July 19, 2011
Red Rock Canyon in Pictures
Posted by Evelyn Mervine
This past weekend I attended The Amaz!ng Meeting 9 in Las Vegas, Nevada. On Sunday some friends and I drove out to Red Rock Canyon just outside Las Vegas. Red Rock Canyon has some amazing geology– I’ll write up a post about the geology in the next week or two. For now, here are some pretty pictures of rocks… plus a bonus picture of magician Penn Jillette and I.
View from the Visitor's Center.
Looking back towards Las Vegas.
Enormous cross-bedding in the Aztec Sandstone.
Standing in front of some sandstone cross-bedding.
Iron oxide concreations in sandstone, with foot for scale.
Another view looking back towards Las Vegas.
Another picture of me with beautiful sandstone cross-bedding in the background.
More sandstone cross-bedding!
Gorgeous red and white sandstone.
More red and white sandstone.
A closer look at the red/white boundary.
Enormous fossilized sand dunes, with person for scale (lower right corner).
500 million year old limestone on top of 200 million year old sandstone-- what a fault!
Another stunning view of the Aztec Sandstone.
Another look back towards Las Vegas.
Looking closely, you can see the casino where I stayed (South Point).
I took a closer look through the binoculars...
Sure enough! That's the South Point Casino-- the big yellow building.
Bonus picture! Penn Jillette and I.
steamforged said on July 19, 2011
Those are gorgeous! I especially love the red and white sandstone. Amazing.
Chris Zeiner said on July 21, 2011
Beautiful place! My wife and I were married in Valley of Fire State Park, didn’t have much time to look around but gorgeous. We will definitely be back to explore!
Lockwood said on July 23, 2011
Okay, the rocks are gorgeous. Nothing like the southwest for great exposure of great geology. But I almost forgot about them in jealousy over your opportunity to meet Penn Jillette. You can imagine the magnitude of my enjoyment and admiration for the man when I say I almost forgot about great geology… that’s not like me at all!
Evelyn Mervine said on July 23, 2011
Penn is great! I’ve met him several times. Even been to his house “The Slammer” a few times. There are great benefits to working for James “The Amazing” Randi!
I worked for Randi twice as an intern back in undergrad.
Evelyn Mervine said on July 23, 2011
By the way, if you ever see Penn & Teller in Vegas, they come out to meet their fans after pretty much every show. They stand there for half an hour or so to sign autorgraphs and have pictures taken with their fans. Not all big acts in Vegas do that!
Christian Walters said on August 3, 2011
That was a fun trip. Thanks for including my non-scientist self with you guys at Red Rocks! Not to mention the bonus comedy of leaving Mitch behind
Pictures of Friends said on April 28, 2012
Pictures of Friends, Where our Memories become yours!