Vamoose Utah April 2019

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UTAH’S ANCIENT PAST COMES INTO VIEW

RETURN OF THE DINOSAURS ROCK HOUNDING FOR BEGINNERS

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The mining community of Copperfield was set in world famous Bingham Canyon, high in the Oquirrh Mountains. In 1906, the Saltas family joined those Copperfield residents in the steep hillside, shanty area, called Greek Camp.

Copperfield was home to thousands of melting pot immigrants including Greeks, Japanese, Mexicans, Germans, Swedes, Brits and many other ethnicities all bound to common American values of family, faith, education, hard work and community. They shared many good times, often tempered by the frequent bad times derived of dangerous mining work.

Copperfield is now gone, scraped away by mining.

But the Copperfield spirit remains alive in everything we do, from newspapers and magazines to events and digital services. We work hard for each other and

2 | Vamoose Utah • April 2019

for the large communities of readers—online and in print—who value honesty and stories told well.

We will keep telling stories—your stories—as long as people keep reading. And wouldn’t it be a shame if they didn’t read? We don’t think that will happen, so meanwhile, turn a page, or many pages, in one of Copperfield Publishing’s growing catalog of Utah award-winning publications.

We bring you the Best of Utah every day, every week. every month. including our newest product, the on you are reading now, We Are Utah. With this issue, discover that behind every great Utahn or super buisness is a beating heart that is connected in some way to all the rest of us. Their stories are you stories. We are all the community of Utah. Enjoy.  John Saltas Founder

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April 2019 • Vamoose Utah | 3

INSIDE

Hagryphus gigantus at the Natural History Museum of Utah

4 | Vamoose Utah • April 2019

Plan a visit to Vernal to get in touch with Utah’s ancient past

BY KATHLEEN CURRY AND GEOFF GRIFFIN

DINO-MIGHT

Road-tripping for Utah dinosaurs never disappoints

BY KATHLEEN CURRY AND GEOFF GRIFFIN

RETURN OF THE DINOSAURS

A visit to the Natural History Museum of Utah inspires respect for the reptile

BY CHRIS VANOCUR

FOODS OF ANTIQUITY

Being a hunter-gatherer in drought-prone Utah made for an unpredictable menu

BY MAYA SILVER

ROAM WITH A VIEW

Drink up the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument while you still can

BY REBECCA CHAVEZ-HOUCK

TIME TRAVEL

Immerse yourself in Parowan Gap’s geology, petroglyphs and dinosaur tracks

BY MEGAN WALSH

ROCK STARS

Rockhounding rewards in adventure and treasures from the Earth

BY KATHERINE PIOLI

SOFIA CIFUENTES

8 12 16 18 22 24 26

ROCK OF AGES

Springtime at

Glover Nursery

Mon-Sat 8am-7pm Sunday 10am-5pm 9275 S 1300 W 801-562-5496 glovernursery.com

Mine Your Very Own Trilobite

FAMILY FUN u-digfossils.com 435-864-3638 Delta, Utah April 2019 • Vamoose Utah | 5

VOL.5 NO.2 • APRIL 2019

CONTRIBUTORS

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STAFF

PUBLISHER DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS

EDITORIAL

EDITOR PROOFREADERS CONTRIBUTORS

PRODUCTION ART DIRECTOR GRAPHIC ARTIST

BUSINESS/OFFICE

ASSOCIATE BUSINESS MANAGER OFFICE ADMINISTRATORS TECHNICAL DIRECTOR

MARKETING

MARKETING AND EVENTS DIRECTOR

CIRCULATION

CIRCULATION MANAGER

SALES

ADVERTISING DIRECTOR SALES DIRECTOR, EVENTS DIGITAL OPERATIONS MANAGER SENIOR ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES RETAIL ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES

John Saltas Pete Saltas

Jerre Wroble Caitlin Hawker, Ray Howze Kathleen Curry, Geoff Griffin, Rebecca Chavez-Houck, Maya Silver, Katherine Pioli, Chris Vanocur, Megan Walsh

Chris Vanocur is a freelance writer and

journalist living in Salt Lake. A recipient of both the Peabody and duPont-Columbia University awards, his writing and photography have appeared in a number of publications.

Sofia Cifuentes Chelsea Neider, Sean Hair

Paula Saltas David Adamson, Samantha Herzog Bryan Mannos

Samantha Smith

Eric Granato

Jennifer Van Grevenhof Kyle Kennedy Anna Papadakis Doug Kruithof, Kathy Mueller Mieka Sawatzki

An avid outdoor adventurer and amateur stargazer, Katherine Pioli works as assistant editor for Catalyst magazine and teaches adults through the University of Utah’s Lifelong Learning program.

Cover image: Ceratosaurus nasicornis photo at Natural History Museum of Utah

by Sofia Cifuentes Distributed free of charge throughout the Wasatch Front while supplies last.

Additional copies of Vamoose Utah are available at the Vamoose offices: 248 S. Main, Salt Lake City, UT 84101, 801-575-7003

Editorial contact: Editor@vamooseutah.com Advertising contact: Sales@vamooseutah.com COPPERFIELD PUBLISHING, INC • COPYRIGHT 2019 • ALL RIGHTS RESERVED @vamooseutah

6 | Vamoose Utah • April 2019

@vamooseutah

@vamooseutah

Maya Silver is a writer covering food and environment based in Kamas. By day, she writes for Backcountry.com and is also authoring the forthcoming Moon Salt Lake, Park City & the Wasatch Range travel guide (out Fall 2020).

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR

RENDEZVOUS W

ith spring now firmly in our grasp, Vamoose Utah is ready to launch a new look, an increased publication schedule (we’re going monthly!) and an exciting event. Whew!

As you can see, our new look is more compact, lightweight and portable than our previous design—just right for you to bring along on your outings. With this issue, Vamoose also begins a monthly publication schedule to keep you in the know on outdoor activities, events and gear.

As if that weren’t enough, we’re also hosting a spectacular outdoor event in April called Rendezvous. This free festival takes place at the Gateway Mall in downtown Salt Lake City on April 20 from 2 to 8 p.m. Here, you’ll “rendezvous” with top outdoor brands such as Black Diamond, Klymit, L.L. Bean, Cotopaxi as well as nonprofits like Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance and outfitters like White Pine Touring, all of whom celebrate and advocate for Utah’s outdoors. Many thanks to all our supporters and sponsors—including Maverik, our presenting sponsor—for joining in on the first

of what we hope will be many outdoor expos.

This is also the first event orchestrated

by Kyle Kennedy, our new ace event sales director. Kennedy has a solid background in the outdoor industry, having majored in the subject in college and worked as a longtime publisher of Snowboard magazine. He most recently worked on large-scale trade shows for SnowSports Industries America.

