Marquesas Islands – June 11 – 15, 2024

Before getting to the Marquesas, there was a sea day so that the Paul Gauguin could make the almost 600 NM journey to Hapatoni, Tahuata in the southern Marquesas.

A sea day is always a great time. While nothing onboard is ever hurried, a sea day is even lower key. In addition to just enjoying the pool, the bars, the dining, a siesta and even a bit of exercise in the fitness center, on this trip, there were two experts on board providing lectures in the Grand Salon. More on those folks later because their lectures were informative, interesting and entertaining.

We spent 5 days in the Marquesas visiting the islands of Tahuata, Hiva Oa, Fatu Hiva, Ua Pou and Nuka Hiva (click to enlarge the image… maybe). In the Marquesan language, the archipelago is called Te Henua Enata, which means “The Land of Men”. The name Marquesas was provided by a pompous Spanish explorer in 1595 as he sailed by.

Due in no small part to the efforts of one of our on-board lecturers, Pascal Erhel, who created a dream and a team, the Marquesas were named a UNESCO World Heritage site in July 2024 for its cultural heritage and value and its abundance and preservation of rare and diverse flora and fauna.

The Marquesas are very different than the Society Islands and the Tuamotu Islands. For one thing they are extremely remote with the average number of tourists visiting each year is rarely above 10,000-15,000 people which is a daily load to Tahiti. Second, the number of inhabitants is significantly less; there are 15 islands, 12 inhabited. Of course, the geology and landforms of all three island groups visited differ significantly.

Geologically all of the Marquesas Islands are volcanic in origin with what one geologist described as “monotonous series of sub-aerial basalt flows…”. There are two locations in the Marquesas that are exceptions to this oversimplification. We visited one of the locations, the island of Ua Po (Marquesan for “pillars”). Ua Pou differs from the other Marquesan Islands in that there is no well-formed caldera and there are 30 or so pillars that dominate the skyline of the island. These features are the result of a difference in the chemistry/mineralogy of the basaltic magma and the temperatures that existed in the subsurface before the magma erupted on the island. For those familiar with Devil’s Tower in Wyoming, the chemistry of the lava in the Marquesas and in Wyoming is very similar and the resulting land feature(s) have similarities.

Basalt Pillars – Ua Pou, Marquesas Islands

The Marquesas Island ages decrease from northwest (5.5 Ma at Eiao [off map]) towards southeast (1.1 Ma at Fatu Hiva). The Marquesas shield volcanoes (broad, gently sloping profiles, formed by the eruption of highly fluid lava) experienced collapse of the caldera rims due to thin upper caldera walls and high rates of erosion, which led to the sinking (there is that sinking thing again…)/erosion of half or more of their initial shield volcanos. Most of the current island landforms are made up of a partial outer caldera remnant of the original shield volcano. In the now partial caldera an inner, younger and smaller post-shield volcano is found on most of the islands. There are no coral fringing reefs in the Marquesas Islands for a variety of reasons. The islands experience high winds and surf associated with the winter trade winds that inhibit coral development and are within the El Nino, La Nina zone bringing highly variable (for coral) water temperatures to the island group.

Back to our on-board lecturers. On our sea day, Pascal Ehrel presented the first of three lectures that we would attend, a lecture entitled Motu Haka: A Short History of the Marquesas Islands: Introduction to the Archipelago of Fenua Enata. Motu is a version of the Malayo-Polynesian language family. For rugby players you may recognize the word haka which loosely translated means “dance” but has taken on the meaning “war dance”. The Motu Haka Association is a group of Marquesan and others that have united to gather, safeguard and enhance what of remains of their culture. Fenua Enata as we have seen means “The Land of Men” in referencing the Marquesas Islands. A very interesting and informative lecture which IMHO was made somewhat more entertaining by Pascal’s French accent. Somehow it made the whole event a little more exotic.

