Whether you’re looking to learn more about that Purple Mountain Majesty that everyone is singing about or you are simply in need of a way to keep your brain fresh for the next few minutes, we are happy to provide you with the next installment of interesting, unknown, and quirky facts about one of the world’s most amazing mountain ranges.
1) They’re much younger than the Appalachians
At about 100 million years old (depending on where you look and what you’re actually studying) the Rocky Mountains are significantly younger than their distant neighbors to the East, the Appalachians. Those mountains are estimated to be anywhere from 400 to 500 million years old.
2) They hold the Continental Divide
There is an invisible line that divides the country into two geological zones: one in which all the rivers drain out to the Pacific Ocean and one in which it all drains out into the Atlantic or the Gulf of Mexico. This line also serves as an important weather barrier, having a strong influence on weather systems as they make their way across the country.
3) Lewis & Clark didn’t have that bad of a time crossing them
While there are plenty of horror stories in history about people getting snowed in while trying to cross the Rocky Mountains (we’re looking at you, Donner party) the Lewis & Clark Expedition made relatively short work of it, not losing a single party member to illness or attack. In fact, about half of them even took a different route on the way back (just for kicks, apparently)
4) They didn’t come out of the ground looking like that
When you sit down to imagine the incredible and violent geological processes that must have occurred to form the Rocky Mountains, it is hard to not picture them simply erupting out of the landscape in a single brilliant explosion of rock. Of course, we all know that’s not how mountains are made, but still, there is a mystery to their formation that has fully been solved.
What we do know is that the “growth” of the Rocky Mountains occurred as a very gradual, very rounded bulge in the Earth’s surface, as opposed to a formation that was already sharp and jagged. This massive rounded smooth surface was acted upon by erosion forces like wind, rain, ice, and glaciers at the same time as it was growing
5) They weren’t the first mountain range to inhabit that area
At 100 million years old, the Rockies can hardly be considered geezers when compared to even other ranges in North America. As we know them, the Rockies seem like true ancient beings, but the truth is that they were not even the first mountains to “live there”. About 2 billion years before the Rockies even existed, there was an older mountain range in the same approximate place, which very slowly eroded into dirt and mud … the same eventual fate that our Rocky Mountains will face (in a about a billion years).
6) Most of the Rockies are Protected by State or National Park Status
Fortunately for anyone who has not yet had the chance to visit the Rocky Mountains, a significant percentage of their acreage is protected from development and preserved by the resources of state, national, or provincial parks. The fees and revenues collected at these parks go a long way towards preserving the landscape and wildlife for future generations, not to mention maintaining excellent camping facilities from which everyone can share in their awesomeness.
