Route Bryce Canyon-Kodachrome Basin SP-Petrified Forest SP-Escalante
Memorial Day is one of Americas big holidays, everyone seems to get out into the country. However we leave early on Highway 12, which only the Americans could declare 'An All American' highway. Its certainly lives up to its more common name of 'A journey through time', the scenery constantly changing as we travel through the mountainous passes.
Our first stop is Kodachrome Basin so named by National Geographic for the amazing colours of the sandstone mountains. We hike the Angel's Palace trail that winds it way up from the valley floor to the relative low plateau. The rocks are more rounded with a uniform brown clay like colour, that reminds me of the plasticine we used to get in grade 2.
The route passes among many different spring flowers of orange, pale yellow, mauve and purple. How these delicate looking plants survive this harsh environment is hard to imagine. There is one particularly impressive stunted tree, that resembles sun bleached firewood that produces a mass of sweetly scented pale yellow flowers.
The surrounding cliffs make it easy to see why National Geographic chose the name. They rise up in hues that change from white through ivory to pink and rust.
Hot, sweaty but exhilarated we arrive back at the car. Not being ones to miss an opportunity we slip into the campsite showers...... you never know when you will next get a free wash.
The route winds through the valleys from Henrieville to Escalante. This region has been inhabited for thousands of years. We stop at one of many view points, each with its own information board, this one directs you to a granary, built apparently by the Pueblo people that lived in the area approximately 11000 years ago. Many of these dome shaped structures are to be found tucked away under an overhang of rock, and blend perfectly into the ivory yellow sandstone.
Lorna has been feeling like more ice-cream since Zion, so we stop and buy a half gallon tub Burnt Almond Choc for lunch, more than even I can eat.
We ended the day climbing the ridge behind the campsite in Escalante Petrified Forest SP. The 2.5km Petrified forest trail climbs quickly from the campgrounds and traverses gnarled Utah Juniper & sun bleached Cypress trees. From the flat mesa top we could see the views of the surrounding mountain including the Little Colorado range. They say the air quality here is of the best in the world, which makes for fantastic visibility. More than 5.5 million tons of petrified wood, has been exposed.
Trees 100 feet tall were uprooted and buried in mud during violent flooding approximately 135 to 155 million years ago. Water permeated the wood and the silica solution replaced the organic material in the tree cell structure. These massive pieces of exposed logs have varying colours due to minerals. Iron oxide produces orange, red and yellow, while manganese oxide creates blues, blacks and purples.
No comments:
Post a Comment