The second pair of lectures that we attended were presented by Celine Manet. The first lecture was entitled James Cook – Part 1 (Youth, 1ST Expedition and Return to Tahiti). What a fascinating, intelligent and accomplished guy. Of course, being a captain of a ship back then also entailed being somewhat of a tyrannical despot willing to employ a bit of corporal punishment to keep the swabs in line. But overall, particularly in his younger days, a very interesting fellow and the father of nautical charting and mapping. After the first lecture, I downloaded an Audible biography of Cook to add to the lectures. Again, I think the lectures were somewhat enhanced and made more interesting and tropical with the addition of Ms. Manet’s French accent

Tahuata

We booked an excursion in Tahuata that stopped at several important locations along the coast with ties to the Polynesian culture and with just great views. Excursions in the Marquesas were interesting from the perspective of transportation. The participants were broken into groups of four and transportation was provided by locals in fairly new four-wheel drive pickups. The tour leaders were also local folks who were well versed in the history and of course the culture and were very chatty and obviously proud of their home. Maybe somewhere in these posts, I can incorporate some cultural history as well as current political status. Might just have to go back some day so that there can be follow up blogs!

I tried to add a couple of the islands, but the photo galleries are pretty resource intensive so I will just do each island with short individual posts.

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Papeete, Tahiti to Tiputa, Rangiroa – Day 1 June 8-9, 2024

After a tour of Western Tahiti including a stop at Te Fare Iamanaha (Museum of Tahiti and her Islands) we were transported to the Paul Gauguin for boarding around 3:30 or so on Saturday afternoon. It is always a bit magical when you walk into your cabin and your baggage is sitting there, there is a bottle of chilled wine (courtesy of our travel consultant) and your cabin steward(ess) greets you and chats you up for five minutes. We ended up four doors down from our 2018 cabin, starboard side, cabin 425.

Back to the museum. This is an amazing, must see stop if you are in Tahiti. It is a very modern, well-appointed museum with incredible exhibits describing Polynesian flora, fauna, geology, history and culture. While the very attractive and accurate geology, plate tectonics and “hot spot” depictions initially attracted us, the cultural exhibits really grabbed our attention. There were several exhibits that chronicled and for those of us with unpredictable attention spans, showed with very detailed and attractive mapping, videos of the history of the Polynesian migration through the South Pacific. The migration is one of the things that has been in the back of my sometimes-cluttered mind since seeing Kon Tiki. I had this vision of a bunch of heavily tatted Polynesians sitting on the beach after a successful day fishing shooting the breeze. In my mind, I saw one of them sipping a coconut milk (maybe a bit fermented) turning to his buddies and saying “Hey, let’s get in the canoe and sail east until we find more land”. The other guys I’m sure scoffed at the idea and then the guy with the crazy idea sealed all of their fate when he asked, “what’s the matter, are you scared?” We may never actually know what their specific motivations were. Nor will we ever know how many of those canoes left and never found land and never returned home. However, Polynesian stories and lore supported with numerous archeological studies have provided a few ideas that are described in detail in this museum. Don’t miss it!!!

After the requisite lifeboat drill and a stop at the La Veranda restaurant (deck 6 aft) to set up dinner reservations for the trip, we enjoyed our first night dinner at the L’Etoile restaurant (deck 5 aft) as the Gauguin left the dock to begin the 210 NM or so overnight voyage heading northeast to Rangiroa in the Tuamotu Islands.

The Tuamotu archipelago (def: a group of islands closely scattered in a body of water) consists of about 80 islands and atolls, Rangiroa being the largest atoll in the Tuamotu Islands. An atoll is a ring-shaped island that includes a coral rim that encircles or creates a lagoon. However, the coral ring is generally not contiguously above sea level. There are about 100 or so shallow and narrow passes that open into the Rangiroa lagoon.

