Midnight Sun

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”.

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.

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.

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).