Utah Scenics: The Grand Staircase

One afternoon, during a recent trip to southern Utah, Jayne and I took a ride along scenic Route 12 from our lodging in Brian Head to Escalante.

One place we visited was Kodachrome Basin State Park . It is down the road from the Visitor Center in Cannonville , along Route 12. There are 67 monolithic stone spires, called sedimentary pipes, that accentuate red-tinged rock formations. We went on a short three mile hike to the top of one of the buttes.

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Along this same road, at the suggestion of the Visitor Center, we went off-road to hike through a small slot canyon. Since the slot area lacked defining color, I chose to render these two images as black and white.

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On the way back to our lodge, we enjoyed the Grand Staircase  sights along Route 12. The cream- and rose-colored cliffs of Navajo sandstone line the road on either side, taking on a resemblance of a giant staircase.

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Finally, below was the end to a perfect day.

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