southwest road trip - day 9 - goblin valley state park

When looking at routes for our southwest road trip Heather came across some information about a little-known State Park called Goblin Valley. It lies about 5 miles west of the road from Hanksville to I70 in southern Utah so we made the short detour to check out the interesting formations in this park. Wild Horse Butte marks the entrance to the park.

As we travel the road into the park we get our first glimpse of some "goblins". These formations are also a kind of hoodoo (like the ones in Bryce Canyon), but because of their unique geology, they have eroded leaving larger "heads" above the main columns.

At the main trail head there is a great view down into the valley filled with goblins. If you click on this picture to enlarge it you can see the trail on the left leading down into the valley and some people there which gives some scale to the size of the goblins and the valley itself. The white butte in the distance is called Temple Mountain.

"Heather and Friend". Between 140 & 170 million years ago, this area was on the edge of a shallow inland sea. Tidal deposits left alternating layers of sand and silt which over millions of years were compressed and hardened forming hard sandstone and softer siltstone. Wind and water have subsequently eroded the siltstone layers more quickly than the sandstone layers leaving the (harder) sandstone "head" supported by the (softer) more eroded silstone beneath.

A goblin jellyfish? We thought the way the water has eroded little gullies in the softer siltstone layer beaneath the sandstone cap on this "goblin" made it look like a jellyfish.

The Goblin King? This one sits high above the other goblins in the valley.

Mark in the "doorway" of a goblin house. (The imagination really went into overdrive while we were here!)

Looking from the valley back towards the carpark and Wild Horse Butte. The afternoon was hot (low 90's) and stormy. It doesn't rain much in Goblin Valley (less than 5" a year). The ranger at the park entrance told us that they'd had a huge thunderstorm the day before and received a third of their annual rainfall in that one downpour! We decided it was time to head out before the next storm hit.

southwest road trip - day 9 - scenic byway 12

Still in sight-seeing mode, we decided to head back to Salt Lake City via Scenic Byway 12 rather than using the Interstate. Scenic Byway 12 runs for 100 miles through the center of southern Utah passing through 3 national parks, 3 state parks, a national recreation area, and a national monument. Phew that's a lot to see! We headed north east from Bryce Canyon stopping first at an overlook to view Powell Point. This 10,188ft (3105m) peak on the Table Cliffs Plateau is named after the explorer John Wesley Powell who used it as a landmark survey point during his expedition in the late 1880's.

After descending into the town of Escalante and crossing the Escalante River the road climbs again through pale pink and white sandstone dotted with deep canyons carved by the Escalante River and its numerous tributaries. Between the towns of Escalante and Boulder, the road climbs a narrow ridge of slickrock known as the "Hogsback" with dropoffs of 1,000ft either side. This shot was taken from the Hogsback looking down into Calf Creek Canyon.

In the small town of Boulder (not to be confused with Boulder, Colorado) we stopped to visit Anasazi State Park Museum. The Anasazi (ancestors of the modern Pueblo Indians) were village-dwelling farmers who lived in the southwest between 1 and 1300 AD. Approx 200 people lived at this site between 1050 and 1175 AD. So far excavations have uncovered pueblo dwellings encompassing 97 rooms and 10 pit-house structures. Mark takes at look inside one of the reconstructed pueblos.

Pithouses were built where the sandy soil made digging easier. They provided better insulation against the cold of winter and the heat of summer than the above-ground dwellings. The park also houses a small museum containing many of the artifacts (pottery, bone fragments, seeds, stone tools etc) found at the site and some cultural and interpretive displays.

From Boulder the road heads north climbing the Aquarius Plateau passing through Dixie National Forest. It is the highest timbered plateau in North America and contains hundreds of moutain lakes and streams filled with rainbow and brook trout and is a popular area for camping and fishing. The road climbs to over 9600ft (2900m) as it crosses the plateau and it started to sleet as we climbed above 9,000ft. We stopped at a scenic lookout to see the view "As Far As The Eye Can See" across the valley to the distant Henry Mountains, but today the view was partly obscured by the thin grey clouds depositing the sleet. It was REALLY COLD so we didn't stay out of the car long!

The temperature rose again rapidly as we descended from the plateau. The forest changed from Aspen to Mountain Juniper trees and looking east we could see across the red cliffs of Capitol Reef National Park to Mt Ellen Peak (11,500ft) in the distant Henry Mountains.

The scenery changed dramatically again as the road turned east through Capitol Reef National Park. The main feature of the park is the Waterpocket Fold, an impressive buckling in the earth's crust that streches for 100 miles.