A short diversion here for geology. The Tuamotu Islands sit on a large underwater plateau oriented from the northwest to the southeast. While volcanic in origin, the Tuamotu Islands are now predominately composed of coral. Geologists continue to study the underlying tectonic forces that created not only the Tuamotu Islands, but the Society Islands, the Marquesas, the Pitcairn-Gambier, Hawaii and several other island chains in Polynesia. Until recently, the formation of these islands was more or less universally attributed by geologists to mantle hot spots which are (relatively stationary) sources of upwelling of hotter magma from the mantle which then either directly or indirectly finds its way through the crust sometimes along crustal fractures that have formed in the tectonic plate. While I am not one to strongly question long held geologic beliefs, I would point out that it was not until the 1970’s when geologists accepted the whole concept of plate tectonics and wandering continents. For the sake of brevity, because it is absolutely clear that all of these islands have a volcanic origin composed of basalt from subsea magma and they all pretty much are oriented in similar directions, let’s go with the hot spot theory.

Then we have to answer the question how did the atolls of the Tuamotu Islands form? An atoll is the result of several geologic and biologic processes.

  • A volcanic island forms beginning as a subsurface volcanic vent which eventually rises above the ocean surface. The size of the Rangiroa lagoon suggests that there were several volcanic vents and cones within this area.
  • Corals begin to build a fringing reef around the volcanic island.
  • Over time, the volcanic material that created the island erodes and sinks (really???) below the ocean surface. What remains of the volcanos are now subsurface features within the lagoon. The maximum depth of the lagoon is currently about 115 feet.
  • The coral reef continues to grow upward and outward, eventually forming a ring-shaped structure with a central lagoon.

As an interesting aside, the last glacial maximum occurred about 20,000 years ago. During this period because significant water was tied up as ice, sea levels worldwide were about 400 feet lower than they are now. The Tuamotu islands were probably above water as volcanic cones with ringing lagoons. Some other miscellaneous Rangiroa facts and figures. The lagoon is 50 miles long and from 2 to 20 miles wide. The population of Rangiroa is about 2,500 or so. There are two primary passes in the reef. Daily tidal fluctuations move significant volumes of water and thus nutrients and sea life in and out of the lagoon. The only source of potable water is cisterns with collected rainwater and runoff.

Finally – Rangiroa!! I think the Tiputa Pass entrance and the overall geography of the atoll were what impressed us the most about Rangiroa. With a close second of the scenery and the absolute potential impact on the inhabitants’ homes and way of life that a significant change in sea level would cause.

The video below (click on it — it might work) is of the Gauguin making its way through the sporty waters of the Tiputa Pass. Looks like it would be a bit of a nail biter on a 44-foot sailboat. Would have go to all of the trouble of checking tide tables, timing the entrance, hoping the motor did not die ….

Our day in Rangiroa started with breakfast at the grill on deck 8 adjacent to the pool. Joni was very excited to find that on the Gauguin, bacon means crispy bacon! We caught an early tender to shore and walked across the atoll from the lagoon to the Pacific beach, paralleling and enjoying the views of the pass. We found an appropriate view of the shore and beach and placed a bit of Jeff in a spot that we were pretty confident he would have selected as an easy chair-boat drink spot. After dropping off Jeff, we noticed that there were a couple of the local dogs fishing. Something that we had never seen before. Did not say they were catching, but no question they were fishing.

After getting back to the ship, there was a bit of time to hang out at the pool with a drink of the day and then a moon fish carving demonstration. As we left Rangiroa, again transiting a fairly sporty pass, the looming sunset and clouds caught our eye as we embarked on an almost 600 NM passage northeast to the Marquesas.

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South Pacific – June 7 – June 30, 2024 – OVERVIEW

It has taken a bit of time to put together my thoughts for this trip and convey the essence of the experience. First a little background. In 2020, we decided to do a South Pacific vacation on the MV Paul Gauguin for a 14-day trip that highlighted the Marquesas Islands with stops along the way at two Tuamotu atolls and three Society islands. We planned this trip with our yacht club friends, Carl and Mary. Then the great covid disruption…sigh. We eventually rescheduled for June 2024.

