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Travel
October 2015
Kensington, Chelsea & Westminster Today 59
online: www.KCWToday.co.uk
Utah Rocks:
A trip through
Arches &
Canyonlands
By Lynne McGowan
Seeing is believing. In this hot, arid
desert region of the US, there
are sights of wonder and marvel,
bizarre enough to widen your eyes and
drop your jaw. Previously, I had not given
Utah much thought, other than knowing
Salt Lake City sits on a Salt Lake and
that it’s some kind of Mormon Mecca.
Okay, I knew there was skiing, the
Sundance Film Festival is held there, and
not to forget Donny Osmond & co.
But Utah is, in fact, brimming with
natural attractions. The epic Monument
Valley, the Great Salt Lake, and Bryce
Canyon are three famous ones. It
was the two National Parks, Arches
and Canyonlands, that opened up
extraordinary other worlds, and you don’t
need a rocket to get there.
On approaching Moab there is a taste
of things to come with the previously
repetitive scrub-lands slowly giving
way to enormous pleated cliffs of rock.
Excitement mounts and on entering
Arches National Park the impact of
the natural architectural splendours hit
with full force; compared to this scenery,
the little town of Moab pales into
insignificance.
Just imagine travelling across the
universe to arrive on Mars or some
similar red rock to find yourself
stepping forth and gazing upon an alien
landscape that is surreally familiar to
Earth. There is something mesmerizing
about the divine wizardry of nature
creating structures that imitate manmade
buildings on such a colossal scale.
The results are astounding: towering
monoliths, fortresses with buttresses, and
crenelated walls whipped and licked into
shape by wind and water. Gothic-like
pinnacles, turrets, and spires simulating
castles and cathedrals soar upwards and
everywhere there are countless alcoves
and arches.
How on Earth did this landscape
come to be? Well, naturally, it is down to
the salt. The region sat under an inland
sea during the Pennsylvanian Period
around 350 million years ago and, having
dried up, left salt walls up to 3000 meters
thick and seventy miles long. These
walls pushed up overlying Jurassic rock
layers causing them to fold and deform
creating cracks and fissures. Erosion
finished the job with acidic ground water
dissolving soft cements, fresh water
seeping into bedding planes, and sand
laden winds attacking vulnerable layers
of brittle sandstone. For erosion, it is a
work in progress.
The natural monuments of the
Arches National Park, granted National
Monument status in 1929, defy
superlatives. Stretching over a geological
province known as the Colorado
plateau and over 76,359 acres in area,
there are as many as 2500 documented
natural arches. These arches vary from
the spectacular Delicate Arch, standing
twenty meters tall and depicted on
Utah license plates, to the Landscape
Arch spanning 100 meters and the eerie
Windows, which looks like a pair of giant
eyes peeping over the scrub.
Other geological creations include
the area named Park Avenue, illustrating
an earlier stage of arch development
with a row of flat Manhattan-sized rock
fins formed by deep erosion fractures.
Balanced Rock is poised at the later
stage, the result of a capsized arch, it
stands lonely and remote, reminding
me of Dali’s painting Metamorphosis of
Narcissus.
One of the rare but not unknown
hazards of meandering around and
under these arches is a rock fall or an
arch suddenly collapsing. As recently as
1991, on one chilly winter afternoon,
a group of hikers witnessed a slab of
sandstone weighing several tons hurtle
from Landscape Arch with no warning.
Luckily no one was injured but it must
have been one tremendous sight, and not
to mention fright.
Not only grand edifices are aped
by nature but also primitive domestic
objects such as kiln-fired terracotta pots,
cauldrons, and huge amphorae rimmed
with rolled necks. Long columns of
clay funnels, pipes, and chimneys stand
stacked and packed tightly along cliffs
as if on display in the Devil’s Kitchen.
Whilst hiking down below Fiery Furnace
another mysterious journey is offered
through a maze of hidden labyrinths
and narrow crevices to squeeze through.
Some of the rock wonders bear an
uncanny likeness to people, such as The
Three Gossips with headscarves and hands
on hips. The Court House Towers resemble
a circle of lawmakers in long gowns
complete with medieval
hats and ruffs.
For me, Canyonlands
provided the most
magnificent and science
fiction-esque drama,
with astounding views
across landscapes straight
out of Frank Herbert’s
Dune. The National Park
is one of the largest in
the US, covering 527
square miles wide, and
home to countless creeks,
canyons, and ravines.
Across a vast, flat valley
floor forty miles across
sit several immense
citadels all exactly
aligned and perched
atop tall buttes of rock
complete with moats and
ramparts, as if built by
some brilliant yet crazed
emperor, determined to
repel invaders.
Carved out by the
Colorado River and
Green River, this swathe
of ancient land, often
described as a magical
place, seems to be the
plunging negative terrain
to the positive uprisings
of the Arches area.
Canyonlands has its own
fair share of arches and
the hike up to Mesa Arch
was well worth the effort
in order to drink in the
breathtaking vista of an
immense canyon with
a kingdom of towers
shimmering purple
beneath.
Spending only one
day in Canyonlands
National Park prevented
us from seeing all there
is to offer such as the ethereal Island in
the Sky, a plateau of rock with La Sal
Mountains above, seemingly suspended
on a layer of cloud. Other major areas
include The Needles, featuring hundreds
of red sandstone spires, and The Maze is
rated as one of the United States’ most
enchanting but remote hiking areas.
Finally, Lin Ottinger’s Moab Rock
Shop must be mentioned as it surely
must be one of the most beguiling and
eccentric museum shops ever
Housing an impressive collection
of fossils, minerals, and chunks of
stone from dinosaur bones to genuine
native American arrowheads, Lin has
been heroically collecting, sorting,
and displaying his wares since 1960.
There is something for everyone here
and like many of the sights seen in this
fascinating rocky region of Utah it leaves
your head spinning with astonishment
and filled with unforgettable memories.
Visit: www.nps.gov/arch,
or www.nps.gov/cany
Photograph © Lynne McGowan