Snow Canyon in Four Chapters

--  and a Gila monster bonus!

Finally, the rains stopped.  Today is Saturday, March 23, 2019, and we had a chance to get out and explore some more without getting wet or sloppy muddy.  We decided to explore Snow Canyon State Park, which has some spectacular areas featuring hikes to unique geological features.  We took four hikes, and so we'll describe them in four chapters.

CHAPTER ONE - THE CINDER CONE HIKE

Our first stop was to the large cinder cone at the north end of the park.  This was a 1.64 mile hike, climbing to the top of the cinder cone and back down again.  Kathy was excited to get started!

Here was our quarry:

Before too long, we had climbed high above the landscape, and this was our view to the north, with the Pine Valley Mountains in the background, sporting all their new snowy regalia after the precipitation of the last 3 days:

Our view to the south showed another snowy peak beyond the white and red sandstone formations of the upper park:

You just can't appreciate the hike without seeing this 360 degree view from the top of the cinder cone.


CHAPTER TWO - THE WHITEROCKS AMPHITHEATER HIKE

That first hike just whetted our appetite to charge out on the 1 mile walk to see amazing white sandstone formations of the Whiterocks Amphitheater.  As we climbed into that formation, we looked back and saw our good old friend, the Pine Valley Mountains, again:

Here, the white sandstone has been layered and squished into exotic fields of rock that were easy to climb and walk across:

We reached the amphitheater itself, and Kathy posed with her rocky friends while other visitors explored the bowl:

Here is the view out from the amphitheater:

CHAPTER THREE - THE LAVA FLOW HIKE

While, of course, the cinder cone we climbed was entirely lava, Snow Canyon State Park also has a section where huge lava flows crept down the drainages.  These flows appear to be a'a, a clinkery, choppy lava that is challenging to walk on.  Some of the lava rocks have split open, revealing rainbows of color inside:

As we hiked out onto the lava flow, we crossed a wash filled with lava rocks:

Here you can see the lava field spread out in the valley below the sandstone cliffs' unique formations:

Our hike boasted three lava tubes.  One was very dangerous to enter; one had an opening too small to enter; but the third had a wide mouth that we could climb into without too much trouble.  Below, Kathy poses at the opening to the third lava tube entrance:

At this lava tube, we met a couple who retired to Utah from California and serve as volunteer docents at the park.  We chatted for a while, and they finally gave up their secret:  they were posted here to protect a Gila monster who was quietly napping and sunning himself in the nearby vegetation.  They kept his presence secret from most hikers, but they decided they could entrust us with the knowledge of his presence.  He was curled up, and we didn't want to approach too closely, so our photo of him is not perfect, but we consider it a true "capture":

Beyond the third lava cone was a lookout that permitted us to see further down the canyon toward the Petrified Sand Dunes.  The best way to show you what we saw is to give you this 360 degree view from the lookout at the lava cone trail.

CHAPTER FOUR - THE PETRIFIED SAND DUNE HIKE

And so we reached our final hike over the petrified sand dunes -- iron-red sandstone formed from dunes that probably bordered an ancient lake or inland sea.

As we started our hike, we spotted this large formation that pretty much tells the story of Snow Canyon.  You can see a very thick layer of lava overlying red and white sandstone.  The sand was laid down eons ago in a lake or sea, and, eventually, volcanic eruptions buried it.

The sandstone hills reminded us of Australia's Uluru (Ayres Rock) which we visited in December 2017 (see our blog post, #rndtheworldn44 - Days 8-11 - Australia's Red Centre #fakekoala, to see how amazing it was).  While these formations aren't quite as large as Uluru, they are very impressive.

Several large pools of water perch on top of the petrified sand dunes.  The water is so constant that trees and other vegetation have taken hold:

Our view north toward the white sandstone cliffs was punctuated by the blobs of red sandstone in the foreground:

Here is one of our favorite spots on the petrified sand dunes:

We could look south toward larger peaks, across the fluid-looking sandy rock:

Our total hiking today was less than 7 miles, but it was all across rock and lava, and we had taken a run this morning, so our poor feet feel like they've been beat up.  As we left the park, we marveled at what we saw, and are thankful we decided to make this stop in the very southeastern corner of Utah.