the Ridge.
The severity of the rock fall problem varies depending upon which side of the Ridge they occur.
On the east side of the Ridge, the down slope movement is more of a rock sliding/skidding situation,
whereas, on the west side, the down slope movement is more of a typical rock fall phenomenon.

East Side Rockfalls
At the swamp site on the east side of the Ridge, a few of the mid-sized rock-blocks forming the
south slopes of the channel continue to separate and move down the slope. However, the largest
blocks have been pinned in years past and do not appear to have slid during the past winter and
spring. The down-slope movement of the mid-sized blocks is slow and there is sufficient debris
at the bottom of the slope to prevent movement onto the walkways. As a result, there is little
danger to public safety from these rock falls. Nevertheless, the identity and continuity of the
channel slope will deteriorate over time.

In the area of the evolving track site between the swamp and the potato chip shaped ripple marks,
the sandstone bed immediately covering the newly exposed tracks is continuing to break along
joints and move down slope. The movement has accelerated due to adverse weather over the last
winter and spring. This is probably the only area on the Ridge where the rock falls are in our
favor, since they will continue to uncover new tracks over time. The down-slope slip sliding
away (a technical term) of these rocks is slow enough that there is little or no danger to our
Dinosaur Ridge visitors. One of the track casts in the sandstone bed that we use to describe
types of tracks has separated from the rock mass and moved to the bottom of the slope. This
cast will be removed to the Visitors Center. In its place, another track cast has appeared
which seems to be more defined than the one just lost.

It has been suggested that we accelerate the removal of the covering sandstone bed to expose
more tracks. Before we embark on this stupendous effort, we will need to have a plan in place
to immediately preserve the exposed tracks, along with the money needed to implement this
plan. In the meantime, we can observe the law of gravity at work and marvel at the new tracks
that are being exposed.
At the track site, there appears to be no damage from falling rock due to winter and spring
weather. However, the shaly surface upon which the tracks are imprinted continues to
deteriorate especially at the south end of the track site. Freeze-thaw and wet-dry of the
susceptible shale has been the mechanism for this deterioration. The slaking has accelerated
this year and made the immediate need for a cover structure more obvious.
At the immediate south edge of the track site and just above the concrete walkway to the
track site, are several sandstone slabs that are in danger of sliding onto the walkway with
potential safety concerns for visitors. Yenter Companies, Inc. has given us a proposal for
buttressing these slabs, but we think the cost is too high and we are subsequently in the
process of soliciting a bid from Yenter for removing
these offending sandstone blocks.
Further south of the track site, several large sandstone blocks have separated along joint
planes, slid down the slope and ended up in the pathway at the edge of the road. These
blocks do not pose a safety threat to our visitors. In this same area, additional large
blocks further up the slope show signs of separation along joints and eventual down-slope
movement. The slow down-slope movement of these blocks, due to the high friction angles
between beds, should not present a hazard to the visiting public. Further, there are no
significant features that need to be preserved below the blocks. Also, there appears to
be no significant features that need to be preserved below these blocks. Therefore, pinning
or stabilization of these blocks does not appear to be necessary at this time.
The remainder of the east side of the Ridge continues to experience down-slope, rock block
movement accelerated by the adverse weather over the winter and spring. However, the safety
of the visiting public does not appear to be in jeopardy at this time. We will continue to
monitor the slopes and recommend remedial actions if necessary.

West Side Rockfalls
The rock fall situation on the west side of Dinosaur Ridge is significantly more serious. 
In the area south of the bulges and adjacent to the parking area, the rock fall potential 
is serious. The soft mudstones and shale in this area have lost strength due to excessive 
wetting. Their ability to support the embedded sandstone beds and stringers has decreased 
significantly. In addition to this loss in strength, the over steepened slopes have lead 
to an acute rock fall issue where large numbers of sand stone cobbles and boulders have 
rolled down the slope. These rocks are now resting precariously on the slope or have 
already fallen onto the parking area. Fortunately, many of the sandstone cobbles and 
boulders have embedded themselves in the soft, wet mudstone slopes and are temporarily 
stable. The immediate threat to the visiting public appears to be minimal, however, 
this slope needs to be evaluated and scaled to insure the safety of Dinosaur Ridge 
visitors and their vehicles.

