WHAT ELSE IS WAYNE UP TO THESE DAYS?

Book Projects

"Ancient Landscapes of the Colorado Plateau"

Approximate Release Date – June, 2008. Published by the Grand Canyon Association. The Colorado Plateau has a long and colorful history that will be displayed graphically with these state of the art paleogeographic maps compiled by Dr. Ron Blakey of Northern Arizona University. The book will be richly illustrated with the maps, diagrams, cross-sections, and photographs. The text will be up-to-date scientifically and readable for interested non-geologists. This will be an important work on the geology of the Plateau!

Custom Trips

On the Kaibab Trail below Cedar Ridge in Grand Canyon

View from Cottonwood Canyon in Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in southern Utah

If you have perused this web site, you know that I lead a variety of educational adventures, from multi-day backpacks to luxurious tours all over the planet. I have over 29 years experience leading small groups here on the Colorado Plateau, to Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks, and to Mexico and South America. I have led dozens of private excursions for people and families of all ages. I am not a tour “company.” I am an educator and geologist who loves to share his passion with others who may not have the time to plan or organize their own trips.

Would you like to take a tour where we explore little known canyons and plateaus by day and stay in the comfort of a nearby lodge at night? Or would you rather get on the trail with a backpack and sleep under the stars? I can help you with the logistics of such a journey and share with you my knowledge of earth and human history in this rich land of red rock canyons and spectacular mountains. I specialize in family charters for people of all ages. I can even lead you or your group on a one day trip to the Grand Canyon. Imagine seeing the canyon with your own geologist to explain what it is you are looking at! It’s like tasting the wine with a vintner in France or tasting the food in Italy with a chef!

If you are interested, please contact me directly in Flagstaff, Arizona at (928) 779-1596 or at wayneranney@earthlink.com.

Geology Classes

Geology of the Basin and Range

The Basin and Range will be the topic of my Fall class at Yavapai College in Sedona. The Basin and Range is a complex area in Arizona that has experienced tremendous amounts of extension which began about 17 million years ago. Previous to this, central and southern Arizona were elevated higher than the Colorado Plateau and rivers generally went from south to north, opposite the direction they go today! But after stretching of the earth's crust began, the Basin and Range floundered, causing this area to subside substantially and reversing the direction of drainage in Arizona. It's an exciting story you will want to know more about. If you live in the Verde Valley, join us on the following dates for the 3 hour class sessions which run from 6 to 9 PM at the Sedona Center: November 14, 16, 21, 28 and 30. Our four day field trip will be from December 3 to 6 and we will visit Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument as well as a few surprise areas along the way. Get hip on landscapes and take a geology class!

The Geology of Bryce and Zion National Parks

In the spring semester at Yavapai College, Sedona, I taught The Geology of Bryce and Zion National Parks (GLG 106). The class met on Monday and Wednesday nights, April 4, 6, 11, 13 and 20, with a four-day field trip to Zion April 15 to 18.

Learning about the geologic history of the earth in a classroom setting with a professional geologist can be a very rewarding experience, and taking field trips to see first hand what the evidence looks like is never to be forgotten. You missed it this year, but keep an eye out for another opportunity!

Earthquakes and Volcanoes of Northern Arizona

The Inner Basin of the San Francisco Peaks, looking west. Photo courtesy USGS.

My Earthquakes and Volcanoes class at Yavapai College in Sedona was a rousing success! The class consisted of 14 students and the highlight for everyone was two, two-day field trips visiting such scenic wonders as the San Francisco Peaks, Sunset Crater, Grand Falls, the House Mountain volcano near Sedona, and the Teepees near Camp Verde.

Students learned how the Inner Basin of the Peaks (photo right) may have formed. A theory proposed by Dr. Wendell Duffield states that a Mt. St. Helens type of eruption blew the top off of the mountain, creating the basin. However, no ash deposits from such a blast have been found. A more likely scenario was proposed recently by Dr. Richard Holm who found evidence that the top of the mountain collapsed in a cold debris avalanche. Students looked at the evidence for both theories and came up with their own conclusions. Most agreed that a cold debris avalanche is the most likely way that the San Francisco Mountain lost it's top between 440,000 and 220,000 years ago! People who live in Flagstaff see the Peaks every day but most likely do not give a thought for how the mountain attained its shape. Students in these classes routinely look at such landscapes and try to figure out how and when they formed! It's truly amazing to see how people come alive when they become aware of how our earth shapes itself.

Grand Falls on the Little Colorado River is higher than Niagara and although it is seasonal, our field trip arrived just hours after it started running from the recent snowmelt. The falls are about 200 feet high and were formed about 150,000 years ago when a lava flow from the south filled an old canyon, causing the river to be diverted around the newly-formed barrier and over it's former rim. At House Mountain, I led a group to the place where these volcanic rocks were erupted onto the ancestral Mogollon Rim. I had not visited this outcrop since my field work days in the late 1980's!

Everyone in the class now feels like they know about the volcanism and faulting that has created much of the Northern Arizona landscape.

Museum of Northern Arizona Board of Trustees

I have been a Board Trustee at MNA since July, 2003 and it has been an exceptionally rewarding experience! As some of you may recall, I showed up on the doorstep of the Museum in June, 1978 as a “refugee” from the bureaucracy of the National Park Service at Grand Canyon. I was immediately shown shelter and given work, and the Museum has been a vital part of my existence here in Flagstaff ever since.

Our Board meets about once a month and since July, 2003 has stabilized a tenuous environment at MNA. Confidence in the institution has returned, along with many former members who had drifted away. (One very special moment I had this past winter is when board members manned the phones for a pledge drive at our local NPR station. I received a call from a man at Grand Canyon, who had left the Museum in 1998 because of the Museum’s involvement with a development near there. He said he was returning to MNA because time had healed his “wounds” and he missed MNA greatly!) We have also hired a new director, Dr. Robert Breunig, whose dedication to the Museum spans almost three decades. Dr. Breunig brings an appreciation for our 76 year heritage and a forward looking vision that will bring exciting new exhibits and educational opportunities to MNA.

I serve on the Outrerach Committee and we are currently evolving a new phase of our publication Plateau. Check back here to see what is up with the Museum of Northern Arizona!

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The Flagstaff Leadership Program

The San Francisco Peaks from Flagstaff.

In May of this year I was selected to be a participant in the Flagstaff Leadership Program. FLP originated in 1990 to help chosen members within our community to become more effective leaders. I am part of the Class of 2005, the 15th class since the program was started. I feel honored to be one of 26 members who were chosen from a field of 55 candidates!

Over the weekend of September 10 to 12, we gathered at the Montezuma Lodge near Mormon Lake for our initial retreat. What a fantastic event! I met my fellow classmates and within a few hours of various hands-on activities I knew everyone’s name. This retreat was designed to help us know our classmates in a significant way, since we will be attending one “Issue Day” every month from now until June, 2005.

Issue Days are designed to help us understand various components of our community and how they fit into the mix that makes up Flagstaff. Along the way, we’ll meet other leaders and learn how they utilize an “inclusive” approach to leading others. This will be helpful to me since I was selected to be a member of the Board of Trustees for the Museum of Northern Arizona in July, 2003. I am looking forward to this unique experience and check back to see what we are up to through the year!