Kennedy describes Rendezvous as a “first-of-its-kind experiential outdoor event” focusing on the participants, from first-timers to core enthusiasts.

Joining Kennedy is our marketing maven, Samantha Smith, known for her deft hand organizing City Weekly’s special events and the Utah Beer Festival. Rendezvous, for her, provides local outdoors enthusiasts the opportunity to learn about the adventure brands they love and introduce them to new gear they’ve never heard of. “We created Rendezvous because we care about environmental education and want to foster a leave-no-trace-behind mentality,” she said.

Did we mention it’s family friendly?

Smith said as kids learn about outdoor adventures they can experience in Utah, it gives them

incentive to put down the video-game console and get outside in the sunshine.

Enjoy outdoor film screenings, kid Strider races, a climbing wall, adventure mobiles, an ax-throwing tournament by Phat Axe, food trucks (Cupbop or Monsieur Crêpes, anyone?), beer vendors such as Uinta and Bohemian featuring local outdoor brews, wine, music and giveaways.

And, now, about this issue: Our theme this month is Utah’s Ancient Past, which was not only fun to pull together but allowed us to imagine a time when gigantic reptiles roamed this land. Consider a journey to Dinosaur National Monument, where thousands of dinosaur bones from the late-Jurassic Period can be seen embedded in the earth. Learn the best RV routes to travel through the ancient wonders of Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. Marvel at the geological and cultural significance of Parowan Gap. Go rockhounding, challenge yourself to cook a primitive meal and spend time in awe of the past at any of Utah’s primo natural history museums.

From the epic gifts of antiquity to the cutting-edge performance sports gear of tomorrow, Vamoose Utah has it all going on in April. Come join in on the fun.

— Jerre Wroble Editor

SOFIA CIFUENTES

Deinosuchus hatcheri at the Natural History Museum of Utah

April 2019 • Vamoose Utah | 7

WEEKEND WARRIOR

Plan a Vernal visit for a deep dive into Utah’s ancient past

BY KATHLEEN CURRY AND GEOFF GRIFFIN hen it comes to finding ancient Utah, Vernal is a spot where you can ask, “How old do we want to go?” You can hike to petroglyphs left by the Fremont people about 1,000 years ago. You can wander through other-worldly rock formations in aptly named Fantasy Canyon that are made of sandstone dating back 50 million years. You can touch the

••••

Thursday

bones of dinosaurs that wandered the earth more than 150 million years ago at Dinosaur National Monument.

Amid all of those ancient treasures, a weekend getaway to Vernal also lets you experience some very modern dining and activities to balance out the trip. Consider the following itinerary:

Dinosaur Inn & Suites

The three-hour drive to Vernal starts by heading east on Interstate 80 out of Salt Lake City, continuing past Park City and taking exit 146 to head east on US-40. You’ll head through the beauty of Heber Valley before the roadway merges on to US-191.

About half-an-hour before getting to Vernal, you’ll pass through the town of Roosevelt, which is the perfect time to stop at Marion’s Variety (29 N. Main, Roosevelt, 435-722-2143, Facebook.com/Marions-Variety) a small-town, ’50s-style diner that features a slice-of-Americana menu with burgers, sandwiches and plenty of ice-cream options.

After eating, it’s a half-hour-drive to Vernal to check in at Dinosaur Inn & Suites (251 E. Main, Vernal, 435-315-0123, DinoInn. com). Locally owned and operated—in business since 1929—the room options here include family suites, and the free breakfast every morning features eggs cooked to order.

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DINOSAUR INN & SUITES

AFTERNOON Salt Lake City to Vernal

Split Mountain and the Green River at Dinosaur National Monument

Friday

••••

Although you have a free breakfast where you’re staying, you also might want to check out some breakfast venues that are popular with the locals. Betty’s Cafe (416 W. Main, Vernal, 435-781-2728, Facebook.com/Bettys-Cafe-Vernal) is one of those places where everybody in town knows the owner and the chicken-fried steak breakfast is so big that it has to be served on two plates.

Thirteen miles southeast of Vernal on US-40 is Jensen, where you’ll turn and travel north seven miles to the Quarry Visitor Center at Dinosaur National Monument (11625 E. 1500 South, Jensen, 970-374-3000, NPS.gov/dino). From there, during the offseason, you can drive to the Quarry Exhibit Hall where you can see 1,500 dinosaur bones, many still partly embedded in rocks.

JENS LALLENSACK

Allosaurus skeleton reconstruction (cast) at the Utah Field House of Natural History State Park Museum in Vernal

FREDLYFISH4

MORNING Vernal to Jensen (Dinosaur National Monument)

Step outside the hall, and you go from artifacts that are millions of years old to a thousand years old. Petroglyphs created by the Fremont people who inhabited the area from about 200-1300 A.D. can be found at five sites throughout the park. The “Swelter Shelter”—one of the oldest known sites of human occupation in the monument—is just 200 feet from the Quarry Exhibit Parking lot, and the furthest hike to any of the sites is just 2 miles.

Another way to experience the park is while rafting down the Green or Yampa rivers. Monument-approved commercial guides (see NPS.gov/dino) do single-day trips through Split Mountain Canyon as well as multi-day trips. Visitors can also apply for a permit to do their own non-commercial river trip.

AFTERNOON & EVENING Vernal Back in town, you can keep the dino theme of the day going with a visit to the Utah Field House of Natural History State Park Museum (496 E. Main, Vernal, 435-789-3799, StateParks.Utah.gov, see more on p. 12).

After a day in the outdoors, you might want to consider the option of grabbing a pre-dinner massage or other spa treatment at Ooh La La and Friends (194 S. Vernal Ave., Vernal, 435-789-6553, OohLaLaAndFriends.com) Vernal Brewing Co.’s craft beers are now available around the state, but you can taste them where they’re actually brewed at gastropub Vernal Brewing Co. (55 S. 500 East, Vernal, 435-781-2337, VernalBrewing.com).

Highlights of this gastropub’s menu include chicken skillet pie made with a puff pastry, or the VBC burger that comes with candied bacon and onion marmalade.

Whatever you choose to eat, you can pair it with a variety of beers on-tap such as the Allosaurus Amber Ale or Rigor Mortis Red Ale. April 2019 • Vamoose Utah | 9

••••

Saturday

UTAH STATE PARKS AND RECREATION

Red Fleet State Park

Start the day at 7-11 Ranch Restaurant (77 E. Main, Vernal, 435-789-1170, 7-11RanchRestaurant.com), Vernal’s oldest restaurant dating back to 1933. The founder allegedly got the location by bribing a town official with a jug of whiskey.

