Monday, September 21st- Friday, September 25th
A bit about Red Rock Canyon...
Red
Rock Canyon is a dry and hot place where water is scarce yet plants
still thrive. Plants have amazing adaptation to live in Red Rock
Canyon, for example some plants have smooth waxy bark and leaves.
This keeps the little bit of water that the plant gets, inside the
bark. Plants also have different systems of roots. Some plants have
roots that do not spread out wide but go very deep into the ground
were there is water. Other plants roots spread out really wide so
they can collect all the water in a really wide ratios. There are
also washes that are created from flash floods. Plants tend to grow
in the washes because there is more moisture where the water flowed in
the spring. The plants that live in the washes have adapted by having
really strong roots and flexible branches so that when a flash food
happens and a raging river is formed in the wash the plants do not
get washed away.
The
geology in Red Rock Canyon is amazing. The red rocks and the big
mountains are amazing to look at and the story of how they were
formed is just as amazing. There is an active fault line at the
canyon which means the land was once flat but there was a crack in
the earth. One side of the crack fell down and then later when the
tectonic plates were moving they pushed the higher side of the fault
over the other side. That means that the oldest rock is on top of the
younger rock, this is really interesting because normally the oldest
rock is buried under many layers of younger rock and soil. The active
fault is why we see the bright red color on bottom and the tan
colored strips on top.
- Eli
At
the Red Rock visitor center I learned that in some areas there are an
abundance of plants and they are greener than the other plants. This
is because where they live is called the wash. The wash is when the
snow from the mountains melts and runs into a drainage. Many plants
live in the wash zone because at times there is an abundance of water
for short periods of time. Some plants have even adapted to live in
the wash zone. Some extend there roots further into the ground so
when the water comes rushing through they don't get swept away. While
other may be more flexible causing them to bend instead of brake in
the rushing water.
Las
Vegas and Red Rocks Canyon are located in the Mojave desert. The
reason for the desert conditions is because they get very little if
not any rain. The reason that is, is because the clouds have no
moisture. The clouds have no moisture because whenever they go over a
mountain range the moisture gets squeezed out of them. There are 3
major mountain ranges between the west coast and the Mojave desert so
by the time the clouds get to the Mojave desert they are out of
moisture.
- Asa
Climbing in Red Rock Canyon
by Asa
Last week we climbed in Red Rocks Canyon. We climbed 2 days of the week both in different spots. Our first day we climbed in Willow Springs. I climbed 2 5.6's and one 5.7+. It was nice climbing there because it was in the shade so it was not that hot out. Also the rock was cool because there were a bunch of holes in it which served for good hand and feet holds. The rock here in Red Rocks is sandstone, very different from the granite we climbed in Yosemite.
The
second day we went climbing we climbed in Calico Hills. Calico Hills
is where the rock is actually red. We climbed in a crevasse called
the Black Corridor. We chose to climb there because it was mostly in
the shade. All of the routes there were harder routes. The easiest
route was a 5.7+. We climbed it for our first climb to warm up. Then
we climbed a 5.9+ that was pretty easy it just had one move that was
really tricky. After that I tried to climb another 5.9+ but I could
not make a move on the over vert wall because the rope was stuck on a
part of the rock so I could not move to the right to get to the hand
holds. I liked climbing at Calico Hills more than at Willow Springs
because at Calico Hills the rock was red and it was more challenging.
Biking in Blue Diamond near Red Rock Canyon
by Eli
On
the day after the 8 week anniversary of my bike crash at Highland
Bike Park, I finally was able to get back on my bike and ride some
trails instead of paved roads. We went to the community of Blue
Diamond which is just 20 miles outside of Las Vegas, right down the road from Red Rock Canyon. Mom, Asa and I got to the
trail head in Blue Diamond a lot later that we had hoped so the sun
was out and that made it feel twice as hot as the 95 degree morning.
We planned a seven mile ride and we finally got on the trails at
around 9:45. At first, I was over confident in how strong my thumb
was and I was trying to jump over rocks and small features on the
trail. I soon realized that my thumb was getting a little sore and
had to take it down a few notches. After riding for a while I felt
like I was getting a little more confident. I think that most of the
soreness is from not using the thumb for a while and not having any
muscle after being in a cast and splint for 8 weeks. Half way through
our ride we were getting fried from the sun so I decided to take a
shortcut from the seven mile loop and we went back to Blue Diamond to
try and escape the sun and heat.
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