From Minneapolis the journey may be continued by the Great Northern Railway to Livingston, Montana, thus crossing between the stations of Muscoda and Buffalo the bed of Lake Agassiz and its marginal beaches ([325-328]. For local geology of Minnesota consult C. W. Hall, Geology of Minnesota, Vol. 1, Minneapolis, 1903).
The Yellowstone Park is entered from Livingston (Livingston Geological Folio, U. S. G. S.) and departure from it made at the relatively new Union Pacific terminal at the southwest margin. The regular trip through the Park includes visits to the several geyser basins ([191-194]), Obsidian Cliff ([33], [463]), the Cañon of the Yellowstone, etc. Good climbers can make a side trip from near the Mammoth Hot Springs to the top of Quadrant Mountain, the remnant of a “biscuit cut” upland ([372]), and there study the nivation process ([368], Yellowstone National Park Folio, U. S. G. S.).
The trip from the Park to Salt Lake City, over the Union Pacific Railway, passes through the Red Rock Pass, the former outlet of Lake Bonneville ([423]), into the desert of the Great Basin ( [Chaps. XV] and [XVI]). Great Salt Lake is a saline lake or sink with an interesting record of climatic changes ([198], [401]). The front of the Wasatch Range, in view and easily reached from Salt Lake City, is deeply scored by the horizontal shore terraces of Lake Bonneville ([198], [199]), and these terraces are extended at every reëntrant by barrier beaches of great perfection. In the Pleistocene period mountain glaciers in part occupied the valleys of this range, though they did not always extend as far as the mountain front. Big Cottonwood Cañon, which realizes this condition, and the neighboring Little Cottonwood Cañon, from whose front its glacier spread into an expanded foot ([264]), thus show for comparison in a single view the V and the low U sections respectively ([172], [376]). Here are also alluvial fans ([213]) and recent faults which intersect them.
From Salt Lake City the return to New York may be made by the Denver and Rio Grande Railway across deserts and through the Royal Gorge, the cañon of the Arkansas River. A full itinerary of the points of geological interest along this route, and continued to Chicago, Washington, and New York, is supplied in much detail in the guide of the geological excursion to the Rocky Mountains above cited. This the traveling geologist should not fail to study. Some references to points along this journey will be found on preceding pages of this book ([219-220], High Plains; [170], Allegheny Plateau in West Virginia; [176], water gap of Harper’s Ferry; [176-177], [184-186], side trip up the Shenandoah Valley to Luray Caverns and Snickers Gap; [251], Chesapeake Bay).
Instead of returning directly from Salt Lake City, the traveler, if he has sufficient time at his disposal, may extend his journey southwestward across the Great Basin to Los Angeles. A branch line from this route leaves the Vegas Valley and passes within reach of the famous Death Valley ([201]) to Tonopah ([79]) and the Owens Valley ([77-78], [92]), where are many surface faults dating from the earthquake of 1872 and other less recent disturbances. Returning to the junction point, the route continues across the Colorado and Mohave deserts to Los Angeles. From Los Angeles as a center the exceptionally interesting terraces, caves, and stacks of an uplifted coast are to be seen to best advantage near Pt. Harford ([Chap. XIX]). The islands of San Clemente and Santa Catalina may also be reached from Los Angeles ([239], [248], [249], [250], [256], [257], [pls. 5 B], [7 A], [12 A]). The return to the East, if made by the Santa Fe Railway, permits of a visit to the Grand Cañon ([174], [443]) from the station of Williams. From that point eastward the geology of the route is fully covered in Emmons’ Guide to the Rocky Mountain Excursion already cited.
For the benefit of those who are privileged to travel in Europe, and the number increases yearly, a pilgrimage is suggested which may easily be made to correspond with plans laid out on the basis of historical, artistic, and scenic points of interest. The only popular guide of a general nature written for geologists traveling abroad appears to be a brief but valuable little paper by Professor Lane (The Geological Tourist in Europe, Popular Science Monthly, Vol. 33, 1888, pp. 216-229). The publishing house of Gebrüder Bornträger in Berlin is now publishing a quite valuable series of geological guides dealing with special districts and written by well-known authorities (Sammlung Geologischer Führer). Of this series some thirteen numbers have already been issued. Many other valuable local guides of a geological nature are the Livrets Guides of the International Geological and Geographical Congresses, and the similar pamphlets supplied in connection with annual meetings of national or provincial geological societies.
Passengers on steamships sailing from the harbor of New York pass out over a deeply submerged cañon ([252]) largely filled with glacial deposits, through the Narrows ([174]), and in sight of Sandy Hook, a modified spit ([238], [240]). To the left are seen the great morainic accumulations at the border of the glaciated area on Long Island ([298]). In the course of the trans-Atlantic voyage a much-rounded iceberg may be encountered ([291]), though this is much more apt to occur upon the northern routes from Quebec, and late in the season. Upon entering the English Channel the land on both coasts rises in steep cliffs, where are found all the common shore features well developed ([Chap. XVIII]). The German steamships pass in sight of Heligoland, that last remnant of wave erosion ([236]).
While traveling in Europe, the student should consult a map of the glaciated area ([299]), and so learn to recognize its peculiarities, and carefully mark its marginal moraine ([311]) and other strongly marked features.
If the British Isles are visited and the more rugged areas are selected, one may study the cirques and other characteristic features due to the presence of mountain glaciers about Snowdon ([Chap. XXVI]). More mature stages of the same processes are to be found in the Scottish Highlands and the Inner Hebrides, but especially upon the Island of Skye ([Fig. 492]). A very valuable aid to excursions in this district is Baddeley’s Scotland (part I, Dulau, London) and Sir Archibald Geikie’s Explanatory Notes to accompany Bartholomew’s Geological Map of Scotland (map and notes in cover, Edinburgh, 1892, pp. 23).