From Vegas we headed on to the Grand Canyon and then into Utah and Arizona, to a host of national parks and stunning scenery with many natural structural feats. Apologies in advance that my photos don't do these places justice. Just google the park name to see more and learn about the areas from the national park service.
We saw canyons in the Grand Canyon (shown above), North and South Canyonlands, Glen Canyon (of the dam fame mentioned in the previous blog) and Zion (shown below).
Zion Park, Utah, is located along the edge of a region called the Colorado Plateau. Here, rock layers have been uplifted, tilted, and eroded, forming an area called The Grand Staircase. This is a series of colourful cliffs stretching between Bryce Canyon and the Grand Canyon. The bottom layer of rock at Bryce is the top layer at Zion, and the bottom layer at Zion is the top layer at the Grand Canyon.
At Zion in particular you can see incredible narrow and 'slot' canyons where very narrow sections of rock have been eroded by streams and the sheer walls rise about you. (also being a bit dark and damp it feels slightly like a Dickensian London!)
Bryce Canyon Park in Utah is home to the Amphitheatre (shown below), an area full of Hoodoos. These towers of rock range from 5 - 150ft tall, and differ from normal spires because they don't taper with height, and have variable thickness more akin to a totem pole. Formed in sedimentary rock, they are the product of erosion on alternating layers of mudstone, siltstone, and limestone. The different colours are caused by mineral deposits. These pillars have been moulded over the last 30 - 40 million years, and are still constantly changing due to the effects of freeze-thaw action and weak carbonic acid rain. On average they lose 2 - 4ft every 100yrs, but they are also appearing in other areas of the park. It's like walking through and unending land of cathedrals.
We saw arches, in, well, Arches, Utah. Here, time and erosion have carved pillars, arches and balancing rocks. Scientists first began describing and classifying these natural architectural features more than 150yrs ago, but there are still various theories about how they form. Depending on the rock type and location it could be undercutting, fractures, stream erosion to name but a few. It is thought that particularly for the arches to form, erosion removes grains of the sandstone that are less load-bearing, causing the more load-bearing grains to interlock and carry more load. It's like a very very slow game of Jenga.
Along with the great parks mentioned above, we also saw many other wondrous things along the road...
'mushrooms' on the way to Kanab, Arizona
Horseshoe Bend, Glen Canyon, Arizona
And my personal favourite, as well as enjoying the inspiration from natural structures, here's a tourist enjoying some time becoming part of it...
And just to prove we were there, here's Bonneville enjoying the drive along the Colorado in Moab, Utah.
