Back at Backbone Mountain in Maryland, I asked you to guess where we would be when we finally reached a spot higher than we were on that summit, and here we are, just west of Lakin, Kansas, elevation 3,100 feet, compared to the 3,095 feet of Backbone Mountain.
The top photo looks east, or where we came from, and if you set off on Route 50 in that direction, you will never be higher during the 1,647 miles to Ocean City, Maryland, and the Atlantic Ocean.
This one looks north …
south …
and west (where we’re going):
Even though the terrain in Kansas appears largely flat along Route 50, elevation rises slowly from Kansas City (740 feet) to this point, a gain of 2,360 feet. It continues to rise until Route 50 reaches the base of the Rocky Mountains at Cañon City, Colorado (5,332 feet).
How did this rise in elevation occur?
One explanation is that, over eons of time, earth, rock, and other debris has washed down from the Rocky Mountains and gradually raised the plains, more near the mountains than near Kansas City.
Could this possibly be true?
Well, I’m not a scientist, but I’m going with it, because I don’t want to be labeled an erosion-from-the-Rocky-Mountains-caused-the-Great-Plains-to-rise denier.
