Golden Barrels

These plump round cactus are common in the Salt River Valley as ornamental plants. Most of the cactus that have the word "barrel" in their name are Ferocactus and native to the Southwest and Northern Mexico. But these "golden barrel cactus" are Echinocactus grusonii and come from east-central Mexico in the state of Querétaro. They are a rare and endangered species in the wild but there are so many of them growing in the Phoenix area, they are not likely to disappear.

Spring Cactus Flowers

I am missing the flowering cactus season in the low desert of Arizona. The trade-off is that I can see the Spring flowers along the Wasatch Front, especially the tulips and flowering trees. I am not sure it is an even trade. I really do miss the cactus.

King Saguaro

Saguaro cactus are the largest cactus that grow in the United States. They are indigenous to the Arizona-Sonora Desert and do not grow at altitudes above about 3000 feet above sea level. A cactus this size can weigh several tons and there is a report of man being killed by a saguaro plant when he shot off one of the arms with a shotgun. Unfortunately, this is not an urban legend. The event happened in 1982. You can read about in this news article:"It's a sad but true tale: Man fatally crushed by saguaro."

Theodore Roosevelt Dam

At the time it was constructed, Theodore Roosevelt Dam, in central Arizona, was the first major project under the Newlands Reclamation Act of 1902. It is the highest masonry dam in the world. Construction on the dam started in 1906 and was completed in 1911. Travel to the dam site was over what is now known as the "Apache Trail," a rugged dirt road over the Superstition Mountains and still an adventure to drive. In my years in Arizona, I drove the road many times and I am still amazed at the persistence of the dam builders who hauled endless wagon loads over the steep grades, particularly that portion of the road known as Fish Creek Hill.

Roosevelt Lake Bridge

I decided to dig back into my archives and feature a series of photos from up to six years ago. This is bridge near the Roosevelt Dam over the Salt River in central Arizona. We visited this area when an abundance of rain had raised the water level in Roosevelt Lake to higher than normal levels. I liked the contrast of the rough boulders in the foreground with the smooth sweep of the bridge.

Flash from the Past

I have been thinking about upgrading my computers and I ran across this beauty. I also need a new phone and this one seemed to fit the bill also. I can't seem to find either of them on Amazon however. I guess I will have to check eBay.

A Matter of Balance

This type of rock formation is not particularly rare in Southern Utah and Northern Arizona. But to find a lot of balanced rocks in the same relatively small area is remarkable. It is evident here that the balanced part of these formations are rocks that just happen to be harder than the surrounding rock that has all weathered away. That seems like a very simple explanation until you are actually standing there looking at the rocks, then it all seems almost impossible.

More Sandstone Rocks

It is good thing that most sandstone has little commercial value because if it did, we might have to worry more about these types of rock formations. There have been some widely publicized news stories about vandalism that involved rock formations. All of these formations are in the Escalante Grand Staircase National Monument and destruction of these formations would be a Federal crime. If you do hike out to see these formations or other similar ones, don't climb on them or whatever that might destroy them. You might like to come back some time and see them again, even if no one is around and you don't get caught.

Toadstool Formations

There are all sorts of locations such as this one scattered across the vast Colorado Plateau. Now that the weather is warming up, it is time to break out the camping gear and head south into the desert. We are planning a few trips that will likely add hundreds of additional photos for me to post on WalkingArizona. It will be nice to get back into the sandstone and open spaces of this vast wilderness of rocks.

Contrast in Spring

I am watching the Spring flowers bloom here in the Wasatch Mountains and Utah Valley, but at the same time I am missing the beautiful Spring flowers of the desert. I am not sure of the trade off. Most of my life was spent in the Arizona Sonora Desert and I love cactus and the flowers. I am just now beginning to appreciate the more delicate and less defensive plants of the high desert. I am enjoying daffodils and tulips, but they seem rather less rugged than my friends with the spines.
See my portfolio on Adobe Fotolia https://us.fotolia.com/p/205741343

Early Morning at the Needles

The last photo I uploaded had a more panoramic view of the Needles. This is a close up. I you study the foreground, you can see the canyons that are between where I am standing and the distant needle formations. There is a road that goes to this area, but it is definitely four-wheel drive.

A Wonderland of Rocks

Canyonlands National Park is a vast maze of rocks and canyons. In this view in the far distance we can see the Needles but between what we can see in the distance and where I am standing to take this photograph, there are several deep canyons. If I were to try and walk to the Needles, I would find my trip blocked by these steep, cliff-lined canyons.

