home ALBUM 11) Sunday, 26 July 2009

Via CAPITOL REEF NATIONAL PARK to Torrey, UT

a) (MOVIE)SundayMorning 26-July, StormCells Letting Loose ~ Bed+Breakfast Castle Valley Inn.jpg
b) Okay,Time To Leave Now! Apparently, We Are Far Too Lay-Back For the Host-Lady. She is Anxious To See Us Leaving! ;-).JPG
c) Hold On You Guys! You Havent Said GoodBye To  Me ... Whats Up With That!!.JPG
d) Aww, Sorry About That! But, We Have To Move On, Getting Back on The Road You See ...JPG
e) Okay .. But So You Know, We Hate To See You Leaving ~ You Two Were the Only Sane People Staying Here! ;-).JPG
f) A Last Look at The Lush Gardens of Bed+Breakfast Castle Valley Inn.JPG
g) A Last Glance at the Peaceful LandScape With Its BreathTaking Mountain Silhouettes.JPG
h) GoodBye! Have A Nice Trip! Hope You Can Escape the ThunderClouds !! ;-).JPG
i) Driving-Out of This Quaint Area Via The Castle Valley Drive, Also the Main Street In This Peaceful Valley.JPG
j) Heading Off To Dead Horse Point StatePark (North East of CanyonLands National Park).jpg
k) Back on the 128, It Looks Like That This StatePark Destination Is Overshadowed With The Storm Cells Indeed ...JPG
l) A Quick Stop At the Castle Creek Resort Where We Ate Last Night.JPG
m) Contemplating Buying An Outlaw Red Wine Bottle (Favorite! ;-) + Enjoying the View For A Little While (In DayTime Now).JPG
n) Further Down The Road of 128, PassingBy the ParkingLot Of The Negro Bill Canyon.JPG
o) A Quick Stop To Take A Picture of The SignBoard Belonging to This Peculiar Named Canyon.JPG
p) Turned Out, We Didn't Get That Far With That Dead Horse (State Park).JPG
q) After Few Miles Climbing On The Seven Mile Canyon (133) Returning to Hwy 191 - Too Scary Those ThunderCells!!.jpg
r) We Did The Right Thing To Return !! (Confirmed By GasStation at Archview Resort, Junction Of 133 + 191).JPG
s) Never Mind, Dead Horse State Park + CanyonLands National Park Will Be On The List To Go To On Another Vacation! ;-).JPG
t) Next Destination ... To Torrey, With A 3-Hour Explore-Stop in Capitol Reef National Park (Map Not On Scale).jpg
u) After A Little Over 30 Miles on Interstate 70, Turning South On StateRoute 24, Heading Towards Hanksville.JPG
v) A Scenery Stop (North Of Hanksville).JPG
w) Apart From Couple ATVs Passing By, We Are The Only One On This Road Surrounded By The Swell Of San Rafael Desert.JPG
x) The Swell Of Geological Uplift and Erosion Have Created A Massive Sandstone Reef.JPG
y) The Creation Of San Rafael Reef.JPG
z) Enjoying The View In This Hot and Eerie Desert.JPG
za) Part of The Swell Has Geographic Features That Resembles Mars.JPG
zb) The Mars Society Decided to Set Up the Mars Desert Research Station In The Area As A Mars Analog For Such Reasons.JPG
zc) The ArtWork Of Rocks Next To This Road Resembles The Hoodoos In The Goblin Valley State Park Nearby.JPG
zd) Hoodoo Rocks, Which Are Formations Of Mushroom-Shaped Rock Pinnacles.JPG
ze) The Distinct Shape of These Rocks Comes From An Erosion-Resistant Layer of Rock Atop Softer Sandstone.JPG
zf) ByBey Hoodoos! We Might Visit Your Kornuiten Of Goblin Valley State Park In Our Next Vacation to Utah!!.JPG
zg) (MOVIE)Moving On Towards Hanksville.jpg
zh) Out Of The Blue Driving Through A Little Oasis ~ We Must Be Approaching Civilization! (Hanksville, A Remote Small Town).JPG
zi) Hanksville, At Junction 24+95 ~ Few Blocks, Some (Closed) PetrolStations + Sheriffs Hanging Out in Hollow Mountain ;-).JPG
zj) Continue On StateRoute 24, Now Direction West Heading More Closer Towards Capital Reef National Park.JPG
zk) Landscape Change .... Mars Desert Research Station Must Be Nearby (7+ Miles N.W. Of Hanksville).JPG
