Orchards......Arches........Hoodoos.... Southwest Utah

BRYCE CANYON..... Utah

The thousands of multi hued limestone hoodoos rising from the eastern edge of the Paunsaugant Plateau were thought by the Paiute Indians to be petrified remains of the "legend people" turned to stone for their evil ways and frozen in time by a revengeful god. To Mormon settler, Ebenezer Bryce, who lived here in the late 19th century, the natural amphitheater was, "a helluva place to lose a cow."

Thoughts by Ty:
When I was going to school, we had to write a paper on Shakespeare's sonnets, very valuable to a pharmacy student!  I chose the theme of "Time" from his works.  Thoughts about time actually stuck with me and over the years I have commented to our offspring that time is a healer of many of life's "situations".  Problems are solved and we look back and see that time played a huge part in the solution. Our recent visits to Arches, Bryce Canyon, and Capitol Reed National Parks have again brought forward the theme of time with the presentation of vast amounts of erosion having carved all the beautiful formations!   Shakespeare: "and nothing 'gainst time's scythe can make defence".    I still have difficulty wrapping my brain around numbers like "200 million years ago these areas were uplifted into the Colorado Plateau".  How does one grasp that number?  Seeing the erosion that formed these arches and spires and learning that 600,000 years passes to erode one foot of the formations  at Bryce puts things somewhat within my grasp. Bryce Canyon, I can best describe, as being inside a kaleidoscope as someone rotates the barrel. The undulations of the trail, the many shades of salmon color, interspersed with pine trees, and structures at multiple levels..... behind each other makes for a different 360 degree wonderland every ten yards hiked! Words can not really describe these wonders... the photos will hopefully help! Shakespeare: "and do what e'er thou wilt, swift footed time."


ARCHES NATIONAL PARK....Utah

The arches in Arches NP were formed when the deep salt sediments of an ocean floor were later thrust upward, covered with deep layers of mud, then the erosion started and the weakness of the lower salt layer fell away leaving arches above of compressed hardened mud materials. The longest is 300 feet long, a football field. In 1991, a 60 ton slab fell from the center, scared the heck out of some hikers below it who ran when they heard the cracking. That would make you toss your tuna sandwich into the air!  A visitor from Ft Collins actually photographed it as it fell!

CAPITOL REEF NATIONAL PARK.... Utah

This is the second largest in the state and is an unknown gem.  Long and narrow, it follows the Waterpocket fold, a 100 mile rust-red wrinkle in the earth's crust and is home to a historic settlement, narrow canyons and some of the most surreal beautiful rock formations in the Southwest.  Mormon settlers planted fruit trees... orchards of apples, apricots, peaches, and other fruits in season.  Settlers grew vegetables, alfalfa, and sorghum.  Now maintained by the Park Service, you are allowed to pick as much fruit as you can eat...no charge.  Since it is only May, the fruit wasn't ready.  
The Gifford Homestead was near the beautiful campground here among the orchards.  It included a barn, smokehouse, garden, pasture, rock walls.  The Giffords raised dairy cows, hogs, and sheep, chickens and ducks.  A very atypical setting for a National Park. Ty really enjoyed laying in the lawn chair at dusk, of course with a glass of wine, and watching the bats fly overhead, sometimes within 2 or 3 feet!!!

Thoughts by Janet:
The statue of David in Italy took my breath away in its own exquisite way and brought tears to Ty's eyes! We had similar feelings when we first saw the hoodoos at Bryce Canyon!
The hoodoos in Bryce Canyon came to life for us as a fantasy land to our eyes and our spirits!
Geographically, the hoodoos are described as columns formed by differential erosion.
What a sight to behold!
Walking through this valley of hoodoos, I call "sculptures of nature", formed by the wind, rain, sand, and mainly by the freezing and thawing effects. The hoodoos were of every shape you could imagine from two huge castles in the distance from the valley; animals, queens, kings, Egyptian people, groups of people praying, towering buildings, small creatures, you name it! It was a quite an experience!!

I couldn't help but think about life.....our humanness,
sculptured daily....not eroded, by just by being alive!!!
Each experience from birth to death......the weddings, the funerals, the Baptisms, the grand children's recitals,the graduations, the daily work at relationships, the humdrum routines.....
As life goes on, we feel an erosion in these"ole' bodies", my Mother used to say, the aches, the pains,and most of all the knowledge of our own mortality.
But it's these experiences of our lives which really sculpt our minds, our souls, and ultimately our lives!

As we descended into the valley walking 2 l/2 miles before the 580 ft. ascent, my body kept saying, "What are you doing?", but my soul was flying through this mystical fantasy land, saying "go for it, don't lay down and die, get up and live!" The trail was treacherous at most points and we watched a few stupid people trying to get a great shot, almost down into the valley!! So much of it was just loose gravel! We did it!!

I will have to say that the most wonderful part of this journey was watching Ty and thinking after 42 years of watching him come home exhausted from working and now seeing him sore on the wings of his dream was the most satisfying experience I could ever have! I am so thankful!!


AND

If it wasn't for this dream to save these lands, the hoodoos could have been destroyed and town homes on this sacred land of the Paiute Indian.

People we met: On this an older lady stopped to talk to us, she was approaching 80 and maybe was, and holding onto her two walking sticks. She had so much excitement and enthusiasm in her voice as she spoke to us about this sacred trail and smiling the entire time, while trying to catch her breath! We walked another 200 ft. to meet her husband, who looked even older! He never said a word, but was trying with all of his might to follow his woman wherever she went!"  Not giving up to that ole' rockin' chair!!! Inspiration to all of us!!!

Funnies:
Be Aware: Bring your own toilet paper to Bryce Canyon! Thinner than gift wrap tissue paper

Ty was filling up the water tank of Silver with a funnel and a 5 gal. water container when the funnel slipped and dumped water on the front of his shorts. He came to the door declaring "It's happened, I'm incontinent!!"

Wild life seen:  collared lizard, bats, white throated swift, yellow bellied marmot, raven, mule deer