Want a hamburger for breakfast? Why not? A hamburger that comes with three eggs, hash browns, biscuits and gravy for just $8.99? Yes, please!

NIGHT Vernal

Dinosaur Brew Haus (550 E. Main, Vernal, 435-7810717, Facebook.com/dinosaurbrewhaus) is a place known for its grilled salmon sandwich and a green chili Philly sandwich. If you go in on Saturday after 5 p.m., they feature a half-rack of pork ribs served with fries and sides of macaroni salad or coleslaw.

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Twelve miles northeast of Vernal, Red Fleet State Park (8750 N. Highway 191, Vernal, 435-789-4432, StateParks.Utah. gov/parks/red-fleet) offers the chance to hike to dinosaur tracks and try many other outdoor activities. Visitors can boat, fish or paddle board on Red Fleet Reservoir. In the world of mountain biking, Vernal is becoming known as a second Moab, and several outstanding bike trails run through the park.

Dinosaur footprint at the Red Fleet State Park

UTAH STATE PARKS AND RECREATION

MORNING Vernal to Red Fleet State Park

Sunday

Sunset at Fantasy Canyon

••••

Vernal to Salt Lake City

BOB WICK-BLM

Fantasy Canyon

You only need to drive a couple of minutes on Highway 40 to go from Vernal to the town of Naples, home of Naples Country Cafe (1010 S. 1500 East, Naples, 435-789-8870, Facebook.com/NaplesCountryCafe). Get there as early or late as you want, because they serve breakfast all day. They’re also known for their pies and baked goods.

Next, head south out of Vernal on UT-45. After a 40-mile drive of just under an hour, you’ll see signs for Fantasy Canyon (435-781-4400, BLM. gov/visit/fantasy-canyon) This 10-acre space, overseen by the Bureau of Land Management, gets its name because the sandstone rock formations (with the sandstone itself dating back about 50 million years) have an other-worldly appearance that makes visitors feel like it wouldn’t be surprising for a dragon or a wizard to suddenly pop out.

The best way to get an up-close look is to hike the half-mile loop through the property. (You can read a March 2018 travelogue about Fantasy Canyon, written by Chris Vanocur, at VamooseUtah.com) After leaving Fantasy Canyon, the drive back to the Wasatch Front will take you through the ghost town of Ouray on the way up to US-191 (the same route that brought you east on Thursday). This time, the drive will take about 45 minutes longer.

About three hours into the drive, you’ll find yourself in the Heber Valley, home to the new eatery, Midway Mercantile (99 E. Main, Midway, 435-315-4151, MidwayMercantile.com). Built as a store in 1874, Midway Mercantile was just refurbished prior to chef John Platt and his family opening a restaurant in the building. The dining room menu includes raclette-cheese fondue and daily specials built around fresh, handmade pasta.

If you’d rather relax in the bar, you can enjoy pub fare such as lamb shepherd’s pie and stone-hearth pizzas.

After a weekend of entering multiple portals that connect with Utah’s ancient past, you can happily return to 2019, knowing you’ll soon return.

DAVE PITCHER-BLM

April 2019 • Vamoose Utah | 11

Road-tripping for Utah dinosaurs never disappoints

BY GEOFF GRIFFIN AND KATHLEEN CURRY

Utah Field House of Natural History State Park For any trip to Vernal, a visit to Dinosaur National Monument is a must, but a close second for dino-lovers is the Utah Field House of Natural History State Park (496 E. Main, Vernal, 435-7893799, StateParks.Utah.gov/parks/utah-field-house) The field house has so many dinosaur sculptures they had to put them outside and create a “Dinosaur Garden.” There are 17 full-size replicas of creatures that could once be found wandering the Uinta Basin, including a Tyrannosaurus that stands 20feet tall and has 6-inch teeth. Sixteen of the statues were made by noted sculptor Elbert Porter, a Utah native who was a University

Mounted skeletal cast of Diplodocus, on display at the Utah Field House of Natural History State Park Museum in Vernal

12 | Vamoose Utah • April 2019

With sharper teeth and a more graceful build, Allosaurus rivals Tyrannosaurus rex as the supreme meat-eater of the Mesozoic.”

Want to see an Allosaurus? Utah has you covered. While there’s no shortage of ways to find ancient Utah in the outdoors, there are some pretty good options indoors as well at a number of museums throughout the state. Museums and exhibits in Vernal, Lehi and Ogden showcase some of Utah’s oldest residents.

of Utah professor and also produced sculptures of Angel Moroni and Joseph Smith for the LDS church.

There’s also plenty to see inside the building as well, with exhibits that cover 3 billion years of history in the Uinta Basin.

Besides actual examples of rocks and bones, including some you can touch, there are also artistic renderings. The museum has exhibits about Native American life in the region, including artifacts from the Fremont Indians, who lived in the area about 1,000 years ago.

JENS LALLENSACK

D

o you dig dinosaurs? If yes, you must know that the Allosaurus is Utah’s State Fossil. According to the Utah Geologic Survey, the Allosaurus “was the dominant predator of North America during the Late Jurassic. It is known from numerous skeletons, ranging from 10 to 40 feet in length, from the Cleveland-Lloyd Dinosaur Quarry in east-central Utah. Mounted skeletons, cast from Cleveland-Lloyd Allosaurs, are displayed in more than three dozen museums around the world.

Museum of Ancient Life at Thanksgiving Point

The Museum of Ancient Life at Thanksgiving Point (3003 N. Thanksgiving Way, Lehi, 801-768-2300, ThanksgivingPoint.org) lets guests experience ancient Utah in a variety of ways.

For those who prefer a hands-on experience, there are more than 50 interactive exhibits. Kids (and kids at heart) can play with toy dinosaurs at the Erosion Table or go to the Jr. Paleo Lab to mold and cast their own dinosaur fossil to take home.

If you want traditional 3D, there are 60 complete dinosaur skeletons that give visitors a sense of the remarkable size and

range of these prehistoric creatures. The other way to do 3D at this museum is at the Mammoth Screen Theatre, where guests can get a sense of nature in all its glory by watching 3D movies about subjects like turtles and butterflies projected onto a giant screen.

Another way to experience the museum is after dark with the “Late Night With Rex” program. Children and their parents can tour the premises with their own guide and go on a paleontological adventure.

