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Published: June 17th 2007
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Bev
At the weeping rock canyon. Water is constantly "weeping" here, but in the spring the snow melt creates a full-blown waterfall. Beverley came back from Las Vegas to spend the weekend with me, so we planned a visit to Zion National Park, which is just 45 miles from here. I don’t want to start to sound redundant but….the scenery around here is wonderful and I have never ceased to be awe struck. The power of wind and water just leaves me flabbergasted. There are no private vehicles allowed in the park but the National Parks Service offer a fleet of shuttle buses that go throughout the park from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. daily. This service cuts down on traffic noise and pollution as well as vehicle congestion. The bus goes deep into the park, stops at all the view points and starting points of walking trails -- and it’s free! One can get off, walk and enjoy one of the trails, return to the road and another shuttle bus will come along in 7 minutes or less so that you can continue your tour. If you choose to stay on the bus the total trip takes 90 minutes. I find the geological history fascinating so the following is for anyone who shares my interest.
There are five National Parks
Patriarchs
Methodist Minister, Fredrick Fisher came through Zion in 1916 and named these peaks Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in southern Utah. Zion, Bryce Canyon, Capital Reef, Arches and Canyon lands. (The north rim of the Grand Canyon is only about 150 miles away, and I thought about making that trip but I have had a full itinery since I arrived here in St. George. I’ll do the Grand Canyon another year! )
The following is some information that I have modified from National Park Service. (I’m not writing a college paper here!!)
This whole area; including the Black Canyon of the Gunnison is know as the Colorado Plateau and was an inland sea. Zion was a relatively flat 240 million years ago but as sands, gravels, and mud eroded from surrounding mountains, rivers and streams deposited them in layers. The sheer weight of these accumulated layers caused the basin to sink, so that the top surface always remained near sea level. As the land rose and fell and as the climate changed, the depositional environment fluctuated from shallow seas to coastal plains to a desert of massive windblown sand. This process of sedimentation continued until over 10,000 feet of material accumulated. In an area from Zion to the Rocky Mountains, forces deep within the earth started
Temple
Freedrick Fisher also named this area for one of the Indian Chief's named Sinawava. This is his "Great White Throne," to push the surface up. This was a very slow vertical hoisting of huge blocks of the crust. Zion’s elevation rose from near sea level to as high as 10,000 feet above sea level.
Uplift is still occurring. In 1992 a magnitude 5.8 earthquake caused a landslide just outside the south entrance of the park. Known as the Sentinel Slide area, the folks who were staying in the Zion Lodge were stuck there until rescue workers could get them out--their vehicles were not rescued however. This uplift gave the streams greater cutting force in their descent to the sea. Zion’s location on the western edge of this uplift caused the streams to tumble off the plateau, flowing rapidly down a steep gradient. A fast-moving stream carries more sediment and larger boulders than a slow-moving river. These streams began eroding and cutting into the rock layers, forming deep and narrow canyons. Since the uplift began, the North Fork of the Virgin River has carried away several thousand feet of rock that once lay above the highest layers visible today.
The Virgin River is still excavating. Upstream from the Temple of Sinawava the river cuts through Navajo Sandstone, creating a
Temple 2
This whole canyon is part of the "Temple of Sinawava" slot canyon. At the Temple, the river has reached the softer Kayenta Formation below. Water erodes the shale, undermining the overlaying sandstone and causing it to collapse, widening the canyon. Flash floods occur when sudden thunderstorms dump water on exposed rock. With little soil to absorb the rain, water runs downhill, gathering volume as it goes. These floods often occur without warning and can increase water flow by over 100 times. In 1998 a flash flood increased the volume of the Virgin River from 200 cubic feet per second to 4,500 cubic feet per second, again damaging the scenic drive at the Sentinel Slide.
I was so impressed with our visit that I decided to go to see the far west side of the park, known as Kolob Canyons, which is only about 15 miles from where I am parked by myself on Tuesday. I am glad I did. This side of the park is not accessible from the eastern edge by car and it’s been a long time since I could have hiked it although I must say I kind-of envy the young folks who are doing the back-packing into these inaccessible areas because they look amazing.
Zion -Mount Carmel Highway
This highway eventually leads to Lake Powell. or the Grand Canyon The scenery is a little different in that the sandstone cliffs have more vegetation. The cliffs also give way dramatically to flat farm land on the western edge. Change in the cliffs is also far more evident here than I saw in Zion. I am sure the trees and shrubs must contribute to the landslides. I enjoyed my trip and wanted to include some of the photos just to show the variation. In Zion main park the topography changed after going through the Zion-Mount Carmel Highway Tunnel, here in Kolob Canyon the topography changes again. I’ll let the pictures do the talking.
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