Cirque du Engelmann Peak EarthCache
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This EarthCache is located at a gravel pulloff on the east side of U.S. 40 on the way up to Berthod Pass.
The mountaintop to the south of this location, across from Clear Creek, is Engelmann Peak. You will see two cirques on the upper part of the mountain. These large bowl-shaped indentations were carved out by small glaciers that at one time were associated with a larger glacier which ran down the Clear Creek Valley.
Cirques are one of several geologic entities formed from the erosive activity of mountain glaciers. The backward erosion of two adjoining cirques can form a sharp ridge between them called an arête. Three or more cirques which form around a peak is a horn, and is best seen in the shape of the Matterhorn. Moraines are formed from the rock and till that remains after a glacier has retreated from the point of its furthest advance.
Each of the cirques on Engelmann Peak has a moraine of rocky material at the bottom which shows that the glacier remained in the bowl of the cirque after it was no longer associated with the main glacier. These smaller glaciers continued eroding back into the cirque by means of glacial erosion and mass wasting.
To log this EarthCache, send me an email with the answer to the following: 1.) Looking at the western cirque, what direction was the small glacier moving as it slowly flowed down Engelmann Peak to merge with the larger Clear Creek glacier?
Please consider posting photos of yourself, or the local geology, when you log this EarthCache. Photos can be an additional rewarding part of your journey, but posting them is not a requirement for logging this EarthCache, and is strictly optional.
The above information was compiled from the following sources:
2007. Chronic H., and F. Williams. Roadside Geology of Colorado, 2nd Ed.
2003. Colorado Geological Survey. Messages in Stone. Matthews et al., eds.
2004. Hopkins, R.L., and L.B. Hopkins. Hiking Colorado’s Geology
Thanks to the Roosevelt National Forest for allowing placement of this EarthCache!
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