MUSEUM OF ANCIENT LIFE AT THANKSGIVING POINT

Museum of Ancient Life at Thanksgiving Point

Ogden’s George S. Eccles Dinosaur Park

The place where dinosaurs seem to be “alive” is Ogden’s George S. Eccles Dinosaur Park (1544 E. Park Blvd., Ogden, 801-3933466, DinosaurPark.org) The outdoor park is filled with more than 100 full-size sculptures that are based on actual fossilized skeletons. The combination of artistry, robotics and sound gives guests a sense of what it would have been to walk among these giants so many years ago Besides the acres of outdoor dinosaurs, there is also an indoor

museum with skeletons, fossils and interactive media to go with the exhibits. The outdoor area also includes a playground for children, including a Flintstones area where they can climb on Dino.

The museum is also a working paleontology laboratory, and, on some days, you can actually stop by and ask the paleontologist on staff a question or two about where they find all those bones.

Indoors or outdoors, real fossils or sculpted replicas, Utah has dinosaurs galore.

SOFIA CIFUENTES

Ogden’s George S. Eccles Dinosaur Park

April 2019 • Vamoose Utah | 13

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April 2019 • Vamoose Utah | 15

Visiting the Natural History Museum of Utah sparks fantasies of a dinosaur revival STORY AND PHOTOS BY CHRIS VANOCUR

Salt Lake City’s Natural History Museum of Utah

16 | Vamoose Utah • April 2019

CHRIS VANOCUR

CHRIS VANOCUR

Lythronax aegestes, “gore king from the Southwest,” is a a new Tyrannosaur species found in southern Utah

Natural History Museum of Utah University of Utah, 301 Wakara Way, SLC 801-581-4303 NHMU.Utah.edu

Canis dirus, or dire wolf, lived during the Ice Age, more than 12,000 years ago CHRIS VANOCUR

D

their next absurd step. I pictured the museum’s dinosaurs moving around and talking to one another after everyone goes home. Kind of like that movie, Night at the Museum. I strongly suspect that humanity’s demise and the dinosaurs’ resurgence would be frequent topics of the discussion.

Now, if you want to do your own research and debunk my theory of a dinosaur revival—or if you simply want to see a terrific Utah attraction—the Natural History Museum of Utah is open every day except Thanksgiving and Christmas. The price of admission varies depending on how old a dinosaur you are.

At the end of my visit, I was pleased to find a small and cozy museum café that sells hot beverages and snacks that even a Saltasaurus would enjoy. There is also a museum store with some cool toy dinosaurs.

Now, coincidentally, a few days after my museum visit, I found myself on a Caribbean cruise. One of the movies on the ship was Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom. Several parts of the movie leapt out at me. The first was when Bryce Dallas Howard talks about the miracle of seeing a dinosaur for the first time. This is how I felt seeing the dinosaur reconstructions at the Natural History Museum of Utah. They are truly miraculous sights to behold.

The second part that resonated with me came from the character played by Jeff Goldblum at the end of the film. He warns a congressional committee in Washington that dinosaurs were here before us and, if we’re not careful, they will be here after us.

Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

An artist’s rendering of Lythronax aegestes, a carnivore with quills that measured 24 feet long and 5,500 pounds

CHRIS VANOCUR

inosaurs will once again roam the Earth. Yes, you heard right. They likely will be reborn when Antarctica or some other subzero place melts, and these cryogenically frozen ancient creatures will roar back to life. Or, perhaps, some sort of Jurassic Park cloning will be secretly created by mad scientists.

Just imagine, an “Indominus rex” or an “Indoraptor” being created in a test tube in a Jurassic World-like lair of a diabolical villain.

Please do not disregard my prediction as crazy speculation. After all, my intuitive powers are both uncanny and legendary. Dinosaurs will be coming back. It’s that whole circle-of-life thing.

Once these prehistoric creatures stomped this planet, even in Utah. Then, they went away. But, return they shall.

This Nostradamus-like prognostication came to me as I wandered through the Natural History Museum of Utah. It was a cold, inversion-plagued day in January, and this gem of a Utah museum beckoned. Being from the Cretaceous era myself, I found myself naturally drawn to the museum’s popular Past Worlds exhibit.

But even before I got to the museum’s dinosaur-land, I was pleasantly surprised to discover the impressive Paleontology Preparation Lab. Through large picture windows, visitors get to see the museum’s dinosaurontologists (not a real word) at work. Here, staff members painstakingly clear away rock, sand or dirt from fossils. I found myself transfixed watching these experts do their “dirty” work.

If you’ve never been, or haven’t been in an ice age or two, the museum is both creative and well-conceived. I was particularly impressed by the interactive displays, including the option of using my phone as a mobile guide. I also found myself captivated by an area with a glass floor. Walking over it, I could peer down and view variously strewn dinosaur bones. It’s was like having a Pterodactyl’s-eye view of an actual archeological site. It was so life-like, I even worried I might fall through the glass and find myself landing in the sand next to the bones of a Gryposaurus.

The reconstructed bones are so authentic looking, an unusual thought crossed my “humanazoic brain” (this is another made-up phrase). I wondered if, through their bones, these dinosaurs were secretly smirking at me and other museum-goers. Do they know man will one day become extinct just as they are? Maybe it won’t be an asteroid that knocks us off as was thought to be the dinosaur’s fate, but instead rising temperatures, waters and other climate-change ills already underway. If you believe scientists and not climate-change deniers, things aren’t looking too great longterm for Homo sapiens on this planet.

Then, of course, my prehistoric fantasies took

April 2019 • Vamoose Utah | 17

BACKCOUNTRY

FOODS OF ANTIQUITY Being a hunter-gatherer in drought-prone Utah made for an unpredictable menu

BY MAYA SILVER

I

f a Fremont family invited you over to dinner, say on the evening of April 1, 1025, what would be on the menu? We can’t say for sure, but we learn more about the diet of the prehistoric Fremont people every summer, as archaeologists head to Range Creek Canyon for another season of fieldwork.

At this remote and vast excavation site in eastern Utah, not only do researchers dig up clues to the Fremont past, but they also try to imitate the way the Fremont went about their everyday lives.

The idea of this practice is that the art of imitation will yield a clearer sense of why the Fremont farmed, ate, and lived the way they did.

So, what might have the typical Fremont supper looked like?

The answer to that question could depend on the availability of water, which—thanks to a series of severe droughts stretching from around 1135 until 1300—might have been pretty scarce toward the end of the Fremont stint in Range Creek.

We know that people here farmed corn, which they would have turned into flour and used in dishes like tortillas and soups. They also gathered wild berries and grains, as well as hunted game like elk, rabbit, and bighorn sheep. “We see a lot of hunting depicted in the rock art in Range Creek,” Range Creek Field School director Shannon Arnold Boomgarden says.

