Utah Autumn 2005 - Golden Aspens and Redrock
, the largest island in the lake. It is a state park.
We only saw the beautiful Mormon Temple from the road, being non-Mormon we would not have been able to gone inside. We heard we were in Salt Lake City on the busiest weekend of the year after we were unable to find a parking place the Saturday night. We learned that it was the 200th anniversary of Brigham Young's birthday.
Every time we had skied in the mountains of the west I had wanted to see the Quaking Aspens when they were in their fall colors. It was such a delight to see these beautiful trees in their golden finery. We went hiking up at Brighton Ski resort where we saw these aspens glowing under the brilliant blue sky. Aspens often send out underground roots and grow as cloned clumps.
Brighton Ski Resort October 2, 2005
These Aspen trunks have interesting patterns on them.
This Utahraptor displayed at the Dinosaur Museum was the inspiration for the raptors in the famous kitchen scene in the first Jurassic Park movie.
Greasewood; Sarcobatus vermiculatus
Goosefoot Family Arches NP October 7, 2005 This small shrub has thick, waxy, succulent leaves and flat, papery flowers.
Cliffrose; Purshia (Cowania) mexicana
Rose Family Navajo name - Awééts'áál Translation = baby cradle Dead Horse Point State Park, Utah October 4, 2005 These flowers were on their last blooms of the season when I found them. I liked the long, fluffy seeds (following photo).
These potholes were filled by the rain on Whale Rock. Potholes provide homes for fairy and tadpole shrimp, red-spotted and spadefoot toads, microscopic organisms, algae, and some small aquatic insects. Potholes in areas of high-traffic hiking are often sterile, oils from peoples' hands kill the animals. The animals and organisms can withstand summer soil temperatures of up to 140 degrees and weeks of below freezing temperatures in winter by going into a dormant state until the potholes fill with water and conditions improve.
We waited out the storm at Canyonlands and we were rewarded at the Grand View Overlook. This is the end of the road at the Island in the Sky section of the park. We are standing at the edge of the mesa, far below the Colorado river cuts through the plateau. Views like this really make you appreciate the power of water over very long periods of time! (photo by a bystander)
This little Red-spotted Toad probably started its life in a desert pothole.
Packrat middens have been studied by scientists to learn about the plant life in ancient times. Some plant material up to 40,000 years old has been found in caves and other well-protected areas!
after renting our car. The water was very low, so we had to walk about 1/4-mile to get to the shoreline. As we were walking I spied a strange white cloud approaching. I snapped this photo just before it hit us. Ken yelled, "We can't outrun it!" and suddenly we were overtaken by violent winds. We had been caught up in a salt whirlwind. What a wild welcome to Utah! map...
Erect Gumweed; Grindelia fastigata
Composite Family Salt Lake City, UT Gumweeds have sticky bracts, which give the plants their common name.
spp. Brighton Ski Resort October 2, 2005
This Aster was very common in the mountains of Utah. There are about a "gazillion" different kinds of asters in the U.S.
is a beautiful surprise to see plunging over the cliff along the highway along Provo Canyon.
A view of a simulated dig at the Dinosaur museum.
Dead Horse Point State Park and Canyonlands National Park
we stopped to enjoy seeing the Merrimac and Monitor mesas.
was done mostly from the car. Just as we entered the park the wind picked up and blew quite hard, the precursor of a violent rain and hail storm. I snapped this view at Canyonlands during a short break in the storm. The colors and textures of the plants and rocks in the park make for a photographer's dream! map...
Kris on Whale Rock at Canyonlands NP. The rain and hail storm had passed when we climbed the huge red sandstone rock. However, the temperature had dropped drastically and wind was still blowing quite hard when we got up there so we didn't stay long.
At the end of a long day I snapped this photo of our shadows at Canyonlands NP. Our really long legs are just an optical illusion due to the layout of the rocks! The rocks at the right in the distance are the Washer Women.
was gathering food along the Devil's Garden trail. It is important not to feed the small animals in the parks, no matter how much they beg or how cute they look. Chipmunks and ground squirrels store food in their dens for the winter. Human food, like potato chips or cheese puffs, will rot and the animals could starve to death over the winter. Also, some of these animals can carry the Bubonic Plague organism, which is spread by fleas. So, just enjoy the little critters from a distance!
Desert varnish is a dark stain found on many sandstone rocks in southeast Utah. Scientists believe it may be a combination of iron and manganese bound by bacteria in areas where the rock has water flowing over it in wet times.
This dessicated, salt-encrusted Sea Gull was washed up on the beach.
