When I was planning my US road trip in May/June of this year I think the part I was most looking forward to was the couple of days I would be camping in the desert in Arizona. Of course the trip as a whole was amazing and each day had something special but I was so excited to camp out, see the unpolluted night sky and experience the desert scenery that I remembered from the Saturday morning westerns I had watched as a kid. I was definitely not disappointed especially by the night sky (see previous post "Natural Wonder" from 26th June) or by the views of the Grand Canyon.
On researching the route from Page AZ to Bryce Canyon UT I noticed a marker on the map for the Toadstool Hoodoo Trailhead just off Highway 89 outside Kanab, Utah. I was intrigued and thought it would be a good spot to break up the journey and explore. Even though it was only late May it was blisteringly hot and walking along the dry river bed there was no shade so I was glad that the walk from the highway to the hoodoos wasn't actually too far.
I have picked a few shots for today's post, the first shows part of the trail and you can see how flash floods have carved a path through the sandstone creating an ever changing landscape.
In the other shots we can see a couple of my favourite hoodoos, remarkable structures caused by millions of years of erosion. These are quite different to the more conical structures in Bryce Canyon since they have the harder capstones that look a bit like hats. I think there is a very definite face in one of them too, I could almost imagine it speaking in a deep voice to tell tales of the many things that must have happened in its "lifetime". They certainly give a literal meaning to the term "rock face".
I was definitely pleased to have stopped here, it left a great impression .
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