The weather is beautiful today. What a change from the Moab area, where we couldn't be outdoors from 11am to 4pm. Here it is cool in the mornings and mid-70's throughout the day. Perfect for hiking.
First on the agenda, though, was a call to cousin Lois for her birthday. How sweet to chat for a while and catch up. HAPPY BIRTHDAY LOIS ! I won't say how many Sept 25th's we have chatted on.
We had decided to spend the morning hiking and sightseeing, and the afternoon "resting" before taking off again tomorrow. So we drove over to the Red Canyon National Forest and walked the Pink Ledges Trail and the Hoodoo Trail, loop trails that meandered along the bottom of the red cliffs and formations. This is a nice little park, with impressive formations. It's interesting hiking on this ground, which consists mostly of ground up limestone. So its sandy, dusty, white, gravely, and slippery in some spots on the inclines. Their literature had a really good definition of hoodoos: "The mystical and magical appearance of the rocks that make Red Canyon famous, hoodoos are columns, pinnacles or pillars of rock that have variable thickness and a totem pole shaped appearance. The formation of these hoodoos started nearly 10 million years ago with the relentless agents of weathering and erosion attacking the weaker layers leaving the more resistant layers in place. These hoodoos are mainly composed of the sedimentary rock known as limestone and get their distinct pink, red and yellow coloration from tiny iron-rich clay particles contained in the rocks."
Our next stop was at Mossy Cave and Waterfall. This spot was just a bit past Bryce Canyon National Park, but started at the bottom of the valley, and not at the rim. This canyon was created by the run off from natural springs flowing down from the cliffs. A short hike went up to a "grotto", with spring-fed water dripping down into a small stream that fed into the main stream. It is quite impressive to see running water here in this semi-arid desert. It reminds me of home. But, only the area right around the stream is sort-of green, because the rest of the land is still sort of desolate. It turns out that the Mormons spent 3 years digging an irrigation ditch so this water would flow down to their ranches and town. It is still part of the water way today.
Red Canyon National Forest Hike photos:
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