Adventure-Crew.com

by Maureen Oltrogge
KCSG.com

(Grand Canyon, AZ) – Grand Canyon National Park will celebrate Earth Science Week and National Fossil Day by offering a variety of special programs and events during the week of October 9 – 15, 2011. Earth Science Week promotes understanding and appreciation of the value of earth science research and its applications and relevance to our daily lives. Grand Canyon National Park is an ideal place to celebrate Earth Science Week, as the park is a natural classroom and laboratory for the earth sciences, and is one of the world’s most well known and most scenic geologic landscapes.

 

National Fossil Day is Wednesday, October 12 and is a part of Earth Science Week. National Fossil Day is a celebration organized by the National Park Service to promote public awareness and stewardship of fossils, as well as to foster a greater appreciation of their scientific and educational values.

 

Grand Canyon National Park will offer a variety of other special programs to commemorate Earth Science Week. Daily Fossil Walks will be offered from Sunday, October 9 through Saturday, October 15. Fossil Walks begin at 10:00AM, meet at the patio behind Bright Angel Lodge and will visit a fossil bed containing the remains of a variety of marine organisms exposed near the rim of Grand Canyon. The programs will last approximately one hour and include an easy ½ mile walk.

 

Ranger evening programs offered during the week will be on the earth sciences. Evening Programs begin at 7:00PM and last approximately one hour and are presented in the Shrine of the Ages Auditorium. Topics include the geology of the canyon, the age of Grand Canyon rocks, caves, and weather.

 

On Tuesday, October 11, the park will celebrate No Child Left Inside Day as part of Earth Science Week by offering a special family-oriented Fossil Walk at 4:30PM, meeting on the patio behind Bright Angel Lodge.

 

The Junior Paleontologist Program, a self-guided activity booklet for kids ages 5 through 12, will also be available at Park Headquarters and Visitor Centers. Kids can learn about ancient life, complete fun activities, and explore some of the national parks that offer a look into the past in the Junior Paleontologist booklet. Upon completion, Junior Paleontologists will receive a Junior Paleontologist badge.

 

Grand Canyon Association, the official nonprofit partner of Grand Canyon National Park, will have a special sales promotion of 20% off selected geology titles in their bookstores and online at www.grandcanyon.org. Proceeds from sales benefit the educational, scientific, historical and research efforts of the National Park Service.

 

Superintendent Dave Uberuaga said, “Grand Canyon National Park is very pleased to offer special programs in recognition of Earth Science Week. The earth sciences are essential tools that the National Park Service uses to preserve and protect Grand Canyon. Participation in Earth Science Week is one way the Grand Canyon marks its heritage as the world’s most famous and most celebrated geologic locale.”

 

You can also follow Grand Canyon National Park’s celebration of Earth Science Week on Twitter at twitter.com/#!/GrandCanyonNPS. Park staff will be posting park geology-related information on Twitter throughout the week.

 

To learn more about Earth Science Week activities at Grand Canyon National Park, please contact Allyson Mathis, Science and Education Outreach Coordinator, at (928) 638-7923, or Donna Richardson, Deputy Chief of Interpretation at (928) 638-7835, or visit Earth Science Week.

 

From Reuters.com

 

By Yereth Rosen

ANCHORAGE, Alaska | Fri Sep 9, 2011 6:20pm EDT

(Reuters) – Four decorated clay disks have been discovered at a prehistoric site in Alaska, apparently the first artifacts of their type discovered in the state, the University of Alaska Museum of the North said.

 

The disks were found during a summer expedition in Noatak National Preserve, at a site where archeologists have for decades been studying lakefront pit dwellings that date back 1,000 years, officials at the Fairbanks museum said.

 

The disks are etched, and two of them have holes in the center.

 

They were discovered when a team from the museum and the National Park Service traveled to the site in northwestern Alaska to make records of previously discovered prehistoric petroglyphs on boulders.

 

Such prehistoric rock art is extremely rare in interior and northern Alaska, though common in the southwestern part of the United States and other regions, museum and Park Service officials said.

 

The accidental discovery of the disks may lead to more such finds, said Scott Shirar, a research archeologist at the museum.

 

“One of the exciting things is that we’ve only opened up a really small amount of ground at the site. So the fact that we’ve … found four of these items, that indicates that there’s probably a lot more there and there’s something really significant happening at the site,” Shirar said in a video interview posted on the museum’s website.

 

The site is located about 100 miles northeast of the Inupiat Eskimo community of Kotzebue.

 

The age of the disks has yet to be determined, museum officials said. The artifacts are currently held at the museum for labeling and further study, museum spokeswoman Theresa Bakker said Friday.

 

The archeologists will return to the lakeside site next summer, Bakker said.

 

The Noatak National Preserve comprises 6.5 million acres of Arctic territory on the southern slope of the Brooks Range. The preserve is known for the 400-mile Noatak River, a designated wild and scenic river.

 

Despite its harsh climate, the area has been inhabited for 11,000 years, according to the National Park Service.

Cliffhanger, one of the top outdoor events in Europe, and the U.K.'s biggest adventure festival, returns to Sheffield on the weekend of July 11th and 12th. With more than 100 exhibitors and dozens of events, Cliffhanger has become a major event, attracting more than 15,000 visitors last year, and 2009 looks to be even bigger and better.

Attendees this year can expect a wide range of activities, including demonstrations and instruction in rock climbing, kayaking, mountain biking, orienteering and more. There will also be an assault course to challenge anyone feeling up to it, 11 climbing walls, plenty of food stands and bargain shops for gear, rides for the kids, and even live music throughout the weekend. Cliffhanger will once again serve as the venue for the British Boulder Championships, in which more than 200 boulderers will competing for top honors. This year they've added an adventure race and a unique orienteering competition on mountain bikes.

You can checkout a full schedule of events on the Cliffhanger website, which also has the latest news about additions to the adventure festival. There are also directions on how to get to Millhouses Park by road or rail, and a complete list of exhibitors that will be on hand for the event.

Looks like another great outdoor festival with some fun activities for everyone.

Update: In an effort to more inclusive, I wanted to point out, as Shane has noted in the comments section, that there will be some Parkour/Free Running demonstrations going on at Cliffhanger all weekend as well. The local Sheffield group will be bouncing off trees, walls, fences, buildings, and just about anything else they can use to shop off their abilities. If you're not familiar with Parkour, you're in for a treat, and my failure to mention them earlier wasn't an intentional slight. I'm way jealous of your abilities Shane, and wish I could keep up! ;)