Its the First Day hike at Morrow Mountain. At 1/2 mile it is hardly a hike but a great day for some education on the Morrow Mountain prehistoric quarry. We met at the picnic shelter atop Morrow Mountain. A ten minute enthusiastic welcome was performed by Ranger Ryan accompanied by Ranger Maggie. Ryan gave a brief history of how and when the geology in the area came to be. When the volcanic rock first formed the famous rhyolite, the continental plates were in quite different locations. Where we stood would have been Africa. In more modern times, the native Americans here, discovered the the unique qualities of the rhyolite deposits. The way it fractured was quite suitable for making stone tools and points. Basalt deposits at the bottom of the mountain were fashioned into stone hammers to break apart the rhyolite. Once broken apart, the best specimens were taken to the nearby Hardaway Site, a craftsman camp for toolmaking.
This was more an educational talk than a hike. Of course, we did walk part of the Loop Trail encircling the top of the mountain. Nanci and I walked in the opposite direction to avoid the slow pace and crowd. In doing so, we had the opportunity to count the number of participants - 167 including us.
The Loop trail is littered with quarry debris. Everywhere you look are lithics. I'm told that some areas are 6 foot deep in debris.
When we ended our hike, we noticed the parking lot was completely full and cars were backed up down the mountain road. It was a bit tricky extracting ourselves from the parking area.
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