Keystone Thrust at Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area is an interesting geological formation that makes a nice springtime hike destination.
During the Paleozoic Era (600 million years ago) this area was at the bottom of an ocean and geologist estimate that up to 9,000 feet of limey sediments were deposited on the ocean floor. The sediments eventually lithified into limestone. Then, during the Mesozoic Era (240 million years ago) marine shales and sandstones were deposited, followed by salt and gypsum deposits. Sone of the deposits contained iron minerals, which added a reddish color to the sediments.
Over millions of years the climate changed and Earth's crust was pushed upward. During this same time period, the water that had covered the area evaporated and as the Earth's surface rose, large thrust faults developed across most parts of the North America Continent, breaking the Earth's surface into large plates. One of the thrust fault lines went through what is now known as Red Rock Canyon.
As the Earth's surface was being pushed upward, some of the plates collided with each other and at Red Rock Canyon the older gray sedimentary rock slid over top of the younger red rock. For millions of years the older gray rock has been eroding away, exposing the red rock underneath it in various places. Red Rock Canyon is an example of where the gray rock has eroded away over a distance of about 13 miles.. This area is known as the Red Rock escarpment.
The Keystone Thrust hike is one of the best places to view the contrast between the older gray rock overlaying the younger red rock. Geologists come from all over the world to study this area.
On our return trip back to the trailhead, rather than follow the trail we decided to hike cross-country and make a loop out of the trip. I estimated the direction we needed to go to find our vehicle, but my estimate was slightly off and we ended up enjoying more desert scenery than we had planned to. Lightening strikes have killed many of the trees at the higher altitudes.
Even though it has been a very dry year, some of the wildflowers were stating to bloom.
On our way back to the highway, we stopped by the waterfall at Lost Creek. Unfortunately, there was just enough water coming over the falls to keep the rocks wet. Next to the falls the Western Redbud trees were trying to bloom and along the trail Yucca plants were in bloom
BONUS PICTURE
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