Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument

My friend Jim and I visited the Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument in late May. It's a huge desert area between Bryce Canyon and Arches national parks. It's quite a diverse set of environments, from mountains to slot canyons. We spent about four days there and did a bit of driving and hiking. The great thing about this area is that it is full of world class scenery, yet very few people go there. So, unlike the national parks, you'll usually only see a few other people at any given time. And yet, Escalante has pretty good spots for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. 

The first day, we spent about a half hour wandering around at Hole in the Rocks, just west of the tiny town of Escalante, which served as our base. 

 

After walking around the Hole in the Rock rock formations, we headed over to the Spooky Gulch and Peekaboo Canyon trailhead. The approach hike was really a great hike in and of itself.

I loved the colors and wear patterns formed on the walls over thousands of years of periodic flash flooding. 

The light filtered down into the canyon and highlighted the many layers of sandstone deposits. These are on the vertical walls of the canyon, but they were the horizontal bottom of a sea tens of millions of years ago, then seismic forces crushed the entire area and upended the sea floor onto its side. Now the sedimentary stone is being worn away by floods over the intervening years.

This section is barely considered a slot canyon, as it's fairly wide in most places, so you don't have to squeeze sideways and take off your backpack. On the other hand, the very bottom of the canyon was not even as wide as my boot sole in some places. You can see how narrow it is at the bottom of this photo. Notice the sandy area that is the bottom. 

I had a great time doing the first part of the Spooky Gulch slot canyon hike, but I didn't take photos. My friend Jim waited for me to try a bit of it, then I bailed out after twenty minutes to rejoin him. It was really crazy to get started. You had to climb up a twelve-foot vertical rock face with only a couple of smooth dents in it for footholds. It was only because of my experience with indoor rock climbing with my brother that I had the skill and confidence to get started on it. Once I got started, the rest was not much easier. Almost every step was uphill, with four- or five-foot-high steps in many places. It was so much fun. After fifteen minutes it got so narrow you would have to turn sideways to get through, and it was following a serpentine shape - with ridiculously sharp turns every few feet. It looked amazing. 

The next day, we hiked to Lower Calf Creek Falls. In late May, the temperatures tend to be in the mid-80's, instead of 90's and above later in the summer. The hike is mostly flat and about three miles one way. 

This is the view of the canyon from the road that passes by above. The hike follows Lower Calf Creek, which waters all that greenery you can see along the bottom of the canyon in this photo. 

Once at the bottom of the canyon, you're looking up at impressive rock formations.

The walls of the canyons were hundreds of feet high, with amazing patterns of wear formed by a combination of rain, wind, bacterial, and geological forces, over thousands, even millions, of years. At times, it looked like an alien planet. 

I enjoy this image as if it were an abstract painting, with different styles and moods in different areas. Even though this is a stone cliff face hundreds of feet high, it is nearly perfectly smooth in some places, whereas other areas look scraped, gouged, flaked, and scalloped. At the same time, there is vertical striping, diagonal patches of ochre and orange, and textured horizontal layers crosscutting all of it. I imagine all the forces of nature as the artist composing the scene. A painting that took millions of years to create. 

Every good hike ends with a payoff view, and this was a good one. What an impressive waterfall, here in the middle of a desert, with a lovely pool that people were swimming in. Again, nature has "decorated" the orange and white stone with lime green, yellow, and blackish moss and lichen. The pattern of water on the rocks changed over time, depending on the flow of the water and wind. I specifically waited until the water had this beautiful cascading effect on the right side. At other times, there was no water at all on the right, so you had to notice this and take advantage of it.

On our final exploration of the area, we drove down East Burr Trail Road to Singing Canyon and beyond. The scenery along this section of road was spectacular, and yet there were only a few other people there. 

We learned that the different colors of stone making up the mountains and valleys of the area are the reason for the name Grand Staircase. Each layer is a different color, from the whites you see in the photo below, to the bright oranges in the subsequent photos, with a more tan sandy color for other areas. Each of these represents a deep layer formed over tens of millions of years and exposed by tectonic activity and wear and tear of the weather. In the photo below, I like all the etched patterns of layers of rock, which represent a story of various happenings in geologic time. Seas forming, earthquakes, floods, deposits, etc. 

This next two photos are from Singing Canyon. 

The funny thing is we didn't realize we were in Singing Canyon, but there was a guy there singing with his ukelele. The acoustics were fantastic. 

This entire canyon was just beautiful in all directions. This was just across from the Singing Canyon. 

