ramblings of a Seattle travel, food and photography hound
Many travelers going through the Southwest skip Natural Bridges National Monument because it’s tucked out of the way and maybe because the small park features only three natural stone bridges. But a visit is well worth the time. Bridges are rock spans that are carved out by a river. They typically form where a river... Continue Reading →
Not too far from Mesa Verde is a complex of ancient communities that was built at the headwaters of box canyons and situated in a remote area stretching across both Colorado and Utah—Hovenweep National Monument. We set aside a few hours to visit the monument en route to Blanding. We would have been able to... Continue Reading →
You hear a lot about the Southwest's ancient cliff dwellings and wonder what they are about. What possessed the builders to create these permanent and elaborate structures in such inaccessible places? We ventured out to the most famous complex of them all, Mesa Verde National Park, to look at them first hand. To see these... Continue Reading →
Canyonlands is a sprawling national park. It has three distinct districts, separated by great distances. There is no way you can see all three in a single day. Staying in Moab is the best way to experience the two most popular. Even still, you have to do some driving. The distance between the Island in... Continue Reading →
Throughout the Southwest, there are admonitions not to set foot on a certain type of soil. Sensitive hikers are usually mindful of staying on the trail, usually meaning being careful not to step on plants. But, soil? It turns out that cryptobiotic soil is the engine that sustains life in arid climates all over the... Continue Reading →
There is a gaping hole in the earth at the end of the west fork of the Island in the Sky scenic drive. An enormous crater lies ominously in one section of Canyonlands National Park. Upheaval Dome (above) was long thought to be a collapsed salt dome, but many geologists now feel that it is... Continue Reading →
You’d never know this about canyon country (unless of course you’re a geologist) but there is a lot of salt under the surface — a humongous amount of it, as much as 15,000 feet thick in places. This fact isn’t so unusual when places like the Great Salt Lake and the Bonneville Salt Flats come... Continue Reading →
Of all the strange shapes found throughout the Southwest, some of the most whimsical are found in Goblin Valley State Park. Think toadstools and you'll get an idea what to expect. These hoodoos are a result of the erosion of the reddish Entrada sandstone deposits that collected in tidal flats. There are no established trails... Continue Reading →
You don't have to go to Petrified Forest National Park to see petrified wood. Along Highway 12, north out of Bryce Canyon National Park, we stopped at Petrified Forest State Park that has some splendid examples of petrified wood. As soon as you take the trail into the hills, you begin to notice some pastel-shaded... Continue Reading →
Driving down Highway 24 from Torrey, a wall of rock emerges on the horizon as far as the eye can see. It is an impressive sight, the western edge of the Waterpocket Fold, exposed when the Colorado Plateau was formed. Beyond this is a colossal warp (geologists call this a monocline) in the landscape. From... Continue Reading →
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