Barren?
This small wash comes from the hills just to the east of Salt Creek, hills composed of salty silts and clays deposited long ago and then uplifted and eroded. The landscape is mostly grayish or yellow-gray mounds that, at first glance, appear to be bereft of life.
A closer look, however, shows the remains of small tufts of saltgrass and a few small forbs growing along the lowest, and presumably wettest, parts of the wash. It's a harsh environment, with summer temperatures exceeding 120 F (49 C) and winter temperatures that dip below freezing, rainfall that may amount to only a few millimeters in some years, and salty soils. But still, plants and animals adapt to it and thrive here.
Barren?
This small wash comes from the hills just to the east of Salt Creek, hills composed of salty silts and clays deposited long ago and then uplifted and eroded. The landscape is mostly grayish or yellow-gray mounds that, at first glance, appear to be bereft of life.
A closer look, however, shows the remains of small tufts of saltgrass and a few small forbs growing along the lowest, and presumably wettest, parts of the wash. It's a harsh environment, with summer temperatures exceeding 120 F (49 C) and winter temperatures that dip below freezing, rainfall that may amount to only a few millimeters in some years, and salty soils. But still, plants and animals adapt to it and thrive here.