This is another spot along the road with amazing patterns in the rock formed by so many different processes, from flaking of many layers of rock in the upper left, to microbes of different colors forming the vertical stripes following the flow of water running down the sheer rock face on the left, to fractures between distinct layers of rock in the lower portion of the photo. Astounding how there can be so many colors in a dry, stony, desert canyon. 

At the end of the canyon, we were treated to the view towards Capitol Reef National Park. 

I think there is much more to see in the area, so I'd like to go back someday soon. I recommend going before the secret is out! 

Ultimate Iceland: Horses, Cliffs, and Dynjandi

The icy wind nearly knocked us down as we got off the plane early on the morning of September 3 in Iceland. The day before, high winds had forced Iceland Air to cancel flights. With the wind whipping our hair in our faces, I really started to doubt my choice of time of year. But, I wanted to go on the shoulder season, between the peak summer months of midnight sun and too many tourists, and the freezing winter months when it's dark all day. At this time of year, there are fewer tourists, the days are still long, yet you still have a chance to see the Aurora Borealis. I call our trip "Ultimate Iceland" because it was two full weeks, and we covered not only the entire "Ring Road", but also went to the ends of western, northern, and eastern peninsulas, and to the edges of the Westfjords. In other words we went far beyond the Ring Road in all directions. It was great. 

As soon as we arrived, we got our rental car and started our first day of marathon driving, bypassing Reykjavik, heading up to the Snaefelssness Peninsula. Just north of Reykjavik, we started to see beautiful horses in brilliant green pastures everywhere. The advantage of planning your own trip is you can stop wherever there's something cool to see. This is especially great for a photographer like me. 

As you can see, there are quite a few amazing breeds of Icelandic horses. Each color combination here is a different breed. Icelandic horses have been isolated from other horses for about a thousand years now. The Norse brought over horses sometime in the late 800's or early 900's. Soon after, the Icelandic government banned the import of other types of horses. They're somewhat smaller than horses Americans are used to, but plenty large and strong enough to ride long distances on difficult terrain. 

We drove all the way to the end of the Snaefellsness Peninsula to see the cliffs and the ocean there. On the way, we saw a few people walking beside a stream leading out of a mountainside, so we decided to check it out. A short hike up a hill led into a dark and narrow grotto that the stream had cut into the cliff. Every surface was covered in thick, rich, green moss. Apparently, the wet and cold environment of Iceland is perfect for this moss, because you find it in many far-flung regions of the island.

The Arnarstapi Cliffs at the western end of the peninsula were our excuse to go exploring in this general direction. We spent a little over an hour walking on (and off) the paths around the area. When we arrived there was a group of a couple hundred Chinese tourists all wearing bright red parkas included with their tour. In this first photo, the water is rushing out from this inlet bordered by a thick layer of dark brown seaweed clinging to the rocks at the waterline. The rock is crystallized basalt, which gives it the appearance of being man-made, like giant Lego rocks. Rock like this occurs all over Iceland, and comes from magma pushing up through a glacier, and consequently being cooled extremely rapidly. 

Those winds we'd encountered at the airport that morning, and that were blowing waterfalls backwards up cliffs, were still whipping up the sea - sending this wave all the way to the top of this forty foot cliff. 

Just a little while later, we got hit by a sudden, powerful hailstorm, with fifty mile per hour winds. Luckily, we just happened to be near our car, so we were able to use if for shelter. Others weren't so lucky. It only lasted five minutes, but left the roads covered in a rapidly melting layer of white hail slush. 

 

Our destination that night was an isolated converted farm house down 40 miles of a packed gravel road, on the northern side of the peninsula, called the Drangar Country Guesthouse. In order to get there, we had to cross over to the northern side of the peninsula. Once on the northern side, we walked on a black sand beach and watched the wavetops being blown backwards by those powerful southerly winds.

On the way there, we spotted a couple more horses at the outlet of an incredibly beautiful valley, with giant waterfalls at its head, and sunlight illuminating the mountains through a gap in the dark clouds.  While I was taking photos of these two horses, we noticed a small herd of horses in the distance, and they were running down from the hills right toward us. Within a minute they had arrived and run in a small circle right up to the fence and stopped there. They were bored and curious and we were their entertainment. 

Here's a video Jennifer took while I was busy trying to take the photo above.

After a great breakfast at the guesthouse, we headed northwest toward the Dynjandi waterfall in the remote region few visitors get to known as the Westfjords. One of the great pleasures of traveling across Iceland is seeing one beautiful, unspoiled fjord after another, even if it's in cloudy or rainy weather.

That day, we could usually see bright sunlight, dark clouds, and rain all at the same time. This photo was taken from the top of a pass leading into the Westfjords, on a black gravel road that was under construction. We were driving on gravel roads for hours that day. I was surprised to find that we could do 80 KPH (49 MPH) on these roads, partly because of the 4WD we had been advised to rent. 

