Wednesday, December 3, 2014

Stairway to Heaven

Well, not exactly :), but it is the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument located south of Capitol Reef National Park.  We were so close we just had to zip on down there.  However, this is a H-U-G-E Monument and we basically nicked the edge of it in our sightseeing.

Spanning nearly 1.9 million acres (yes, million) Grand Staircase was established by Presidential Proclamation in 1996 when it became the Bureau of Land Management's first national monument.  According to the proclamation, "Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument's vast and austere landscape embraces a spectacular array of scientific and historic resources. This high, rugged and remote region, where bold plateaus and multi-hued cliffs run for distances that defy human perspective, was the last place in the continental United States to be mapped. Even today, this unspoiled natural area remains a frontier, a quality that greatly enhances the Monument's value for scientific study ..."

Enjoy this scenic drive with us through a small corner of this vast landscape--and it was a very, very small corner of the Monument that we visited!
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Aren't the striations in this rocky mound just absolutely amazing?  It looks like basket weaving!
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
Once again, perspective is everything.  Can you see Gary in the trees near the bottom of the picture?  That gives you some idea just how high these massive sandstone walls are.
 
 
 I just love these "holy" hills!
 
 
 How about this multiple arched wall decor?
 
 

 
Now for some panoramic vistas.
 
 
 
 
These panoramas I took with my Tablet using the 'Panorama' feature.
 
 
 
 
Back to the amazing sandstone hoodoos!

 
 
 Another arch wall carving.
 On our way out of the Monument, we hit a snowstorm!
 

Job 37:5-7
God thunders with His voice wondrously, doing great things which we cannot comprehend. For to the snow He says, 'Fall on the earth,' and to the downpour and the rain, 'Be strong.' He seals the hand of every man, that all men may know His work.

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