We had been on the Paul Gauguin in 2018 on a 10-day Commodores Cruise with our yacht club and had been overwhelmed by the scenery, the native population, the overall calm that the islands create, the geology, the ship, the service and the crew which all went into the 2020 decision making process. In addition, we had always wanted to take our boat to the South Pacific. However, as time passed, it seemed more enjoyable to have an 8-hour flight to Papeete, be transported in air-conditioned comfort to a dayroom at the Intercontinental hotel for lunch and boat drinks, then transported to the ship where the accommodations are incredible, have all of our beyond phenomenal food prepared and served, our clothes washed, our room cleaned, turned down and attended to at least twice a day, others taking care of ship maintenance… you get the idea on the motivation for the decision.

Intercontinental Hotel, Faa’a, Tahiti

Before getting too far into this, on top of the daily/hourly adventures, there was a BIG adventure during this trip. It so happened that the Commodores Cruise for our yacht club this year was a 7-day Tahiti and Society Island trip that immediately followed our 14-day voyage. Invoking the almost always successful argument that you only have so many trips around the sun and adding that we were thoroughly enamored with the whole South Pacific experience, Joni and I asked “How can we argue that logic?” and extended our stay on the Paul Gauguin for an additional 7-days so that we could not only experience exotic locales with exotic names, but we could also do it in the company of 56 yacht club members. Joni, wrangled, bargained and cajoled and thanks to her persistence, we had seven more days on the Gauguin.

The Paul Gauguin is a smaller ship, just over 500 feet long with 9 decks and a “tailgate” marina and was designed specifically to get into anchorages in the archipelagos of the South Pacific. There are three restaurants, and four strategically located adult beverage stations staffed with very personable and friendly mixologists. The ship also includes all of the amenities you expect from a cruise ship, pool, fitness center, overpriced ships store and entertainment at several venues on-board. In all, there are 217 crew members on board. On the 14-day trip there were 256 passengers with 180 French folks … Incroyable! On the 7-day trip there were 280 passengers.

At Anchor – Rangiroa, Tuamotus
At Anchor – Opunohu Bay, Moorea, Society Islands
At Anchor-Atuona, Hiva Oa, Marquesas
The Back Porch
Looking Forward – Deck 8 From Lunch Table
Sunset From Our Cabin Window
Piano Bar
La Palette – Deck 8 Aft Bar with Carl and Mary
Pool Bar

We were also on a mission on this trip. Our good friend of at least 40 years, Jeff Inshaw passed away unexpectedly last year. Jeff and Marie were avid sailors, travelers and adventurers who visited, sailed and loved Franch Polynesia. Marie asked us to place some of Jeff’s ashes in a scenic spot in the islands. We took that assignment very, very seriously and in general being over-achievers, happily made sure that we left a little of Jeff in at least one location on every island that we visited.

I am not yet sure how this series will turn out and what the format will be. Since we took a combined 1,850+ photos, I will only be posting some of those in future blogs. I’m also pretty sure I will get carried away with some geologic ramblings and an unusual addition of some cultural discussions. In the end, the short story is, get to the Tuamotus before they are inundated and while there, see the rest of French Polynesia.

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Capital Reef National Park – May 7 – 8 2024

The name Capital Reef was given to this area by early settlers for a couple of reasons. The first settlers decided that the Navajo Sandstone outcrops resembled the dome of the Capitol building in Washington, DC. It is not clear which naming came first, but this one gets my vote; prospectors visiting the area (many with nautical backgrounds) referred to the Waterpocket Fold, an 87-mile-long ridge in the earth’s crust, as a reef, since it was a formidable barrier to transportation.