EAT ANCIENT: Bull elk permits are available first-come, firstserved starting July 16 this year. Prefer someone else to do the hunting for you? Head to Hearth on 25th (195 25th St., Suite 6, Ogden, 801-399-0088, Hearth25.com) and dig into oven-roasted rabbit leg or a pan-seared elk backstrap. This Ogden restaurant is known for its wood-fired wild game—and has a name that suggests a more primordial way of cooking, to boot.

Farming, in particular, would have been quite vulnerable to the droughts that devastated Range Creek—not to mention much of North America. To investigate how a lack of rain might have affected corn crops, Boomgarden grows heirloom maize using different irrigation methods. In one experiment, archaeology students constructed dams and irrigation ditches using just their hands and sticks to divert water from Range Creek to a small plot of maize seedlings a few yards away. By actually farming as the Fremont did, Boomgarden can calculate the labor and water necessary to cultivate a crop, informing a cost-benefit analysis.

EAT ANCIENT: Bust out a mortar and pestle this summer and grind your own dried ear of Utah corn into flour (consider it your arm workout for the day). The easier route? Buy a bag of corn masa at Gonzalez Market (1220 S. Redwood Road, SLC, 801-8861921, MercadoGonzalez.com)—and make your own corn tortillas for Taco Tuesday.

One unexpected hiccup with the maize experiments? Grasshoppers, which Boomgarden says have been “destroying plants en masse.” But we know that the Fremont turned this pesky problem into an opportunity, collecting these pests as a protein-rich food source.

18 | Vamoose Utah • April 2019

EAT ANCIENT: Catch a grasshopper in your garden and fry it up as a salad topper! Prefer a more palatable way to enjoy this insect?

You can also pick up a bag of Chirps—chips made from crickets— at Smith’s.

HEARTH ON 25TH

Rabbit & polenta dish at Hearth on 25th

EAT ANCIENT: Another staple of the Fremont diet was Indian ricegrass, which just happens to be Utah’s official state grass. It’s a great source of protein, but laborious to render edible. From the ethnographic record, we know that people used to collect the seeds of Indian ricegrass in big cone-shaped baskets. Then they would sear off the little hairs and husks clinging to the seeds by singeing them with hot coals, rubbing them, and tossing them into the air.

“It’s a time-intensive process,” explains Range Creek Field Station Manager Corinne Springer. She would know—she has replicated it in order to determine the caloric return rates of processing and eating ricegrass seeds.

How exactly did the Fremont consume these seeds? “Most accounts indicate that Indian ricegrass was ground into a flour, but my attempts at this failed miserably,” Springer says.

Instead, she softens them by boiling them. Then, she experiments with them into different recipes, from soup to banana

bread and oatmeal cookies, where they add a “really nice, mild nutty flavor.”

Sadly, the story of what’s for dinner with the Fremonts doesn’t end well (spoiler alert: everyone left before dessert). Archaeologists know that the droughts that ravaged Range Creek—and the greater Southwest—made life pretty tough there. People began storing their grains in granaries up steep crags that today most people would want to rope up for to reach—a sign that people had begun to fight over dwindling food. Eventually, by around 1200, all material evidence of the Fremont in Range Creek vanishes.

As we learn more and more about what the Utahns of antiquity ate, it becomes easier to channel the past through our palate. You can make your own tortillas, hunt a rabbit or catch a grasshopper in a Mason jar. The recipes that follow are one more way to eat like the Fremont (with some creative and convenient liberties taken, of course): Springer’s own recipe for Indian ricegrass pancakes with wild elderberry syrup.

April 2019 • Vamoose Utah | 19

BUTTERMILK RICEGRASS PANCAKES Ingredients

1 cup ricegrass seeds* 2 cup flour 2 teaspoons baking powder 1 teaspoon baking soda ½ teaspoon salt

*Indian ricegrass seeds can be foraged throughout Utah at elevations between 3,000 and 10,000 feet. Look for them in valleys and foothills, and in dry areas with sandy soil from late May through mid-June. Springer recommends monitoring a patch once you find it, because when the seeds ripen, they will drop. If you forage your own seeds, you will need to tediously remove the hairs. (Visit VamooseUtah.com to find the full instructions for doing so.)

Alternatively, you can procure three different varieties of pre-processed, locally grown Indian ricegrass seeds year-round from local seed purveyor Great Basin Seeds. Visit the store in Ephraim (450 S. 50 East, Ephraim, 435-283-1411, GreatBasinSeeds.com).

3 tablespoons sugar 1/3 cup melted butter 2 eggs 1½ cup buttermilk 2 teaspoons vanilla Process Boil ricegrass seeds until swollen and soft. Whisk together dry ingredients. Whisk together wet ingredients and add to dry ingredients. Fold in ricegrass seeds. Batter should be thick and creamy.

Adjust milk or flour until batter pours smoothly. For the lightest and fluffiest pancakes, let the batter rest 10 minutes.

Heat skillet or griddle on medium high until a drop of water sizzles and skips across the surface. Pour 1/3 cup batter onto lightly oiled surface. Flip when bubbles form and batter sets. Air bubbles are the key to light and fluffy pancakes so resist the temptation to flatten pancakes with your spatula.

@ELENGLUSH

Buttermilk ricegrass pancakes

20 | Vamoose Utah • April 2019

ELDERBERRY JELLY Ingredients 1 3-ounce envelope pectin 4-½ cups sugar

*You can buy elderberry juice online. To make your own, you can find wild elderberries in Utah’s foothills and mountains. Foraging for these berries is permitted everywhere except for in national parks and monuments.

You will need approximately one pound of berries to produce one cup of juice. Make the juice by de-stemming, rinsing, and crushing berries, then simmering them in water for 15-20 minutes. Pour the resulting mixture through three layers of cheesecloth directly into your saucepot, pressing to extract as much juice as possible.

Process Combine elderberry juice, lemon juice, pectin, and butter in a 6-8 quart saucepot and bring to a rolling boil on medium high heat. Immediately stir in the sugar and return to a full rolling boil for exactly 1 minute. Remove from heat and store in jars in the refrigerator.

Elderberry jelly

SAPONIFIER

3 cups elderberry juice* ¼ cups lemon juice ½ teaspoon butter or margarine

April 2019 • Vamoose Utah | 21

MONUMENTAL Roam with a view: Drink up the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument while you still can

Devils Garden in the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument

T

he shoulder seasons are our most favorite times to visit southcentral Utah, and we love spending time in Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument (GSENM). Our visits there are now particularly cherished, especially as efforts to wither the size of the monument move forward.

I can track the lifespan of GSENM with the passage of my time as a parent. The monument is only two years younger than our son, Michael. We’ve spent many family camping trips exploring the monument. I can’t believe it’s been reduced to a whisper of its original size within the span of the two years.

