Hoodoos Keep on Haunting Me

Bryce Canyon National Park Amphitheater

Utah rocks rock!!! The hoodoos around Utah will rock you with their spells. Hoodoos, which means to cast a spell, are pillars of rock left by erosion. The fantastic shapes of these rocks are accurately known to cast a spell on every visitor.They cast a spell on me, they kept on haunting me, as much as they haunt other visitors probably. They haunt me to come back, to look often at their pictures, to dream about them, and now, here I am, trying to undo that spell by writing about them. Let me share to you one of my favorite locations in Utah to experience magical hoodos, Bryce Canyon National Park. 

Bryce Canyon National Park is one of the 7 National Parks of the Southwest's Grand Circle. Its amazing beauty is the result of the destructive forces of water and ice carving away the weak limestone of the eastern edge of the Paunsaugunt Plateau. The result of this water, ice and gravity erosion brought about red rock spires and horshoe-shaped amphitheaters of hoodoos, which Bryce Canyon is known for.

Navajo Loop Trail, Bryce Canyon National Park

Delicate Arch

Delicate Arch, Arches National Park, Utah

Delicate Arch is approximately 52 ft free standing natural arch, and is the most recognized landmark of Arches National Park, in Moab, Utah. You would see this beautiful arch in Utah's license plates and also in some postage stamps. In 2002 Winter Olympics, the Olympic Torch relay passed through this arch.

The hike to the Delicate Arch is approximately 3 miles round trip and with 500 ft change in elevation. The start of the hike is on a well defined trail, however, about 3/4 of the hike ascends on slickrock.

Toadstool Trail, Paria Rimrock Hoodoos, UT

Betchai and The Toadstools

In  my post K Ka-Boom at Kelso Sand Dunes, I mentioned that nature has its special way of bringing the child in us. The experience is the same at Toadstool Trail. Seeing and being up close with the toadstool hoodoos tickled the child in us and we could not help it but just simply enjoy what the hoodoos have to offer. There is always something magical with the hoodoos, it was only this year's spring when the hoodoos haunted us back to Bryce Canyon National Park to enjoy the hoodoos wonderland. Never would have I thought that in the same year I would have fun with the hoodoos again, but in another nature wonderland.

Desert Road Trip Thanksgiving Week 2009

The desert has its many interesting features, showing a deep beauty that has survived the harshest tests of time. However, aside from the inspiring beauty of the desert, it is the extreme peacefulness and serenity that invites us to explore it whenever we get the chance. Though we had thousands of pictures, but I decided to post 2 pictures a day from our trip.

Day 1 @ Death Valley National Park, CA

Badlands Creatively Carved by Nature, Zabriskie Point

Little Boy Enjoying His ATV, Dumont Dunes

( this is not part of Death Valley National Park, we just saw this recreational park on our way to Death Valley )

Day 2 @ Death Valley National Park, CA

Mesquite Sand Dunes, Early Morning

Dante's View

Day 3 @ Zion National Park and Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park, Utah

Hiking @ Hidden Canyon, Zion National Park

Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park, Utah

(the desert is more than just sands and cactus, this picture shows the immense pine forest next to the sand dunes)

Day 4 @ North Rim of Grand Canyon National Park and Page, Arizona

Tourists Sitting on the Cliff Enjoying the View of Grand Canyon 

Glen Canyon Dam, Page, Arizona

Upheaval Dome Overlook Trail

Upheaval Dome Overlook Trail

( can you find the trail? or can you spot the two persons walking on the trail? )

Upheaval Dome Overlook Trail is one of the short hikes in Canyonlands National Park. The total hike is only 2 miles round trip to the 1st and 2nd overlook, but there is an 8 mile loop trail around the Upheaval Dome. 

For many years, the Upheaval Dome was thought to have been just an ordinary salt dome. However, later, due to stratigraphic and geophysical evidence, a new theory has evolved regarding the formation of this dome.

