and then off we go on a tour of the Kansas River valley, heading east toward Topeka.

 

 

In this leg of the trip, we transition from the Smoky Hills to the glaciated part of northeastern Kansas.  We follow the Kansas River, which is a typical large Plains stream with a significant sand load.  It has prominent alluvial landforms, including beautiful cut banks, point bars, and terraces.  Along the way, we stop in Abilene to visit the Eisenhower gravesite, and, if time permits, the museum.  I added this stop to the trip when I learned that very few students knew who Eisenhower was, which is kind of hard to believe considering his role in the 20th century. After checking in with Ike we move into the glaciated region where numerous glacial erratics can be found.  These erratics consist mostly of Sioux Quartzite, which crops out in southwestern Minnesota.  These boulders were plucked and subsequently brought south during the so-called Kansan glaciation about 600,000 years ago.

 

 

At the end of the day, we end up in Topeka at my Mom's house, where we have a cook out and hang for the night.  She lives just north of the Kansas River on the floodplain.  This surface was massively flooded in 1951.