Page 7 - Print Fall 2013 magazine

“...in every grain of sand there is the story of the earth.” ~ Rachel Carson

Thanks to REI grant money, Friends of Red Rock spread the pile of sand as evenly as possible inside the
Canyon was able to buy sand for several campsites at wood frames. Doc Osgood plugged all the spaces un-
Red Rock Canyon Campground that opened at the der the
end of August. The volunteers who helped with this frames with
project were Brenda Jackson, Tim O’Brien, Ken rocks so
“Doc” Osgood, Gary Vetter and John Blackwell. that the
Representing the Bureau of Land Management sand would

(BLM) were Jen Downes and Cal Howell. stay inside
the frame.
We worked,
smoothed and Doc Rocks!
Photo by John Blackwell
after we were
satisfied with that campsite we would start the process

all over at the next one.

Howell, O’Brien, Vetter, Downes, Osgood & Jackson
Photo by John Blackwell
Why sand for the campground?
The tent sites have wooden frames around them and

sand is placed inside these large frames. The tents
will now have a level, softer floor and the tent stakes
can be placed in the ground more easily. Several of A shadowy Jen Downes approves.
the sites previously had sand, but over time the sand Photo by John Blackwell
had eroded.

Preparation… Success...
Jen Downes did most of the prep work, and Friends The sites looked so good after we finished, it just
of Red Rock Canyon ordered ten tons of sand. Jen made us want to pitch a tent and spend some time
picked up the sand in the BLM truck and had the sand there. There will be more sites that need to be done in
dumped inside the large frames. the near future. This was a true partnership effort be-
tween REI, Friends of Red Rock Canyon and the Bu-
Volunteers…
reau of Land Management.
Using shovels, gloves and large rakes, we began to
Page 7