This is the first of a number of classes that we have taken through the University of Nevada, Las Vegas and CSU, San Bernardino at the Zzyzx Field Station. The classes center on some aspect of the Mohave Desert, whether it is physical or cultural. This particular class was about the geology of the area.
The classes begin on Friday evening with a lecture/slide show. We usually eat dinner at the Mad Greek's in Baker and then complete the drive to Zzyzx, and check in just in time to settle for the lecture. The accommodations are rather spartan. The rooms have two twin beds and a washroom. There are separate communal mens and women's bathrooms and showers. There are chairs and a patio in front. But you mostly just sleep there. Everyone gathers in the center rooms for other meals and the lectures. There is much comparing of backgrounds and experiences in the socializing there. Dinners and breakfasts are OK and sack lunches are standard.
Afton Canyon was formed during or near the end of the ice age when Lake Mannix cut through the soft rock at the lake's east end. The lake was quite large. Our first stop was off of the north side of the Afton exit from I-15. We stopped there to look for the ancient shorelines that were visible in the distance. Eventually the lake filled up to the brim and started cutting a cheannel through the hills. As the water flowed, the channel grew, until the lake eventually drained into the lakes that then filled Death Valley.
Crossing the Mohave River, we climbed the hills to look at some of hte damage done by the water. The soft rock was shredded into boulders and gravel. You could see in the side canyons where the soft rock had formed a small fault in the other side of the canyon. The sides of the fault appeared to be displaced by about 5 feet. You can also see in side canyons how flash floods are continuing to erode the area. One of the side canyons is a "cave." Sunlight rarely enters the area, but there is not really a roof over the cave--thecanyon is just extremely narrow--and unstable. The Union Pacific brought their tracks through the canyon. I would not like to be inside the narrow canyons cut into the gravel when one of the freight trains thunders by.
We had lunch at the Afton Canyon Campground and then continued on to the afternoon's lessons. The campground provided little shade and the day was warm, even though it was October. I would not really recommend the campground. The one interesting thing that we did find by the campground was a trail that had originally been used by the Mohave Indians as they moved seasonally through the area. The trail is hindreds of years old and has not been maintained by the BLM. That shows how what we do in the desert has such a lasting impact.
Amboy Crater is one of several volcanic areas in the Mohave National Preserve. It is the easiest to reach. You can almost drive into the cinder cone. Many of the cinder cones have been mined for the lava rock. Both Amboy and the area called Cinder Cones between Baker and Kelso have been extensively mined. Amboy crater is reached along the frontage road that used to be Route 66 along I-40.
We parked in the lower lot so that we could follow the trail to a lava tube before we went into the crater. Parts of the lava tube have collapsed, allowing easy entry to the tube. But once in, it becomes dark and cold very quickly. We followed the cave for about a quarter of a mile, observing other places where the tube had collapsed. The footing was very uneven; we had to be careful as we walked.
After hiking in the lava tube, we followed the trail into the crater. A portion of the crater has been excabated out to put rocks into our gardens and yards. But there was enough left to see the cone shape. The cinders varied in size from pebble size to those the size of cars. We could see how the ash had blown in different drections depending on the wind direction when the eruptions occurred. We listened to the explanations of what we saw by the course instructors. They were very informative. That completed the day's travel, returning to the Zzyzx research station for the nights instruction and preparations for the next days travel.
The final day of the course took us to ground zero of the Lander earthquake. We had experienced the earthquake in Las Vegas, where it shook us in bead and sloshed the water in the swimming pool. Lander is out in the middle of nowhere; it takes time to get there from just about anywhere. The site of the earthquake has a large rift that you can walk into where the quake epicenter was. It is almost like a cave. In other places a little farther away, the slippage is about 5 feet from side to side. The ground as primarily dirt, but it had sheared evenly along the fault.
After touring the site we had a good bag lunch supplied by the research station's chef, including his home baked cookies, it was time to begin the long drive back to Las Vegas. We had to go through Twentynine Palms and other desert towns to get back to the Mohave Preserve and then on to Las Vegas.
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