piper01
Member
- Joined
- Oct 27, 2013
- Messages
- 182
Day 6
Today was the first of two days exploring from my new base off Spencer Flats Road. I drove along the road as far as was allowed, then parked next to one other vehicle. The track soon grew sandy and narrow as I hiked along. About 10 minutes in I met the owners of the other vehicle- a couple returning from a backpacking trip. It looked like I would indeed have the area to myself.
I followed the old road until it started to turn north, then I cut cross-country across the slickrock.
This was a fun hike for exploring. Easy walking on rock rather than a sandy slog, no worries about destroying cryptobiotic soil, and no marked route to follow meant I could wander as I pleased. I saw a camel eroding out of the rock!
And numerous swirls in the sandstone.
This was as close to a "wave" as I found.
*sings* I've hiked Utah once or twice, living in a slickrock paradise. (Bonus points for identifying the original song and the original parody of it!)
Looking down into Red Breaks.
I meandered around to approach the Cosmic Navel (or whatever name you prefer for it) from the southwest. I found the area surrounding it strewn with chunks of iron concretions.
This piece had the outline of a marble embedded in it. I hefted a few pieces to feel how heavy they were. Answer: very; concentrated iron is dense!
After another minute or two, I turned a corner and saw the Cosmic Navel. I had to pull out my wide-angle lens to capture the entire sight.
It's difficult to convey the scale of it, but here are the Moqui steps carved in the side. I opted not to descend into the crater since I was out alone and didn't want to risk getting trapped in it.
I wonder how long it would take for the dune collecting inside to cover the center island?
Ripples in the sand.
I made my way around to the northeast side of the crater and admired the fabulous view.
This was part of a larger panel of intricate iron staining. I'm guessing that the water depositing the iron flowed toward the left.
I had to take one more picture of the Cosmic Navel before I left it, looking back toward the southwest this time.
Finally, I started to meander my way back through the sea of slickrock.
One area was reminiscent of the crossbedding at White Pockets.
More crossbedding!
This was the only cairn I found the entire hike- eroding out of the rock. I guess I was meant to go this way.
This vista took my breath away. Despite all the beauty I'd seen in the past few days, nothing topped the unexpectedness of this scene. It was a great reminder to relax in the shade of a tree and just enjoy the view, rather than rushing to take a picture and move on.
I couldn't resist sitting down and watching alongside the Stone Thinker.
I'll end this trip report on an introspective note: we're all just temporary visitors to this landscape before we, too, erode back to dust.
Featured image for home page:
Today was the first of two days exploring from my new base off Spencer Flats Road. I drove along the road as far as was allowed, then parked next to one other vehicle. The track soon grew sandy and narrow as I hiked along. About 10 minutes in I met the owners of the other vehicle- a couple returning from a backpacking trip. It looked like I would indeed have the area to myself.
I followed the old road until it started to turn north, then I cut cross-country across the slickrock.
This was a fun hike for exploring. Easy walking on rock rather than a sandy slog, no worries about destroying cryptobiotic soil, and no marked route to follow meant I could wander as I pleased. I saw a camel eroding out of the rock!
And numerous swirls in the sandstone.
This was as close to a "wave" as I found.
*sings* I've hiked Utah once or twice, living in a slickrock paradise. (Bonus points for identifying the original song and the original parody of it!)
Looking down into Red Breaks.
I meandered around to approach the Cosmic Navel (or whatever name you prefer for it) from the southwest. I found the area surrounding it strewn with chunks of iron concretions.
This piece had the outline of a marble embedded in it. I hefted a few pieces to feel how heavy they were. Answer: very; concentrated iron is dense!
After another minute or two, I turned a corner and saw the Cosmic Navel. I had to pull out my wide-angle lens to capture the entire sight.
It's difficult to convey the scale of it, but here are the Moqui steps carved in the side. I opted not to descend into the crater since I was out alone and didn't want to risk getting trapped in it.
I wonder how long it would take for the dune collecting inside to cover the center island?
Ripples in the sand.
I made my way around to the northeast side of the crater and admired the fabulous view.
This was part of a larger panel of intricate iron staining. I'm guessing that the water depositing the iron flowed toward the left.
I had to take one more picture of the Cosmic Navel before I left it, looking back toward the southwest this time.
Finally, I started to meander my way back through the sea of slickrock.
One area was reminiscent of the crossbedding at White Pockets.
More crossbedding!
This was the only cairn I found the entire hike- eroding out of the rock. I guess I was meant to go this way.
This vista took my breath away. Despite all the beauty I'd seen in the past few days, nothing topped the unexpectedness of this scene. It was a great reminder to relax in the shade of a tree and just enjoy the view, rather than rushing to take a picture and move on.
I couldn't resist sitting down and watching alongside the Stone Thinker.
I'll end this trip report on an introspective note: we're all just temporary visitors to this landscape before we, too, erode back to dust.
Featured image for home page:
