Day 4

Day 5 began with some overcast weather, and the potential for light rain in the area. We began our trip along the Iowa/Nebraska border, after a short flight, with a stop in Council Bluffs. The crew was invited to speak at the Lied Museum about the Trunk of Discovery that had been sent there. Each of the science disciplines had a representative or two to give a short discussion on the elements in the trunk that pertained to them. The female pilots also spoke about the contents of the flight bag. The group then travelled to Sioux City, IA, and circled the Sgt. Floyd Monument. Then it was on to the Circle H Ranch, outside Gregory, SD, where the pilots performed some fantastic landings on a grass runway. Flight Operations Sciences View Slideshow Flight Operations Expedition Leader's Notes Flowers and food pour into the house from our friends. Carol's broken wing is painful and will remain so for some time. We spend the day watching movies. However, Carol insists that I rejoin the group as soon as possible, so I try to set things up for a departure I'm not sure I want to make, including having people check in on her while I'm gone. I call co-leader Mark Kimberlin in Brawley. He was to join the group in Pierre, SD by flying up in the C-172RG about this time, so we make arrangements for him to pick me up at Gillespie. This makes Carol happy, so we finalize all the logistics for a Sunday morning departure. Sciences Zoology Geology

From a biological and zoological standpoint, things have changed radically since the days of Lewis & Clark in this area. As L&C predicted, the land was and is rich for agriculture and has developed with many different agricultural crops. This has caused much of the area south of Sioux City to be cleared of natural habitat, forcing the animals to reside in smaller and smaller areas and in many cases be pushed out of the area altogether. Some species that L&C observed in large numbers have been totally eliminated and are now extinct in the area. One example of this is a parakeet that in 1804 was abundant

We covered a lot of territory today. Geologically, the bedrock observed consisted of limestone, but as we move north and west the rocks have been becming younger. The bedrock is blanketed by in many areas of Iowa and Nebraska with glacial deposits known as loess. Loess is believed to be windblown silt formed by the grinding of rocks by the glaciers. The loess erodes very easily and forms characteristic topography that consists of star-like razor-sharp ridges that were noted by the Corps of Discovery in 1804. As we approached South Dakota, the charcter of the Missouri changes from a slow moving meandering