The entire time we were driving through Iowa I noticed these hills along the right side of the road. I thought they were just hills, but I found out they are Loess Hills and a unique geologic feature of this area.
The Loess Hills are about 200 miles long and up to 15 miles wide. They are made up of windblown soils that formed these dunes (hills) towards the end of the last ice age. The only place on the planet that has equivalent deposits to Iowa's is China. Probably the most unique characteristic of these deposits is that you can cut through them vertically and they form sheer drops hundreds of feet high which are interlocked and virtually indestructible. If you remove the topsoil from the slope, however, the exposed loess will erode like sugar when saturated. These are amazing hills and I would have thought nothing of them if we had not stopped to check out a visitor center. Traveling the scenic Loess Hills Byway is an interesting way to spend some time. I hope to get back here one day to check everything out in more detail.
We got to Sioux Falls, SD without incident and had a great dinner of ribs and burgers. We are hitting the sack early tonight in preparation for a long day tomorrow. The trip to Billings, MT is about 11 hours long and we plan to stop at Mt. Rushmore. Should have some great pictures to share tomorrow.
Maddie's Sunday School class is going to South Dakota in June. Let me know if you think teenagers will find it interesting. I think Mt. Rushmore is included in their adventures.
ReplyDeleteI'm enjoying your trip, but are you?
Nobody is smiling in your pictures. :-)
I am completely enjoying this blog! We plan to drive cross country one day and hope to have interesting experiences on the way.... Gabi looks happy too! Did you hear that Candice King (cafeteria staff) lost her son Friday in Afghanistan?
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