This is a mainly pictorial bucket featuring my favorite pictures during my summer vacation in Utah and Arizona. I began my trip in Deer Lake State Park, just east of Provo, UT in Provo Canyon. We drove up there to see the eclipse and had about 90% coverage. There was a lake at the campground which was used for watersports and swimming. Here are some pics from this location:
Some interesting plants and flowers:
Here is what the plaque reads of the legend of Bridalveil Falls:
Many moons ago, an Indian named Norita and a brave from a rival tribe, named Grey Eagle met and fell in love. They planned to meet near a streamlet high on the mountainside and elope to a land far away from both their tribes. On that fateful night, instead of her lover, Norita was confronted by braves from her own tribe. Fearing her lover had been destroyed she leaped from the high ledges.
Mother Nature was touched by her wild beauty, and she caught up Norita's streaming tresses and made from them a Bridal Veil of falling water. From her flowing gown an alter was formed on the face of the mountain. Then her spirit was sent out as a mist, causing a green carpet to spread over the mountainside.
The intruders fled while her saddened lover stood and gazed down at the strange yet beautiful transformation. His grief was more than he could bear, so out of compassion for his sorrow, Mother Nature molded his massive frames into the mountain and stretched his mighty shoulders high into the heavens like silent sentinels to guard over his loved one. His cries of anguish were softened into love calls to whisper forever.
Eclipse refections on ground and a pic taken through protective glasses:
On to Zion National Park:
Being a first time visitor, I was wowed by the sheer walls of red sandstone with their unique vertical and horizontal stripes. Unfortunately it was very hot when we visited, so much of our sightseeing was done via the tour bus (no cars are allowed on the main valley road to protect the environment and limit traffic).
Zion is Utah’s first national park. The Zion National Park lies at the intersection of three diverse ecosystems―Colorado Plateau, the Great Basin, and the Mojave Desert. Due to this, the national park has a variety of plants and wildlife. Several plants―as many as 900―are found only in Zion National Park and nowhere else in the world. The California Condor, an endangered species of bird, is among the 288 bird species found in Zion National Park. This is why the park is considered a great place for bird watching. (I actually saw a condor when we were at Bryce Canyon, but wasn't quick enough to get my camera out to get a shot - what an amazing wingspan!)
The formation of Zion:
More than 250 million years ago, the stunning geologic features of Zion were formed. Once the area was covered by a low body of water; eventually huge rivers carved their way through the landscape. Later it was left one of the largest deserts on the earth. This desert’s sand dunes became what are now the breathtaking 2,000 foot cliffs of Zion National Park. The park now houses what are some of the most scenic canyon views in the country. In just a 229 square mile radius there resides enormous pine and juniper covered plateaus, narrow sandstone canyons, the winding Virgin River, and many seeps, springs, and waterfalls.
Slowly, forces deep within the earth pushed the surface up in a process called uplift. This was a vertical push that forced huge blocks of the crust upward. Thus, Zion’s elevation rose from near sea level to as high as 10,000 feet above sea level. This uplift is still occurring: in 1992 a 5.8 magnitude earthquake caused a landslide visible just outside the south entrance of the park in Springdale.
Source: zionnationalpark.com
Along The Narrows (didn't get very far due to high heat):
Next stop (my favorite) was Bryce Canyon National Park. The major feature of the park is Bryce Canyon, which despite its name, is not a canyon, but a collection of giant natural amphitheaters along the eastern side of the Paunsaugunt Plateau. Bryce is distinctive due to geological structures called hoodoos formed by frost weathering and stream erosion of the river and lake bed sedimentary rocks. The red, orange, and white colors of the rocks provide spectacular views for park visitors. Bryce sits at a much higher elevation than nearby Zion National Park. The rim at Bryce varies from 8,000 to 9,000 feet (2,400 to 2,700 m).
Source: Wikipedia
The final nature stop— South Rim of Grand Granyon National Park in Arizona. A few brief facts about this park:
The Grand Canyon is part of the Colorado River basin which has developed over the past 40 million years. A recent study places the origins of the canyon beginning about 17 million years ago. Previous estimates had placed the age of the canyon at 5–6 million years. The canyon is the result of erosion which exposes one of the most complete geologic columns on the planet.
Source Wikipedia
We camped in the park and, surprisingly, there weren't many other people camping so we had a wide expanse of serene pine and juniper forest around us. We even had a couple of docile deer that visited us
The Daily Bucket is a nature refuge.
We amicably discuss animals, weather, climate, soil, plants, waters and note life’s patterns. We invite you to note what you are seeing around you in your own part of the world, and to share your observations in the comments below.Each note is a record that we can refer to in the future as we try to understand the phenological patterns that are quietly unwinding around us. To have the Daily Bucket in your Activity Stream, visit Backyard Science’s profile page
and click on
Follow
|
==============================
SPOTLIGHT ON GREEN NEWS & VIEWS IS POSTED EVERY SATURDAY AT 5:00 PM PACIFIC TIME AND WEDNESDAY AT 3:30 ON THE DAILY KOS FRONT PAGE
.=================================