The bulges site has held up remarkably well considering the severity of winter weather. 
The steel supports appear to be doing their job and no movement of the sandstone ledge 
has been detected. There has been some minor and continued stress relief along bedding 
planes of the sandstone under the supported ledge. This is an expected and ongoing 
process, which results in minor rock movement and does not pose a threat to the safety 
of our visitors. There appears to be a small area of very minor fall-out of rock 
immediately adjacent to the newly uncovered bulge, which may have been caused by 
someone using a rock hammer. Again, this poses no threat to the visiting public at 
this time.
The area north, between the bulges and bone site, has experienced the greatest number 
of potentially dangerous rock falls. Much loose rock, including large boulders, have 
fallen down the steep slope from the continuation of the thick sandstone bed that 
contains the bulges. In this area, the sandstone bed is high above the sidewalk and 
roadway and is supported by very soft, weak mudstones and shales. Exacerbating the 
situation has been the over steepening of this slope in years past during roadway 
maintenance. As the mudstones get wet, they lose strength, erode and are unable to 
support the denser, overlying sandstone. This situation is so acute that there is 
evidence in several places of mudflows, derived from the underlying mudstones, on 
the steep slopes below the sandstone ledge. As a result, rock falls of the sandstone,
 bounded by joints and ranging from cobble to large boulder sizes are occurring. 
 The rock fails are quite sudden and the loosened rock rolls down the over-steepened 
 slopes rapidly. Fortunately, Joe Temple and associates moved many of the large 
 sandstone blocks from across the street during guardrail construction and placed 
 them in a row adjacent to the sideway. This row of large sandstone blocks has 
 stopped and collected the falling rock and for the most part has prevented the 
 falling rock from reaching the sidewalk and roadway. Unfortunately, this rock 
 fall potential will continue over time. The offending slope needs to be inspected, 
 and scaled if possible, and the necessity for a rock catchment device at the 
 bottom of the slope needs to be evaluated.
Rocks continue to fall at the bone site, including two large boulders that fell 
onto the walkway. One boulder came from the underside of the unsupported bone 
bed, but the origin of the second boulder is unclear. Over the years, continuous 
improvements have been implemented to mitigate rock fall conditions at the bone 
site. The latest effort completed last fall was the continuation of the masonry 
wall to support the sandstone bed just above the thick bone-containing bed. This 
effort appears to be effective since no rock falls from the supported bed have 
been observed this spring. The next effort will be the down hill continuation of 
the wire mesh slope protection above the bone site. A bid has been accepted for 
this work along with some rock scaling from Venter Companies, Inc. This work 
should be underway soon. Above the wire mesh slope protection, there are still 
areas of potential rock fall that need to be further evaluated.

Additional Preservation Activities
In other news, the Tracksite Preservation Team consisting of Sam Butler, T. 
Caneer, Tim Connors, Joe Tempel, DuWayne Ebertowski, Tom Moklestad, Chris 
Carroll, Martin Lockley, Ed Warren and Jan Jacobs has been working diligently 
towards the design and construction of a permanent cover over the tracksite. 
Dan O'Brien and Associates is in the final stages of completing a preliminary 
design for the structure, and Erik Lenorvitz a student from the Art Institute 
is working on a presentation model of Dan O'Brian's design.
Yenter Companies, Inc. has completed the stabilization work at the tracksite. 
However, we still have another small buttress to construct at the sidewalk 
level and Yenter Companies, Inc. has been asked to submit a bid for this work.

