The Grand Staircase - Escalante

Now, more about Zion and Bryce canyons and the beautiful geologic formations of the west:

Millions of years ago most of what we now know as the southwestern United States was underwater. There were numerous lakes and seas and for millions of years, layer upon layer of sand and sediment settled on the sea floor and sand dunes were formed along the shores. These were compressed to form layers of rocks. Uplifts occurred over time, moving the layers upward, and breaking them here and there. The layers were exposed to the elements and began to erode.

In the 1870's Clarence Dutton, a geologist, first identified and described this area as a grand staircase comprised of five layers.

Grand Canyon (A), Chocolate Cliffs (B), Vermilion Cliffs (C), White Cliffs (D), Zion Canyon (E), Gray Cliffs (F), Pink Cliffs (G), Bryce Canyon (H)

Although modern geologists have identified other rock formations within these layers, Dutton's 'steps' are visible in this photo, taken north of the Grand Canyon and looking north. The chocolate cliffs are toward the bottom of the photo, then the vermillion cliffs are towards the center. Above those you can easily see the white cliffs, then the gray cliffs, with the pink cliffs topping them all.

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As we drive along the highway I am always in awe of the layering of the rock along the side. It is fascinating to see. What I wasn't aware of is the geologic differences in age of the different areas we have visited. When we were in Zion, the canyon cut through the white cliffs and the gray cliffs, layers put down in the Mesozoic period, 65 - 225 million years ago. While we were at Bryce, we were seeing younger rock from the pink cliffs, formed during the Cenozoic period, 65 million years ago up to present day. Years ago, when we were at the Grand Canyon, we could see the oldest rock at the bottom of the canyon formed during the Precambrian period, over 2600 million years ago. The rock at the rim,  where we found fossils of sea life, was formed during the Paleozoic period, 225 - 570 million years ago. It is possible that the pink cliffs, the most recently formed layers of rock, at one point covered the entire area, formed on top of the layer that created the gray cliffs, which in turn covered the white cliffs and so forth. The entire southeast may have been a rich layer cake of differently colored rock formations. 

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Over time the newer layers eroded, as water moved 'downhill', which in turn removed more layers, leaving the oldest formations to the south, the next oldest formations north of that and so on, until you reach the area of Bryce canyon which is comprised of the newer rock. 

Zion National Park

We visited Zion National Park in the southwest corner of Utah. Zion was carved out of the layered sandstone formed by the sediment of ancient seas and nearby sand dunes. The main road in the park follows the river valley with immense walls of sandstone towering above.

At the bottom... looking up

 A turn in the river

Water seeping out of the rock from far above

Water dripping

I love the spiral on the right

 A hawk soars high above the canyon wall

Mr. Dreamy does his part to insure safe passage

Water from snow melt and rains continues to shape the canyon

After hundreds of years, the water will cut the rock

forming a new canyon

We drove out of the canyon as impressive rock walls

continued to astound us

In some places you could see almost perfect 'amphitheaters'

where softer rock let go of its hold and fell below 

As you climb higher in Zion, you must travel through a tunnel over 1 mile in length. It was completed in 1930. Some modern vehicles cannot fit in the tunnel unless traffic is stopped and they drive down the middle of the road. No... we won't be bringing the motorhome through the tunnel, even though we would fit. The switchbacks leading up to the tunnel are unnerving enough in a car!

As you emerge from the tunnel you are welcomed by more massive formations, but here the geology is different.  Instead of being in the canyon, you are suddenly on top, where you can see fossilized sand dunes and rock with interesting patterns of striations.

The beauty took my breath away

Checkerboard Rock

Pictures don't accurately represent what one sees in person. Pictures fail to give one the feeling of the size and grandeur of the formations. I am so glad that we had the opportunity to explore just a bit of the park.