The Cliff Notes version of Capital Reef Geology supplements other blog posts. The park is still on the Colorado Plateau, so the geologic formations are comprised of many thousands of feet of sedimentary rocks deposited in a variety of environments. The readily visible formations include the Cutler Formation (White Rim Sandstone member) which is a 280-million-year-old (myo) coastal sand dune deposit; the Kaibab Limestone a 270 myo shallow sea deposit; the Moenkopi Formation a 245 myo mud and sandstone formation deposited in shallow seas and flood plains; the Chinle Formation (225 myo) which was deposited primarily in higher energy rivers and consists of petrified logs, sands, muds and windborne volcanic ash; and the Wingate sandstone, the Kayenta Formation and the Navajo Sandstone. The final three formations were deposited primarily under arid desert conditions demonstrated by extensive cross bedding (see pictures). The actual age of these final three formations is somewhat controversial allowing pompous white gentlemen geologists in their late 70’s and 80’s to sit around in big soft leather chairs smoking their pipes, sipping scotch to harumph and rail at the youngsters. In deference to both groups, let’s say the Wingate is 205 myo and the Kayenta and Navajo are younger with the Kayenta deposited between the Wingate and Navajo which was deposited from 190 to 180 mya. Due to the Waterpocket Fold/Monocline, a deep fault caused flexure in the earth’s surface, the older formations are visible on the west side of the park and the younger formations more visible on as you move east. Just to close this out, the uplift and erosion that has created the scenery and views is relatively young, having occurred in the last 45 – 20 million years.

Wow, that got a little out of hand. Sometimes a fit of geologic accuracy hits and you just have to go with it. Since one picture is worth at least 5,000 of my words, here is a NP generated section of the Waterpocket monocline.

We arrived at Capital Reef on the day that they closed the majority of the scenic road for the entire summer to facilitate repairs and rejuvenation. However, we were able to get to Grand Wash along the shortened scenic road which was our long hike trail selection. While the full trail goes from the scenic road through to state highway 24, we opted to do a 3.8 mile out and back portion from the trailhead parking area through the Narrows area. The Wash is an up to 850-foot-deep canyon resplendent with geology and rocks everywhere. We had decided that the canyon walls were about 150 to 200 Joni’s high based on a visual estimate. The hike began with chilly and blustery weather. However, once in the canyon, the winds were blocked, and the sun warmed it up nicely. One of the social highlights of the hike was an encounter with a University of Alaska geology field trip class. Nice bunch of kids who seemed to be pretty focused on their task.

We also hit the Gifford House and bought a couple of pies, the petroglyph site along Utah Highway 24, Panorama Point and the Goosenecks before returning to a Mexican restaurant for the requisite post hike beer and feast.

That wraps up the May Southern Utah trip. We had a great time with Joy, Larry, Cheyenne and Louie and thoroughly enjoyed their hospitality and the opulent RV accommodations. As I have aged, I appreciate the whole concept of more or less regular showers, no-fuss hot coffee in the morning, cold beer in the evening and flush toilets even while “roughing it”.

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Utah Highway 12 – May 6, 2024

If you have not traveled Utah State Highway 12 from Bryce Canyon to Torrey, Utah, (Capital Reef NP) it is well worth the trip. Joni and I left Ruby’s as Joy and Larry were working on getting the snow cleared off of the Motorhome slides and we headed east for our adventure. Because of the numerous grades and winding road, Joy and Larry elected to head to Torrey on a more RV friendly road.

I could write about the enroute geology, but it would go on for pages. There were canyons, and passes, most with some snow from the previous days storm. There was the Escalante Petrified Forest State Park just West of Escalante, Ut with a fun little trail, large areas of surficial bedrock that the highway traversed and from a geologic perspective, cross bedding, red rock formations, sandstones, angular unconformities, faults and baby hoodoos. All coupled with huge vistas of awe-inspiring views. As we approached Torrey from the south the views were capped off with 180-degree views of the Waterpocket fold (Capital Reef) and the Henry Mountains rising behind Capital Reef.

This one is just going to have to go with pictures.

