May 28, part 1: headed toward Antelope Canyon

.

Here is a link to the interactive expedition map.


On the 28th we had reservations to go into a couple of slot canyons in Arizona.  Utah and Arizona are in different time zones.  We planned plenty of extra time so we wouldn't have to think too much about the time change.  (This was a very busy trip for time changes, because Arizona doesn't go on daylight savings.  From day to day, when we moved from place to place, we had to be aware of the time......)

Closer crop of the above -- oncoming traffic (and the road, waving off into the distance).

The view on the horizon changes.....

More unfamiliar landscapes.

We thought this looked cylindrical, as we approached it.

But no.  It was long and skinny.  I believe the lightest part of the next image is visible as the lightest part of the formation above, too.

This is another formation.

I'm pretty sure the image after this one shows another view of what we see on the left of this next image.

You can tell it's a reservoir, rather than a lake, when the water looks so ... unexpected.  Desert / water.  With no green transition.....

And here's the Glen Canyon Dam that causes this reservoir ("Lake" Powell) to exist.

Note that the rock wall at right in the next image is leaking water, supporting plants (as we saw in Zion).

A closer look at the plants on the wall.

I spotted these bright spots on the wall, but didn't realize they were trying to pin the rock surface so it wouldn't fall, until I saw this on "the big screen".....

Same as above, but the part that looks like it will be the next to fall is noted in green, and a part that looks like the surface fell recently is noted in blue.

Looking to the right of the previous few shots -- the bridge across the canyon.  I'm glad I didn't see how eager the rock surface was to fall until now (rather than understanding that eagerness before we drove over the bridge!).

On the bridge, looking south at the bottom of Glen Canyon.

Closer crop of the above.  The river was slow and green.....  I bet that's not how it looked before it was dammed..........

.

May 27 -- part 3, going to Kanab

.

Here is a link to the interactive expedition map.



Heading through southern Utah to Kanab, where we will spend two nights.  Part of this drive went through northern Arizona, but I'm not sure where we were when the pics were taken.

Note dark rocks in lower left.  The next image will be looking down at the foot of those rocks.

Blooming cactus at the foot of the rocks.

Same formation at left as in the first image in this post.

Another cactus.  I see grass, and something with pale seeds sticking out from the stem (visible against shadowed rock, upper right), and whatever that green plant is (just left of center at the top), and many lichens (maybe of different kinds?).  Lots of life here.........

Rather high, wherever we were when I took this next one.  (Note apparently lifeless trees....)

The tallest red bit in the next image is high enough that we'll see it from several different angles.  I wish I knew what it was.  (I tried uploading one of the closer images to Google, and letting it try to figure it out, but it had no idea.  Alas.)

Hazy through-the-windshield shot.

Here's the mystery mountain again.

I think we are in Arizona now, but am not sure.  Pretty sure this is looking south.

Looks like rain ahead, in this next one.  I can't remember if any rain made it to the road surface, or if it evaporated before it got there.

In Kanab we stayed in an AirBnB townhouse.  We had three bedrooms and two bathrooms.  And a washer and dryer!  And a full kitchen, of course.  We went to the grocery, and made pasta for dinner.  (Our kitchen included some really fancy pots and pans -- but had no cheese grater.  We ended up using a vegetable peeler to shave cheese over tomato sauce.)

You can't tell, but there's a fence between the townhouse property and field which sometimes had a few horses.


Here is a link to the next post about the Grand Canyon trip.

.

May 27 -- part 2, going to Kolob Reservoir

.

Here is a link to the interactive expedition map.



You may recall me saying that in order to get from one part of Zion National Park to another, one sometimes has to go outside the park, and then back in.

It has been so long, now, since I was in Utah, that I can't remember when we were in the park, and when we weren't.  Alas.  Having to deal with one trip's 4600 pictures is a first-world problem, for sure.....

We saw lots of this sort of formation.  It reminds me of being at the beach as a kid, dribbling a mixture of water and sand into a pile of layers.

Closer crop of the upper left of the above.

Kolob Reservoir is up high.....

This formation looks like a large hunk of it slid off, in the not so distant past.....

A closer crop of the part that looks newly-exposed to me.  Lines going every which way.

I bet these are quaking aspens, like the ones we saw in Bryce.  That *white* bark, and those *green* leaves.....

The land up near the reservoir was oddly Michiganian.  Flat-ish, green, and with small trees.

Here's the reservoir.  With people on it in power boats, just like on "Lake" Mead reservoir.  I will never understand putting power boats in someone else's water supply.............

At least they call a reservoir a reservoir, here, rather than pretending it's a lake.

Pine trees, rolling hills, and small bodies of water.  Very Michiganian.

Not to mention big meadows full of dandelions.

I don't know of these trees were dead, or just not quite ready to leaf out.  Everywhere we went, in the southwest, we saw sections of dead trees.  In some places there had clearly been significant fire, and/or significant bug damage.  Here ... I don't know.

Looking closer at the missing part of this hill (or whatever I should be calling it).

A closer look at the top of the formation seen above.

More of the every-which-way lines on the flanks of the above.  Wish this were nice and clear!

I'm not sure at which point we left Zion National Park for the last time on this trip.

I think this is not inside the park, but am not sure.

Here's a link to the next post about the Grand Canyon trip.

.