The rapid urbanization of Las Vegas generates intriguing social phenomena. Some are trivial and amusing. The emergence of a youthful subculture whose limited natural recreational facilities lead to their playing in the area's many washes seems, at first, to fit in that category.
Youngsters tend to be attracted to water and mud.
When I was growing up, the creeks that feed into the Mississippi River in South St. Louis, Missouri, provided me with a wet playground. Westerners, too, speak of playing in wetlands or places that resemble them. One youngster pointed to the wash as a prime source of specimens for school frog-jumping contests. Such stories reveal a kind of wishful romanticism about life in the wash. But, as they mature, the kids who once used the Valley's water drainage system to gain a more intimate appreciation of nature may return to engage in a wider range of experiences.