Jaap van 't Veen's photos with the keyword: Estados Unidos de América

One of the most famous Grand Canyon National Park is one of the most well known national parks in the USA. It is considered being one of the seven wonders of nature. Millions of years ago a part of the earth's crust was pushed up, creating the Colorado Plateau of which the Grand Canyon is now a part. Over millions of years the Colorado River has made its way through the rocky layers of the plateau, where the rocks were (and still are) polished further and further. Because each rock layer consists of a different type of rock, the effects of the force of the water are different everywhere. This has created a complicated system of deep, capriciously shaped ravines. Besides the Colorado River other erosive forces, such as frost and wind, have also had a great influence. The dimensions of the canyon are enormous with a length of 446 km’s and a width between 18 and 29 km’s. The maximum depth is about 1.600 meters. The area became a national monument on 11 January 1908 and a national park on 26 February 1919. In 1979 the park was placed on the UNESCO World Heritage List. We visited several viewpoints of the Grand Canyon between Grand Canyon Village and Desert View. At the last one we were during sunset and could admire the beautiful colours of sky and ravine walls. Without any doubt Grand Canyon was one of the highlights of our visit to Arizona/Utah, but to be honest the (impressive) landscape at the different viewpoints was often more or less the same.

Capitol Reef National Park consists of two parts. The northern part is called Cathedral Valley, a desert landscape with high sandstone rocks looking like cathedrals. This part of the park is not easily accessible, so we only visited the southern part. The main geological phenomenon here is the Waterpocket Fold, a straight, more than 150 kilometer long crease in the earth's crust ( waterpocket” refers to the potholes that dot the sandstone and fill with rainwater ). The immense walls of this fold are made up of rock layers, formed during millions of years. In the middle of this red rock area we found the more or less green oasis of Fruita (PiP2) with its famous orchards and the meadows around the Gifford Homestead (PiP3). This area is dating back to the 1800s, when Mormon pioneers set up a settlement, where they grew crops and planted orchards. Capitol Reef got its name from the great white rock formations with a visual resemblance of the U.S. Capitol building and “reef”, a popular term for an uplifted landmass. The area was designated as a national monument in 1937 and became a national park in 1971.

Wilson Arch - known as Wilson's Window for decades by the locals, renamed by the government - is a sandstone arch with a span of 28 meters and height of 14 meters. We visited there on our way to Moab and made a stop along route 191. Through a short, but steep climb we reached the impressive arch, where we enjoyed the wonderful view. From an information sign: Wilson Arch was named after Joe Wilson, a local pioneer who had a cabin nearby in Dry Valley. This formation is known as Entrada Sandstone. Over time superficial cracks, joints, and folds of these layers were saturated with water. Ice formed in the fissures, melted under extreme desert heat, and winds cleaned out the loose particles. A series of free-standing fins remained. Wind and water attacked these fins until, in some, cementing material gave way and chunks of rock tumbled out. Many damaged fins collapsed like the one to the right of Wilson Arch. Others, with the right degree of hardness survived despite their missing middles like Wilson Arch. It is against federal regulations to intentionally or wantonly destroy, deface or remove any natural feature or plant.

Dead Horse Point State Park is a small, yet one of Utah’s most spectacular state parks. It is best known for its magnificent views of the Colorado River, which finds its way more than 600 meters beneath the lookout around a rocky plateau with one large gooseneck. Further away lies the fascinating landscape of Canyonlands NP with vertical pinnacles and buttes. Millions of years of geologic activity created this spectacular area. Deposition of sediments by ancient oceans, freshwater lakes, streams and wind blown sand dunes created the rock layers of canyon country. The state park owes its name from an old story. In one place is the rocky plateau less than 30 meters wide, so the part further away as a kind of peninsula. In the past wild horses were driven to this point by cowboys, after which the narrow neck of the land was fenced off. The best horses were tamed, the other horses were usually released. According to an old legend, it happened once that the horses trapped on the rocky plateau were left to their fate; the animals died because of a lack of water.

