I visited the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument today. The monument is 1.9 million acres so I just hiked a tiny part of the area. The trail I first visited was called the Toadstools. A toadstool is a formation which has a boulder perched on a rock of smaller diameter like a mushroom. It is formed when the softer rock under the capping boulder erodes away at a faster rate. The boulder acts as an umbrella protecting the softer rock underneath from rain and wind.
The rock in the Grand staircase has many layers showing which makes it very striking and unusual.
A red toadstool
This is white sandstone that has dissolved to sand and formed into these patterns.
This is the same white sand making formations on the surrounding rock
A white toadstool with the same white sandstone that made the formations above
A view of one of the valleys of the staircase
I also stopped at the town of Pahreah which was settled in the 1870s but because it flooded frequently (and severely) the town was mostly empty by the 1884. It is very isolated - even now - and the residents had a very difficult time just doing daily activities. However, given these views, you can see why they wanted to be there.
No comments:
Post a Comment