Shadows Of Time

Today I was totally blown away by what I saw  when we went to Bryce Canyon in Southern Utah. It was a lovely cool day but I could see that there was smoke in the air. Funny because we seen a lot of Fire Signs saying Fire danger “Moderate” not bad for the middle of Summer.  I was worried that the smoke in the air would make for some not so good pictures.  It soon cleared away and I was soon  happily  clicking away.

First- We travelled through a area that is called Red Canyon. At first I thought we had arrived at Bryce Canyon. I would have been happy with that. We spent about half an hour in this area taking a few pictures and enjoying the scenery. What amazes me about these special places  is- you can be driving along and all that you can see for miles is low lying shrubs and tall pine trees, and all of a sudden, you come around a corner and low and behold, its like you have arrived  some how in a different scene in a movie.

Red  Canyon

Majestic

Back in the truck and onto Bryce Canyon now.

The rock formations in Bryce canyon are called “hoodoo’s”.  “Hoodoo” – A pillar of rock,usually of fantastic shape, left by erosion. “Hoodoo” – to cast a spell. but they were created over Millions of years by the effects of rain, snow, wind and violent earthquakes and volcano's. The pressure of lava underneath forced the land up wards creating the plateaus we see today.  Most of this occurred at the time the Dinosaurs were wiped out or just before according the the pamphlets we were given. I’m including a scan of the brochure that explains Differential  Erosion well. This is how the huge rock formations were created over time.

The first few millions of years

 

And the next few million years or so.  You get the picture.

This is what they call the Bryce Amphitheater

Me

Dann

Sorry to say but we didn't walk any of the trails that were here for the offering. That would have put us right down the bottom of these huge hoodoos. I have seen some of the pictures people take down there and they are something else. Maybe next time we will be able to go down the bottom. Dann has a bad foot and it would have been to painful for him .   Where's my gun !!!   I was very happy with what we could see from the top.

This big guy was sitting on the railing waiting for a free hand out that never came.

The told us that on a clear day from this vantage point, you can see into New Mexico and Arizona. Stuffed  if I could see it. Forgot to mention that these formations run for 18 miles along the rim of this huge mountainous range. It has 18 Viewable vantage points.Totally awesome experience. On the way home we called into a little town called Bryce canyon city.

Once again I seen something that made me speechless, and that's saying something.

This is a log of wood. At first I thought it was artificial, made to look like a piece of tree trunk.  I  ran my fingers across it and realized it was like marble. I had heard about these but had never seen one. It’s called “Petrified Wood”  basically what it is..IS -------
In order for the trees to petrify, they had to be buried quickly with mud and silt to eliminate oxygen which would cause them to deteriorate. Ground water rich in silicon dioxide and other chemicals would saturate the buried trees. The reds, browns and yellows result primarily from compounds of iron, while manganese and other minerals account for the purples and dark blues. Through a mineralization process on the cellular level, and by silicon dioxide acting as a cementing agent, the wood became petrified. This process took millions of years! 

This is the top of that same log. So shinny/smooth and hard. After that I took a couple more pictures and we headed home.

Where he belongs !! 

Dann having a wee rest

Last but not least, I have been playing around with the Panoramic view on my new camera. I know these pictures are going to overlap the sides ..Oh well !!!

What a great trip !!!!