Snow Canyon: All Geological Phenomena Crammed Into a Few Square Miles

When it is a special occasion, like a round-number anniversary--what do you do to celebrate?  You go camping, of course! (For example, our honeymoon, 33 and a third years ago was a camping trip to red rock country...) We chose previously unvisited Snow Canyon, near St. George. This is the view we woke up to, after arriving after dark the night before.

Our hikes took us through twisting paths of red rock. 

 Red rock has special stress-absorbing powers to repair the soul. At least it always works for us.

Terisa got some red rock therapy: rest for the weary sole.

We saw all kinds of strange textures,

...and classic formations.

We ate lunch in this little cave.

 

 Terisa crawled around in a lava tube,

 ...and we hiked into a dead-end slot canyon.

Some of the visually interesting things about the park are the lava flows which recently (27,000 years ago) engulfed some of the red rock formations. The lava we saw was of two types: the ropy pa'hoehoe lava, and  the chunky, broken a'a lava.  (This is a perfectly acceptable two-letter word to use in Scrabble(TM).)

We climbed up this steep cinder cone that looked like nothing so much as a pile of ash.

At the top, we peered into this depression/crater...

 

...and then looked out to see many more cinder cones in the immediate area. 

Mostly we got clear skies, but for one brief moment we had dramatic skies.  We may have endured a dozen or so raindrops.

In addition to red sandstone, there was one outcropping of white sandstone with bowls like this hollowed out.

This is a larger bowl, where capricious wind gusts sandblasted us, and the wisps of flying sand swirled up the surfaces like so much smoke.

So. Many. Textures.

On the way home we noticed the Mountain Meadow massacre site was close at hand, so we stopped and explored, whetting our appetite for more information about the atrocity.

And so as not to end on a low note, here are some photos from Addy's recent visit to Utah that haven't been downloaded until now. Miss Addy was very clear about what couches and pillows were for.

And what grandchild has not ridden the elephant at Great Grace's house?

It was a visually stunning weekend.  The hikes were short and easy, and even though it is close to civilization, there are almost no indications that a large metro area is nearby.  All things weighed, we want to go back, preferably with some of you.