We would have liked to have spent some time here and done a hike, but we wanted to by in Salt Lake City by dinner, so we just did a drive-through of the park, stopping in the old pioneer town of Fruita for a picnic lunch in the shadow of the impressive red cliffs. The Freemont River which runs along the fold provided a surprising reliable water source for the numerous plants, animals, ancient Indians and Mormon settlers alike, in this otherwise dry area. Fruita was so named because of the numerous apples, pears, plums and cherry tree orchards which thrived along the river in the late 1800's.

The park also contains evidence of the ancient Fremont Indians who lived here between 700 and 1250 AD, growing corn, beans and squash as well as hunting mule deer and big horn sheep. There are numerous petroglyphs carved into the great stone cliffs.

The Navajo Indians call this area "the land of the Sleeping Rainbow" - an apt description for the multi-hued rock layers exposed along the Waterpocket Fold.

As we left Capitol Reef National Park and continued east towards the small Utah town of Hanksville, the scenery changed again to green fields watered by irrigation from the Fremont River contrasting with barren shale (grey) and sandstone (yellow) cliffs of the Cainsville Badlands. Interestingly Hanksville is only 70 miles from Lake Powell and about 50 miles from Moab (as the crow flies) so we'd done nearly a full circle during our southwest road trip! At Hanksville we turned north towards I-70 with just one more stop planned (Goblin Valley State Park) on our way home.

southwest road trip - day 8 - bryce canyon

Our second day in Bryce dawned bright and sunny. We decided to do a couple of shorter hikes to the most popular formations and view points in the park. We started at Sunrise Point where we had a great view down into an area known as Bryce Amphitheatre.

We started with a 1 mile hike down into the canyon on the Queens Garden Trail.

The trail took us close to some interesting hoodoos...

... and through small tunnels in the narrow sandstone fins...

... into the area known as the Queens Garden.

As the sign explains, many of the formations in the park have been named for their perceived resemblance to people or objects.

It took us a while but eventually we "found" the hoodoo named after Queen Victoria. (Didn't think to look UP to find her sitting on top of a rock spire.) So there she sits on her high throne looking down on a "garden" of smaller hoodoos.

We then joined the 2 mile Navajo Loop Trail which took down us down into the canyon floor and along a dry stream bed, before climbing back towards the canyon rim.

The ascent took us into a narrow slot canyon where we were startled to come across these towering Douglas Fir trees, believed to be about 450 years old.

We took a short rest at the base of the trees...

... before continuing the 500ft climb up through the narrow slot canyon known as "Wall Street".

Looking back down into Wall Street from higher up the trail you can see how hikers are dwarfed by the height of canyon walls. (You may need to click on the pic to enlarge it to make the hikers out!)

After our hike we headed to Rainbow Point at the far southern end of the park where we stopped for a picnic lunch and to take in the view back along the canyon rim. Rainbow Point is the highest point in the park at 9,115ft (2778m)

We then took the 18 mile scenic drive back through the park, stopping at many viewpoints on the way. Here at Ponderosa Point Mark made friends with large black raven.

At Natural Bridge viewpoint a large natural arch provides a glimpse through to a thick forest of Ponderosa Pine in the valley below.

southwest road trip - day 7 - bryce canyon - fairyland loop

From the Grand Canyon we headed back into southern Utah to Bryce Canyon National Park, famous for its unusual rock spires called hoodoos. Located on the edge of a high plateau between 8,000 and 9,000ft, the canyon has been shaped not by flowing water but by mechanical and chemical weathering. For 200 days a year the temperature goes above and below freezing every day. During the day, melt water seeps into fractures in the rock only to freeze at night, expanding and cracking the rock. Over time this "frost-wedging" shatters and pries rock apart. In addition, rain water, which is naturally acidic, slowly dissolves the limestone, rounding off edges and washing away debris.

Unfortunately, the wet weather seemed to have followed us but we didn't want to just view the canyon from the car, so we donned some wet weather gear and braving the sticky red mud set out for a 3 mile (4.8km) hike to a formation called Tower Bridge.

On the way we passed through a gap in a long, white rock fin called the China Wall.

After descending nearly 1,000ft from the canyon rim we came to a small stream and the well-named Tower Bridge which, sitting some 50ft upslope of the stream, didn't exactly span the water, but did resemble its namesake.

From Tower Bridge we could have returned to the canyon rim, but a small sign indicating "Fairyland Point 4 miles via Fairyland Loop Trail" tempted us to push on, despite the continuing drizzle. The trees didn't offer us much shelter, but the scenery was enticing. Here Boat Mesa towers above the hoodoos (and us).

