Vernal Day 2: Rafting, Learning, Searching

The main reason for our trip to Vernal was to go whitewater rafting.  I've been wanting to make this happen for a couple of years*, hoping to introduce the kids to this activity in a tame and cost-efficient way.  My Dad took me whitewater rafting when I was in high school and I loved it, and I hope that eventually we can go on big, exciting rafting adventures.  For our first time, though, we tested the waters (See what I did there?) on an easy river with mostly Class I's and one Class II rapid, called Mother-in-Law.  Our favorites were the ones we rotated the raft through (left side paddling backward and right side paddling forward). Most of the trip was very smooth and calm; the closest thing we had to a close call was when we got beached on a boulder in the middle of the river for a few minutes.  After some shaking the raft and paddling, we got loose.

Jack was worried about being bored in the van driving to the boat ramp so our guide and I told him to look for dinosaurs on the way. I thought he'd know we were joking, but he took it seriously, and continued to believe he would see dinosaurs even after I tried to set him straight.  It didn't help that one of the other guides in the group told him that he might see Pterodactyls while we were rafting.

Jack was absolutely thrilled when he saw some hawks or vultures way up high over the mountain cliffs, and was convinced that they were baby Pterodactyls.  He and Eliza were arguing about whether they were birds or not and Luke chimed in with, "Let's try something we haven't done before.  How about if everyone minds their own business?"  It was a paraphrase of the advice the professor gives Peter and Susan at the beginning of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, which we'd been listening to while we were driving.  It was a hilarious and perfect comment, and the argument ended in laughter.

In the end, Jack continued to believe adamantly (for at least a few hours) that he'd seen real Pterodactyls and therefore decreed it the best day of his life.

There were two major surprises on the rafting excursion: how ridiculously cold the water was (around 50°) coming from the bottom of Flaming Gorge Reservoir through the dam, and how very beautiful the Green River was.  I was amazed, and the pictures don't do it justice: steep, striking cliffs along the river; lush plantlife on the shores; clear water with lots of fish clearly visible (I bet they were cold); and beautiful blue skies.  

The van shuttle stopped at the Flaming Gorge dam
visitors' center (closed except for the bathrooms and
vending machines) so we could use the facilities before
arriving at the boat ramp.

Waiting for the rafts to be unloaded.

Excited to get going! And happy for warm, sunny weather.

You can't see it in the picture but Ben is looking
at what our guide called "Luke's Waterfall."

So pretty!

Eliza hopped in the water a few times -
definitely more than any of the rest of us!

Lunch stop

I see you, Eliza!

High Fives for a job well done!

At the end!

I was so glad that the kids all enjoyed this little adventure.  And more than that, they cooperated with good attitudes all day long: following instructions, paddling when and how they were supposed to, and not complaining about being bored or having to work.  Hooray!  A success for sure.

We drove straight from the rafting company's office to the Utah Field House of Natural History State Park Museum so we could have some time to explore before they closed at 5pm.  There were lots of cool things to see and information to read.  I learned about several prehistoric animals I'd never even heard of before, and it was neat to see how the Vernal area is so rich in prehistoric history, in addition to dinosaur-related fossils.  The statues outside were cool too.

Uintatheres
(Eocene-era saber-toothed herbivore from Wyoming)

I loved this cool wall full of plant fossils.

Helicoprion
(a fish with spiraling teeth, fossil found in Idaho)

Schist
2.7-1.7 billion year-old metamorphic rock
found in Daggett Co, UT

"C" contains one of three Brachiosaurus humeri
known in the world.  The bone is 6'4" long,
weighs 1000 lbs., and was found in southern Utah.

Yummy hamburger dinner with ice cream for dessert
at Country Grub, which our rafting guide recommended.

Our last stop of the evening was near the Green River in Jensen, where we were hoping to find fossilized shark teeth.  We weren't successful, but I'm glad we tried!

Supposedly the shark teeth are pulled out of the ground
by ants and you can find the teeth in the anthills.  It was
quite believable after seeing several ants move
such (comparatively) big pebbles.

We don't know what animal this was,
but it was kind of cool to see this big skeleton,
especially after learning about paleontologists
finding dinosaur bones and such.

Jack got this little LEGO-type
pterosaur kit from the Field House Museum
gift shop and he didn't want to go to sleep
that night until he'd finished it.

* I started looking into whitewater rafting on the Green River in 2018 but I went on tour with the TabChoir that summer and I didn't think it would be a good time to try to fit in a rafting trip.  In 2019 we were visiting family back east at the beginning of the summer.  I wasn't expecting we'd be able to go in 2020 because we had a family reunion planned at the beginning of June, Cat was supposed to go on a trip right after that, and before she got back, I would be traveling with the choir.  But all of those things were cancelled because of Covid, so we took advantage of the opportunity to schedule that rafting trip during the free time.

Vernal Day 1: Petroglyphs & Pictographs

Last weekend we took a 48-hour (exactly) trip, driving about 3 hours almost due east to Vernal, Utah.  This area is known as Dinosaurland for its many paleontological discoveries.  The unique geology of the area makes it extra interesting - on a stretch of road less than 40 miles long you can literally see (labeled with signs) rock formations that date from all of the major prehistoric time periods.

We left as soon as Ben was finished with work on Friday and arrived in Vernal in the evening with just enough daylight to hike at McConkie Ranch, where there are tons of petroglyphs and some pictographs on the mountainside.  The art is 800+ years old, done by the Fremont people.  Many are at eye-level, and some are just above, but it was so fun to see them and conjecture on their meaning and significance.  There are two major trails of petroglyphs.  We only had time for the main trail, so that means next time we'll go back and see the Three Kings trail.  This is an interesting article about the ancient art at McConkie Ranch.

See if you can spot the rock art in these pictures - some are easier to see than others!

We thought this one looked like he needed to use the bathroom.

This one reminded me of stick-figure-family bumper stickers.

Can you spot the hunter and the bear way up there?

Zoomed in it's a little easier to see.

We found Big Foot!

Beautiful scenery + sunset

So cool to see cactus growing on rocks.