Along “Hole In The Rock Road”
This is a 54 mile dirt and gravel road that reaches Lake Powell and the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area in Southern Utah. It should be named “Hole In The Head Road” because you must have one to finish this. It begins near the town of Escalante and The Escalante Grand Staircase National Monument. The end of the road is Hole In The Rock, where Mormon settlers used a small gap in the sandstone to reach the Colorado River and beyond in order to settle into Southeastern Utah (More On The Hole in a later post).
The difficult to travel Hole In The Rock Road at The Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, Utah
Eroded sandstone is the predominate feature along The Hole In The Rock Road in the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, Utah
A full moon rises over the landscape at Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, Utah
Didn’t want to go up there!
No Uber or self driving cars needed here.
Looks like they missed the elusive steer!
Navajo Mountain stands out in the desert landscape of Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, Utah
A cactus flowers in early spring at Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, Utah
Desert Sand Verbena
Primitive camping allowed. No picnic tables and thankfully no large RV’s with noisy generators.
The only sound I heard here was the crackling of the fire and coyotes howling in the near distance.
Paria Clay Beds
Also known in geologic terms as the Chinle Formation located at Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument. This spot is located at the old Paria Movie Set where The Outlaw Josie Wales was filmed. I half expected Clint Eastwood to come walking out of the landscape. These were shot an hour or two before sunset and with the clouds, made for some great light!
Colorful clay beds of the Chinle Formation are revealed due to erosion at the The Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument, Utah
Yellow Rock via Slide Show and Music by Beck
This is a companion post to previous one of Yellow Rock . This is a slideshow with music. Watch in HiDef. Beck’s latest album can be purchased at itunes.
Surreal Yellow Rock
Yellow Rock at The Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument in Southern Utah is yellow but also red, magenta, gold, orange, lime, blue, purple, rust, maroon, amber, tangerine, pink, scarlet, black, azure, brass, bronze, rose, brown, plum, sepia, mustard, sapphire, turquoise, peach, myrtle and even zucchini!
Yellow Rock is difficult to find and very difficult to hike up to. It’s the best thing Bill Clinton ever accomplished as president, designating the almost 2 million acres of the Grand Staircase as protected under the Antiquities Act in 1996. President Obama, before he leaves office, should do the same with the Greater Canyonlands area near Moab, Utah.
These images(Shot 1 week ago) and others can be purchased as prints at What’s New At Dawn2dawn Photography
Thanks Bill
You have to climb up a steep and rugged trail from the Cottonwood Canyon floor below to get to Yellow Rock.
Maybe Zorro was here?
An artist’s palette.
Looks like a lemon meringue pie?
The End
Photo Of The Week- Pyramids in Utah?
The remote and rough Cottonwood Canyon Road weaves its way for 47 miles through The Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in Southern Utah. Do NOT attempt to drive this road under wet conditions. You won’t make it. I did it a few weeks ago on a hot and sunny day and found this scene that resembles something out of Egypt. Pyramids.
The cockscomb is a fold in the earth’s crust that produced pyramid like formations.