Finally, we reached the Dynjandi falls when the sun was out. There are actually several waterfalls that follow the big one at the top. This is one of the small waterfalls below the main waterfall. 

This is a view of the big one from a distance back. There's a person at the base of the falls, along the ridge, a little to the left of center. The person looks like a small grey bump because the falls are so huge. The waterfall is over three hundred feet high, so a person is pretty small in comparison. 

The water is pure and beautiful close up. 

Here's a view looking up at the falls from below.  Of course, a tripod is needed for a photo like this so the water can flow while the shutter is open for one or two seconds. My camera was getting wet, as the air was full of the spray of so many falling streams colliding with one rocky shelf after another. 

One of the most unusual parts of this day of travel is that we were driving on packed gravel roads. We were going into a remote part of the country that even most Icelanders never go to. So, the roads that go there aren't the greatest. They'll probably pave them in the next five to ten years, but they haven't gotten there yet. With a mid-sized four wheel drive SUV, we were able to drive on those roads at 40-45 MPH, which isn't that much below the national maximum speed limit of 55. To add a bit of humor, take a look at the view of our black SUV in the hotel parking lot when we arrived. I got a napkin and wiped off the license plate next time we drove it. As you can see, it was completely coated in mud.

That's all for the first leg of the trip.  

Click here to see photos from the second leg, including visits to the Arctic Fox Center, Godafoss and Dettifoss, with plenty of sheep in between.

Click here to see photos from the third leg of the trip, including Studlagil, Hengifoss, Litlanesfoss, and Heineberg Glacier Lagoon.

Yellowstone National Park Mammoth Springs, Grizzlies, and More

I'd heard of Mammoth Springs many times over the years, and seen some kind of boring photos, so I wasn't that excited about visiting, but I ended up being really impressed.  As we did every morning, we were out of bed by 6:30 (which was 8:30 Eastern time), and ended up being the first among a few to arrive.  It was the perfect time of day, as the springs face east, and the sun was just coming up. 

In this section, a cascade of pools formed one after the other. The water trickles all the way down from one pool to another, depositing tiny amounts of minerals.  This has been going on since before the Egyptians were building pyramids. 

Over thousands of years, the mineral-laden water has formed intricate patterns in stone.  It's hard to comprehend how many layers there are.  This shows one small section with around eighty layers.  

You can see even more, and more colorful, layers in this one.

The best section was the last we reached along the many wooden pathways among the springs. This is the largest vertical face of any springs we saw.  It was still early in the morning and cold, so there was a lot of steam.  

Another from the same area, at the top of the big face of the springs.  This is the source for the water that trickles down the biggest face of Mammoth Springs.

Here is the largest face of the springs. The whole hill we've been walking on is the accumulation of thousands (millions?) of years of trace amounts of sediments in the spring water hardening into these shapes as it flows up from below, then downhill.  A little like an extreme case of hard water in your home plumbing. I love the pure white, which is all stone - probably calcium.

This is a closeup view of the same face. I love how the rock has formed into intricate diamond crisscross patterns.  The pure white is amazing. 

Here the cold air hits the hot water of the springs.

Wildlife seems to be doing really well in Yellowstone National Park.  Of all the animals we saw, the bison ignored people more than any other.  They just didn't care.  You've probably seen those films and photos where the bison just walk across the road right in front of cars.  That did happen to us - a big traffic jam just because there was a herd split across both sides of the road, and every once in a while one or a few would decide they wanted to cross.  

We got closer than the recommended distance on foot a couple of times.  I swear it wasn't on purpose!  They just pop up out of the woods, and there you are, too close together.  This one was taken leaning out of the car window.   

This time, we were on foot and ended up closer than we should have been.  We felt a little safer being up on a wooden walkway a foot off of the ground, but probably shouldn't have. That railing ends right in front of me, so there was nothing between us and him except one step up. We waited a few minutes for him to move a little further away, but instead he just came up until he was practically touching the walkway.  So, we ended up turning around.  Second time on the trip when we had to detour due to wildlife. 

We saw black bears a few times on the trip.  Twice, there were two black bears together in a single tree.  The first time, the tree was right beside the road, and the rangers had set up orange cones directing all traffic into the other lane and were standing along the road every fifty feet waving people along telling us not to stop.  So, no photos that time.  The second, they were pretty far off the road, so we were able to stop and watch for a while.  People said the mother likes to do this so any predators have to go through her to get to her cub.  