Upheaval Dome is 1.5 miles wide from rim to rim and is over 1/4 mile deep. Presently, there are two theories on the formation of Upheaval Dome, and these are: The Salt Dome Theory and the Impact Crater Theory.

For more information on these two theories, you can visit these sites: Canyonlands National Park, Upheaval Dome and   The Controversy over Upheaval Dome. 

Upheaval Dome contains colorful rock layers unlike any other at the park. This oddity has scientists debate whether this was the remnant of a meteorite impact or from the erosion of rock layers.

Fall-Winter-Fall Road Trip

A road trip and vacation we took last Thanksgiving 2010 that started at fall, passed through winter, then went back to fall again......in a matter of 7 days that started at San Diego, going to Utah , then to Arizona and back to San Diego.

Day 1, November 20- We left San Diego, California and drove 475 miles to Zion National Park, Utah.

Fall Colors Along Virgin River, Zion National Park

Day 2, November 21- we left Zion before the snowstorm pounded it, we passed through Page, Arizona on our way to Moab, Utah.

Lake Powell, Page, Arizona

Day 3, November 22- hiking at Moab, Utah

We hiked the Devil's Garden Trail (click here to go to my previous post). After hiking at Devil's Garden Trail, we took another hike to Delicate Arch, our second time. ( click here to go to my post about Delicate Arch last spring 2009). 

That's me @ Delicate Arch, Arches National Park, Utah

Day 4, November 23 - some hikes at Moab, then, drove back to Arizona at Monument Valley

Hiking The Zion Narrows

ORDERVILLE CANYON FROM ZION NARROWS

The first time we hiked the Zion Narrows before ( year 2007), we loved it so much and had so much fun that we told ourselves we will hike it again sometime. Though we had been back to this nature wonder several times, but it was only this summer that we were able to do this hike again. As they always say, "love is sweeter the 2nd time around", so indeed, "HIKING THE NARROWS was sweeter the 2nd time around!" :)

Why was it sweeter? .....We learned our lessons from our first hike.

1. Hiking Zion Narrows is so unique since the trail is the river. It requires wading, walking and sometimes swimming in the river. During our first time hiking here, we were so inexperienced that we took our hiking shoes off and walked barefoot in the river. That was a huge mistake. Walking barefoot caused us too many falls from the slippery rocks on the river, bruises on our legs from the fall, and well, wet packs. :(

Rocks on Virgin River

Go Hike A Canyon- Zion National Park

short intro: Pictures and narration here were from our summer 2007 trip and my very first experience of Zion National Park. This post was first published back in 2007 in my "The Joys of Simple Life" blog in Friendster. In 2009, Friendster converted fully to a gaming site, but before my blog becomes extinct, I was able to copy and save some of my posts. One of them is this post, which I am re-publishing here. 

~GO HIKE A CANYON~

Utah rocks rock!! From the world's largest concentration of natural stone arches to the enchanting and dramatic hoodoos to the magnificent giant Navajo sandstone monoliths, Utah rocks will rock each visitor with fascination and awe. On our first visit to Zion National Park, I was very pleased with what we saw: massive stone formations very different from Arches National Park and Bryce Canyon National park, yet equally stunning.  

 Zion's Geologic History: (source: Utah's National Parks)         

 225 million years ago, Zion was part of the floor of a shallow sea, the delta of a great river and the bottom of the lake. Volcanoes erupted leaving ash to form bright layers. The windblown sand from this great desert provided the raw material for the Navajo sandstone. The sand dunes were transformed into sandstones by tremendous compaction and cementing properties of compounds such as calcium carbonate which were brought by groundwater. Beginning 4 million years ago, streams running off of it from the Virgin River with its load of pebbles, sand and boulders carved the canyon that is now present today. 