The rocks and soil in the canyon are primarily siltstone and limestone that apparently turns into a sticky mess when wet. Our shoes kept gathering red mud that clung so well it felt like walking with weights on our feet!

Mark admires the rows and rows of hoodoos. Hoodoos are spires of rock that have alternating hard and soft layers that weather unevenly giving them a totem-pole or stone statue-like appearance. The term hoodoo comes from African-American folk-magic meaning "to cast a spell" or "one who performs magic". A fitting name for the fantastic shapes in Bryce Canyon.

This one caught our eye. Could that be a hoodoo cat sitting atop the rock?

As the day wore on the weather began to improve and patches of blue appeared in the sky.

As we climbed higher up the trail we began to get glimpses out of the canyon to the valley beyond. (If you click on this pic to enlarge it you'll see people on the trail that will give you some perspective of the size of the hoodoo formations).

The green vegetation made an interesting contrast to the oranges, pinks and whites of the rock formations. We noticed a couple of large caves hiding between these hoodoos. (Click on the pic and the caves will be easier to see).

Eventually the canyon rim was again in sight. The climb back up to the canyon rim sure was a lot harder than the climb down! (Especially after hiking for 5.5 miles)

When we got to Fairyland Point we admired the view and then checked the map. It was another 2.7 miles along the Rim Trail back to our car at Sunrise Point!

Fortunately the rim trail was just gently undulating, and there were interesting view spots along the way.

We even found a convenient log to take a short rest on and admire the view. We'd certainly earned the pizza we had that night for dinner!

southwest road trip - day 5 - lake powell

The American Southwest is famous for its spectacular desert scenery - not a place one expects to find a 250 square mile (660km2) lake, so we rented a 19ft speedboat for a day to check it out. Lake Powell was formed to provide water storage and power generation by the (controversial) construction of the Glen Canyon Dam across the Colorado River in 1963. It took 18 years from the completion of the dam for it to fill.

There are 5 marinas on Lake Powell, we headed to Wahweap Marina, just across the border from Page, Arizona to pick up our rental. There were literally hundreds of powerboats and houseboats at this marina. It's obviously a very popular recreation spot. After a few minutes of instuction on the operation of our boat we were on our way...

...zipping across the lake with the wind in our hair and marvelling at the red, brown and cream rock rising out of the water.

After about 1/2 hour of motoring we pulled into a sandy beach to check it out. The area is mostly Navajo Sandstone that is slowly eroding forming interesting canyons and red sand beaches. The water (including a lot of spring snow melt from the Utah and Colorado high country) was too cold for swimming, but it was fun to explore the shore. Pinnacle Rock makes an impressive backdrop in this shot.

Back in the boat, we headed into Labyrinth Canyon, a twisting narrow waterway formed by the filling of Labyrinth Creek canyon when the dam was built. The water was fairly smooth and glassy here in the shelter of the canyon walls.

After an hour or so exploring Labyrinth Canyon we headed back out into the lake with a pitstop at one of the many "floating rest rooms" they have provided on the lake. There's even a windsock atop the pontoon so you can guage your approach direction! This one was called Dominguez Butte Rest Room - named for the large rock outcrop behind it, but we couldn't resist the obvious joke about naming a restroom after someones butt!

After our reststop, we headed further up the lake into the broader Face Canyon (don't know where it got its name), looking for a sheltered spot to stop for lunch. We stopped in a small bay opposite a towering rock ridge that we decided to call "the great wall of china". It ran as far as we could see in either direction. If you look closely you'll see a houseboat on the right-hand side of this pic, which will give you some idea of the height of the ridge.

After lunch we decided to explore further up Face Canyon to see how far we could get. As the canyon got narrower Mike kept a lookout for shallow spots or submerged rocks.

In some places the canyon walls seemed to close in so much that we thought we would have to turn around, but as this picture shows, looks can be deceiving - we actually fit through this opening, see the wake from our boat in the water? We all felt it was rather like being on a ride at a theme park, never knowing what was around the corner!

Sometimes we'd come across a boat going the other way and we'd say "if they're coming from that direction there must be more to explore".

Eventually it was time to turn around and head back into the open waters of the lake to explore some more and enjoy the fun of having a speed boat. We spent quite a bit of time crossing the wide expanse of Padre Bay (named after the missionary leaders of a Spanish expedition that crossed the Colorado River here in 1776).

Despite having a speedboat, we only made it 23 miles down the 140 mile length of Lake Powell - there were so many offshoot canyons and bays to explore. The contrast of the bare rock, sand and sparse vegetation with the abundance of water was quite striking, and everywhere you looked there were huge cliffs, mesas and buttes (like this one called Gunsight Butte) towering over the lake. What a great day!