Canyon Lake Gorge

Caution: This is a Steve post! :)

Wow....they must have thought this would be torture!!

When researching things to do in the area, I came across an ad for the Canyon Lake Gorge.  Initially I thought this was a place that we all could go and spend an afternoon.   It turns out that the gorge was something that formed in 2002 during a period of intensely heavy rain.   The gorge is restricted to tours only, and you had to be at least 7 years old to go.   I thought that it would make a fun outing, so I bought 3 tickets for the Sunday afternoon tour for me and the big girls.    

We met at the base of the gorge and then rode a minibus to the top of the dam.  We would hike down the 1.25 miles through the gorge back to our cars.   The tour guide is a geologist who works in the oil and gas business.   We talked about the history of how the flood caused the water to have to use the spillway.  About twice the volume of the entire lake went over the spillway and created the gorge.   The gorge washed away soil and rocks and exposed layers that geologists didn't know were there.   

We talked about the different eras and such.  I don't think I believe in the whole million/trillion year old earth history, but I admit that I don't know how it all happened; I am certain, however, that God did it all.   It was interesting to learn about the different rock layers, and how aquifers work.   It was fascinating to see all the dinosaur tracks.

I asked the girls what they thought of it all, and they said that it was "better than they expected" which was good to hear.  

Science 'class' with dad

The gate restricting access except for tours

The group of us on the tour

Dino tracks uncovered during the 2002 flood

Geology lesson

The fossil is not actually the snail, but the sediment that hardened inside the shell

This gorge is less than ten years old

The water comes out of the ground, not from the lake

Sea urchin fossil that Alyssa found.  Of course we couldn't keep it.