Red Rock Canyon

By far the highlight of our trip of Las Vegas was our visit to Red Rock Canyon. Getting out of the city and seeing some of the desert was great.



We toured the area in small cars. These were sort of mopeds with a small car-like body that allowed two of us to sit side-by-side. We went to a location on the edge of town and drove the small cars from there. Once out the city and approaching the park, the scenery took on an entirely different aspect.

In the part we stopped first at a large red rock (hence the name, I suppose). This is an area where people hike. Lots of cars parked in the parking lots of people walking into the hills.

The red color is the result of iron in the rock rusting. There are places where the layers have little or no iron, and make quite contrasting colors.

In other areas, the distance and vegetation make the red color difficult to see.

But on closer inspection, the red color is always there.

Under the blue sky, the wide flat plane seems to extend endlessly between the mountain ridges.

Even in the sun it was not hot. it was a very pleasant day to simply stand and take in the majesty of the desert and the red tinged hills.

E did manage to see a chipmunk out scurrying among the desert plants but I was busy taking in the hills.

Here are more to these Joshua trees.

We were told that the native americans sought them out as a source of water in this arid land.

The layers of light and dark stone make for dramatic landscapes. This picture below reminds me of the sort of images I would see of the distant and foreign place as a child. The plants and rocks all seemed so very alien to a child raised in the east with no opportunity to see such places.

This empty vistas feel like if you started walking this any direction, you'd likely die before you actually got anywhere.

Expect near the parking lots, there were no footprints in the desert sand. It really felt as though we were the first to visit. I could have been convinced of this were it not for the parking lots full of people and cars.

The hills tell a story that only geologists can properly read. Nevertheless, they are beautiful.