Burros

a pair of burros at Red Rock Canyon Conservation Area

I ran a trail loop at Red Rock National Conservation Area this morning.  Four and a half miles in, the trail disappeared and I turned downhill to follow a dry creek bed.

After a few minutes run down the rocky creek bed, I finally saw wild burros.  These are the descendants of burros brought over to the New World by explorers and burros that were used by gold and silver miners in the 1800s.

According to information found on the BLM site, burros come from Africa and there are two primary populations of burros that the feral burros found in the Southwest descended from.  These are the Nubian and the Somalian. The Nubian are distinguished by a black stripe across the shoulders and another down the middle of the back.  This gives the appearance of a cross when viewed from above. The Somalian is distinguished by leg stripes on both front and hind legs that resemble a zebra's markings.

Back to the run, the uphill trail was tough and slow.  However, the pace picked up after I stopped to grab some photos of the burros as I picked my way through the rocks on the gradual downhill back to the parking area.  The run ended up being 10.3 miles and is not a route I will choose to do again due to the ankle twisting potential on the creek bed and the lack of markings on the trail.