Project Tag: Photographic Workshop

USA 2019 Photo Workshop (XVIII) – Arches National Park

Arches National Park contains more than 2,000 natural sandstone arches are located in the park, including the well-known Delicate Arch and Landscape Arch, as well as a variety of unique geological formations. The park contains the highest density of natural arches in the world. The national park lies above an underground evaporite layer or salt bed, which is the main cause of the formation of the arches, spires, balanced rocks, sandstone fins, and eroded monoliths in the area. Deposited in Paradox Basin of Colorado Plateau over 300 mln years ago this salt bed is thousands of meters thick in places. Later, the salt bed was covered with debris eroded from the Uncompahgre Uplift to the northeast. During the Early Jurassic (about 210 Mya), desert conditions prevailed in the region and the vast Navajo Sandstone layer was deposited. An additional sequence of stream-laid and windblown sediments, the Entrada Sandstone (about 140 Mya), was deposited on top of the Navajo. Eventualy 1,500 m of younger sediments were deposited but these have been mostly eroded away. Remnants of the cover exist in the area including exposures of the Cretaceous Mancos Shale. The arches of the area are developed mostly within the Entrada formation. The weight of this cover caused the salt bed below it to liquefy and thrust up layers of rock into salt domes and “salt anticlines” – linear regions of uplift. In some places, they turned almost on edge. The result of one such 760 m displacement, the Moab Fault, is seen from the visitor center. Over time, water seeped into the surface cracks, joints, and folds of these layers. Ice formed in the fissures, expanding and putting pressure on surrounding rock, breaking off bits and pieces. Winds later cleaned out the loose particles. A series of free-standing fins remained. Wind and water attacked these fins until, in some, the cementing material gave way and chunks of rock tumbled out. Many damaged fins collapsed. Others, with the right degree of hardness and balance, survived despite their missing sections. These became the famous arches.

USA 2019 Photography Workshops (XVII) – Canyonlands National Park

In the morning we set off for Canyonlands National Park – the “poor” sibling of Arches and Grand Canyon – even if considering views it might beat those. On the way there we take a detour to Dead Horse Point State Park with spectacular view of Colorado River 600m below, and our afternoon route – Potash Road. Next it’s Island of the SKy with almost infinte view of the plateu cut into canyons by merging Green and Colorado.

We take Shaffer Canyon Road down into the Canyonlands. I hate it as the exposure is terrible, and gravel seems slippery, but the sights along the White Rim route are worth the crunch in your backside.

USA Photo Workshop 2019 (XV) – Hole In The…

The Hole in the Rock Trail is a historic trail running from the town of Escalante, Utah in the western United States,established by Mormon trailblazers. It crossed the Colorado River and ended in the town of Bluff. The Hole-in-the-Rock expedition routed the trail in 1879. Trail was named for the place where the San Juan Mission of Mormon pioneers constructed a descent to the Colorado River using the natural crevice on the 300 m tall cliff above the Colorado which was enlarged to allow travelers to lower the wagons down to river level, where it could be forded. The portion of the trail below the Hole-In-The-Rock is now flooded by Lake Powell. After the river crossing the trail continued past the Register Rocks, where the settlers recorded their names, now too lost as it is covered by the lake. The road rises through the Chute and across slickrock sandstone to Grey Mesa. Another difficult descent was required from Grey Mesa, requiring the party to cut a road from one ledge to another on the face of the mesa. A modern unpaved road called the Hole-in-the-Rock Road closely follows this historic trail to the point where it enters the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area. The modern road is an important access route for visiting the Canyons of the Escalante – such as those around Harris Dry Wash – namely Peek-a-boo slot and Spooky Gulch – as well as Devils Garden. The trail is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

USA 2019 Photo Workshop (XIV) – Peekaboo trail in…

The most spectacular part of Bryce Canyon National Park, with the largest and densest formations, is thection between Sunrise Point and Bryce Point, centered on the upper drainage basin of Bryce Creek. The best trail down between those formation is probably the Peekaboo Trail, a hike of almost 9 km requiring almost 500 m descent from and then climb back to Bryce Point; as well as giving many amazing views of the main collections of hoodoos, both near and far, the path also crosses forested terrain where the more isolated formations contrast with the green and shady surroundings.

