By: Ashley Navarro-Monroy amn5536 Geological My Travel Adventures ^ By: Ashley Navarro-Monroy amn5536

Introduction I live in a suburb outside of Toronto, Ontario and here we some wonderful Provincial and Conservation parks located within a 3 hour drive. Whenever possible, my sister and I take our dogs out for a fun day of hiking and exploring. I also work in the travel industry and have the opportunity to travel to some incredible places with incredible geological features.

Rattlesnake Point, Halton Rattlesnake Point is part of the Niagara Escarpment. It runs from Niagara Falls up to Bruce Peninsula, covering an area of about 800kms. The rocks in this picture were formed about 400 million years ago by pre- glacial rivers that sculpted this limestone.

Flowerpot Island, Tobermory Here’s a picture of my brother in law in front of one of the flower pots. There are two pots on this island that were formed over 400 million years ago by the elements such as wind, rain and ice. The softer rocks eroded, leaving the harder dolomite rocks in the formation of a pot.

Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona In 2014, I visited my first US National Park. The Grand Canyon is made up of three main types of sedimentary rocks – sandstone, shale and limestone.

Myrdalsjokull Glacier, Iceland My sister and I visited Iceland in December of 2015. This is a small portion of the Myrdalsjokull glacier in Iceland. This glacier covers the volcano Katla that spans 30kms in diameter. The glacier is shrinking and retreating and now a lake is forming where it once reached.

Giant’s Causeway, Northern Ireland Last year, I was able to visit Northern and Ireland by taking a group of clients on one of our tours. The Giant’s Causeway was formed by an ancient volcano eruption. It is made up of 40,000 black basalt columns that stick out of the sea. The local folks have a different opinion on how the Giant’s Causeway came to be. A feud between the Irish giant Finn McCool and the Scottish giant Benandonner.

Killarney National Park, Ireland Killarney National Park is home to one of the tallest mountain range in Ireland. McGillycuddy’s Reeks can be seen in the background with its snow- covered peaks. This park is home to Europe’s only remaining pure Yew woods. It is also part of the Ring of Kerry, a 179km scenic route. The park is divided up by Devonian rocks to the south and limestone to the west. Morning view during a jaunting car ride in Killarney National Park.

Conclusion These are just some of the places I have visited so far. Living 20 minutes away from the Niagara Escarpment has given me the opportunity to visit many parks. Canada is celebrating its 150th year and have given out free passes to visit all the Provincial parks. I’m excited to visit some new places and see some wonderful geological features.