Have you ever wondered what Western Colorado looks like? We hiked through the Colorado National Monument on Monday, to a rock formation called Devil's Kitchen. It is a tall, sandstone outcropping with huge pillars and a large piece of sandstone shaped like a biscuit, sitting inside the red-hued vault. We had a guided hike with Ranger Leslie, who gave the kids the "From Utes to Boots" hike, where she discussed with the kids the way the Utes lived, the kinds of food they would have searched for, and how they were pushed out of the land in favor of white settlers who wanted to farm and graze cattle in the area. Today there is still free range grazing land for the cattle, but instead of being herded through the monument's lands up to the flat tops of the mesas, they are now trucked to the top for their summer grazing. It was so beautiful, and there was so much to see that there are a lot of pictures! Spring wildflowers were in full bloom, and there are so many visible rock layers, evidence of mud flow from either the worldwide flood and/or local catastrophic flooding that may have occurred with run-off after the post-flood ice age, uplifts and plenty of erosion. Oh, and if you've ever wondered about Colorado's name, which has to do with the color red, wonder no more! So, enjoy a taste of Western Colorado and its desert.
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Serpent's Trail is a hiking trail that follows the original road built by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1920's and 1930's. There are places where the road was built up with the natural sandstone, which was of course, was very available!
There is a lot of biological soil crust (or cyrptobiotic crust) in the Colorado National Monument, as well as other high desert locations. There are signs with an easy-to-remember saying, "Don't bust the crust!" This crust looks like the top of burn toast and is composed of many small plant organisms. It can be easily damaged and destroyed by feet trampling on it. The sample in the photo is very small compared to some patches we saw. The ranger poured water on the crust to show us how it puffs up and begins to turn green in a matter of minutes.
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The plant on the lower left corner is a skunk bush that produces a skunk like smell when the berries and leaves are crushed or rubbed.
The kids learned about how pine nuts are a great source of fat and calories- these were a must-have for the Ute Indians during the winter months. She also showed a picture of the pine jay, which helps get the nuts out of the pine cones from this tree. The soft, flaky bark could be peeled off in strips for baskets, or for baby diapers! Wad up a soft pile of bark, set it in piece of animal skin, and apply to baby! Diapers changes are a breeze- just toss your "insert" out into the bushes!
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| Yucca |
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| Red Canyon, looking northeast toward the Grand Valley and Grand Junction |
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