This is a bit of the view. All those columns are called Hoodoos. They formed because naturally acidic rainfall wears away limestone, but mostly because of freezing and thawing of water in and around the Hoodoos.
Here's an awesome tree I stumbled on in the bottom of the canyon. I think trees that grow in conditions like that are totally B.A.
I grabbed lunch at the base of one of those Hoodoos, it was cool. Paiute legend says that the Hoodoos were once the Legend People, who were ravens and coyotes and other animals, but looked like people. They were a bad people and were frozen in place, some standing, some sitting, some leaning on each other, and you can see them like that now (this is paraphrasing, but I think I got it mostly right).
My second night there I managed to start a fire. Yeah me! I managed to boil several quarts of water and to heat up a can of soup, it was awesome.
I spent a good portion of my time in the bathroom at the campground using this radiator to warm up my feet and food. Here it is warming up breakfast. I love that radiator.
After leaving Bryce Canyon I took UT 12 intending to hit a few of the state parks along the way. Here I am at Escalante State Park. I found this sign amusing. The park had little nature guides to narrate the hike I snowshoed. Turns out the same minerals responsible for the Painted Desert (or as I prefer to call it, "The Land of the Sleeping Rainbows") are responsible for petrifying wood. Cool.
I found some petrified wood underneath the snow, thought I'd point out just how scared it looks. I got a little lost on this trail, but the magic of hiking it in snowshoes was that I was able to see exactly where I had been and find my way back. I suppose I wasn't really lost at all.
The views from the highway were freaking amazing! I took the scenic way, driving whatever speed I deemed appropriate because there wasn't anyone in front of or behind me. It just doesn't get any better than that. There were a number of side roads I wanted to take (namely Hole in the Rock Road and Hell's Backbone Road), but they'll have to wait for another day. Eventually I made it to Capitol Reef National Park.
Capitol Reef is a park around the Waterpocket Fold, the best example of a monocline in the world. This wrinkle in the Earth's crust was formed via a tectonic collision. More recent forces of wind and water have hollowed out solution spots, which I found moderatly comfortable to sit in.
There are uranium mines all over the southwest portion of the state. This one here was actually another type of mine before uranium became important. Turns out they used to mix uranium sediments in with water to treat rheumatoid arthritis. Brutle.
I took a few short hikes, but mostly drove through it. I must go back, it looks this awesome from the road, imagine what the backcountry looks like!
So, while my vacation was solitary and cold, it was more fun than anything else. I got a bit of pondering done, saw some epic views and traveled some wonderous roads. I'll be back sometime in the summer for some more desert adventures. I just love that whole area. I just have to make it through a few more months of school.
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3 comments:
Very nice! I think that looks perfect for family vacation. It has my vote. It will be easier to camp this summer with the babies, so I am up for it.
I'm glad you made it back safe too.
And being back for my birthday was super great too.
I feel epically smarter for having read your blog. That looked cold and awesome. I am not much for the cold, but all over the awesome. Even though I worried the whole time you were gone, it looks like you saw a pretty unique view of southern Utah. Good job being a tour guide, if the whole "environmental manager" thing, or the "cartoonist" thing fall through, you could totally write guide books. Cool thing about that is you would have to travel to all the places you write about.
Hey, you said before you left that this was not going to be a solitary adventure...glad you had fun and check out my blog if you haven't already! :)
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