HIKE – Geology Day

***THERE ARE JUST A FEW SPOTS LEFT ON THIS HIKE. PLEASE VISIT www.springvillearts.org TO REGISTER FOR THIS HIKE.

Geologist Ray Vaughan will lead a much-anticipated hike through the soaring canyons of the Zoar Valley gorge along South Branch Cattaraugus Creek, one of Western New York’s most dramatic stratigraphic geologic columns. We’ll explore the predominantly shale bedrock that formed hundreds of millions of years ago when Western New York was under a shallow inland sea. The hike will take us past a shear zone where an ancient fold serves as an example of how bedrock responds to tectonic stress. We’ll also learn about the evolution of the gorge since the last glaciers retreated from our region some 13,000 years ago. This outing continues our Summer-long celebration of Zoar Valley in conjunction with the Art of Zoar Valley III exhibit at the Springville Center for the Arts.

Registered hikers meet at Forty Road parking area in Gowanda.

HIKE LEVEL: Moderate but long 4-mile round-trip creek walk hike that requires stamina and sure-footedness. Hikers should wear hiking quality water shoes or hiking footwear and be prepared to walk in water and ford the creek at least four times in up to calf or thigh-deep water. Bring hiking poles for the creek crossings if desired.

Swimming is not permitted.

Please bring a sack lunch, plenty of water, snacks, and anything that makes you comfortable – hat, sunscreen, insect repellent, etc.

We will bag and carry out any litter we find along the way, as a way to give back to the environment and the organizations that gave special permission for this outing: The Nature Sanctuary Society of Western New York, The Nature Conservancy, and the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation.

This outing will be rescheduled or canceled with notice if the creek water level is deemed too high/rising for safe crossings.

Pre-registration required. Please register below. ***THERE ARE JUST A FEW SPOTS REMAINING ON THIS HIKE. PLEASE VISIT www.springvillearts.org TO REGISTER FOR THIS EVENT.

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Raymond C. Vaughan, Ph.D., P.G., is a professional geologist and environmental scientist in Buffalo. Ray is semi-retired, does some consulting, and has worked on local environmental issues with Clean Air Coalition and others. He and his wife Sheila live in Hamburg, New York.  Earlier in his career, Ray worked for 33 years in research and development in Niagara Falls and Buffalo, then worked as an environmental scientist in the NYS Attorney General’s Office from 2000-2012. He has served since 1997 on the West Valley Citizen Task Force which advises NYSERDA and the U.S. Department of Energy on clean-up issues at the West Valley nuclear waste site. From 1980 to 1999 he served on the Town of Hamburg Conservation Advisory Board. He currently sits on the boards of the Buffalo Society of Natural Sciences (Buffalo Museum of Science and Tifft Nature Preserve) and the Nature Sanctuary Society of WNY, and he formerly served on the Western New York Land Conservancy board from 1991 to 2002. Ray has a wide range of interests including WNY history, on which he has presented at conferences in Buffalo, Lewiston, and Edinburgh, Scotland.  Canoeing, hiking, and sailing are favorite activities, and if he can combine hiking with outcrop and the murmur of flowing water, so much the better – which means you’ll often find him in one of Western New York’s beautiful bedrock gorges.