Our World–Buckskin Gulch slot canyon Part 1

Our first real play day on vacation took us hiking from Wire Pass into Buckskin Gulch slot canyon. They are other worldly and not for the claustrophobic.

Rim to Rim Grand Canyon Day 1 - Part 1

Thought I'd repost this hike for the first day of Mike and I hiking the canyon to Cottonwood on Thursday. Friday I'll be continuing to the Phantom Ranch while Mike hikes back to the top. Will be out of communications for about a week. While I'm on the river. See ya' when I get back.

My pack weigh in 
Packed the night before our hike and I was sure Amy’s pack weighed much more than Jan or mine’s. But they were 24, 25, and 26 pounds. Not too bad. They did seem to get heavier along the way though.

Gaelyn, Amy and Jan
Left about 9:30am and mid 40sF. FabGrandma drove us to the trailhead so we wouldn’t have to leave a car or walk an extra two miles. Thanks Karen!

View into Roaring Springs Canyon from North Kaibab trailhead
The fall colors of Quaking Aspen and Rocky Mountain Maple were still brilliant as we quickly dropped in elevation through the Douglas-fir forest. The ladies were already in awe. They had driven in the night before and hadn’t even looked into the canyon.

North Kaibab trail into Roaring Springs Canyon
Our route began at 8250 feet (2515 meters) and it’s a 3000 foot (930 meters) drop to the intersection of Bright Angel Canyon.

Only 10 miles (16.1 km) across as the Condor flies.

Mule riders on Coconino overlook
It’s .7 miles (1.1 km) to this first great overlook. Many day hikers come this far. The overlook sits at the bottom of the Toroweap limestone deposited some 270 million years ago by an inland sea. The Coconino sandstone was formed by dunes some 275 million years ago.

Fall colors below the Coconino sandstone
Two miles (3.2 km) down it was almost 60F where we removed layers at the Supai Tunnel, blasted into the rock by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) during the 1930s. Also used the services, compost toilet, and topped off water bottles for the 4 miles (6.4 km) to the Roaring Springs Ranger residence where the next water was available. Unfortunately the water spigot at Roaring Springs only 3 miles (4.8 km) away has been broken most of the summer.

Looking down to the Redwall Bridge
The habitat below the tunnel changes to a pinyon-juniper woodland with cliff rose, broadleaf yucca, Utah serviceberry and rabbitbrush. The stair-stepped red rock of the Supai Group formed between 315 and 285 million years ago.

Still a long way to go ladies.

Fossil of possibly a conifer
The Supai reveals a variety of rock reflecting changes in coastal conditions as sea levels fluctuated.

Calcite crystals

Conglomerate of pebbles

We crossed the Redwall Bridge entering a desert environment.


I'm sure to post more about this hike to the river. And of course I'll be posting the Colorado River trip, probably for weeks if not months.
Will try to catch up when I return.

It must be spring!

Texas Redbud

At least it seems like that in West Texas. Trees are budding, the temperatures in the 70s F, and the wind is blowing like crazy.

Left Alpine this morning after a wonderful visit with old friends from my Mount St. Helens Rangering days almost 20 years ago.

Looks like limestone on the bottom topped by shale and some conclomerate

I love roadcut geology.

By Doug J

Twice I saw a Caracara at road kill. (This image is from the web.) A lifer!

Pecos River

Started looking for an RV Park about 4pm near Eagle Pass. All full, mostly with oil workers. Drove another 125 miles until I found a place in Cotulla. Way too many hours for a day but does put me closer to my destination. A little over 200 more miles to go.

Rainbow Point Bryce Canyon National Park

When visiting Bryce Canyon we spent our first day hitting all the overlooks, like regular tourons, starting at Rainbow Point.

Part 12 Death Valley National Park - Day 3 Titus Canyon

Road to the west end of Titus Canyon in Grapevine MtsAfter the wind buffeting at Ubehebe Crater (I love that name), we drove to the mouth of Titus Canyon for a hike into...

Part 9 Death Valley National Park - Day 2 Artists Drive

Gaelyn and Jeremy at Artists Point, sorry for the poor stitch job
We left Badwater Basin to return to camp after a very full day of sightseeing but wait, there’s a scenic 9-mile (14.48 km) one-way loop road that winds through colorful mud hills called Artists Drive and we need to go...

Part 8 Death Valley National Park - Day 2 Badwater Basin

Sea Level sign, note red lineBadwater is the lowest elevation point in the Western Hemisphere at -282 feet (-85.5 meters), only in Africa is it lower. Read more here...

MWT - Part 7 Death Valley National Park - Day 2 Natural Bridge Canyon

Looking into the mouth of Natural Bridge Canyon
After leaving hell, oops I mean Furnace Creek, we attended an afternoon guided Ranger walk into Natural Bridge Canyon to learn more about the geology of Death Valley.