Rubber Rabbitbrush; Chrysothamnus nauseosus
Composite Family Navajo Name - K´iiłtsoi Nitsaaígíí Salt Lake City, Utah October 1, 2005 This is one of the most common wildflowers blooming in the western states during the fall, it adds a ribbon of color along the roadsides. I have added the Navajo names, and in some cases the translations, to some of the wildflowers. I will not however, attempt the pronunciations! :) Navajo is an extremely difficult language, it is no wonder they were the "Code Talkers" during World War II!
spp. / Snapdragon Family Brighton Ski Resort October 2, 2005 I was surprised to see this pretty pink Indian Paintbrush blooming so high in elevation at such a late date along the trail as we hiked along a ski trail at Brighton. 6.2.spi.2
This Aster was growing in a crack in a cliff in Big Cottonwood Canyon.
Rock layers like these can be found all along the highways in middle Utah. It is interesting to try to read the geologic layers.
rise dramatically from the valley floor.
is located about 30 miles southeast of Moab. It is a short sidetrip on the way to Canyonlands National Park and well-worth the drive. It is easy to see the power of water when you see a vista like this. map...
Canyonlands has some pretty, but prickly cactus, another good reason to stay on the trails!
This little pine tree has found a tight spot to grow at the base of Whale Rock at Canyonlands.
"Don't Bust the Crust!" signs were prevalent in all the tourist areas of the parks. In this photo are 2 trails cut by careless tourists at Canyonlands. Damage to the cryptobiotic crust can take between 50 to 250 years to recover from the footsteps of thoughtless people!
is a fascinating set of arches found near the end of the Devil's Garden trail. The La Sal mountains can be seen far off in the distance. Earlier in the week they had been dusted with snow. The lower opening in the arch is low enough for an agile hiker to shimmy through. It is amazing to think that ice and tiny grains of sand have cut through solid rock over the eons to form these spectacular arches.
These pretty orange lichens are common on the rocks of southeast Utah. Acids in lichens can contribute to the slow breakdown of rock.
The salt content of the Great Salt Lake is much higher than the ocean. The only animals able to survive the high salinity are brine shrimp and brine flies. The sand on the beach of Great Salt Lake is not made of small pieces of rock or broken shells. The tiny gray spheres of sand are made of mineralized brine shrimp droppings. The sand in this photo is coated in dry salt and minerals.
Brighton Ski Resort is beautiful in the fall covered in a crazy quilt of aspens and evergreens. map...
was crawling across the trail when we hiked on a trail at Brighton Ski Resort. These beetles can spray a nasty liquid from their abdomen. Ken once picked up a similar type of beetle in New Mexico, it sprayed him with a smelly, boiling hot liquid. I had seen the beetles on nature shows on TV, so I warned him about touching it, I guess he had to find out the hard way! :) 6.5.spi.1
, Robert Redford's exclusive ski resort and his ranch, are located on the flanks of this lovely mountain.
On our drive down Hwy. 6 on the way to Moab, we stopped in the town of Price to visit the College of Eastern Utah Dinosaur Museum. 90% of the fossils displayed in the museum were found in the Utah area. The Morrison Formation sandstone dates from the Jurassic Era 208 - 144 million years ago, it has numerous dinosaur fossils. map...
Russian Thistle; Salsola pestifer*
Goosefoot Family Price, UT October 3, 2005 This is the famous, or infamous (depending on how you feel about it!), "tumbleweed" of the west. When the plant dies and dries out, it breaks off at the root. The dried plant rolls in the wind spreading its seeds as it moves along.
cutting through the rock are spectacular at Dead Horse Point SP. I liked the old, dead, gray juniper tree trunks. The dark storm clouds at the right of the picture were an omen of things to come.
Upheaval Dome at Canyonlands NP is a mystery to geologists. Some scientists believe it may be the result of rock rebound after a meteorite impact. Others theorize it is a collapsed salt dome. See Upheaval Dome for more information.
The desert ecosystem is greatly influenced by this odd-looking "cryptobiotic crust", a type of soil called "cryptogamic" soil. It is made up of blue-green algae and fungi growing on bits of sand. As Blue-green algae cells, called cyanobacteria, grow slowly they secrete sticky sheaths that stick to sand particles in the soil. In a decade or more, mosses, lichens and fungi begin to grow on the surface providing a place for seeds to take root. Grasses, sagebrush and other plants can grow in the better-stabilized soil.
is the second most famous, and the largest, arch in the park. In 1991 a large section of the arch suddenly snapped off, a fortunate tourist just happened to be photographing it at the time! What luck! Tourists are no longer allowed to hike under the arch, for obvious reasons. It was hard not to think about this arch when we were near other ones!
past the Double O Arch, it made us even more determined to hike there. The single monolith was a fascinating destination.
Arches NP has numerous fins, thin sandstone outcroppings that can eventually spawn new arches.