Wednesday, October 19, 2016

Slickrock


First of all "slickrock" is a misnomer. Slickrock is rough sandstone and not slick at all, but the term comes from the fact that the land is difficult to traverse on a horse with iron shoes. There are huge areas of the Colorado Plateau that are covered with this almost level, exposed sandstone with little vegetation. The slickrock sheds water and contributes to the incidence of huge flash floods in the canyons even with very little rainfall. For me it is a joy to walk over because it is relatively smooth and open. Some people seem to get lost in this kind of country, but I can't imagine how, you can almost always see for miles.

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