Introduction

Spending my lifetime at the base of Pike's Peak makes it easy to take extreme scenes like this for granted.

As a student in an introductory Geology class, I've been given what I think is the greatest assignment of my college career so far: to plan and execute a field trip! Anxious to see as much as I can, I've mapped a 200-mile loop beginning and ending with my home town, Colorado Springs.

After perusing Halka Chronic's "Roadside Geology of Colorado," Ralph and Lindy Hopkins' "Hiking Colorado's Geology," and online resources like Google Earth, and MapQuest, I can now say that I feel confident in the overall plan.

I'm fortunate to have with me three good companions for this journey: my fiancé, my sister, and my brother-in-law. Providing the weather holds out for us, the trip will commence the day after tomorrow. We're hearing reports that there may be snow...