zl) Interesting Landscape ....JPG
zm) (MOVIE)Grit Dune Ridges ~ Off Road Vehicles Play or Mining .. We Couldnt Figure It Out.jpg
zn) Follow The Road Or The RidgeLine ;-).JPG
zo) Around 4.15 PM, Approaching The East Side Of Capital Reef National Park.JPG
zp) Traveling Through the Park From East to West, Incl 3-Hours Exploring This Long Wrinkle In Earths Crust (Monocline).JPG
zq) First A Stop At The Visitor Center ~ Also To Check On Any Weather Warnings (Ranger Gave Us The Okay Sign).JPG
zr) A Giant Buckle in Earths Crust Stretches Across South Central Utah ~ A 100-Mile-Long Fold Named Waterpocket Fold.JPG
zs) (BrochurePic)Capitol Reef National Park Contains A Spectacular Section of the Waterpocket Fold.JPG
zt) WaterPocket Fold Graphically Illustrates The Way The Earths Surface Was Built, Folded+Eroded.JPG
zu) Waterpocket District In Southern Part of Park ~ We Kept With The 16-Mile Scenic Drive Starting From the Visitor Center.JPG
zv) Fruita Rural Historic District, Fremont River Named After 6 Centuries of Frement Indian Culture (A.D. 700 - A.D. 1300).JPG
zw) In 1880, Mormon Settlers Established A Community Here (Between 8 to 10 Families) - The Last Resident Left In 1969.JPG
zx) They Used The River Water For Irrigation, Planting Crops+Orchards (Also Grazed Cattle) - Fruita Rural Historic District.JPG
zy) CAPITOL (White Domes of Navajo Sandstone, Like U.S. Capitol Dome) - REEF (Rocky Cliffs, A Barrier, Like Ocean Reef).JPG
zz) A National Monument in 1937 (President Franklin Roosevelt) ~ Congress Designated Capitol Reef A National Park in 1971.JPG
zza) The 16-Mile Round-Trip Scenic Drive Is A Portion Of The Original Road Through The Waterpocket Fold.JPG
zzb) Ancient Peoples Used The Route For Centuries. Mormon Settlers Developed The Trail Into A Wagon Road In About 1884.JPG
zzc) This Gravel Road Was The Only One Through The Waterpocket Fold Until The Completion of Hwy 24 In 1962.JPG
zzd) Educational Self-Guided Driving Tour ~ Read The Past Of About 225 Million Years Ago ...JPG
zze) Sediments Deposited Under Different Conditions Form Different Types of Rock. Geologists Group Rock Layers Into Formations.JPG
zzf) Formations Are Units Which Are Distinguished By Unique Features Such As Color, Age, And Rock Type.JPG
zzg) Imagine These Sediments in Rushing Rivers, Meandering Streams, Shallow Seaways ...JPG
zzh) Imagine These Sediments in Marshes+Swamps (Lowland Region Saturated With Water) + Blowing, Drifting Sand Dunes ....JPG
zzi) OverTime,The Sediment Was Buried+Groundwater Seeped Through,Its Minerals Cementing Sediment Together (Rock Layers).JPG
zzj) Enormous Compressional Forces in The Earth Caused Strata (Sedimentary Rock Layers) Be Uplifted,Tilted+Folded.JPG
zzk) Btw, The Yellowish-Gray Layer of Rock (Bottom Layer Of Chinle Formation) Is Also Knowned For Its Uranium Deposits .....JPG
zzl) Arches ~ Weakly Acidic GroundWater Concentrated Along Fractures etc. Dissolving Cement of SandStone At Base.JPG
zzm) CrossBedding (SandDeposits, Large SandDunes) + Desert Varnish (Evaporated Water Containing Magnesium+Iron Oxide).JPG
zzn) Ledges (Braided Rivers, Kayenta Formation) + Cliffs (Navajo SandStone, Erosion Creating Dome-Shaped Landforms).JPG
zzo) Differential Erosion In Action Of Today, In Present Times ...JPG
zzp) Softer Rocks of Moenkopi+Chinle Eroded, Undercutting The More Resistant Wingate Above - Huge Chunks Falling Off.JPG
zzq) This Type of Erosion Is A Good Reason To Stay Away From Cliff Edges, Especially Overhanging Cliffs.JPG
zzr) Armoring (Differential Erosion)~Wingate SandStone Boulders Protecting Rocks Underneath (Forming Hoodoos+Pinnacles).JPG
