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The mean temperature at Walden, Colorado is 31.1°F and fluctuates between 15°F and <br />78°F. The average growing season is 102 days and the average number of frost-free days <br />is 46. Winds are predominantly from the west. <br />Geology <br />The general geology of the North Park region has been well-established by many United <br />States Geological Survey investigations, the most notable of which are Beekly (1915), <br />Hail (1965, 1968) and Kinney (1970, 1971). <br />The North Park region can be geomorphically classified as an intermontane basin, <br />enclosed by the Medicine Bow Range to the east, the Park Range to the west, and the <br />Rabbit Ears Range to the south. The resultant structural basin is truncated to the north <br />by the Independence Mountain Fault. This basin contains sediments ranging in age from <br />Triassic to Quaternary. <br />The Bourg Mine is on the northeastern edge of the McCallum anticline and within a <br />faulted synclinal wrinkle, the Bourg syncline. The syncline on the Bourg property dips a <br />maximum of 41° on the southwest, 15° on the northeast, and plunges 7° to 8° on the <br />northwest. The coal-bearing unit at the Bourg Mine is the Coalmont Formation <br />consisting of coal, shales, siltstones and sandstones. The Coalmont Formation overlies <br />the Pierre shale and underlies gravels derived from pediments in the immediate area. <br />Portions of two coal seams within the Coalmont Formation were mined, the Hoyle Seam <br />and the Sudduth Seam. <br />In addition to the broad synclinal fold that formed the general structural basin of the <br />North Park region, considerable local folding and faulting has also occurred. These local <br />folds and faults are probably the result of compression caused by the formation of the <br />larger synclinal trough. The McCallum Anticline lies between the Michigan and <br />Canadian Rivers, east of the town of Walden. Structurally, the anticline is doubly <br />plunging and is asymmetric about its axis. To the north, where the anticline plunges <br />northwest, the strike is approximately N45°W. To the south, the structure begins to <br />change strike as the crest of the anticline plunges almost due south. Except near both <br />noses, the anticline tends to be asymmetrical, with the more steeply dipping limb to the <br />east side. <br />At the nearby Marr and Canadian Strip mines, the sediments on the eastern flank are <br />near vertical or even overturned. In the area of the Bourg Mine, the strata on the east <br />limb of the McCallum Anticline dip as much as 41° to the northeast. The Bourg Mine is <br />flanked on the northeast by the Ballinger Anticline. The axis of the Ballinger Anticline <br />joins the axis of the McCallum Anticline in Section 21, T9N, R78W. The Ballinger <br />Anticline plunges to the northwest and strikes N35°W. The McCallum and Ballinger <br />Bourg Strip Mine. C-81-021 4 April 21, 1993 <br />