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7 National Parks, 6 days| | First things first: Where is this?
It is Navajo Sandstone.... partially bleached..... Navajo is found in Zion, or Capitol Reef, or Canyonlands, or Bryce....
Check for answer later....
Mesa and Washer-Woman Arches, Canyonlands NP, thanks to Shawn for the photoshop!
This past week, I had one of my most epic trips ever, and I know that's saying something. Anthony (friend from SHS and UCLA) did his first camping and National Park Tour. On Sunday the 28th of June, we met at my home away from home, the Border Inn, and readied for the days ahead.
Monday
In the morning, we did Great Basin NP.
I did my second Lehman Cave tour, and this time I brought my camera. You can not believe how hard it is to take a good picture in there...
Here is Anthony modeling a flowing spring on the Bristlecone Pine trail. It was fun, but we left early to get to Cedar City and hang with Andrew.
Tuesday
On Tuesday morning, we headed to Zion, the middle step in the Grand Staircase.
We had a quick look at Kolob Canyons, which, as I've said before, is worth the stop if you are there.
We also did the Watchman trail, which was quite nice if you want a great view of the valley, down the valley.
I think this is the Watchman, but whatever it's called, it's an awesome mountain.
The best thing about this trip is I did so many more things that I had never done before, like the hike to Emerald Pools.
On the way out, we drove through the tunnel and out the eastern high country. I had never noticed the Carmel above the Navajo here before. In Capitol Reef, yeah, but not here.
Kanab was our next stop, and a place like this has gotta be crazy...
We were put at ease, though, by the Hitler cop mannequins. If you can believe it, we saw this in two cities along the way.
Wednesday
After camping in the Kaibab band of Paiute Indians' Reservation, and checking out Pipe Springs NM, we headed to the latest add to the itinerary: The Grand Canyon.
After stopping at some viewpoints to see, the Grand Staircase itself, we headed to the park.
It was a little hazy, but still great. This picture is cool because you can see how fault-controlled (i.e. straight) Bright Angel Canyon is.
We actually got there right when a geology talk was going on! During the talk, there were the usual oversimplifications that caused minor incorrect assumptions by the laymen, but this guy said some terrible things. He said "all the cliffs are from deep sea" and then would refer to the (eolian) Coconino sandstone in the same sentence.... huh? He skipped the Tappets sandstone all together, and he kept calling the Vishnu Schist igneous! He (and many diagrams/people in most of the parks) said uplift had occurred in the last 70 Ma, not emphasizing the main, significant, and really important 6 Ma to present pulse. Worst of all, by far, he said, "there are lots of faults here (relatively, no), and some people think that the faults have 'opened up' to form the main canyon itself and the side canyons" WHAT!!?!?!? What, no reference to California falling into the ocean? it would be so easy to say "the faults have weakened the rocks so that they get washed away easier and the canyon thus forms there." Is that so hard? Now, am I such an asshole, or am I right to be mad? He did point out the cool (above) 1991 landslide.
We did the main things, but then we went to the far northeast part of the main drive, and it was worth it. It's not the famous part, but it might be a better view, with more spires and fins.
It's also great because of the rare North-Rim view of the river, AND the proterozoic section! Hard to see in this pic, but it's behind the triangular knob.
These strange but beautiful flowers,
And a fancy new window chip were the best ways I could think to wrap the day. We stayed that night in Bryce.... nice and chilly.
Thursday
We did the main drag in Bryce... it was cloudy so it was a different look to it, probably better.
We had a very common theme that started this day: Ravens. They were everywhere, nevermore leaving us alone, but Anthony didn't care; he couldn't get enough of them. This is in the Grand Staircase-Escalante NM.
GSENM also had a very-hugable lizard statue. That evening, we stayed and got the last spot in the Capitol Reef campground.
Friday
In Capitol Reef, we woke early to do the Capitol Gorge drive. It had been a while at this point since a good hike, so we sought one out.
Morning makes for interesting lighting here...
By the way, the sandstone tablets for signs here are great!
We did a hike at the end of the drive to these potholes, full of tadpoles.
If you don't know why it's called capitol reef, then look at these great rounded domes of Navajo sandstone!
By the way, 'reef' is a geographic barrier that is cliffy, and the slight dip from this 100-mile-long monocline is the source of the cliffs. A little tectonism in the Colorado Plateau goes a long, long way.
Though, you have to think a better name could have been chosen...
Too bad Grand Teton is taken....
We then traveled toward Moab, passing through Glen Canyon. Look at this awesome stratigraphy: bulbous tan Navajo, thin-bedded red Kayenta, cliffy brighter/lighter red Wingate, slope-forming mixed oxidized (red) and reduced (grey/blue) Chinle, and red Moenkopi in the foreground.
We also did the tour at Natural Bridges. Did you know that Teddy made this the first federally-protected land in the state! Before all the current National Parks and Monuments, how 'bout that!
Saturday
Even though we were tired and beat, we still filled our last day with the most stuff: the Moab pair of Parks.
We started out with Wall Street, a place in Arches I'd never been... very cool!
The a trip to various rocks and arches around the park, including Double Arch above.
Then we did the famous arches, like Landscape (by the way... in the visitor center, they have a video of a section of this arch falling on video.... holy shit! It is so cool!)
and Delicate.
The end of the day was Canyonlands.
It was rainy and lightning-y! It made some of the pics better, some worse, as you shall see.
After failed attempts of taking a lightning strike picture, we saw a rainbow! We chased it as we walked toward Mesa Arch. Any hiking before that was rain-shortened.
The sun did eventually break through...
This is Mesa Arch, with Washer-Woman Arch in the background.
If you don't see the reason it is called that, here I am modeling.
This was such a great spot... and only a 0.5 mile hike... You gotta go!
Oh, and bring your fish-eye lens! The only time in my life when I needed one...
So, back to the quiz:
Again, here it is. Some hints: it is Navajo sandstone, capped with a little Carmel marl...
Here's the wide shot....
Any guesses?
Well...
It is Canyonlands, my favorite park in Utah.
This was quite the trip, though I am still not recovered. I have another few hours before my next trip starts, SFWIII in Sequoia, with a side trip to my Dad's in Ridgecrest and Fernando at an AV In-N-Out. And let me restate: this is an open invite to do this with you, that's right, you! If there's a place you wanna go, and you need a geologic guide, let me know! Even though I had been to each of these parks, I still saw so much new and still have so much left to see.
P.S. Bad news.... no Lulu for the summer.... I miss her so much!
| | | Posted 7/7/2009 2:26 PM - 52 Views - 18 eProps - 13 comments
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