UNSS Trip to Lone Rock in Skull Valley
September 21, 1996
Leader: Art King. Those present were Ralph and Leigh Seiler, Chelsea and
Jason King, David and Shirley Harr, and David Harr Jr., Breanna Cook,
Michael Sanchez, Dot Platt, and the Belnap family. Not all of us got to
the top of Lone Rock, but those who did saw an abundance of fossils and
lichens. Those below also saw fossils such as crinoid stems, coral, and
brachiopods. We also noted the desert Crytogamic (or Crypobiotic) soil,
which guards the life of the deserts.
Bird life seen near the rock: raven, starlings, and (over a small stream)
barn swallows. At ponds on the way back we saw a snowy egret, great blue
heron, double-crested cormorant, avocet, eared grebe, pied-billed grebe,
Wilson's phalarope, blackbirds, mallards, and gadwalls.
Also noted were desert plants: matchstick (Gutierrezia),
sunflowers, asters, shadscale, spiny saltbush, greasewood, a small sagebrush
(Atriplex cana), salsify, and the little woolly seedpods of the
Utah ladies slipper (Astragalus utahensis), round-leaf peppergrass,
scarlet globemallow, and other plants which had gone to seed.
It was a great day for the trip. The weather was delightful, and everyone
enjoyed it. Thanks to Art for the leadership, and to Mike Sanchez who also
helped.
Schedule of Future UNSS Activities
Nature Notes -- Thoughts and Observations
Birds and Bees, Flowers and Trees
Projects and Activities to Try
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