Snow Mountains

The wind was blowing clouds of snow off of the mountain and made it look like a fog. To the left in the image is a glacial cirque. This is a bowl-shaped valley where an historic glacier had its origin. The piles of snow in this cirque are disputedly either a remnant of a glacier or actually still a glacier. Glaciers generally have been retreating or disappearing. This is the east side of Mount Timpanogos in the Wasatch Range of Utah.

Mountain Majesty

The mountains have started to lose their mantel of snow. Here we see the backside of Mount Timpanogos from the Alpine Loop. We drove up to where the road was still blocked by snow and then got out and walked a ways on the frozen surface of the snow. We would have gone further but the trail became slippery with ice. The weather was beautiful with dark blue sky and fluffy white clouds to set off the snow covered slopes. You can see the distinct bedding of the limestone rock that makes up most of the mountain.

Waiting for Spring

Early spring leaves have started to burst out on the bushes and trees down in the valley, but the mountains are still locked in snow. This was a warm and sunny day but the snow was still deep and there was a cold chill from the mountain breeze. These young aspen trees were not quite awake yet and ready to leaf out.

The Last of the Snow

The last of the glacier in our front yard is entirely melted and leaves are starting to come out on the trees on the hillside outside my window. The sun is out and it is getting warmer. Pretty soon, I will be taking photos of greenery and flowers. But for now, here is my last tribute to a rather snowy winter here in Utah Valley.

Canyonlands Sunrise

Sometimes the light in Southern Utah goes surreal. This is an early morning shot when the light went yellow and green. I took a whole series of shots as the light changed from minute to minute. When the sun finally got completely up, this light spread across the sky for a few seconds.

Good Bad Lands

This type of land has traditionally been called "Bad Lands." But, I think that the name is an undeserved value judgment based on valuing land merely for its vegetation. The name comes from a time when few appreciated land solely for its beauty and solitude. Later, of course, those same people who used the term, exploited the minerals and oil found in this same type of land.

Here's Looking at You

As long as I was putting up images of rocks that had facial features, I thought I would continue the series. This image is really pretty scary. I am not sure that you can see the face and the suggestion of much more, but that is what it looks like to me.

Rock Faces

Seeing faces everywhere is called pareidolia. This is either a benign result of the way our brains are wired or a serious issue with mental health. To me, almost every rock in this image has a face. I suppose that tells you something about my mental state, or not, depending on which camp you happen to be in. Well, I can remember several instances when people saw religious images in things as common as a cheese sandwich and on the floor of Terminal 3 of Sky Harbor Airport in Phoenix, Arizona. I guess my tendency is to see animals and monsters.

Monoliths

Some of this clay and sandstone just happens to be harder than the surrounding rock. As you can see the ground is almost level and the sandstone/clay monoliths seem to jump right out of the level plain. The differential weathering creates the isolated formations that are mysterious in their solitude.

Banded Clay

As I look out the window at a tree-covered mountainside, I have to remember that under that layer of vegetation, there are rocks and sand and gravel that were deposited millennia ago by the giant Lake Bonneville. In the image above, you can easily see the layers silt and clay that were deposited millions of years ago. At the base of the cliffs, you can see piles of eroded sand and clay that pile up and are then carried away by water and wind.

Temples of the Sun and Moon

By any definition, this is spectacular desert scenery. If you want to see this view however, you will have to drive over 17 miles of dirt road (one way not roundtrip) to get to Cathedral Valley. This is a shot of both the Temple of the Sun, in the near distance, and the Temple of the Moon. This is part of the Capital Reef National Park but the boundary of the Park is only about a mile or so behind where I am standing to take this photo.

Temple of the Moon

The remote Cathedral Valley and the Temple of the Moon with the other cathedral formations in the late afternoon. The wind was blowing and it was fairly chilly. We saw only two other cars on the 26+ mile dirt road on the way in. This is one of the places that have to be seen to be believed.

Light and Shade, Form and Substance

I have a hard time imagining how water, wind, sand and ice can create the variety of landforms in the deserts of Arizona and Utah. What I find interesting in this image is that the cliffs rise straight up to the overlying rock and the land in the foreground is relatively flat. The huge mesas just seem to spring straight up into the sky.