 The nearly vertical monoliths and precipitous canyon gorges are evidence that Zion is geologically young. Rain, wind, the pull of gravity and Virgin river are the master sculptors in chiseling out Zion Canyon. Unfortunately, someday, these erosive forces will reduce the magnificent landscape of the canyon to flat plains. Our first stop after entering the park from the Mt Carmel junction entrance was the visitor's center parking lot since private cars are not allowed to drive inside the canyon. Inside the visitor's center, we asked for advise on interesting places to hike. Most of Zion's beauty are hidden in the trails. 

After getting advise, we made our plan.  We would go first to the Zion Lodge for a hike to the Emerald Pools. After the hike, it would be perfect timing to have brunch at the Red Rock Grille by the Lodge. With a fuller stomach, we would do the easier Riverside Walk first, then, we would hike the exciting Narrows. After the Narrows, we would proceed to hike to the Weeping Rock, and then, finally, the Angel's Landing at late in the afternoon which would be dramatic at near sunset. Could we do all these in one day? Find out below......

With so much excitement to carry out our plan, we took the park's free shuttle to the inside of the canyon. As planned, we first stopped at the Zion Lodge to take the trail to the lower and middle Emerald Pool. The Lower Emerald Pool is about 0.6 mile from the trail head.  

 

 The trail to the Lower Emerald pool was basically flat with probably only 70 feet ascent making the hike very easy. The trail was lined with trees (who thinks that deserts are treeless?) and along giant sandstone monoliths that made the hike very cool despite the 100+F temperature outside of the canyon directly under the sun. From the Lower Emerald Pool to the Middle Emerald Pool is about another 0.5 mile with probably an additonal 100 ft ascent and a few long drop-offs.

    

 The complete round trip hike to the Middle Emerald Pool would have been a short 2 or 2.5 hours if we were not tempted by the inviting rocks along the trail to climb them freely.

   

 Notice the holes, slits and cracks on the rock, they provide a good hold for hands and feet when climbing them.  After completing the 2+ mile round trip hike to the lower and middle emerald pool, it was time for brunch. However, the Red Rock Grille at Zion Lodge does not open until 11:00 am, we settled for cold garden salad, pretzels  and chicken sub at the Castle Dome Cafe. With stomach partially full, we took the park's free shuttle to the Temple of Sinawava. From the stop, we took the 1 mile paved trail that follows the Virgin River upstream, this is called Riverside walk. After 1 mile, the paved trail ends, but the hike did not. The end of the paved trail is the entry to Zion's Narrows from bottom up.

 Hiking the Narrows was probably the most adventure-filled part of our Utah hiking trip. The hike was really fun and can be enjoyed by hikers of any ability level. No wonder why this is the most popular hike in Zion Park. Serious hikers hike from top-bottom, this is a strenuous 16 mile hike and requires a permit. Most people, like us, hike casually from bottom-up, this route does not require a permit. This is not a hike however to be underestimated. More than 60% of the hike is spent wading, walking and sometimes swimming on the river.

Mesa Arch, Canyonlands

Mesa Arch, Islands in the Sky District, Canyonlands National Park, Utah

Canyonlands National Park is another amazing National Park in the Grand Circle of the America's Southwest.   It pretty much looks like an ancient desert ruin, but a marvelously landscaped ruins. The park preserves an awe-inspiring landscape as a result of river erosion by the Colorado River and its tributaries. The rivers divide the park into 4 districts: The Island in the Sky, the Needles, the Maze, and the rivers themselves.

Page, AZ

Top to Bottom, Clockwise: Antelope Canyon, Horseshoe Bend, Lake Powell, Rainbow Bridge

Page is a small, quiet town in northern Arizona which sits atop Manson Mesa and overlooks the dramatic Lake Powell, Glen Canyon Dam, and the surrounding canyons, arches and historical Native ruins.

Rainbow Bridge National Monument

Where Our Boat Docked after an exciting travel inside the canyon 

 Best Time of the Day To Visit: Afternoon Boat Tour to avoid facing the harsh sun photographing the Rainbow Bridge ( however, all shots here were facing the sun middle of the day because we did not have a choice :(, only one boat tour that left in the morning).

