I started describing our little tour two weeks ago, and so far I've gotten about 4 days in... at this rate, it will take much of the remainder of the year to slog through it, so I guess I'd better get cracking.
M. and I are both more interested in geology than the average bear, so travelling through a place like Utah, where geology is everywhere on display and in your face, was quite a treat. In addition, we had two local honest-to-God geologists acting as our tour guides, so we were able to wander much further off the beaten track than we would have dared otherwise, while at the same time not falling off any cliffs or into any slot canyons.
So, about the San Rafael Swell. It covers a big chunk of east-central Utah, northwest of Canyonlands Nat'l Park and northeast of Capitol Reef Nat'l Park. It's crossed by only one paved road (I-70), and is completely uninhabited (it's the ovallish region, trending northeast to southwest, in the center of this satellite image).
It's a very cool place geologically. The layers of rock that form the Swell have been bulging upwards for millions of years, while simultaneously erosion (mostly stream erosion) has been cutting downwards; the uppermost layers of rock are completely gone from the center of the Swell, and the San Rafael River and its (usually dry) tributary streams have cut deep canyons through the remaining rock layers.
Travelling on a network of dirt roads, we first drove up to the edge of a feature called "The Wedge", part of the northwestern rim of the canyon of the San Rafael River. The canyon is about 1100 feet deep at this point.
Below is the same canyon, looking downstream. This area is occasionally referred to as the "Little Grand Canyon". This sort of thing would be a state park, at least, anywhere else, but here, so far, it's just BLM land. Studies are underway to determine if the area ought to be made a National Monument. Apparently, the local feeling on this is mixed; a National Monument would bring in more tourist money to the area, but at the cost of the current, basically unhindered, access to all the land in the Swell. (When Pres. Clinton created the vast Grand Staircase - Escalante National Monument, he engendered lots of bad feeling in the locals, not least because he didn't bother coming to Utah to sign the public proclamation creating the Monument – he did it in Arizona.) It's also been proposed to make parts of the area into a national Wilderness Area; this has very little support in the region, as it would effectively cut off local access to the land, while only attracting a handful of backpackers. Like they spend any money.
I know it looks like the camera's tilted in these images, but really, it's the rocks; at this edge of the Swell, the rock layers are all inclined upwards towards the southeast.
Next: Buckhorn Wash, really. No kidding this time.
Posted by David Fleck at 18 September 2006 07:29 AM
Do you take the Roadside geology guides with you when you travel? I have seven, love them all, and almost always bring them with me when I travel in the states that they cover. In fact, I have been poring through the Oregon guide this last week as I plan my next trip.
Posted by: Jim Miller on September 19, 2006 10:04 AM
But of course! Being morons, of course, we somehow dispossessed ourselves of our Oregon and Northern California RG's when we moved east. (Our Colorado RG was reduced to coffee-stained dog-eared ignominy long before that.) Luckily our generous geologist host and hostess lent us their RG of Utah when we were touring about without them. They themselves functioned as far more comprehensive animated RG-bots when they were escorting us.
Posted by: Moira on September 19, 2006 07:56 PM
This is all very cool.
Posted by: Jonathan on September 19, 2006 11:37 PM