360 Gamification and Mexican Hat
Published by The 4 Corners In 360 in E-Learning & Gamification · Thu 15 Jun 2023
Mexican Hat is a small census-designated place (CDP) in San Juan County, Utah, named after a distinctive rock formation that resembles a sombrero. The rock structure, known as the Mexican Hat, measures 60-foot (18 m) wide by 12-foot (3.7 m) high and is positioned on the northeast edge of the town. This rock formation is a famed landmark along US 163, rising above the west bank of the San Juan River, and it has frequently been noted on lists of unusual place names.
The Mexican Hat rock formation is a caprock of Cedar Mesa sandstone atop a pedestal and talus cone of the Halgaito Formation, a bed of red shale and siltstone. Both formations are part of the Cutler Group, dating from the Permian Period, over 250 million years ago. The shales were deposited by sluggish streams that wandered across a moist vegetated lowland along the coastline of a shallow sea. The presence of fossilized skeletons and bones indicates that early ancestors of the dinosaurs populated this ancient landscape. The current shape of the Mexican Hat is a result of erosion dissecting the shale and leaving this spectacular remnant of erosion-resistant sandstone.
The rock formation's close proximity to a major highway and its peculiar shape have made it a popular site for rock climbing. Its first recorded ascent was in May 1962 by climbers Royal Robbins and Jack Turner. However, a pole on top of the formation suggested that locals had previously reached the summit, including river runner Norman Nevills and a local Navajo man, Fred Yazzie, who used a ladder. In 1981, climbers Stan Mish and Dan Langmade established the Bandito Route, which involved placing five bolts and a fixed piton to surmount the roof.
As for the town of Mexican Hat, it is located on U.S. Route 163, near the northern boundary of both the Navajo Nation and Monument Valley, and has a semi-arid climate according to the Köppen Climate Classification system. As of the 2010 census, the population of Mexican Hat was just 31 people, with a majority being White (90.3%) and the remainder Native American (9.7%). The population density is quite low, with 3.8 people per square mile, and the town is characterized by its small size, with a total area of 8.5 square miles. The median age was 54.5 years, and the median income for a household in the CDP was $80,767 in 2012, with no families or individuals living below the poverty line.
