Virgin River Gorge Earthcache EarthCache
Virgin River Gorge Earthcache
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The Virgin River Gorge is located midway between Mesquite NV and St George UT along interstate 15, and represents the geographical transition between the Colorado Plateau and the Mesquite Valley.
Interstate 15 winds and climbs from the parched desert floor of the Mesquite Valley into brightly colored horizontal layers of sedimentary rock that tower just above the roadbed. It resembles the Grand Canyon because it contains similar geologic layers that are found in the more famous national park located due east of the gorge. Many travelers are struck by the obvious similarity and some even think it's a part of the Grand Canyon.
In the middle of the gorge, near the Cedar Pockets exit, the road crosses the Grand Wash Fault, which forms the western boundary of the higher Colorado Plateau and it drops the rock layers downward to the west. You can readily see the tilt in these limestone beds as you enter the gorge and you will also notice that after you cross the fault the layers become more uniformly flat lying and differently colored. The layers in the lower gorge are much older than the layers of the upper gorge.
This scenic stretch of Interstate 15 was not completed until 1972 and cost an unheard of sum of one million dollars a mile to build. Prior to its construction, travelers bypassed the gorge to the west on old US route 91. They faced a notoriously steep climb that was known to boil up the radiators of many cars in the extreme heat of summer months.
The area was formerly inhabited by ancient Native American tribes such as the Anasazi which left cave paintings and arrow heads.
The first non-native person to record a passage through the gorge was the legendary explorer and trapper Jedediah Smith who discovered that the Virgin River flowed into the Colorado and thus blazed the first overland trail to California from the desert interior in 1827. This later became known as the Old Spanish Trail and was used by traders traveling between Santa Fe and the small pueblos of Los Angeles and San Diego. These merchants traded highly prized California raised horses and mules for New Mexico blankets and textiles as well as Indian slaves. The slaves were usually Paiute women and children who were captured by mounted Utes and Navajos who'd try to sell them to Spanish and American caravans making their way through this stretch of country.
The wildlife life mainly consists of Joshua trees and sagebrush. Many wildlife species live here, including turkey vultures, prairie falcons, golden eagles, great horned owls, Mojave green rattlesnakes, the desert tortoise, collared lizards, deer, mountain lions, and bighorn sheep.
Logging Requirements: You will need to drive the whole length of the gorge (more than 20 miles) to get the clues to log this cache. The posted coordinates will get you to the Cedar Pockets exit where you can examine the geology more closely. But you will not actually need to leave your vehicle to fulfill the logging requirements or even go to the posted coordinates.
1) Email me and tell me the colors of the rock layers in the lower part of the gorge and of the upper part of the gorge.
2) By driving through the gorge, explain to me how the gorge was formed.
Logs that do not meet all the above requirements will be deleted.
NOTE: Please do not park on the Freeway to accomplish any of these tasks. The Arizona Highway Patrol frowns on that. Please use the pull out if you must stop. The Cedar Pockets exit is a great area to pull out and enjoy the gorge. Also, GPS reception can be very poor in the gorge due to its high vertical walls.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Gur serrjnl pebffrf gur evire yrff gung frira gvzrf VA gur tbetr. Hccre tbetr = Fg Trbetr fvqr. Ybjre tbetr = Zrfdhvgr fvqr.
Treasures
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