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Bryce Canyon National Park – May 4 – May 5, 2024

Day 2 of park exploration was decidedly lower key with all hiking being short jaunts along the amphitheater rims. We started at the far south end of the Bryce Canyon Scenic Drive at the Rainbow Point, Yovimpa Point, and Bristlecone Loop Trial which is a low key 1.4-mile loop with spectacular views to the northeast, southwest and south. For those not well versed in topographic maps, we stayed in the area where the contours were further apart, thus saving our thighs and calves from further abuse.

Heading back north, we stopped pretty much at every stop and overlook and OOHed and AHHed at the views. The picture set below includes those. We then stopped for an extended stay at the Natural Bridge Overlook for some pretty stupendous pictures and views. Continuing our travels north we stopped at Fairview Point and Piracy Point where there was a short rim walk of about 0.6 miles. Best part about hiking and walking was always the beer at the end of the day.

While staying at Ruby’s campground in the motorhome, we ate in with some great meals. Joni had made a large batch of Sangria and then a second batch which was well received. Joy and Joni had collaborated on menu items, and we ate like royalty. Mostly simple breakfast, lunch of cheese, crackers, cold meat, leftovers and dinners that included tri-tip and scalloped potatoes and other fine combos.

On the late afternoon and evening of the 4th, the weather started getting rough. The big RV was tossed. If not for the courage of the fearless crew and Sangria….. In any case, we had high winds and decreasing temperatures. We made a quick foray into the park on the morning of the 5th to stop at the park store and secure the obligatory knick-knacks then returned to the RV for a day of just hanging out. Larry and I tore into his wiper motor circuit which was not working and making travel in rain and snow somewhat unpleasant. We did not succeed in fixing it, but we did narrow the problem down.

The out of the gray of the western sky a slowly building snowstorm which because of the high winds and applying authors right to embellish, turned into a blizzard, garnered extreme interest for an hour or so.

Bryce Canyon – scenery, geology beer. All of the perks that pushed me into a 43-year career.

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Bryce Canyon National Park – May 2 – May 3, 2024

We met up with Joy and Larry at Las Vegas after driving north in the jeep and did a little Vegas sightseeing including trying out a beer garden right above the strip — very civilized and excellent beer selections. On leaving LV, we caravanned north to Bryce Canyon City where they had a reservation for the motorhome at Ruby’s RV Park and Campground (elev 7,661 ft asl +-). Based on the business names in the town, Ruby owns it all.

Bryce Canyon is famous for its hoodoos, expansive views from the large amphitheaters and the red rocks. The park is located at the top of the Grand Staircase (see picture below — south is on left and north to right) designated as the Pink Cliffs. Geologically it is home to some of the younger sedimentary rocks in the Colorado Plateau, deposited 50 to 30 mya in lakes and floodplains. The uppermost formation is the Claron formation which is predominately limestone and mudstone and the home of the hoodoos, natural amphitheaters, fins and walls that provide stunning views and hiking opportunities.

Hoodoos started life as flat lying layers of sedimentary materials deposited at or near sea level in lakes and floodplains. Keep in mind that the maximum elevation in the park is about 9,115 ft asl. How on God’s great flat earth did those rocks climb that high?? Tectonics baby!!

On the cartoon above, west is left, and east is right and there is about 1,000 miles between the east and west edge of the cartoon. As you read this, be aware that not all geologists wrap their arms around and hug this interpretation… but every science has its nay sayers. Would not be fun if we all shook our heads knowingly. Anyway, the Farallon Plate is one of the grandaddies of tectonic plates, at one time covering a significant area of the Pacific Ocean. It’s gone now, replaced by the Pacific Plate and a few others. But in its day, it was slowly and inexorably diving eastward under the North American Plate (the continental core) which was also moving westward and had its western boundary pretty much along the Interstate 15 corridor. To simplify it, think of shoving a pile of four or five pizza boxes under each other. As the first and second box go beneath the third and fourth, they rise up. Add a little heat to the mass and things get really exciting.

