Vegas Baby, Vegas!

For me, Vegas epitomizes what went wrong with modern western capitalist society. Rampant consumerism, greed and predatory marketing all wrapped up in an environmentally unsustainable package. The only thing I like about Vegas is it may be the least prudish city I've ever visited.

Today I visited Vegas for the first time. Today I drove from Pahrump Nevada to Las Vegas Nevada, slightly less than 65 miles. Here's the map.

I started my day collecting rocks in the Spring Range just northeast of Pahrump. I had preselected this location based on satellite imagery and maps (as I did for all my locations) and was pleasantly surprised that the road I intended to use went far further into the mountains than I had anticipated. Less walking!

Roadrunner Road started out a benign gravel track but very quickly got interesting. Several steep, although short, twisty climbs with high potential for getting cross axled added interest. On the way down several of these sections I was on three wheels. The road eventually gave way to a gravelly wash which narrowed as it entered the rocks I was there to sample! I had to quit at the first real obstacle as with no spotter a misplaced wheel could result in a real test of my rock sliders. Also if I broke something or got stuck I was on my own, never a good thing. Here's a photograph of the Neoproterozoic Stirling Quartzite and the obstacle that thwarted me.

 

After sampling the Sterling Quartzite and the overlying Middle Member of the Wood Canyon Formation (MMWC) I made the short drive to Las Vegas.  I decided I couldn't drive through Vegas without seeing the strip so I exited the interstate and drove the entire length of the strip. It was everything I expected it would be.

My sample location was on the northeast of Vegas on the flanks of Frenchman Mountain. Normally I have to do some geological sleuthing to ensure I'm looking at the correct rocks. At Frenchman Mountain somebody had put signs up, creating a small geological tour, with the formation names on them. Very handy. Here's the sign telling me I'd found the Tapeats Sandstone, the formation I was here to sample, complete with an environmental interpretation.

Here's a shot of the usual unconformity between crystalline basement and the overlying Tapeats Sandstone. The hill in the foreground on the right is crystalline. The left hill is Tapeats. Las Vegas is in the background.

After doing my sampling I drove through Frenchman Mountain to Lake Mead, where I camped for the night. Lake Mead is the largest reservoir in the United States by volume and was created in 1936 with the completion of the Hoover Dam. Recently drought conditions in the western US has resulted in a dramatic drop in lake levels. The lake is currently about 110 feet below normal capacity and studies have suggested that if current water usage and precipitation trends continue the reservoir will need to be retired by 2021. Here's a shot of the reservoir from one of the many viewpoints. The light tan areas in the foreground are areas exposed by the drought.

I camped at the Boulder Beach campground in Lake Mead National Recreation Area. I befriended and cooked dinner for a cyclist who was making his way around the western US. Turns out he was from France and spoke very litte english. Thankfully I speak french so we had a delightful dinner and then went to Boulder City, Nevada to use the WIFI at the local Starbucks.

Tomorrow I'm off to Utah. Cricket Range and then to Fillmore. Hopefully I will be able to update you from there.