Spring Watershed Learning Project Explores Geology at Wild Rivers!
The kids sling their clipboards along, calling out and writing down observations as they spot items from their scavenger hunt, one of their assignments for the day. We are here to learn about geology, topography, and of course about watersheds: how water travels from mountain tops into rivers and from headwaters to river mouths. We learn terms like igneous, metamorphic and sedimentary, deep time, stratigraphy and percolation. But we are also here to enjoy the freshness of the day and the little green shoots poking through the dry soil. We are here to notice a tree growing out of a crack in a rock and to learn that ponderosa pine bark often smells like butterscotch and vanilla. We are here to be surprised by piñon pines felled by beaver, to notice apache plume growing along the trail, to explore petroglyphs, to discover water-carved basalt boulders and to hear birdsong mingled with the flowing of the Rio Grande. We are here to experience and explore the wonder of nature together, which is what I love about the Watershed Learning Project!