zzs) Eph Hanks Tower ~ North End Of A Long Ridge, The 100-Mile-Long Waterpocket Fold ...JPG
zzt) We Are Now At the ParkingLot Of Entrance to Capitol Gorge, To the Sheer Canyon Walls Of Wingate Sandstone.JPG
zzu) Stretching The Legs, Changing Socks+Shoes Before Driving Into The Narrowness Of the Gorge! ;-).JPG
zzv) The Rounded White Rock Behind Me Is Typical Of The Erosional Patterns of the Navajo SandStone.JPG
zzw) Navajo+Wingate Deposited as Huge Windblown Dunes (Sahara-Like Desert) ~ But Navajo Less Cemented As Wingate.JPG
zzx) Smooth Craters Pock The Canyon Walls ~ Solution Cavities.JPG
zzy) Grains Of Ancient Dune Sand Weakly Cemented By Water-Soluble Minerals Forming Cavities Over Time.JPG
zzz) Floods Often Roar Through With Little Warning, The Next Day The Canyon May Be Dry As If the Flood Never Happened (Right ... ;-).JPG
zzza) GoodBye and Be Carefull! (Eph Hanks Tower Wishing Us A Safe Trip).JPG
zzzb) (MOVIE)Here We Go!.jpg
zzzc) The Sheer Canyon  Walls Of Wingate Sandstone.JPG
zzzd) (MOVIE)Spooky!!! (Especially Those Solution Cavities in the Canyon Walls!).jpg
zzze) The Canyon of the Hunted House ;-).JPG
zzzf) Deep In Capitol Gorge At The End Of The Road ~ Some Informative + Historical Displays.JPG
zzzg) The Golden Throne Trail, An Old Wagon Trail ~ Accentuating The Remoteness Of This Area.JPG
zzzh) We Are Vigilant ~ Flash Floods Can Strike Any Time.JPG
zzzi) We Are Okay, But Its Running Late Already ~ Towards Sunset Almost + Very Isolated Here.JPG
zzzj) A Short Hike Into the Gorge Takes Us To Some Ancient Rock Images.JPG
zzzk) Petroglyphs!!.JPG
zzzl) The Petroglyphs in Capitol Gorge and Elsewhere In the Park Are Made By the Prehistoric Farmers of the Fremont Culture.JPG
zzzm) The Fremont People Are Known For Their Enigmatic Rock Writings.JPG
zzzn) They Left Petroglyphs (Carvings In Rock) And  Pictographs (Paintings On Rocks+Stone Walls) Throughout the Park.JPG
zzzo) They May Relate Religious, Migration Or Travel ...JPG
zzzp) ... Or Resource Information.JPG
zzzq) The Fremont People Farmed Along The Streams In Capitol Reef Until About 1300 A.D..JPG
zzzr) They Used This Route Through The Waterpocket Fold Long Before The Mormon Settlers Arrived.JPG
zzzs) (MOVIE)Making Our Way Out of the Remote Gorge.jpg
zzzt) Slickrock Divide ~ A High Point of Ground That Devides 2 Water Drainages (Not To Enter When Storms Are Treatening).JPG
zzzu) On Our Way Back To The Visitor Center, To Exit The Park.JPG
zzzv) We Certainly Enjoyed This Self-Guided Educational Driving Tour of the Scenic Drive !!.JPG
zzzw) Staying Overnight in Torrey, Located Just West of National Reef National Park.JPG
zzzx) Best Western Capitol Reef Resort, Room Nr. 306 (Just Next To the Laundry ~ Handy! ;-).JPG
zzzy) Hotel Located At Highway 24, Nice Quiet Here (This Time Of The Year).JPG
zzzz) The Rim Rock Resort Across the Highway (Where We Ended Up Having Dinner A Little Later).JPG
zzzza) Looking Out Over the Western Borders of Capitol Reef National Park.JPG
zzzzb) The BackYard ~ The Part Of Hotel We Were Staying At Mainly Vacant, We Had The Place All To Ourselves! ;-).JPG
zzzzc) Enjoying The Sunset While Settling In + Getting Ready For Dinner.JPG
zzzzd) Nice Dinner (+ 3 Heffewiezen For David! ;-) At the Restaurant of The Rim Rock Resort Just Across From Our Hotel.JPG
zzzze) Okay, Let Me Quiz You ... What RockFormation Eroded As Cliffs, The Sheer Canyon Walls Of The Capitol Gorge.JPG
zzzzf) Hmmm, That Must Be The Wingate Sandstone Deposited Of The Late Triassic+Early Jurassic Period (200 Mill Yrs Ago).JPG
   

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