THE DAILY KOS ROAD TOUR SERIES. . .
This is the third 3-part installment of the series. See explanation at the close of this diary. Hope you find the information enjoyable and educational. Our destinations today will take us, first, to southeast Utah, then to northeast Arizona. As a reminder, the information herein is “layered.” Meaning, the reader chooses how much or how little read, graduating from the essentials to more in-depth details.
BRYCE CANYON NATIONAL PARK
Location/Geography: Southwest Utah. Kane County (on the eastern side of the Paunsaugunt Plateau). Closet City or Town: Kanab; Panguitch. Area: 56 square miles (145 km²). Bryce straddles the southeastern edge of the Kaiparowits Plateau west of the Paunsaugunt fault and is 50 miles/80 km northeast of Zion NP. The edge of the plateau bounds the opposite side of the valley; also overlooks the headwaters of the Paria River.
Coordinates: 37°34′0″N 112°11′0″W (http://bitly/1ncgXRu)
Geologic graphics/illustrations: http://bitly/1n4Zlpp
Google Images/maps:http://bitly/1ltffNE
√ Spotlight: Bryce’s fantasy-like setting is not a canyon per se because the park’s geologic environs typify an escarpment. The setting denotes a former lake bed that eventually became a geologic showcase. After the Colorado Plateau was uplifted Bryce, and like all consequent scenic icons, Bryce was created by erosion. Formations from the late Mesozoic and early Cenozoic eras (roughly, 1.5 million years in the making) define its geologic setting. Gaping, pinkish amphitheaters caused by two major regional faults, resulting in weathered spires, pinnacles, and hoodoos gracing the highest elevation of the Colorado Plateau. Focus: mainly on geology, flora and fauna, and trails.
√ Snapshot: Bryce Canyon’s panoramic display is Nature’s fairyland to behold. In every respect, a magical backdrop. With its brilliant colors, weathered shapes, and a series of contiguous and broad amphitheaters, the setting is visually breathtaking. So is the altitudinous elevation––8,000 to 9,000 feet (2,400 to 2,700 m). The utter singularity of Bryce’s erosional facade, showcasing stunning turrets, spires, and statuesque hoodoos, adorns the park’s display like no other place on the planet. The geologic record of deposition materials is also relatively recent, spanning the last part of the Cretaceous Period (somewhere around 100 myr). The mineralization process turns the limestone veneer into a pinkish and white backdrop, whose capacious and bowl-shaped amphitheaters is likely North America’s most renowned weathered edge of a plateau. Indeed, a captivating backdrop so illusory, it appears like a chimera. Technically, Bryce Canyon marks a series of long cliffs resulting from erosion or faulting and separating two relatively level areas of differing elevations. Hence, an escarpment that only looks like a canyon facade.
√ Guided Tour Essentials: Unlike other canyons, Bryce was not formed from erosion caused by a stream or river. It also follows there is no canyon profile per se. Instead, the park’s environs stem from a process called headward erosion. The net result has sculpted an immense cavity from the side of the Paunsaugunt Plateau (pronounced “pawn-suh-gant”), whose visual spectacle of color, form, and fabrication is nothing less than breathtaking. The unusual name of the plateau was given by the Southern Paiute, meaning home of the beaver. This celebrated wide-angle view of whimsical oddities was entirely formed during the Cenozoic Era (sometime after its geologic record began 66 myr). Elevation in the park ranges from 8,000 to 9,000 feet (2,400 - 2,700 m) above sea level, making Bryce Canyon the highest national park on the Colorado Plateau. The annual precipitation is also plentiful, averaging 15 to 18 inches (38 to 46 cm). Bryce’s color scheme lures tourists as much as its fashioning by erosion. Indeed, a multitude of tinctures accounts for Bryce’s display: pink and red from hematite (iron oxide), brown, white, yellow from limonite (i.e., hydrated iron oxide minerals), and purple from pyrolusite (i.e., a mineral consisting essentially of manganese dioxide). Faulting plays a major role here, as well. Hence, the Paunsaugunt (on the east side) and Sevier (on the west side) faults have dramatically offset this region. The picturesque profile would not have been the case had it not been for faulting. The park also owes its distinctive grandeur to a peculiar vanguard of sentinel-like formations accentuating the dished profile of Bryce. The majority are fanciful geological structures called hoodoos. These thousands of skeletal totem-like spires were formed by the wind, water, and ice, which stand apart from adjoining pinnacles and columns. The park also has the highest concentration of such whimsical formations on the planet! It also earns it federal protection, for Bryce was initially a national monument (1923) and later designated Bryce NP (1928).
