Bert Gildart: Writer and Photographer

©Bert Gildart: Anza Borrego Desert Park provides wonderful examples of erosion but little is more dramatic than the park’s slot canyons.  Fortunately for us here at Peg Leg, trailheads are within a short drive.

My companions were Don and Nancy Dennison, and we share a love not only of traveling in Airstreams (they just purchased a new Classic), and like us, they also love hiking and exploring areas that require a bit of an effort.

GEOLOGICAL PUZZLES

Don and Nancy also enjoy trying to solve geological puzzles, particularly as it pertains to our interest of the day, specifically the slot canyons.  Don and I both believe we can I.D. rocks and we concluded that most was of a sedimentary nature.

L to R:  Traverlers Peak; slot canyon, trail to Quartzite Mine

 

Our contention is based on the immense layering of most of the visible rocks, But there also seems to be many granitic type rocks, meaning this land was not only exposed to vast inland seas, but also to violent upheavals below the earth’s crust.  That accounts for all the scattered rocks in the foreground of my image of Travelers Peak.

GRAIN BY GRAIN

The last chapter in our story is, of course, the one of erosion, and in this case erosion which occurred over a period of thousands of years.  Grain by grain, wind and water craved out some of the softer rock in the sedimentary layers to gouge  out  this incredible defile.

Though our day topped out at about 70 degrees, this is where I’d want to be on a hot summer day. From previous excursions here, we know temperatures in the recesses of these slot canyons  may be 10 to 15 degrees cooler.

Indeed, Anza Borrego is a park full of wonderful diversity, and this is just one example.

———————————————————————————-

 

THIS TIME THREE  YEARS AGO:

*Snowy Owls Are Ghosts of the North

ADDS FROM GOOGLE AND AMAZON AUGMENT OUR TRAVELS:

This entry was posted on Tuesday, December 13th, 2011 at 5:19 pm and is filed under Natural History/Conservation, Photography, RV Travel. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.