Florissant Experience

History and Culture

Blue Bell Beauty

Petrified Trio of Redwood Trees 

Dominance

Preserved Fossil of an Amia Scutata

Florissant Experience

                The Florissant Nation Forest once had a luscious population of massive redwood trees. The redwoods stood a towering 300 feet tall. The Statue of Liberty is located on Liberty Island and it stands at 305 feet tall, just imagine thousands of these trees in a forest at this height. The climate change has left so many discoveries for example the fossils that were frozen in time and the encased redwoods. One fossil that caught my eye was the Amia Scutata, the anatomical detail of this preserved fish was incredible. This fossil can be best described as evidence of past life before the volcanic eruption. Now all that remains of the redwood’s existence is a trio of petrified stumps encased in time.

Above my head the sun is shining on the dense forest as the cotton ball clouds float towards the west. The sounds of nature that I hear first are the birds chirping away as they are communicating with one another. After listening for a few minutes, I can hear the light breeze that would come down through the Redwood Forest and the rustling of the leaves. When I look down at the wild grass growing I see the bright and pastel flowers around me. The Florissant National Park is surrounded by the dominate Rocky Mountain terrain. As I look out at the remaining snow on the Rocky Mountains, I am reminded just how beautiful and majestic the Florissant National Park is and I can only wildly imagine how beautiful it once was.       

Lisa Johnson