Bonus Details: Composed of soft sedimentary material, hoodoos standing out in Bryce Canyon’s meshed grouping are topped with a harder rock formation that’s not easily eroded. Hence, a cap that protects the columns from the elements which is how the process of differential erosion works (Geologically, soft rocks are more susceptible to erosion. Without a protective hard rock capping, erosion is unstoppable.) The pinkish, orange and white color of Bryce’s facade adds to the aesthetic appeal, whose tincture is caused by minerals in the water. Other geologic features such as arches, natural bridges, walls, and windows also embellish the visual appeal of gaping amphitheaters that staggers the imagination. Meticulously carved into soft sedimentary rocks that are ideal for erosion, Bryce’s freestanding effigies of weathering define what is called badlands while the resistant White Cliffs form monoliths of staggering heights. The setting is further enhanced with towers, turrets, and crenelated ridges.
Directions: Coming from the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, and driving through Kanab, Utah, take Hwy. 67 north, then connect to Hwy. 89 (north) through Page and Kanab. Continue this route to Hwy. 12. Take this route to Hwy. 67, then Hwy. 63 south that leads to the park. Total distance 167 miles (269 km) and close to 3.5 or 4 hours.
Contact Information: Bryce Canyon NP, P. O. Box 640200, Bryce UT 84764-0200. Phone (visitor information): 435-834.5322
Here's my recommendation for a follow-up URL: http://1.usa.gov/19aOiL0
BUTLER WASH RUINS
Location/Geography: Southwest Utah. San Juan County. Closet City or Town: Blanding; Monticello. Area: unknown though the main ruins denote an easy and short hike. The Butler Wash archaeological district embraces the entire length of the wash, from its beginning’s west of Blanding to the confluence with the San Juan River just west of Bluff. Elevation is 5,223 feet (1,591 m).
Coordinates: 37º 31.429N 109 37.937W (http://bitly/1nBJLVg)
Google Images/maps: http://bitly/1hRdDgS
√ Spotlight: The regional backdrop is Cedar Mesa, Comb Ridge, and Comb Wash. A wee walk to the ruins and petroglyphs. A convenient and modest-sized archaeological site worth the time and exercise to explore. The ruins line the sandy wash all the way to the San Juan River and represent well over one thousand years of human inhabitation. Focus: human history, rock art (glyphs), and archeology.
√ Snapshot: Butler Wash Ruins parallels Comb Ridge on the east side. The wash's overlook is a convenient stop for travelers going to relatively nearby Natural Bridges NM (featured in this text’s destinations); also, Mule Canyon Ruins is due west (some 6 miles/9.6 km). The way to Butler Wash ruins is an easy half-mile jaunt across slick rock. Managed by the BLM, the wash itself is an ephemeral tributary feeding the San Juan River. Geographically, Butler Wash runs north to south along the eastern margin of a 600-foot-high (182 m) sandstone monocline, which is the conspicuous geophysical fold in the planet’s crust that extends through Comb Ridge. Numerous and deep runoff washes throughout the Comb Ridge landscape reveal large erosion caves ideally suited for cliff house construction. The Ancestral Puebloans farmed and lived in this region for about fifteen hundred years. Toward the end of their occupation of the Colorado Plateau they constructed modest-sized cliff dwellings (ostensibly for defense). Butler Wash’s fortress was also protected from seasonal flash flooding and invasion by rodents and reptiles. Hence, another advantage of living higher above ground level terrain.
Directions: From Blanding drive south on Hwy. 191 for 3 miles (4.8 km) to the junction of Hwy. 191 and 95. Drive 10.5 miles (16.8 km) west on this road to mile marker 110.9. The road is usually in decent shape, and most vehicles can negotiate the terrain.
Contact Information: BLM Monticello Field Office, 435 North Main, P. O. Box 7, Monticello UT 84535. Phone: 435-587.1500
Here's my recommendation for a follow-up URL: http://on.doi.gov/TTo5da
CANYON de CHELLY NATIONAL MONUMENT
Location/Geography: Northeast Arizona. Apache County. Closet City or Town: Chinle. Area: 131 square miles (339 km²). Off Hwy. 191 and Route 7 (at Chinle). Defiance Plateau region. Chinle Wash separates the north and south rims.
Coordinates: 36.13361°N 109.46944°W (http://bitly/SGVqXv)
Geologic graphics/illustrations: http://bitly/1lsQuSQ
Google images/maps: http://bitly/1kTI99A
√ Spotlight: A stunning chasm backdrop with cultural significance relative to the Navajo, as well as the Ancestral Puebloans. A three-pronged canyon with year-round water ideal for farming and raising sheep. Swirly-looking orangish-colored sandstone. Canyon de Chelly's (pronounced “de-shay”) chasm remains hidden until viewed from either rim. Most famous landmark: Spider Rock monolith jutting from the canyon floor. Most famous ruins: White House, a cliff dwelling inscribed into sandstone walls above the canyon floor. Focus: geology and human history.
