Sunday - Quake Lake ($70)

Pre-meeting trip (Sunday)

The pre-meeting trip will explore the geology, hydrogeology, and history of southwest Montana. The waypoint will be Earthquake Lake, MT near Yellowstone National Park. Along the way, we will see spectacular basin and range geology as well as glacial and periglacial features along the valleys between the Highlands, Tobacco Root, Ruby, and Madison mountain ranges.

The snowpack in the high rugged mountains provide recharge to aquifers bound by valley-margin faults; we will discuss the impact of irrigation and land development on these aquifers and rivers (with the solemn promise you will not have to get out of the bus to look at a well).

This area of Montana is the crossroads of history with remnants of Native Americans, Lewis & Clark, miners, robbers, and vigilantes to name a few – all included in the narrative as we go along.

August 17, 2019 will mark the 60th anniversary of the earthquake (M7.2) that triggered the landslide that blocked the Madison River and caused numerous casualties. The scars, scarps, and lessons learned have diminished very little since; stops will include the visitor center and several “off the beaten path” geologic features of that event.

The return route will backtrack down the Madison River but then divert north along the eastern and northern flanks of the Tobacco Roots along the South Boulder River and the Indiana Field Camp. Perhaps a quick trip into Whitehall for a photo op at Borden’s if there is time...