Our First Glimpse of Rainbow Brdige

To continue from my previous post on Lake Powell Boat Tour, after traveling 50 miles on the waters of Lake Powell from Wahweap Marina in Page, we reached our destination, The Rainbow Bridge National Monument. From where we docked, the hike to Rainbow Bridge National Monument was only 1.5 miles on an easy well maintained trail.

Hiking Angel's Landing, Zion National Park

Zion Canyon from Angel's Landing

Angel's Landing is one of the most famous, challenging (more on mental and emotional challenge than physical challenge) and thrilling hikes of the National Park System. The last half mile of the trail is not to be approached by anyone who has fear of heights. But this is also a pretty rewarding trail. For those with fear of heights can probably do the first 2 miles of the trail, there may be some drop-off in the first 2 miles, but the trail is more manageable than the last half mile.

Devil's Garden Trail, Arches National Park, Utah

The Upper O of Double O Arch, Devil's Garden Trail, Arches National Park, Moab, Utah

Trailhead: Devil's Garden Trail

Location: Arches National Park, Moab, Utah

Features: Arches, Rock Fins, Hoodoos and Other Rock Formations

This is a very fun hike, with amazing desert scenery starting from Devil's Garden trailhead. The Devil's Garden Trail, a 7.2 mile trail, contains the largest concentration of significant natural arches in the world. The first mile is on well maintained and easy to find trail, that leads to the popular stop in Devil's Garden trail, the Landscape Arch.

Landscape Arch ( can be seen after 0.9 mile from Devil's Garden trailhead)

Landscape Arch is the longest natural arch in the world, having a span length of 290 ft, yet having only 6 ft of thickness in its thinnest section.  After the Landscape Arch, the trail is no longer well defined, but that's when more fun began! :) It became more fun for us guessing where the trail is :) since most sections of the trail are on rock fins. 

Devil's Garden Trail, Arches National Park

Some sections of the trail requires some scrambling over rocks, but is rewarded by some of the best views I have seen in my many hikes.

Fun Rock Scrambling

The View from the Rock Fin Trail

There are some exposure to heights while walking on the rock fin, but it is pretty safe hike because the fin is wide and more level. However, because the fins are basically vertical slabs or rocks, the exposure to heights on both sides could still cause uneasiness to those who have fear of heights. When we were here, there was a couple where the lady was trembling, her partner had to guide her all the way to the end of the rock fin trail.

Me, on top of Rock Fin ( could you see the black arch in the far front? )

There was a point in our hike that it became too windy, that walking on the fin felt unsafe. I grabbed the moment to sit down and simply enjoy the scenery.

No, He is not Daredevil, he was on the same Rock Fin trail we were on. I wanted to have picture there, but he was enjoying the views around him there for a very long time ( I could not blame him). I decided instead to take picture of him, then, moved on to complete the hike.

Un-named Rock Hoodoo( what do you see?)

Most of the hike is on rocky footing over sandstone slabs and slick rock with narrow ledges. There is stunning vista everywhere you look from the trail that not even seeing the arches is so worth it, but of course, the arches are added bonus. 

Double O Arch from the Trail

The sight of Double O Arch from the trail was not that very impressive, after having seen the other arches in the park which are easier to hike such as Delicate Arch and the Windows. However, hubby tried to go at the other side of the O, and these are what he got.

Double O Arch At the Other Side

( that's me at the lower O, trying my hardest to scramble past the lower O to join hubby who was photographing the sceneries around)

Me, still stranded at the Lower O

I gave up and decided to pose instead there at the Lower O, had I known this is what I will see, I would have probably tried harder to scramble past that lower O to get to hubby's location. Sometimes, my fear of skidding on rocks stops me from exploring :(

Arches National Park is a landscape of change, what is here now, may no longer be here tomorrow. The arches, hoodoos, vertical slabs, rock fins were all part of massive sandstone but overtime, the solid sandstone cracked due to stress. Then, water entered the cracks making them bigger. The fins and arches remained which are continually polished and shaped by wind and water.