Anyway, back to hoodoos. This description is from the NPS geology section in the Bryce Canyon literature. The elevation in which Bryce Canyon is located receives both above freezing temperatures and below freezing temperatures over 170 nights out of the year. That is more than half of the days of the year in which Bryce Canyon reaches above/below freezing temperatures in the same night! This is crucial to creating the hoodoos. When water (from either rain or snow that has melted) seeps its way into the cracks in the rock, it resides there. Hours later, when Bryce Canyon is met with freezing temperatures, the water trapped inside the rock begins to freeze into ice. When water freezes into ice, it expands by 9%! This expansion into ice causes tremendous pressure on the surrounding rock, and thus causes it to break apart. This process is known as “ice wedging”, because the ice is literally wedging apart the rocks. From a plateau, eventually the rocks break down into walls, windows, and then as individual hoodoos.

Part of the beauty of the hoodoos comes from their strange patterns. The shape of the hoodoos is attributed to slight variances in the material which comprises the rock. If you recall from the “deposition” section above, there are multiple types of rocks that make up Bryce Canyon. All of the rocks contain abundant calcium carbonate (CaCO3), a mineral that dissolves when it comes into contact with even slightly acidic water. When it rains at Bryce Canyon, the (slightly) acidic rain is enough to dissolve the calcium carbonate that holds these rocks together and allows them to erode into their current shape (and continues to shape them). When you look at the Hoodoos you will notice some layers that jut out, and some that indent inwards. This is a result of the rocks having varying amounts of calcium carbonate cementation and that controls how easily dissolvable (or how resistant) that rock layer is.

Almost all of the longer hikes in the park start at the top of the plateaus and work their way down through the hoodoos to the base of the Claron formation and then back up hill to the vehicle and beer and sandwiches. In what turned out to be a stroke of serendipity, due to weather changes, we did the longer hike that we had planned on our first full day in the park. We did the Navajo Loop and Queens Garden Trail which was a 3-mile 652-foot elevation change trail and then added the Sunrise Point to Sunset Point 1.1-mile trail to get back to the parking lot. All of the pictures below are of Day 1 in the park. Note the switchbacks, the closed Wall Street Trail and the natural bridges. A phenomenal hike with breathtaking scenery (literally on the hike up the cliffs).

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The Colorado Plateau – May 1, 2024 (Geology and maybe a picture or two)

Recently this blog and the gollywobbler domain were migrated to a new hosting service due to previous hosting service wanting almost 4 times the annual fee that the new host, which is faster and more focused on WordPress blogs wanted to charge…. Not that I won’t be in the same boat in three years. But that is in three years.

The motivation for this blog is to lay a foundation for a trip taken in early May to southern Utah that will be chronicled in blogs that follow.

Grand Canyon Trust

The Colorado Plateau is a physiographic/geologic province that is only partially in Colorado and is characterized by mountains, deserts, domes, hoodooos, fins, reefs, canyons, basins and (wait for it…..) plateaus. The elevation varies from 2000 ft. above sea level (asl) in the Grand Canyon to over 12,000 feet asl in the Henry and LaSal Mountains in southeastern Utah. The major drainages are the Colorado River which drains over 90% of the Colorado Plateau with notable contributions from the Rio Grande River. If you look closely at the map above, you can see a boundary outline of the Plateau.

Geologically, the Colorado Plateau is not an area of large-scale cataclysmic geologic processes acting over short periods of time. Rather the geology and resulting landforms we see are the result of continental deposition of primarily sedimentary formation and somewhat hidden tectonics that have acted over large areas over long periods of time and eventually caused uplift of formations of almost 3 km. Geologic processes have been relatively low key for over the last 600 million years. The seas came in and the seas went out. The geology of the Plateau area is comprised predominately of more or less flattish or gently dipping sedimentary rock units deposited in deserts, lakes, oceans depending on the geography du jour. Granted, there are areas of metamorphic formations (Vishnu Schist (1,700 million years ago) at the bottom of Grand Canyon) and igneous rocks (Henry Mountains, LaSal Mountains, Ute Mountains, extrusive plateau-topping volcanics and others all relatively young) and faults (Hurricane, Sevier, Toroweap and others) that all played a part in what we see today.

