That time in Moab when I learned the hard way about desert rock

I was out near the Slickrock Trail about two years back, just grabbing a cool looking red sandstone sample. I mean, it was a small piece, maybe the size of my hand. I put it in my pack and forgot about it until I got back to my tent that night. The thing had basically turned to sand and grit, ruining my water filter and getting into everything. I had to buy a new filter for like 80 bucks the next day in town. Now I'm super careful about what rocks I collect and how I pack them, especially in dry places. Has anyone else had a rock just completely disintegrate on them?

4 comments

4 Comments

zara_sanchez6d ago

Feel your pain lol. Grabbed a piece of desert varnish crust once and it just powdered in my bag. That stuff is only skin deep. The rock underneath was totally different. It's all about what's holding it together, and sometimes that glue is long gone.

brooket436d ago

That red sandstone is basically just ancient sand waiting to become sand again.

phoenix_singh256d ago

Sandstone is way more than old sand waiting to fall apart, @brooket43. It's a solid record of history holding up cliffs and buildings for centuries. Calling it just future sand misses the whole point of what it is now.

flores.emma6d ago

The Petra Treasury in Jordan is carved right into a sandstone cliff face. It's been standing there for over two thousand years. If it was just sand waiting to crumble, how did it hold up all that intricate carving for so many centuries? What makes some sandstone formations last while other rock types wear away faster?