Continuing on with photos from Moab, this next set includes a hike that I took with Leo through Jackass Canyon and another set of photos from Arches NP and a visit to Delicate Arch.
Jackass Canyon with Leo finding his way up the slope below
Jackass Canyon
Leo in Jackass Canyon
Looking upstream into Jackass, into the head of the canyon - Jackass is a shorter canyon than most.
Leo catching up
Leo hugging the canyon wall
Lone Pinyon on the cliff
Leo was braver and ventured further up the wall than I did... although the photos don't show it, a slip while climbing the crack between those rocks would have resulted in a very long fall. The other side of the crack was a sheer drop as well, so no real point in venturing too far.
Sandstone detail - this sandstone, once at the bottom of an anceint sea, still shows signs of that sea and the sand from which it was formed.
Sandstone detail
Sandstone detail
Sandstone detail with cracked slates
More sandstone details taken atop a huge slab laying at the bottom of the canyon
Sandstone detail
Lichen on sandstone
Leo, now at the bottom of Jackass, looking up at passing birds
Neat patterns of lichen on sandstone
Neat patterns of lichen on sandstone
Sedimentary patterns in sandstone
In a small hollow at the bottom of Jackass, a small amount of standing water showed signs of recent coyote presence: scat and tracks!
More mud at the bottom of Jackass
Interesting pattern of lichen
Traces of the ancient sea
More traces of the ancient sea
Beetle and sandstone
Traces of the ancient sea
Found hat on sagebrush in Arches NP - looking east toward the Manti La Sal
Leo photographing distant sandstone formations in Arches
The La Sal Mountains provide an awesome backdrop for Arches NP
Balanced Rock in Arches NP - Ed Abbey must be nearby...
Balanced Rock
Playing around with my lens - I don't know if this was intentional or not.
Closeup of Balanced Rock
Balanced Rock
Balanced Rock and clouds that seem to be custom fit to its shape.
Balanced Rock
The Fiery Furnace, a section of Arches NP that, when the sun is right, lights up like a red-hot furnace. This was photographed in the middle of the day, so nothing too exciting...
The start of the walk up toward Delicate Arch, probably the world's most famous arch. The walk is less than 2 miles, so short enough to allow most people access to the view. Here you can see the line snaking up the sandstone.
The view of Delicate Arch with the La Sal Mountains in the background. I've heard that the names of Delicate and Landscape Arches were thought to have been accidentally switched long ago... Delicate Arch certainly doesn't look as delicate as Landscape Arch, and the view of/from Landscape pales in comparison to the La Sals.
Group of darn kids ruining my view!
View from Delicate Arch into a side canyon
Closer view of Delicate Arch with better view of the La Sals - kids still in the shot...
Photoshop to the rescue!
Side-view of Delicate Arch. Few people shoot this angle, but it shows the relatively slight build of this Arch that might, in the right conditions, fall over at almost any time. Hurry up and get to Moab before they all do!
View of the La Sals from Delicate Arch - no Arch in the way
the sandstone gets its red color from iron oxide. I believe what you have in these pictures is not lichen, but iron oxide staining haloed around something at the center… a bit of organic material in the original sand deposit or a mineral grain. If so, it’s actually 3-dimensional… alternating “spheres” or shells of leached and concentrated iron oxide around a central point, not just a surface feature. Google “concretions” to see a similar, more dramatic phenomenon.
9396 may be something similar on a bigger scale. I’ve been fooled by something that looked exactly like it. (Or it may be original sedimentary crossbeds, as you say. Hard for me to say from the photo)
great photos! Regarding 9389 and 9393…
the sandstone gets its red color from iron oxide. I believe what you have in these pictures is not lichen, but iron oxide staining haloed around something at the center… a bit of organic material in the original sand deposit or a mineral grain. If so, it’s actually 3-dimensional… alternating “spheres” or shells of leached and concentrated iron oxide around a central point, not just a surface feature. Google “concretions” to see a similar, more dramatic phenomenon.
9396 may be something similar on a bigger scale. I’ve been fooled by something that looked exactly like it. (Or it may be original sedimentary crossbeds, as you say. Hard for me to say from the photo)