8:00-9:00: Breakfast and pack up.
9:00-10:00: Drive about 1 hour to the home of Roger and Carrie Ringer. Go west on I-70 and take
the Quinter Exit 107. Drive north about 1 mile to US 40. Go west on 40 about 2 miles;
turn north (right) at the turn just before the big tree; take the first left, and go a quarter
mile; turn left into the yard.
10:00-10:45: View the south-facing house with the bermed north side. They also have a photovoltaic
system that they use to supplement their electricity. They often feed electricity back into
the grid. Discuss the factors of climate, geology, and planetary science that went into the
design of an environmentally friendly, energy-efficient house. They are making an effort
to work with the sometimes harsh Western Kansas environmental conditions.
9:00-10:00: Drive about 1 hour to the home of Roger and Carrie Ringer. Go west on I-70 and take
the Quinter Exit 107. Drive north about 1 mile to US 40. Go west on 40 about 2 miles;
turn north (right) at the turn just before the big tree; take the first left, and go a quarter
mile; turn left into the yard.
10:00-10:45: View the south-facing house with the bermed north side. They also have a photovoltaic
system that they use to supplement their electricity. They often feed electricity back into
the grid. Discuss the factors of climate, geology, and planetary science that went into the
design of an environmentally friendly, energy-efficient house. They are making an effort
to work with the sometimes harsh Western Kansas environmental conditions.
|
| Roger and Carrie's Solar Panels Photo by Tom Geyer |
10:45-11:45: Drive about 1 hour to the Smoky
Vally Ranch. They will not give directions to the ranch
because access is by appointment only. The Smoky Valley Ranch is a 26 sq. mile, 16,800
acre ranch that is unbroken by roads. It is still a working cattle ranch and there are bison
on it, so they don't want people just showing up unless someone is there to meet them and
show them around. It is about 20 miles south of Oakley. It is a shortgrass prairie that
gets less than 20 inches of rain per year. For more info. on the Smoky Valley Ranch,
click here. To arrange the trip call Ruth Palmer at the Nature Conservancy State Office
in Topeka: 785-233-4400.
because access is by appointment only. The Smoky Valley Ranch is a 26 sq. mile, 16,800
acre ranch that is unbroken by roads. It is still a working cattle ranch and there are bison
on it, so they don't want people just showing up unless someone is there to meet them and
show them around. It is about 20 miles south of Oakley. It is a shortgrass prairie that
gets less than 20 inches of rain per year. For more info. on the Smoky Valley Ranch,
click here. To arrange the trip call Ruth Palmer at the Nature Conservancy State Office
in Topeka: 785-233-4400.
11:45-12:30: Lunch at the Ranch.
12:30-2:00: Tour the ranch and make environmental comparisons with the protected Konza.
2:00-2:30: Drive south on 83 to Scott City and check into the Chapparal Inn. Note the aquifer-based
agriculture in this region.
2:30-4:00: Drive 10 minutes back to Lake Scott State Park. Take a swim, then walk the bluffs and
Big Spring trail. Observe the Ogallala formation that outcrops here. Collect samples and
compare Ogallala rock to the Cretaceous Niobrara limestone collected from the fossil digs.
4:00-5:00: Take Big Spring Trail and determine
the discharge of Big Spring. There are springs in this
region because the permeable Ogalalla formation meets the less permeable Cretaceous chalks
near the surface.
5:00-5:15: Drive the very short 95 South out of the park, and observe the loess deposits over the
Ogallala formation at the roadcuts.
5:15-??: Drive on to Scott City for supper and stay at the hotel.
12:30-2:00: Tour the ranch and make environmental comparisons with the protected Konza.
2:00-2:30: Drive south on 83 to Scott City and check into the Chapparal Inn. Note the aquifer-based
agriculture in this region.
2:30-4:00: Drive 10 minutes back to Lake Scott State Park. Take a swim, then walk the bluffs and
Big Spring trail. Observe the Ogallala formation that outcrops here. Collect samples and
compare Ogallala rock to the Cretaceous Niobrara limestone collected from the fossil digs.
|
|
| Lake Scott Courtesy of KGS |
Ogalalla Outcrops Courtesy of KGS |
region because the permeable Ogalalla formation meets the less permeable Cretaceous chalks
near the surface.
|
| Big Springs at Scott Lake courtesy of KGS |
5:00-5:15: Drive the very short 95 South out of the park, and observe the loess deposits over the
Ogallala formation at the roadcuts.
5:15-??: Drive on to Scott City for supper and stay at the hotel.
|
| There's
no place like home. |