This Pass's name means "Mouse" EarthCache
This Pass's name means "Mouse"
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This is not a typical Geocache. There is no container to find and no physical log to sign at the coordinates. Instead you will be able to enjoy and learn about an important geological feature of Colorado. It is located at a scenic overlook off I-25, northbound.
A pass is the lowest point between two mountains and provides the easiest passage for people wishing to make their way through a mountain range. Look at the vista before you to the west and north--you will see a series of mesas. Mesas are flat-topped mountains with steep sides. The top of the mesas here are composed of basalt--cooled lava flows left behind by volcanic activity a million years ago. The sedimentary rocks beneath the basalt are much softer and erode more quickly than the capstone above.
The area began as a plateau—a high, large, flat tableland. In areas with adequate rainfall, plateaus remain stable, covered by thick forests or grassy plains. But in an arid environment, mesas form. Because there is little ground cover, when rain does fall, it has the chance to flow along any cracks in the earth almost unimpeded and erode away rock before evaporating. Snow fills the cracks in the winter, expanding when it freezes, which further breaks down the rocks. The cracks widen and over the course of a million years, mesas are left behind with much open area between them. The strongest areas of the basalt capstone protect an area of rock directly beneath them, but even there rock slowly crumbles along the outside walls so that over time, the mesas themselves will disappear.
One often envisions a pass as a pathway between jagged peaks, but Raton Pass is a pathway through flat-topped mountains instead.
Passes are also notable for the way they shape human societies. Just as the Cumberland Gap provided 18th-century settlers with access to the Ohio Valley, Raton Pass provided access to the Great Plains for people from Sante Fe and other points south. Passes bring people together along a common path through treacherous terrain.
In order to log this EarthCache, email me the answers to the following questions (please don't post the answers other than the optional picture in your online log):
*** If the overlook is closed, just answer the other two questions by observing the area as you drive by ***
1. The mesas have sloping bases—how do you think those bases were formed, how did they come to be?
2. Look around and describe the ground cover. How does it contribute to the formation of mesas?
3. The signs before you provide the history of the flow of people over Raton Pass—name one group who used the pass and one fact about them that surprised you based on the information provided.
4. The last is purely optional: post a picture of yourself and/or your GPS with Fisher's Peak in the background.
As per EarthCache rules, I must delete your log if I don't receive your email within 5 days of your visit. Thanks for visiting my EarthCache!
***** Congratulations to sandean on FTF!!! *****
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
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