434 GEOLOGICAL EXCURSION TO THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS, 



COLORADO SPRINGS TO DENVER. 



ITINERARY. 



By Whitman CR08S. 



Station. 



Colorado Springs 



BSdgerton 



Boated 



MolIHllllllt 



Palmer Lake 



Greenland 



Dist 



Euaoe. 



Elevi 



M ile8. 



Kill, 

 met res. 



Feet. 

 5, 878 











8 



18 



f., 402 



18 



21 



<i. 582 



19 



31 



6, 900 



22 



86 



7. 222 



28 



•15 



6,906 



(Cetera 



1,822 



Stat ion. 



Distance. 



Elevation. 



Miles. 



Larkspur 



1,861 Castle Bock 



2,006 Bedalia 



2, 121 A.eeqtda — 



2,201 Littleton.... 



2.105 Denver 



Kilo- ,. , ■., . 

 meters. 1 '"' 1 ' Meters. 



50 

 64 

 79 

 90 

 Id 

 117 



6, 050 

 6, 205 

 r.. 822 

 5,616 

 5,357 

 5. 182 



2, 029 



1,891 

 1,775 

 1,681 

 l , 682 

 1,679 



From Colorado Springs northward the route follows up the valley of 

 Monument creek. For several miles its course is in .Montana shales, 

 but below Edgerton it enters the Laramie formation, which presents a 

 line of bluffs facing to the southwest. AJong the hanks one sees from 

 the train a tendency to the production of curious forms by the unequal 

 erosion of the sandstone containing hard and usually ferruginous lay- 

 ers. In the district lying to the west of the railroad is the celebrated 

 Monument park, where the erosional forms are most abundant and 

 uoteworthy in shape and size. 



The road gradually approaches the Archean foothills, and at the head 

 of Monument creek reaches the divide between the waters of the Ark- 

 ansas and Platte rivers. This divide extends for many miles eastward 

 with a general elevation of about 7,500 feet. It is timbered in certain 

 areas and is composed of Tertiary strata, most of which are assigned to 

 the Monument Creek formation of Hayden, though detailed studies may 

 very probably show that several distinct formations have been grouped 

 as one. Owing to a discovery of Miocene vertebrate remains some- 

 where in this series the whole lias been supposed to be of that age. 



The railroad crosses the divide at Palmer Lake, within a hundred 

 yards of the Archean line, and just west of the station may be seen 

 strata of the Monument Greek formation resting on granite, with a gen- 

 tle easterly dip. East of the station is a small lake on the summit of 

 the divide. It has been artificially enlarged. East of the lake rises a 

 hill in which are good exposures of the coarse-grained grits and sand- 

 Stones of the Monument Creek. On either side of the divide the usual 

 zoiie of upturned sedimentary rocks, following the Archean contact, is 