The hue and cry to reduce the size of the 22-year-old monument has been nonstop since then-President Bill Clinton designated the nearly 2 million-acre national monument in 1996.

Now that the boundaries for the monument (along with Bears Ears) are threatened, the discussion in our state remains heated.

The legal battle to protect this part of our state is worth supporting. Its breathtaking landscape is distinct from the more popular national parks in the area. My colleagues on the advisory board of Hispanics Enjoying Camping and Hunting Outdoors (HECHO) and I continue to defend both monuments along with the nearly half-million advocates and other environmental organizations who weighed in during the public comment period. (Reports note that nearly 99 percent of comments submitted were in favor of maintaining the monuments’ original boundaries.) I encourage readers to follow the Grand Staircase-Escalante Partners’ website at GSENM.org.

22 | Vamoose Utah • April 2019

My husband, Martin, and I visited GSENM most recently in October 2018 after spending a couple of days in Capitol Reef National Park. We traveled the Notom-Bullfrog Road south off of Utah State Route 24, through the southeast portion of Capitol Reef, and then made our way along the Burr Trail switchbacks back toward Boulder (ScenicByway12.com).

If you explore this road, it’s best with a high-clearance 4WD vehicle, although we did see some sedans. If the road gets wet, you’ll want to avoid driving on the unpaved sections. Check road conditions and recommendations at official GSENM visitor centers in Kanab, Escalante, Cannonville, Big Water and Anasazi State Park Museum.

Believe it or not, Martin and I navigated the Burr Trail switchbacks in the Winnebago View a few years ago (I would not recommend this for rigs longer than our 24-foot Class C). It’s breathtaking but a little scary for those who don’t like looking down the edge of cliffs as you travel upward (or downward).

There are delightful places to camp along the Burr Trail Scenic Byway, such as Deer Creek Campground (7 miles east of Boulder, 435-826-5499, BLM.gov). However, with only seven sites and nothing really for a rig our size, it’s better for tent camping or RPods and the like. You’d probably have better luck boondocking with a larger rig or trailer, which is permitted by the BLM in other areas of GSENM. Again, check in with the area rangers to evaluate your options.

The expanse of the monument offers so much to explore.

ADAM HAGGERTY-BLM

BY REBECCA CHAVEZ-HOUCK

property of Boulder Mountain Lodge (20 N. Highway 12, 435335-7460, Boulder-Utah.com), a home base for exploring the GSENM, Capitol Reef, Burr Trail and other public lands.

So much to take in, and possibly so little time to enjoy such rare isolation.

Monuments shouldn’t only have the lifespan of a childhood. The monument’s vanishing protection is something that I mourn. While market forces seem to be tempering any real appetite for energy development, I think that travelers would be well advised to take in the area’s raw beauty before it’s too late. Please also consider supporting organizations such as the Grand Staircase-Escalante Partners as it fights to protect this Utah treasure.

BOB WICK-BLM

Devils Garden hoodoos

Calf Creek Falls at Grand StaircaseEscalante National Monument

WEB STALEY - BLM

You see signs of the early inhabitants of this area everywhere, even when you’re hiking on the Lower Calf Creek Falls trail.

Coyote Gulch (about 30 miles southeast of Escalante via Holein-the-Rock Road) is the notable “go-to” location for seeing Anasazi rock art (near Cliff Arch). With the recent calls to exempt Utah from the Antiquities Act, I can only wonder what treasures will be lost in places like Coyote Gulch if the majority of our congressional delegation gets its way.

Martin and I have been lucky in the past to nab an RV campsite at Calf Creek Recreation Area Campground (15 miles east of Escalante on Highway 12, 435-826-5499, BLM.gov). I love the intimacy of this campground, but it is a luck-of the-draw situation because the sites are not reservable. You have to catch it early enough in the afternoon when folks are leaving their sites—but not too late, because there are only five RV sites and 14 tent sites.

We found ours at around 2 p.m. on a Sunday afternoon, but even then, it was like “campsite lotto.”

If you’re looking for larger RV sites with hookups, showers and other amenities, we recommend Escalante Petrified Forest State Park (710 N. Reservoir Road, Escalante, 435-826-4466, StateParks.Utah.gov). We had hoped to kayak on Wide Hollow Reservoir the last time we were there (the campground is right next to it), but being late fall, the resevoir was nearly empty.

You’ll want to check with the rangers in advance to assess the water level if you want to enjoy any water activities. If the state park is full, there might be sites available at Escalante Cabins and RV Park (Grand Staircase Resort, 680 W. Main, Escalante, 435-826-4433, EscalantePark.com).

In Boulder, one of the best ways to familiarize yourself with the area is to drop by the Anasazi State Park Museum (460 UT12, Boulder, 435-335-7308, StateParks.Utah.gov). It provides informative context for the places you see in the monument. While locals there are divided about the monument, two of the most vocal defenders are Jen Castle and Blake Spalding, owners of Hell’s Backbone Grill (20 North Highway 12, Boulder, 435-3357464, HellsBackboneGrill.com.) We stopped for a late dinner at the grill after our reverse trek on the Burr Trail in late 2018, and it gave me a chance to thank Blake for their valiant efforts to protect and the preserve the monument. If you drive either of the routes between Boulder and Capitol Reef National Park (either through the switchbacks or on Hwy 12), be sure to drop by the grill. You will find locally sourced gourmet fare that will not disappoint. Reservations are highly recommended.

For those not camping, Hell’s Backbone Grill is situated on the

BOB WICK-BLM

Horseback riding in the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument

April 2019 • Vamoose Utah | 23

Petroglyphs at Parowan Gap

THIS IS THE PLACE

JENNIFER STONE-BLM

TIME TRAVEL

Immerse yourself in Parowan Gap’s geology, petroglyphs and dinosaur tracks

BY MEGAN WALSH

L

ike many of Utah’s wonders, Parowan Gap and the Red Mountains are shrouded in geologic and historic significance. The 3-mile-long pass, located a half-hour drive north of Cedar City, tells a story of ancient people, offering hints about the lives they might have led in a beautiful, yet brutal environment.

As I walked through the 600-foot gap, I thought about the first person to use the fallen Navajo Sandstone as a canvas upon which to share their story. I imagined ancient people etching stories and memories into the impressionable sandstone surface. I could see bands of settlers, explorers, nomads and adventurers passing through on foot and by wagon, fascinated by the rock art.

Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, Parowan Gap hosts a collection of more than 90 panels and 1,500 carvings, carved onto Navajo Sandstone at The Narrows, with most thought to be carved by the Fremont approximately 700 to 1,500 years ago.