Finally, near the end of the trip, we got to see grizzlies near the lake.  Grizzlies are also known as brown bears.  That's actually a more correct name for them, apparently.  But grizzly sounds so much better!  These were pretty far from the road, so we were always at a safe distance.  And there were quite a few people stopped to watch.  Three of them had tripods set up with very long lenses.  If I lived in a place where wildlife was that plentiful, I'd definitely get one of those lenses!  This first photo shows the mom and her cub together. 

The cub.

The cub again.  

I think this is the mom.  

That was pretty exciting.  You never know if you'll get to see a grizzly, so we felt really lucky.  

After four photo essays, we finally reached the end of this trip.  Thanks for reading to the end.  Hope you enjoyed!  

The previous three posts cover the beautiful and amazing waterfalls, canyons, springs, geysers, and very close up moose we saw on the trip. Here are the links to those posts:

Grand Teton National Park Mountain Lakes, Bears, and Moose

Yellowstone Geysers and Grand Canyon

Yellowstone Springs and Waterfalls

Geysers and Grand Canyon of Yellowstone National Park

I'd never heard of the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone until we got there.  I knew there was a huge and amazing waterfall in the park, but didn't know an amazing bonus canyon came with it. The photo below shows the Lower Falls, which created the deeper part of the canyon. It's called the Lower Falls, because there is another waterfall only a mile or so upstream on the same river, called Upper Falls.

We spent a few days hiking both sides of the canyon, and visiting both falls.  At the Upper Falls, they have a platform right next to the falls.  There is a short, steep downhill hike, called Brink of Lower Falls, to the viewing platform.  If you look at the upper right corner, you'll see a person looking out over the falls from the brink.  This helps give a sense of scale to the scene.  

Standing on the platform, it's a thrill to see the water rushing over the brink while feeling the rumbling sound in your chest.  These next three photos are some of my favorites of the trip. I love how the individual drops of water catch the sun's rays in the closer part of the photo, the green tint to the water, and how it looks like an explosion of water in slow motion.  I love the shapes formed by the water as it plummets hundreds of feet, and the way the sun illuminates the water from the inside.  I these would look amazing printed six feet high, mounted side by side on a huge wall in a luxury hotel.  

This is an early morning view looking downstream from Inspiration Point.     

Here's another view of the Lower Falls from a trail along the south side of the canyon. The viewing platform for the Brink of Lower Falls is there. There is a softer type of rock underneath right where the falls starts, that's what created the falls.  It started out flat, but the water wore away this softer rock much faster than the harder rock further upstream.    

A view of more of the canyon. We spent every evening watching the sunset from somewhere along the north rim or the south rim.  It's only a few minute drive to all the viewpoints along the canyon from Canyon Village.  

This is the view while standing on the brink of the Upper Falls. Upper Falls are about a mile upriver from Lower Falls. 

We also spent time chasing geyser eruptions in Upper Geyser Basin. We were fortunate to be in the right place at the right time to see two geysers that don't erupt quite as often or as reliably as Old Faithful.  Here's Beehive Geyser erupting.  Some people stood right in the shadow of the spray and got soaking wet just for fun.  The brilliant rainbow was a great surprise. 

Same eruption of Beehive Geyser, without the people and walkway.  

Here's Old Faithful erupting.  They post a schedule in the visitor center, accurate to plus or minus about five minutes.  There was a crowd of a few hundred waiting to see it.  It lasts about a minute or so.  

Some of the pools around the geysers and springs have thick mats of bacteria in amazingly vivid colors.  

A great example of the colorful mats of thermophilic bacteria.  This is the area surrounding Grand Geyser. Yes, the color is really like that in person.   

Grand Geyser is the largest predictable geyser in the park, though the prediction time window is over two hours. You need to be patient or lucky to get to see it.  We were a little of both.  We decided to do the wonderful five mile hike around the area while waiting.  On that five mile hike, we got to see the fantastic Morning Glory Spring. You can really see deep down into this one. The colors are thick mats of thermophilic bacteria.  "Thermophilic" is just a generic term for "heat loving" bacteria that thrive in this extremely hot water all summer, and even during the incredibly cold Wyoming winters.  

After the hike, we went back to the visitor center for lunch.  The rangers stopped everyone on the trail due to an angry bison.  We had to wait a while for him to calm down, then give him a wide berth. Finally Grand Geyser erupted. The eruption lasted a few minutes, and had a false start with a few smaller jets of water, and then a couple of false endings too, where it stopped, then shot way up again.  That was a lot of fun.    

Click here to see the first part of our trip, with lots of incredibly vivid springs, and great waterfalls.  

Click here to see the few days before that when we hiked around Grand Teton National Park.