The best time to hike this trail is late fall to early spring, since the trail is mostly exposed. The temperature when we hiked here Thanksgiving 2010 was 30 - 40F ( 0- 5 C). Hiking at an almost freezing temperature  for us is perfect compared to hiking in exposed summer heat. Truth is, we were here summer of 2007, the temperature was 90s F ( 32 C), but we hardly explored because we could not take hiking in the heat. We decided to go back when it was cold and freezing, but for desert hiking, a colder temperature is a lot more tolerable for us, with an added bonus: very few people in the trail.

Escaping the Arctic Blast @ Monument Valley

Sunrise at Monument Valley, taken from our hotel room's balcony

When we left San Diego last Saturday for a much needed week of R and R, Monument Valley was not in our itinerary at all. It was supposed to be San Diego- Zion National Park @ Kolob Canyon- Moab (Arches National Park and Canyonlands National Park)-Zion-Las Vegas( for Cirque du Solei and Black Canyon of the Colorado River in Lake Mead)-San Diego. Tes, of The Craftista and also one of the authors of The Salitype Society, was supposed to join us in Moab for Monday and Tuesday, then, we separate when we go back to Zion, while they go to Bryce Canyon National Park. However, it seemed Mother Nature has another plan. 

Two days before we left for the trip, there was a forecast of snowstorm in North Zion. Instead of going to Kolob Canyon, we decided to take East Zion @ Mt. Carmel Junction to escape the wrath of the snowstorm while on the road. It turned out to be a good decision for us when we saw in the local news later that night the many cars which skidded on the road and therefore had been stranded in the middle of snow storm. That kind of stress was the last thing we wanted on a vacation. Thankfully, I was able to see from the weather map at weather.com a route that would escape the snow storm while on the road. That meant driving South East first before going North to Moab. This route brought us to Monument Valley. Also, because of snow storm  on Monday, Tes and Doods did not make it to Moab for safety. Instead, we decided to meet at Monument Valley on Tuesday, a place which is closer to the place of Tes' sister. It was such a joyful meeting.  

I (left) and Tes (right) at The View Hotel's Guest's Lobby

This was how the sky looked like when we started exploring Monument Valley.

The clouds promise a beautiful sunset, and I was hoping the sky will not frustrate us since I wanted to show off to Tes one of the spectacular desert sceneries of the Southwest at sunset. Thankfully, the sky cooperated and put on a show for us to have a blast taking photos at sunset at Monument Valley.

looking East at sunset, Monument Valley (notice it is the same landscape, only the colors of the sky changed)

still looking East, sunset

looking West @ sunset, Monument Valley

still looking West @ sunset, Monument Valley

The rooms at The View Hotel all had beautiful views. Here are some more pictures at sunrise from our room's balcony (in addition to the very first photo above).

Sunrise @ Monument Valley- view from hotel's room

sunrise, Monument Valley

Until of course, it was time for us to leave Monument Valley to escape again the path of snow storm which started to roll in when we left.

storm rolling in at Monument Valley

After a while, on our way to Page, Arizona to meet Ted and Doods again, the snow which we had been trying to escape for days caught on us.

snow poured in as we left  Monument Valley

snow covered road, thankfully, no thick accumulation yet when we passed this

Thankfully, when we reached Page, though overcast, but there was no snow. We felt successful again in escaping another snow storm. But have we escaped the Arctic blast because we escaped snow? Truth is, we woke up the next day at -5 Fahrenheit temperature, and we finished the two bottled water we brought inside our room, when we took bottled water to drink from our car, they were all FROZEN! The warm pictures of the desert at Monument Valley does not really tell the whole story behind the subfreezing temperatures.