Greetings from Las Vegas!

The first three weeks of Mountain Classroom have come and gone at a like a blur. From the twisted shapes of Joshua trees to sunsets over Baja to boiling hot streams running through slot canyons just below the Hoover Dam. Each day has brought us face to face with yet another once-in-a-lifetime moment. Through it all the group has continued to rough it together, cook together, laugh together and bond. Most of us also got sick together from the food in Mexico. But such is life. Better to suffer through traveler’s sickness than to never travel at all!



The theme for this term’s course is the Colorado River Watershed. We began our trip in Southern California with a visit to the Salton Sea (a giant inland sea created from a Colorado River diversion) and the Imperial and Coachella Valleys where 35% of all U.S. vegetables are grown in a desert that routinely receives less than three inches of rain annually. While in So Cal we also made stops in Joshua Tree National Park and Anza-Borrego Desert State Park for some rock climbing and backpacking. From there we headed south of the border to El Golfo de Santa Clara, a small Sonoran beach town on the Gulf of California, where we celebrated Semana Santa, or Holy Weekend, with hundreds of other sand-between-the-toes revelers. Somewhere between ceviche and churros, we took a boat ride out to the muddy Colorado River mouth where we were greeted by dozens of gregarious, leaping dolphins that, without exception, brought a smile to each of our faces.



After a two day drive North through Western Arizona we found ourselves launching canoes directly under the 700-foot tall Hoover Dam. A few miles down canyon, we found what we had come for. Hot water. Not in the form of a bathroom sink, nor in the form of mere hotsprings, but 100-degree rushing streams pouring out of dramatic elephant grey canyons soaring a thousand feet above us. Warm pools, cool pools, waterfalls. On a scale of one to ten, this place is an eleven. Enchanting, or as Isha exclaimed,—looking up at the water dripping through a fern-laced wall—“romantic!”



So we spent three lazy days admiring the breathtaking canyons. And then, for a good contrast, we came to Vegas where you can visit Venice, Cairo, Paris, and Manhattan in an afternoon. And with the rate of construction that we’ve seen, we may soon be able to travel clear across the world without ever leaving town.

Tomorrow, the bus rolls on to Zion National Park.