A two-lane road weaves through Parowan and the Red Mountains until it opens up to the breathtaking result of erosion. Millions of years ago, when two parallel fault lines sheared, a block of sediment emerged. Over time, this block continued to rise to became the Red Mountains.

While the mountains formed, a river cleaved the landscape.

Through centuries of erosion, the river dried up, leaving behind a natural route for travelers. Now, this ancient highway has become a waterless wind gap, still used by adventurers.

The glyphs at Parowan Gap are not the only ancient etchings in the area, but they are some of the most unique. While some of the carvings depict animals and people similar to what the Fremont people painted or carved in Buckhorn Wash and Nine Mile Canyon, most of the petroglyphs at Parowan are of geometric 24 | Vamoose Utah • April 2019

shapes, which is considered incredibly unusual for the area.

The most significant glyph among the panels at Parowan is the Zipper Glyph. There multiple theories behind the Zipper: Some archeoastronomy researchers believe that ancient peoples used the glyph to track solar movement while others believe the glyphs track the movement and history of ancient tribes. Another idea is that the Zipper depicts the history of members of the tribe, such as famine, harvest, exploration and—potentially—tragedy.

There are 180 notches along each wing of the Zipper, and it’s theorized that they might signify the 180 days between each solar equinox. When placed on top of a topographic map, the wings of the Zipper align with the setting of the sun between the gap at different points of the year. Cairns spaced throughout the valley mark where viewers can watch the sun fall into a notch during equinoxes and solstices. On the summer and winter solstice, you can watch the Overseer, a rock outcropping on the eastern end of the gap, swallow the sun in the slit of its mouth.

However you choose to interpret the glyphs, we know that they portray significant events in the lives of those who etched them.

The men and women who sat at the base of these boulders were devoted storytellers who encountered hardship, experienced joy and created a legacy to endure for thousands of years to come.

FURTHER BACK IN TIME

The petroglyphs aren’t the most ancient history near Parowan.

About a mile east of the gap, pressed into the sandstone, are the immortalized tracks of an ancient Hadrosaur from the Cretaceous Period. The Parowan Gap Dinosaur Track Site was recently made into a BLM recreation site and is a quick, worthwhile stop.

THE RECENT PAST

JENNIFER STONE-BLM

The Zipper Glyph panel at Parowan Gap

Reaching the gap through the small city of Parowan is a historic experience in itself.

When Mormon pioneers reached Utah in 1847, Brigham Young commissioned explorers to find suitable settlements for church followers arriving from Missouri.

Parley P. Pratt led the first expedition south from Salt Lake City and discovered “Little Salt Lake” along with deposits of iron ore. He deemed the area suitable for settling, and two years later, in 1851, George A. Smith led a settlement party to create a city in the area. As the first white-settled southern city in Utah, Parowan adopted the nickname “Mother City of Southern Utah,” and, from there, sent settlers to California, Nevada, Arizona, Oregon and across southern Utah.

Directions from Cedar City: Head north on Main (or take exit 62 on Interstate 15) to UT-130. Continue north for almost 14 miles, then east for 2 ½ miles to Parowan Gap. Directions from Parowan: Travel north on Main to 400 North (or take exit 78 on I-15). Turn left and travel the Gap Road 10 ½ miles.

For more information, visit: Geology.Utah.gov/map-pub/survey-notes/geosights/parowan-gap

April 2019 • Vamoose Utah | 25

Fossil of a softshelled turtle found at American Fossil near Kemmerer, Wyo.

SETH SORENSEN - AMERICAN FOSSIL

Rockhounding rewards in adventure and treasures from the earth

BY KATHERINE PIOLI

G

rowing up in the Copper State (aka Arizona), our family vacations usually took us toward the desert around Moab and the San Rafael Swell. We kids spent much of the time on those trips digging around in the sand for treasures and climbing around on the red rock looking for lizards. Finding animals to chase was great, but the best finds we made were the geodes. We usually came across the round knobby stones—they kind of look like grey golf balls with warts—in gravel and sand washes and slot canyon bottoms. Breaking them open was the best part. You never knew if it was a good one until it cracked in half and you could examine the crystals inside. Sometimes there wasn’t much to see. Every once in a while, you got lucky.

People hunt for all sorts of things in Utah—wildflowers, mushrooms, big game and ski lines. They also hunt for rocks—really, it’s not just a kid thing.

Rockhounding, as it’s commonly known, isn’t unique to Utah. Some people go out looking for big scores like jade (in Big Sur, California), diamonds (in Arkansas), sapphires (in Montana) and emeralds (in North Carolina). Here in Utah, you can find a few precious stones, such as topaz, our official state gem (found in Beaver, Juab and Tooele counties). You can also find a wealth of interesting and beautiful fossils, minerals and rocks that tell amazing stories about the unique geologic history of this place.

Whether you’re specifically interested in rocks and fossils, or just looking for another way to explore this great state, rockhounding is a worthy adventure. Here are a few ideas to get you going.

26 | Vamoose Utah • April 2019

Easy Scores

What: Oolitic Sand Where: Stansbury Island This isn’t your normal beach sand. While most beach grains are made from ground down rock and shell, the foundation of these little rounds is … poop. Yes, poop. Like an oyster’s pearl, oolitic sand begins with a substance, usually brine shrimp fecal matter—sometimes a mineral fragment. As these oolites roll around along the bottom of Great Salt Lake they gradually accumulate layers of calcium carbonate. Ultimately, they are washed up onto the beaches as perfectly round, smooth sand grains. Outside of Utah, you can find similar mineral sands in the eastern Mediterranean and the Persian Gulf.

Directions: Travel approximately 36 miles west of Salt Lake City on Interstate 80. Take the second Grantsville exit. Turn west and follow the road to Stansbury Island. The oolitic sands are most easily found on a sandy dune just off the road on the west side of the island. The land is administered by the BLM. No permit needed for collection.

April 2019 • Vamoose Utah | 27

Broken moqui marble

MOSTLYDESERTS

Moqui marble at the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument

BRIAN W. SCHALLER

NPS - FOBU STAFF

Fossil Butte from Cundick Ridge

Easy Scores

What: Wonderstone Where: Vernon Hills, Tooele County If you’re into the spiritual energy that different rocks possess, wonderstone is one you might be interested in. This volcanic rock, a kind of jasper, is believed to balance masculine and feminine energies. It reportedly enhances mental clarity, creativity and imagination, and it infuses spaces with tranquil energy vibrations and reduces tension.

Whether or not you believe all the New Age hype, wonderstone is a beautiful piece that any rockhound would want to include in his or her collection.

