Garden Gaucin

Salt Lake Community College

Self-Guided Field Trip

4/19/2018

Introduction:

Ensign Peak is located on the farthest north section of Salt Lake City; it is on the

mountain directly behind the state capitol. This peak has important human history as well as

several of forms of nature elements and landforms. The fault line falls at the base of ensign

peak. As I went through this hike, I was able to see the fault, landslides, various forms of plants

and rocks. Earthquakes, volcanoes, landslides and desertification. One can trigger the other even

though they are different. Nature works in different forms, which grow and changes every day.

The Wasatch is one of the largest earthquake faults here in Salt Lake City. It runs east of

the valley, and lies at the base of ensign peak. A fault is a break in the earth’s crust; it is relative

to the movement, which can be either vertical, horizontal, or both. Faults originate from

earthquakes, when it ruptures it moves the ground from its original place. Sometimes it is

difficult to spot the faults because of natural erosion or construction and settlement, but it usually

is recognized as a steep ridge along the base. At the side of the peak, I noticed there was an area

where the land did not have bumps- it was sleek and at the end, known as a mound.

Which I assume is the debris settled down. These are called Landslides; Landslides occur

because of failure of steady land, there is a variety of contributing factors like steep slopes, water

or streams that intervene, volcanic eruptions, excess weight like rain or snow. When landslides

occur rocks slide down, as well as debris flow. In addition, along the hike there was not a variety

of rocks. The most common one that I see was sedimentary rocks. Sedimentary rocks are
composed by deposition of other material, which combines and creates a rock. There was big

sediment rocks that stuck out from the peak and several smaller pieces that lied at the bottom of

the slope. It could be possible that the smaller rocks where originally part of the bigger one, but

fell off that is why they are at the bottom of the slope.

The trail had a lot if Geologic features but it also contains some history when Brigham

came to Utah, because “it was the first summit climbed after the Mormon pioneers arrived in the

valley in 1847.” [Lind Arave]. Brigham Young and a few more people built the monument. The

monument stands for the raise to ensign to the nations. That was the 26 of July of 1847, two days

after they have arrived to the valley. Vandals destroyed the original monument and the one that

is currently standing was rebuilt in in the exact same spot in 1989. Many people like to visit this

place to walk in the same footsteps that they did years ago.

Resources:

Arave, L. (1991). Ensign Peak: Utah’s Own Mount Siani. Deseret News Publishing Company.

Reynolds, S. J., Johnson, J. K., Kelly, M. M., Morin, P.J., & Carter, C.M. (2008). Exploring

Geology. McGraw-Hill Higher Education.

Smith, A. G. (1927). Ensign Peak. Mormon Historic Sites.

State of Utah, Department of Natural Resources, Utah Geological and Mineral Survey. (1990).

Geologic Resources of Salt Lake County, Utah. (Ser.5). UGMS Public Information.

Utah Geologic Survey. (1996). The Wasatch Fault.

 Images:

Photo #1: Shows one of the Photo #2: Shows the Photo #3: Shows the rocky
many examples of erosion smoothed down and mountain top and shows the
that has taken place along the weathered trail. line where rocks have
peak trail. weathered down.

Photo #4: Shows the very Photo #5: Shows the grassy
Photo #3 (1): Shows the
rocky angular west side of area east of the trail.
rocky mountain top and
the mountain at the edge of
shows the line where
the trail.
rocks have weathered
down up closely.
GARDEN GAUCIN

Reflection:
The self-guided trip was a wonderful experience! I completed an assignment that made me feel

both stress-free and confident. While doing the investigation, there was some advantages and

disadvantages throughout the assignment. First, I had no instructor that could guide me

throughout the hike or a group that I can work with and discuss the things that I had seen. But an

advantage that I got was that I got to choose the place which was self-paced. When doing this

assignment, I thought it would be best if I went to the sight, saw the features then come home

and do some comparisons with information from the textbook. But if I were to do this

assignment again this is one thing that I would change. I would make sure I know and understand

the text when returning. Another thing that I found convenient was to take example pictures of

the diverse types of rocks, land formations of the vegetation and creeks. That way when I’m

hiking I have pictures that I can compare to right on the spot. The last thing that I would do,

when visiting the park is to take samples home or take as many pictures possible. I noticed I only

took pictures of the things that were most obvious now, but after seeing so much you start

focusing on just one category so I would take more pictures and try to find things at home that

I didn't see while on site.