Ep. 143: Rocky Mountain States
Intro
Hello and Welcome to this episode of the podcast, "The Mnemonic Tree", where we add a single mnemonic leaf to our Tree of Knowledge.
I’m Jans your Mnemonic Man and today's episode will be on the Rocky Mountains which are often referred to as the Rockies. Now, I love these episodes where I know very little on the topic and I can spend a whole week getting into it, in a lot more depth and discovering some absolutely amazing facts.
The first amazing facts that I came across is, that the Rocky Mountains are absolutely huge running from northern British Columbia in Canada all the way down to New Mexico in the United States, a total of around 3,000 miles or 4,800 kilometres.
But even more astonishing than this, is that it forms part of a larger mountain chain called the North American Cordillera which stretches from Alaska, through Canada, the US, and into Mexico. And if you wanted to stretch this even further, we have the American Cordillera which is the North American Cordillera and the South American Cordillera which is nearly linked by the Central American Ranges.
Just to finish off on these superlatives, apparently the American Cordillera even reaches down to Graham Land in the northwest of Antarctica. My mind is blown!
Today’s mnemonic will be on the states that contain the Rocky Mountains.
So, with that being said, we will begin with a summary from Wikipedia.
Wikipedia Summary
The Rocky Mountains, also known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range and the largest mountain system in North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch 3,000 miles (4,800 kilometers)[2] in straight-line distance from the northernmost part of western Canada, to New Mexico in the southwestern United States. Depending on differing definitions between Canada and the U.S., its northern terminus is located either in northern British Columbia's Terminal Range south of the Liard River and east of the Trench, or in the northeastern foothills of the Brooks Range/British Mountains that face the Beaufort Sea coasts between the Canning River and the Firth River across the Alaska-Yukon border.[3] Its southernmost point is near the Albuquerque area adjacent to the Rio Grande rift and north of the Sandia–Manzano Mountain Range. Being the easternmost portion of the North American Cordillera, the Rockies are distinct from the tectonically younger Cascade Range and Sierra Nevada, which both lie farther to its west.
The Rockies formed 80 million to 55 million years ago during the Laramide orogeny, in which a number of plates began sliding underneath the North American plate. The angle of subduction was shallow, resulting in a broad belt of mountains running down western North America. Since then, further tectonic activity and erosion by glaciers have sculpted the Rockies into dramatic peaks and valleys. At the end of the last ice age, humans began inhabiting the mountain range. After explorations of the range by Europeans, such as Sir Alexander Mackenzie, and Anglo-Americans, such as the Lewis and Clark Expedition, natural resources such as minerals and fur drove the initial economic exploitation of the mountains, although the range itself never experienced a dense population.
Of the 100 highest major peaks of the Rocky Mountains, 78 (including the 30 highest) are in Colorado, ten in Wyoming, six in New Mexico, three in Montana, and one each in Utah, British Columbia, and Idaho. Of the 50 most prominent summits of the Rocky Mountains, 12 are in British Columbia,[a] 12 in Montana, ten in Alberta,[a] eight in Colorado, four in Wyoming, three in Utah, three in Idaho, and one in New Mexico. Public parks and forest lands protect much of the mountain range, and they are popular tourist destinations, especially for hiking, camping, mountaineering, fishing, hunting, mountain biking, snowmobiling, skiing, and snowboarding.
Extracted from: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rocky_Mountains]
Mnemonic
Rocky Mountain – States Mnemonic – North Western American CUMIN
(Picture the Rocky Mountains in the Northwest of America full of the flowering plant Cumin)
1. Nevada
2. Wyoming
3. Arizona
4. Colorado
5. Utah
6. Montana
7. Idaho
8. New Mexico
Five Fun Facts
1. The Rocky Mountains may contain something that could possibly end life on planet earth. Yellowstone National Park contains the super volcano called the Yellowstone Caldera. Signs of volcanic activity can be seen all over the Rocky Mountains with geysers, hot springs, and the smell of sulphur in the air.
2. Now the super volcano isn’t the only thing scary on the Rocky Mountains. It also has Sheep with very thick, large horns which are known as Bighorn Sheep. But you need not worry these sheep are very gentle and are the unofficial mascot of the Rocky Mountains.
3. To balance out the super volcano The Rocky Mountains has the most visited glacier in North America called the Athabasca Glacier. The glacier is approximately 4 miles long and the ice on the glacier is between 100 and 1000 feet deep.
4. Onto another extreme. The Rocky Mountains also contain the highest sand dunes in North America. The Great Sand Dunes National Park was formed when lakes receded, and the remaining sand was blown into dunes. Some of the dunes are more than 750 feet high!
5. The Rocky Mountains is still home to many indigenous people. There are reserves for the Bannock, Blackfoot, Sioux, Cow People, Kutenai, Apache, and many others.
Three Question Quiz
Q.1. What is the highest peak in the Rocky Mountains?
Q.2. Where do the trails of Hallett Peak, the Little Matterhorn, and Lake Odessa begin? Options are Bear Lake or Glacier Gorge
Q.3. When was the Rocky Mountain National Park established? Options are 1885, 1915, or 1935
Bonus Q. Which wild member of the cat family lives in the Rocky Mountain National Park? Options are Tigers, Jaguars, or Cougars
Mnemonic Recap
Rocky Mountain – States Mnemonic – North Western American CUMIN
(Picture the Rocky Mountains in the Northwest of America full of the flowering plant Cumin)
1. Nevada
2. Wyoming
3. Arizona
4. Colorado
5. Utah
6. Montana
7. Idaho
8. New Mexico
Three Question Quiz Answers
Q.1. What is the highest peak in the Rocky Mountains?
A. Mount Elbert which is 4,401 meters high, and in the state of Colorado
Q.2. Where do the trails of Hallett Peak, the Little Matterhorn and Lake Odessa begin? Options are Bear Lake or Glacier Gorge
A. Bear Lake
Q.3. When was the Rocky Mountain National Park established? Options are 1885, 1915, or 1935
A. 26th January 1915
Bonus Q. Which wild member of the cat family lives in the Rocky Mountain National Park? Options are Tigers, Jaguars, or Cougars
A. Cougars
Now I do have a story to tell when I was trekking the Rocky Mountains a little while ago where I was stalked by a cougar. Anyway, luckily, I got home safe but there was a mountain biker who wasn’t so lucky when he was chased by a Grizzly bear all the way back to his cabin. Now even with his bike, he bearly made it! Needless to say, if the bear caught him, he would have torn him apart, with his bear hands!
Word of the Week
lekker
[ leh-kr ]
adjective
pleasing or enjoyable.
Example
They had a lekker hike on their way to see the world’s most famous geyser, Old Faithful in Yellowstone.
Extracted from: [https://www.dictionary.com/]
Website:
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References
https://www.meganstarr.com/rocky-mountains-facts/
https://play.howstuffworks.com/quiz/rocky-mountain-national-park-quiz
https://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2020/oct/02/super-quiz-the-rocky-mountains/
https://www.whatsdannydoing.com/blog/mountain-puns-mountain-jokes
https://www.dictionary.com/e/word-of-the-day/lekker-2023-10-12/?param=wotd-email&click=ca77rh?param%3Dwotd-email&click=ca77rh&lctg=57708c0e11890d95148b4e8f&email=3f276a5f540b44c01982ed460d3a1eec&utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Live%20Video%20WOTD%20Recurring%202023-10-12&utm_term=WOTD
https://www.dictionary.com/browse/rocky-mountain-states