Aniruddha's Blog

My trip to the Arches National Park. Arches National Park is one of the most famous, and beautiful National Park. Located in Eastern Utah it has the best hiking trails, the most visited and liked is the Delicate Arch. It is 2 mile hike and is steep. Even though I have good stamina, I was tired after the hike, the reason being the elevation of the path. The Delicate Arch was formed due to various natural causes, the major one is erosion. All the rocks here are sand stone, the whole place was covered with salt and then with more sand. These rocks are not just made of sand they also contain clay, this is what gives it this brownish colour, and holds it together. The salt and the mixture of sand and clay was pushed up due to the move meant of the plates. Later on these rocks were carved into caves, and later into arches only due to acid rain and the wind. The acid rain caused the rocks weathered and the wind gave it this smooth texture. When climbing up to the arche...

Death Valley  Death Valley is one of the driest and the lowest places in North America. This place once was all under water, and there is significant evidence as the rocks was once sand submerged. The oldest rocks in Death Valley were formed 1.7 billion years ago. The lime and sand stone indicate that there was a warm shallow sea. Death Valley lies between two plates cause an uplift, forming mountains. The next phase of the Death Valley formation was the travelling  volcano's . The move meant the plates hot molten material welled up weakening the surface, and causing an eruption. The volcanic activity moved towards the West, forming a chain of volcanoes from Furnace Creek to Shoshone. Death Valley’s climate has been changing for the past three million years, Death Valley was part of the last ice age, and it was part of a large system of lakes. As the temperature started to rise the lakes evaporated. Death Valley was known for borax mines. ...

My trip to Mono Lake. Mono Lake is located in Nothern California, It is on the way to Yosemite National park. Mono lake is a really old lake, it was formed 760,000 years ago. Mono Lake gets its name from “Monachi” a Yokut term derived from the Native American tribe, located in the East and West Sierra Nevada. They were also known as fly eaters. Mono Lake is known as the salty lake. It is three times as salty as the ocean. The reason being, Mono Lake is surrounded by mountains causing it to have no out lets, the only way for the water to escape is through evaporation. The water flows in but not out. The water in Mono Lake is very soapy and slippery. Mono lake is known to be a rest stop for several migratory shorebirds, and has been  recognized  as a (site of international importance western hemisphere shore bird reserve). Nearly 2,000,000 water birds and 35 shore birds use mono Lake as their rest stop and feeding ground. The brine shrimp known to be white in...

A hike to the Tiger’s nest We began the thrilling hike on the last day of our trip in Bhutan to the Tiger’s nest. The hike  usually takes about 2 hours for someone who is fit, otherwise it may take longer. We started at 7:45 am from the parking lot and we were one of the first few to start our journey. The path is really steep and there are no steps, also to add to the pandemonium  and difficulty there are horses that take rations up to the monastery. We (my parents, myself and our guide) divided ourselves into two groups. The tour guide and I were ahead and my mother and father were behind us. The first bit of the path is a rather narrow and uneven causing us to watch our step. Our goal was to reach half way up the cliff and meet up, but  as my mother was a little out of exercise she needed more time! So as we continued we decided to meet each other near the café. Many people trek up to this point and stop as they are unable to climb up. I had reached hal...