Sandstone Dreaming
What can I say? I grew up amongst the stuff. I miss it.
I can feel the rough grit of sandstone on my bare skin. I can feel the gritty, suspended sediment load in the runoff. I can smell the heady scent of wet sand, silt and clay. I can smell the earthy scent of rain and snow wetting the stone. The ultra-fragrant wet sage teases my senses. I can smell the hard-to-penetrate river-lining tamarisk. Fragrant cacti blooms catch my nose. I can feel the cool, wet wind retaining a hint of winter. The high desert spring taunts my soul...
Catching a bit of weather, four major towers from the Fisher Towers group are shown in the following pic. Left to right rise Kingfisher, Echo Tower, Cottontail and the Titan. In short, big leagues climbing on dangerous and difficult mudstones with a colorful climbing history. Look them up.
I've previously posted the following pics along the way in one form or another. Since the Moab mountain bike and hiking season begins a little over a month from now, I thought it all right to have a little tease post of one of my favorite regions. Let's start with the Onion Creek area of Professor Valley. I hope you enjoy the pics.
Amasa Back, Moab, Utah
Behind the Rocks, Moab, Utah
Princess Plume
Horsethief Bench, Loma, Colorado
Big drop onto Horsethief Bench from Mary's Loop, Loma, Colorado
Horsethief Bench, Colorado
Moab, Utah
Behind the Rocks, Utah
Dead Horse Point, Utah area and a sand-trap
Climbers on Ancient Art, Fisher Towers, Utah.
Sunrise on Castleton Tower (far left tower), Utah
Success on Ancient Art's summit
Arches National Park
I hope you enjoyed the show.
Adios
Thanks, I enjoyed it very much! Those towers are breathtaking.
ReplyDeleteSome of the hills in the "Behind the Rocks" photos remind me of the hills in the North Dakota Badlands at Teddy Roosevelt NP - same rounded shape, same suggestion of having been pared from the top down by rain and water flow. (Only the ones in ND were striated, whereas these look solid red.)
Happy almost-Moab season!