Guides Corner
By Sam Bartlett

Due to the awful weather this winter with many weather related cancellations, 
the tour season at Dinosaur Ridge got off to a very poor start. However, with 
the arrival of spring, the pace has picked up and it looks like 2007 will 
become a banner year on Dinosaur Ridge. Overall tours, including Ridge tours 
and offsite tours, are up 31% over last year despite the large number of weather 
related cancellations. Thanks to Clare Marshall. Tom Moklestad, Erin Fair and 
all of the volunteers, the Boy Scout Day was a tremendous success with an estimate 
of 2,200 attendees. In addition to the usual Dinosaur Ridge tours, it is 
encouraging to see that the tours to Triceratops Trail have increased significantly.
Kermit Shields conducted an introductory class on April 21 for prospective guides 
and volunteers. Included in this class were John Townrow, John Mahoney, Paul Rosen, 
Warren Vestal, George Griffin, Don Kretch, Ginny Gent, Bill Danby, Julia Fraser, 
Tom Ohlrogge and Kurt Johnson. Penny Pritchett also expressed interest, but 
could not attend the class. This is by far the largest volunteer class in a very 
long time - Good job Kermit! Please introduce yourselves to these new volunteers, 
make them feel welcome and help them to become members of the guide pool. Kermit 
also conducted an additional training class just for Boy Scout Day volunteers.
Don't forget the special "2007 Year of Arthur Lakes." Most of the 
upcoming events are directly applicable to the tours that we give and we can 
gain insight to the history and importance of Dinosaur ridge as well as gain 
pointers for our own tours. Of particular interest are the rescheduled lecture 
and field trip on June 22 and 23 respectively conducted by Dr. Adrian Hunt, 
New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science on the Dinosaurs of Dinosaur 
Ridge. The field trip to Como Bluff on July 14 and 15 should also be of interest 
to every guide. This field trip is limited in attendance to 40 and reservations 
are required.
The next time that you come by the Visitor's Center, please stop by the barn 
and check out the new Dinosaur track book. Our new "book" was constructed
 by Martin Lockley from a Magnoavipes track found on the Ridge and reproduced 
 in resin by Triebold Paleontology, Inc. The "book" consists of three 
 leaves, each containing a different type of track. On the centerfold is the 
 true track of the Magnoavipes, complete with pointy toes and one claw impression. 
 The top leaf represents a cast (positive) of the track from the centerfold, made 
 by filling the true track with Plaster of Paris and removing it to form the cast. 
 The cast is a perfect replica of the true track and shows all of the details in 
 relief. The bottom leaf of the "book" represents the under track, such 
 as most of the Iguanodon tracks on Dinosaur Ridge. As an animal walks, its weight 
 sometimes compresses the soft, thinly bedded soil beneath the actual footprint, 
 creating a slightly altered impression of the animal's footprint. This under 
 track is usually wider, less distinct and usually void of many details from the 
 actual track in the layer above it. Our new "book" can be used readily 
 to introduce students to the different forms that dinosaur tracks can take and 
 to explain why so many of the tracks on Dinosaur Ridge are fatter and less 
 distinct then the true Iguanodon tracks. Our "book" makes it easy to 
 look at the tops and bottoms of one step, as examples of what one might find in 
 real rocks.
Martin relates that the famous tracker Edward Hitchcock found a beautiful Jurassic 
example of several superimposed layers, each with the impression made by the impact 
of a single foot. He called this the "fossil volume" or fossil book and 
prepared it for display as one would the pages in a binder.
As always, we are continually looking for new guides and if you would be willing 
to become a guide or decent, please contact Tom Moklestad, Erin Fair or Kermit Shields.


GOLDEN GATE CANYON 'RAMBLE'

On Saturday, May 12th, FODR loyal board members, John Ghist and Kermit Shields, 
FODR librarian, Kathy Honda were royally escorted on the first official "
Ramble" of the Year of Arthur Lakes by Program Director, Tom Moklestad 
(Billy Updike), reining the Vanosaurus. Ramble leader, Beth Simmons, showed the 
group the beautiful Calvary Episcopal Church in Golden where Lakes served as deacon 
and lay reader for about twenty-five years. Then the group went to the White Ash 
Mine monument where they embarked on a lengthy discussion of geohazards in the 
Golden area, and discussed Lakes' description of the event. From there the group 
went to Golden Gate Canyon road where they saw the Gregory Road going up Enter 
Mountain, discussed the earliest days of Golden Gate City, and looked at the first 
photo of the Golden Gate Canyon Road (Tucker Gulch Road). The tour stopped at the 
Tucker Toll Road monument and participants walked along the outcrops along the old 
road, looking for gar nets that Lakes had found. From there they went upstream to 
Mt. Galbraith Park and discussed the deadly floods of tiny Tucker Creek, as Arthur 
Lakes told the tales. The tour went through the uranium zone (appropriately, as per 
Lakes' tour, it was raining at that point), then up to the Guy Hill School site, 
then up to the Eight-Mile House site, scene of a unique burial in 1860. After a 
short story about a hanging along the Gregory Road, the trip terminated at the top 
of Guy Hill (on the pass).
On the return trip, Tom tried to beat Billy Updike's historic stage coach record 
ride of 39 minutes back to Golden. Good time had by all.

Tyrannosaurus rex Though the first fossil from a T. rex was a tooth found in Golden Colorado in 1874, no one knew at the time that the fossil was a rex's tooth until the rest of the creature was discovered in 1905. The largest Tyrannosaurus rex ever found was 46 feet long, 17 feet tall, and probably weighing nearly 14,000 pounds. T. rex lived at the very end of the Cretaceous period, around 68-65 million years ago. The tyrannosaur group has a very wide family tree. Several dinosaurs have been linked as ancestors to the famous giant theropod (meat-eater), such as Herrerasaurus (230 my), a new feathered tyrannosaur found in China called Dilong (130 my), and it's two North American cousins, Albertosaurus (70 my) and Daspletosaurus (75 my). This coloring page is only a small part of the memorium of Lakes' discoveries presented by the Friends of Dinosaur Ridge this year, including a series of hikes and lectures.