Uplift of the area creating what we see today was due to tectonic stresses that began almost 60 million years ago when the area began a slow upward migration that eventually amounted to over 2-3 km of uplift. With uplift comes inevitable erosion and the landscapes and sweeping vistas that we see today began and that continue to form. The picture below is a 3-dimensional cartoon of the geologic cross section of the plateau representing a side view of the geometry of the geologic structures and a simplified surface view of the general topography. I think the most impressive thing about this drawing is that it shows graphically that at Zion, Arches, Bryce, Capital Reef and Canyonlands National Parks as well as over most of the rest of the Colorado Plateau, the breath-taking vistas, scenes and geologic formations at the Grand Canyon are all still buried below those parks and the cliffs, often referred to as the Grand Staircase. So, if humans can survive, in another 60 million years the entire plateau area may be incised canyons, magnificent vistas and tourist destinations.

Again, not to give the wrong impression, there are fascinating geologic phenomena to study on the plateau. However, probably fascinating only to geoscientists. There is oil and gas exploration, development and production, mining and minerals and features only geologists love that if I delved into them readers would soon lose the will to live let alone read about. In the end, the sheer beauty and splendor of the Colorado Plateau is the main attraction.

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Anza Borrego State Park – Sandstone Canyon – March 7, 2024

On Tuesday morning after enjoying more of the sculptures near Borrego Springs, we headed back to the southern portion of the park to an area called Fish Creek Wash which includes Sandstone Canyon at about the 14-mile mark in the wash. A geologically fascinating area where the geologic history spans over 200 million years. While it was all amazing, the sheer number of recent fossils (shells, stems, seeds, worms, burrows and small coral) deposited in shallow seas near the end of the last glaciation was staggering. Apparently, there are wooly mammoth and other recognizable critter fossils in the area also. We did not see them, but in our first foray up the road, we stayed pretty close to the track.

Just beyond where we turned west up the wash there is an active gypsum mine. US Gypsum has been actively working the mine since the 1920’s.  The gypsum deposit is approximately 250 feet deep, and characteristics of the gypsum indicate that it was probably deposited by underwater thermal vents when this area was part of the Imperial Sea. Millions of years ago, the Imperial Sea existed as far north as the Coachella Valley which includes the Salton Sea and area north of there. From the south shore of the Salton Sea to Mexico, the area is designated as the Imperial Valley. Fossil remains of corals, mollusks and sand dollars indicate that the Imperial Sea existed before the Americas were joined at the Isthmus of Panama — a connection existed between the Caribbean Sea and the eastern tropical Pacific Ocean.

The road was very interesting and a fun drive. A bit washboarded (my watch recorded almost 30,000 steps in the 24-mile drive), but just more reason to add a small tire compressor to the on-board equipment so that we can depressurize the tires and smooth out the ride. Amazing canyons varying from wide area vistas to slot canyons. There is a primitive camping area up on a terrace above the canyon floor a few miles in that looked like a nice spot to spend a night. Most of the trail is on BLM land and there are a couple of areas that are closed off, but there were ample other camping spots available.

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Anza Borrego State Park – Sculptures and Flowers – March 6, 2024

After a very nice lunch, we checked into the park headquarters and got the info on where the desert flowers were blooming. We headed to the suggested locations. The flowers were amazing! We had no trouble finding them and spent a fair amount of time enjoying them and taking photos. The photos of sculptures and flowers can be seen below.

On our way back to our accommodations we were distracted along the way when we saw large metal sculptures of mostly prehistoric animals, dinosaurs and even a serpent of some sort. These sculptures sit on public land. They were commissioned by a local resident and developer. A Perris, California artist named Ricardo Breceda created the 130 sculptures distributed around the Borrego Springs area. Our sculpture viewing slopped over into the trip to Sandstone Canyon shown in the next post.

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