USA 2019 Photo Workshop (XI) – Bryce Canyon National…

Bryce Canyon National Park protects Bryce Canyon in Utah. Despite its name, is not technically a canyon, but a collection of giant natural amphitheaters along the eastern side of the Paunsaugunt Plateau. Bryce is distinctive due to geological structures called hoodoos, formed by frost weathering and stream erosion of the river and lake bed sedimentary rocks. The red, orange, and white colors of the rocks provide spectacular views for park visitors. Delicate and colorful pinnacles stand up to 60 m tall. A series of amphitheaters extends more than 30 km along the rim. The largest of them is Bryce Amphitheater, which is 19 km long, 5 km wide and 240 m deep. Rainbow Point, the highest part of the park at 2,775 m is at the end of the 29 km scenic drive. From there, Aquarius Plateau, Bryce Amphitheater, the Henry Mountains, the Vermilion Cliffs and the White Cliffs can be seen.

USA 2019 Photographic Workshop (X) – Zion National Park

Zion National Park lies in Utah near Springdale. A prominent feature of park is Zion Canyon, which is 24 km long and up to 800 m deep. The canyon walls are reddish and tan-colored Navajo Sandstone eroded by the North Fork of the Virgin River. The highest peak of the park is Horse Ranch Mountain at 2,660 m. Located at the junction of the Colorado Plateau, Great Basin, and Mojave Desert regions, the park’s unique geography means that it might just have the most diverse range of life zones that allows astounding plant and animal diversity. Numerous plant species as well as 289 species of birds, 75 mammals (including 19 species of bats), and 32 reptiles inhabit the park’s four life zones: desert, riparian, woodland, and coniferous forest. Zion National Park includes mountains, canyons, buttes, mesas, monoliths, rivers, slot canyons, and natural arches.

USA Photo Expedition 2019 (IX) – Antelope Canyon and…

Antelope Canyon is a slot canyon in the LeChee Chapter of the Navajo Nation just east of Page, Arizona. Antelope Canyon includes two separate, scenic slot canyon sections, referred to individually as “Upper Antelope Canyon” (The Crack, in Dineh – Tsé bighánílíní, which means the place where water runs through rocks) and “Lower Antelope Canyon” (The Corkscrew, Hasdestwazi – spiral rock arches in Dineh). Both sections are are accessible by guided tour only (there is also third section, which is fileld with waters of Lake Powell, and accessible by boat or kayaks). Antelope Canyon was formed by erosion of Navajo Sandstone, primarily due to flash flooding – which still occurs – and secondarily due to other sub-aerial processes. Rainwater, especially during monsoon season, runs into the extensive basin above the slot canyon sections, picking up speed and sand as it rushes into the narrow passageways. Over time the passageways eroded away, making the corridors deeper and smoothing hard edges in such a way as to form characteristic “flowing” shapes in the rock.

Horseshoe Bend is a horseshoe-shaped incised meander of the Colorado River located 4 miles south of Page, Arizona, United States. Viewpoint is accessible via hiking 2.4 k) round trip from a parking area over sandy and rocky trail with no sahde along it. Horseshoe Bend can be viewed from the steep cliff above. The overlook stands 300 m obve the river. The rock walls of Horseshoe Bend contain hematite, platinum, garnet, and other minerals.

USA Phototour 2019 (VIII): Canyon de Chelly – Monument…

In the morning we take a drive with a Navajo guide into Canyon de Chelly and then move on to Monument Valley.

Tsé Biiʼ Ndzisgaii – “valley of the rocks”, known by most as Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park is a region of the Colorado Plateau characterized by a cluster of vast sandstone buttes, the largest rising over 300 m above the valley floor, at the Arizona–Utah border. The valley lies within the territory of the Navajo Nation Reservation. Director John Ford used the location for a number of his best-known films and thus, in the words of critic Keith Phipps, “its five square miles have defined what decades of moviegoers think of when they imagine the American West.” The valley floor is largely siltstone of the Cutler Group, or sand derived from it, deposited by the meandering rivers that carved the valley. The valley’s vivid red color comes from iron oxide exposed in the weathered siltstone. The darker, blue-gray rocks in the valley get their color from manganese oxide. The buttes are clearly stratified, with three principal layers. The lowest layer is the Organ Rock Shale, the middle is de Chelly Sandstone, and the top layer is the Moenkopi Formation capped by Shinarump Conglomerate.


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