Predominantly composed of volcanic glass particles and welded together by heat and compression, the variations of this rock that are found locally have astounding coloration bands. These rocks look like maroon, yellow, white and salmon-colored taffy stretched then folded into lumps. Polish these rocks up and the colors pop even more.

Directions: Take I-80 west to Tooele. Travel south about 31 miles on state highway 36 to the town of Vernon. Four-and-a-half miles past Vernon, turn north onto a dirt road and follow the train tracks for another 1.7 miles until the road turns northwest. A half mile after the curve, you will start to see piles of wonderstone.

Recommendations: Check weather before you go. A 4WD vehicle is recommended on the dirt road. Avoid the areas marked for a private mining claim.

Bring a rock hammer, protective eyewear and water (to stay hydrated).

28 | Vamoose Utah • April 2019

Rocky Road Trips

What: Moqui Marbles Where: Southern Utah Called Navajo cherries, Navajo berries, Kayenta berries, Shaman stones and iron concretions, these red-brown and black balls made of iron oxide and sandstone range in size from pea to grapefruit.

These form underground when a chemical reaction causes iron saturated groundwater to condense into spheres. Sand grains eventually cement around these iron deposits. They become exposed from their rock beds as they erode from the Jurassic-age Navajo Sandstone formations where they were formed.

Moqui (moe-key) marbles are found widely across southern Utah. Most people will run across them while hiking around Zion National Park, Snow Canyon State Park and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. If you find them in any of these places leave them be. It is illegal to take anything out of a national park, a state park or a national monument (see sidebar on where and how to legally rockhound).

Rocky Road Trips

A shrimp fossil found at American Fossil

SETH SORENSEN - AMERICAN FOSSIL

A fresh-water stingray fossil found at American Fossil at Kemmerer, Wyo.

SETH SORENSEN - AMERICAN FOSSIL

What: Eocene fossils Where: American Fossil, Kemmerer, Wyo. (a 2-hour drive northeast of Salt Lake, see website for directions), 801-8367269, FishDig.com The oldest discovered bat fossil—perfectly preserved with a complete skeleton, cartilage and wing membranes—was found in southwestern Wyoming in the Green River Formation. This particular geologic formation, which first drew the attention of scientists in the 1920s, holds important fossil records from the Eocene. This epoch, lasting from 56 to 33.9 million years ago, was a period characterized by a warm climate, high sea levels and expansive wetlands and forests. This period also marks the appearance of modern birds and early forms of primates, rodents and proboscideans (like elephants).

Today, the formation extends through some parts of northern Utah and Colorado, but it is in Wyoming that the most impressive, completely preserved fossil specimens have been found.

American Fossil is one of the few quarries where the general public can dig for, and keep, rare fossils. Here, amateur rockhounds have discovered the remains of paddlefish, stingrays, crocodiles, turtles, snakes, three-toed horses, giant birds, small rhinos and camels.

How to dig: American Fossil provides the necessary tools and cutting stations. Staff at the site provides public assistance. Prices range from $35/120 hour/day, half price for kids. The quarry is open May-September. Visit FishDig.com Special Stop: Fossil Butte National Monument (864 Chicken Creek Road, Kemmerer, Wyo., 307-877-4455, NPS.gov/fobu), a paleontological heritage site, is just 30 minutes from American Fossil quarry. Enjoy hiking trails and visitor center exhibits. Observe paleontologists on-site as they dig for new finds, learn about the latest research and watch fossil preparation demonstrations.

The monument is free and open to the public year-round, hours vary. No on-site camping.

April 2019 • Vamoose Utah | 29

Know Before You Go

Anyone collecting rocks, gems, minerals or fossils must know if collection is allowed by law in the area they plan to search.

Laws vary depending on land ownership and jurisdiction.

About 67 percent of Utah lands are managed by the federal government. Collecting is never allowed in national parks, national monuments, American Indian lands, military reservations, dam sites or wildlife refuges. Also prohibited on federal lands is any collection of dinosaur and other vertebrate fossils (except by permits issued to accredited institutions), any collection of artifacts or archeological resources and any material remains of humans or human settlement at least 50 years old.

Access to and permission to collect on private lands must be granted by the owner.

BLM allows collecting for personal, non-commercial purposes a reasonable amount of rocks, minerals, gemstones, invertebrate and plant fossils, avoiding any major surface disturbance. Collecting petrified wood for personal use is allowed up to 25 pounds.

Without a permit, the U.S. Forest Service allows collecting a reasonable amount (not exceeding 250 pounds per year) of rocks and agates for personal, non-commercial purposes as well as personal collection of meteorites, petrified wood, invertebrate fossils (trilobites, snails). Not allowed is the non-permitted removal of vertebrate fossils including the remains of any animal having a bony skeleton, including fish, amphibians, reptiles, dinosaurs, birds and mammals.

Removing dinosaur tracks in these areas is also prohibited.

Permits are only issued to qualified paleontologists curating for approved facilities.

With a permit, Utah state lands allows private collecting of up to 250 pounds per year of rock and other minerals. A fee is charged for the annual permit. Not allowed are the collection of dinosaur and other vertebrate fossils, collecting in state parks and collecting in areas with active mining operations.

NPS (FOBU STAFF)

Protorohippus venticolum, early horse, found at Fossil Butte near Kemmerer, Wyo.

Local Rockhound Clubs

Know the regulations before collecting rocks, gems, minerals or fossils 30 | Vamoose Utah • April 2019

GENEVIEVE PONT - WASATCH GEM SOCIETY

Wasatch Gem Society Meetings are the third Monday of each month, 7 p.m. at Bicentennial Hall in Sandy. Visitors welcome. Additional benefits with membership—including club fieldtrips. The Wasatch Gem Society’s annual gem show will be held April 19-21, 2019, at the Salt Lake County Equestrian Park and Event Center (2100 W. 11400 South, South Jordan,.385-468-1600, VisitSaltLake.com/equestrian-center) WasatchGemSociety.com Rockhounders Outreach for Community Knowledge (R.O.C.K.) Meetings are the first Tuesday of each month, 7 p.m. at the Viridian Event Center, Salt Lake County Viridian Library, 8030 S. 1825 West, West Jordan, 801-948-785, ViridianCenter.org).

RockHoundersOCK.com Mineral Collectors of Utah Meetings are the third Wednesday of each month, 6:30 p.m., at Sprague Branch of Salt Lake City Library, 2131 S. 1100 East, Salt Lake City, 801-594-8640, SLCPL.org).

M-C-U.org

LAST

LOOK Jacob Hamblin Arch, Coyote Gulch at the Grand StaircaseEscalante National Monument Photo by Omer Salom

April 2019 • Vamoose Utah | 31

32 | Vamoose Utah • April 2019