Canyonlands!

Stunning scenery provides many opportunities for taking good photos in this national park.

The geologic processes evident in the park’s Needles District are uplift or upthrust of rock layers, sedimentation (layers of sedimentary rock), and erosion.

 

 

 

We are in a timeless land (located in southeastern Utah, USA).

From the Elephant Hill parking lot, we see this view to the north.

 

 

Taking the Chesler Park trail and hiking up and to the south, we walk through sand.

 

 

The late morning May sky is bright blue and frames these multilayered rocks.

 

 

Another view.

 

 

The views constantly change as you hike along this trail.

 

 

Rock formations seen from the trail.

 

 

A closer view.

 

 

Lucy enjoying the hike and not bothered by the thinner air above 5,000 feet.

 

 

We include this pic here to give a sense of the texture of some of the rock surface.

 

 

With the sunlight streaming into the camera lens, we see 2 big rock knobs “growing” out of the earth.

 

 

A nearby tree.

 

 

More rocks both near and far.

 

 

Another “pimple” on the surface of the land.  The trail goes over many slickrock shelves as well as sandy areas.

 

 

Colorful rock strata.  Note the cairn in the lower left.  These small manmade rock piles serve to mark the trail when it traverses smooth rock shelves.

 

 

Rock spires in the distance.  We can see 2 “potholes” or depressions in the foreground.

 

 

A few moments later along the trail, we see this view.

 

 

A close up view of the rock strata.

 

 

Backing away on this rock shelf, we get an idea of the size of these formations.

 

 

It surprised us that there were quite a few trees in this area of the park.

 

 

Yet another view along the trail.

 

 

A closeup of some of the large rocks along the trail.  Note the texture of the rock surfaces.

 

 

We arrived after a couple of hours at a junction of various trails.

 

 

We met hikers that had been out on the trails from quite early in the day.

 

 

Surrounded by rocks, we take a rest and sit in the shade of trees.

 

 

An interesting rock formation towers above us.

 

 

A zoomed in view.  Here we can see the shape, color and texture of the rocks.

 

 

More rocks.

 

 

Looking down into one of the many canyons in the park.

 

 

The trail passes through some very narrow areas between the rock walls. Along the way, depending on the time of day and thus the position of the sun above, one can see changing areas of light and shadow.

 

 

We will continue our exploration of Canyonlands National Park in the coming days.  Stay tuned.

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