√ Snapshot: The monument preserves ruins of the Ancestral Puebloans, who once farmed and lived in the canyon; also, considered the last stronghold of the Navajo when forced to leave their land in 1864. A lengthy and somewhat sinuous chasm, encompassing three canyon annexes: de Chelly, del Muerto, and Monument. The name “de Chelly” is Spanish in origin. It also comes from the Navajo word Tséyi’ which means “canyon” (literally, inside the rock). The most distinctive feature of this setting, apart from its attractive geology, is the twin sandstone spire, Spider Rock. Totem like, its spectacular (read, eye-catching) column rises some 800 feet (240 m) from the canyon floor at the junction of Canyon de Chelly and Monument Canyon. According to Navajo legend, the taller of the two spires is also the home of Spider Woman (whose fabled centers on how to identify disobedient children). Canyon de Chelly remains under the ownership of the Navajo Nation while matters about its natural features are administered by the Department of the Interior (under the auspices of the NPS). At all times, visitors entering the canyon complex must be accompanied by either a park ranger or a Navajo guide. However, the famed White House Ruin trail is accessible to visitors without a guide. The setting’s status as a national monument was made official in 1931.
√ Guided Tour Essentials: Canyon de Chelly is three canyons in one, all with soaring walls overlooking the Rio de Chelly. The usually shallow stream flows through Chinle Wash in the middle of the canyon’s wide chasm. The key to the geologic formations is the direct connection with the regional Defiance Uplift, which defines an uplifted region extending from the Four Corners region to the E-W I-40 corridor, and just inside Arizona’s border. The uplift trends north-south along an anticline (i.e., a convex up fold in the planet’s crust with the oldest layers at its core) and extends for over 100 miles (160 km). The youngest geologic rocks in the canyon were depositions laid down during the Paleozoic Era, which overlaps a more ancient Precambrian foundation representing millions of years of so-called unconformities (i.e., missing rock layers). Like all canyons, this impressive canyon cut and carved near Chinle could not have been accomplished without the geophysical force of an uplift, erosion, and the consequent downcutting of water. In this case, three gentle, shallow streams. Streams, like rivers, also to their greatest work during flash flooding. Apart from the commanding view of the canyon itself, the De Chelly Sandstone (deposited sometime between 230 and 250 myr) is not the usual horizontally deposited type of sandstone. Instead, its veneer is windblown and cross-bedded. There are also many depositional surfaces, which are highly inclined to the horizontal. The deepest layer is composed of numerous wedges, with dipping angles greater than 30º (meaning quite steep). Indeed, the telltale swirling contour of the canyon makes it seem like a primal and petrified desert landscape. Because of the erosional process, Canyon de Chelly became not only a classic and highly picturesque canyon backdrop but also provided an ideal and natural protection for the Ancestral Puebloans and Navajos. The classic archive photograph of just how attractive the canyon's setting is also credited to Edward S. Curtis' 1904 descriptively titled photograph, Seven riders on horseback and dog trek against the background of canyon cliffs.
FYI: This national monument is the featured backdrop for the author’s RES DOGS manuscript and is part of an eleven-book series exclusively written about the Colorado Plateau. For more information, visit this URL: http://amzn.to/2oNndKw
Directions: From Kayenta, Arizona, go east on Hwy. 160, then right on Route 59 (toward Chinle), then left on Hwy. 191 (south). The Visitor Center is 3 miles (4.8 km) from Route 191 (in Chinle). Coming From Flagstaff, I-40 East, then Hwy. 191 (north). From Gallup, Hwy. 264 to Hwy. 191 (north).
Contact Information: NPS/Canyon de Chelly, P. O. Box 588, Chinle AZ 86503. Phone (Visitor Center): 928-674.5500; Fax 674-5507
Here's my recommendation for a follow-up URL: http://1.usa.gov/1lbIOEt
FYI: This third installment of THE DKOS ROAD TOUR SERIES provides an excerpt from the larger text, SCENIC ICONS OF THE SOUTHWEST (http://amzn.to/2on3z89). The soft cover 8.5 x 11 format (491 pages) provides the same information but also includes a thorough background on geology, natural and human history and miscellaneous subject matter. Additionally, there is an Android app available and the less expensive Kindle version. For information about myself and my books featured on Amazon, feel free to drop by www.richholtzin.com and leave a comment. I also write under the nom de plume, RK ALLEMAN.
Another installment of this series will be next Sunday. Hopefully, every Sunday there will be a trio of new scenic icons for the reader’s enjoyment and enlightenment. (For those who want to know where they’re going in these upcoming tours, the previously mentioned introduction lists a Table of Contents (in alphabetical order).
About The Author: Rich, who writes under the nom de plume, RK ALLEMAN, has worked in the field as an outdoors educator and interpreter for the likes of the Grand Canyon Field Institute (nearly 20 years), Northern Arizona University (Flagstaff), and Yavapai College (Prescott, AZ). For nearly 40 years, he has backpacked some 8,000 miles, not including hiking sorties. Most of his works focus on the geosciences (mainly, geology, archaeology, and ecology), human and natural history applicable to the Colorado Plateau Province (aka the “Four Corners Region of the Southwest).
Note: previous diaries can be found at these URL: Intro diary http://bit.ly/2nu738O 1st diary http://bit.ly/2opAB6Y 2nd diary http://bit.ly/2oe49Cm