MWT - The Box - Rim to rim Grand Canyon Day 2 - Part 4

Gopher snake
We left the beautiful Ribbon Falls behind and returned to the canyon’s Sonoran desert. This, the only snake seen along the trail. I would have liked to see the pink rattler found only in the Grand Canyon, from a distance.  Read more here.

Scenic Sunday - Painted Desert

Layers of primarily mudstone along with some sandstone and claystone deposited about 200 million years ago eroded into badlands called by some Native Americans as a “land of sleeping rainbows.” Mudstones occur in shades of red, gray, brown, purple, tan, orange and pink. Sandstone is typically beige or cream colored yet can be stained by oxidized minerals like iron (red) and manganese (blue/grey) as can the claystone. Wind and water sculpt the landscape.

To see more beautiful scenes from around the world, or to share your own, go to Scenic Sunday by clicking here.

MWT - Zion National Park Part 2

Entering Zion National Park from the East entrance requires a drive through two tunnels and if your rig is oversized...

My World Tuesday - Rocks in my head, rocks in my pockets Fossil hunting in the Kaibab National Forest

You probably think this is just a bunch of rocks.  Maybe even leverites, as in leave it right there.  But you’d be wrong.  Read more about these fossils here.

Rock Fall at Grand Canyon

Taken from Plateau Point
The reason the Grand Canyon is so much wider than the 300-400 foot Colorado River is one of the best erosion stories on earth.

Middle Permian Paleogeography of North America about 275 million years ago – Ancient Landscapes of the Colorado Plateau by Ron Blakey and Wayne Ranney
Over 1,500 million years about one mile of limestone, sandstone and shale sediments were deposited in northern Arizona by oceans, swamps, deltas, beaches and sand dunes.

Ripple marks on limestone
Possibly another mile of deposits on top of that eroded away yet can be seen at Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument, Bryce and Zion National Parks.

Kaibab Plateau
Then about 65 million years ago the area now known as the Colorado Plateau uplifted 6,000-8,000 feet, almost like a cake rising, and left the deposited layers intact.

Taken from Desert View South Rim
Rocky Mountain snow melt forms the headwaters of the Colorado River which are joined by the Green River from Wyoming, San Juan River from Colorado, Little Colorado River and many tributaries to create a fast flowing river full of sediments and boulders capable of carving through the mile of deposits over the last 5-6 million years.

Erosion from the walls of the canyon continues. Because the North Rim is 1,200 feet higher than the South Rim and gets more precipitation, 25 versus 15 inches, water flowing over the rim causes headwater erosion which slowly moves the North Rim further away from the Colorado River.

Fresh rock fall discovered the first week in June
The expansion of freezing water and tree roots also contribute to erosion. Rocks fall regularly but rarely does anyone see it happen. One of my fellow Rangers noticed this fresh rock fall one morning. Damn, we missed it again.

Painted Desert Arizona

At last I’m posting Joan’s much requested Painted Desert.

Bridge over Little Colorado River
When you cross the Little Colorado River at Cameron on Highway 89 North you enter the western edge of the Painted Desert.

Enter The Painted Desert
During the Early Triassic, about 250 million years ago, the mass of all continents known as Pangaea began to drift apart between North America and Africa.

The west coast of North America subsided into a flat plain and when sea levels rose these plains were covered with seawater. When the level dropped the exposed land was covered with a deposit of Kaibab limestone.

Because eastern North America had the highest mountainous land at the time, rivers flowed westward to the low coastal plains. The slow moving waters deposited mostly red mudstone and very fine-grained sandstone.

At the same time tidal flows deposited gray mudstone and tan limestone. All these layers represent the Moenkopi Formation.

During the Middle Triassic deposition stopped and erosion began possibly due to climate change, a drop in sea level or a slight uplift of the Colorado Plateau region.

In the late Triassic, about 215 million years ago, the region again subsided and stream deposits filled valleys and river cuts with sediment of very coarse-grained sandstone and pebble conglomerate known as the Shinarump Member of the Chinle Formation.

As rivers continued to dominate the landscape mudstones in shades of red, gray, brown, purple, tan, orange and pink were deposited as water flooded over the river banks.

In addition, ash from exploding volcanoes fell on the Chinle river plains and eventually decomposed to clay with oxidized iron and manganese that give the rocks more vivid color.

Echo Cliffs on right, note the tip of the hills on left
The Painted Desert is referred to by some Native Americans as a “land of sleeping rainbows.”
Native Americans sell arts & crafts along the road
Much of the Painted Desert region is located within the Navajo Nation. The Navajo and the Hopi people have lived in the region for at least one thousand years, however the modern name for the desert comes from the Spaniards who named it "el Desierto Pintado" due to its brightly colored landscape.

Vermilion Cliffs in distance & Echo Cliffs on right
From the flat plain of the Painted Desert I continued up Echo Cliffs towards Page and the Glen Canyon Dam. Hope you’ll come back for more of the journey.