Wire Pass Slot Canyon starts at a parking lot, accessible from US 89 though a 13 km’s long quite bumpy dirt road. The first km’s the trail is following the meandering Coyote Wash with low red coloured rocks of Navajo Sandstone. Slowly but surely the rocks become higher and closer to each other. Before we did realize we were in the Wire Pass Slot Canyon, a very impressive slot canyon. Sometimes just one meter wide and a couple of times we saw tree trunks which were trapped between the rock walls. At one point we could hardly get any further through a large boulder that almost blocked the trail. After about 700 meters the canyon became wider and culminated in a large open space (main image) with huge rock walls, which on one side were beautifully illuminated by the sun. The cliffs are marked with several big horn sheep petroglyphs. The Wire Pass Slot Canyon ends here at the confluence with the Buckskin Gulch, the longest slot canyon of the USA.

Paria Rimrocks are part of Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. It is a quite unknown area of fantastic rock formations just north of US 89, nearby the crossing of the Paria River. The Paria Rimrocks are easy accessible through a short trail. The area has an scenery based on bands of rock in many different colours; yellow, purple and red are the most prominent. In the rimrocks the layers are mostly white and red-brown. The differing hardness of the strata have created a great expanse of cliffs, plateaus, canyons, washes and badlands. The more unusual feature of the rimrocks is the many balanced boulders, known variously as hoodoos, goblins, toadstools or mushrooms, where flat blocks of hard sandstone are perched atop narrow columns of softer rock.

Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park is situated at an altitude of 1,800 metres; the dune field is 14 km² large. It became the status of a state park in 1963. The (more or less) coral pink coloured sand of the dune field consists of grains of sand, which - as a result of erosion – come from Navajo Sandstone of the Moquith and the Moccasin Mountains. The strong wind, which is characteristic for this area, finds its way through the narrow opening between the two mountain ranges. The tunnel effect ensures that the speed of the wind is increased to the point where grains of sand can be carried along (this phenomenon is called venturi affect ). After the wind has passed through the notch and reaches an open valley, its power decreases considerably, causing the sand to be deposited. The Coral Pink Sand Dunes are estimated at 10.000 to 15.000 years old. They are not very high, the highest are about 12 meters. The area has relatively much rainfall. This is why there is plenty of vegetation present on and around the sand dunes, which is quite amazing to see. The dunes and hills of sand can move as much as almost 20 meters a year.

Goosenecks State Park lies northwest of Mexican Hat, where the San Juan River flows through a couple of bends in a deep canyon. The landscape is similar to the Horseshoe Bend (Page - Arizona), although personally I found Goosenecks more impressive because it has more bends. For visitors Goosenecks State Park is ‘only’ a viewpoint for spectacular views over the river. There are no trails and/or access to the river. The San Juan River meanders – about 300 meters below the viewpoint - through the landscape in a number of large bends, covering a linear distance of about 2 kilometers, but the real distance is no less than 9 kilometres. The bends are popularly called “goosenecks”. Goosenecks is considered being one of the most striking examples of a river meander on the North American continent. Various geological activity have contributed to the creation of this landscape. About 300 million years ago, the rock was pushed up by movements in the earth's crust. In addition, folds in the earth caused the river to carve out the enormous bends. Water, wind and frost erosion further shaped the landscape. (For this panorama I had to stitch a couple of images together.)

The landscape of Valley of the Gods - located just north of Mexican Hat - is a scenice backcountry area, which is more or less similar to that of the much more famous Monument Valley, which lies about 30 miles to the south. Valley of the Gods is also home to magnificent buttes and towering pinnacles scattered in an empty and vast desert landscape. The sandstone valley is accessed - free admission - by a 17 mile long dirt road. During our visit the road was very easy to ride in the beginning, but at the end were some rocky parts. Unlike Monument Valley we didn’t see almost no other tourists. Main picture: Valley of the Gods seen from the Moki Dugway PiP’s: panorama and rock formations of Valley of the Gods

Zion National Park is Utah’s first national park, which is located the small town of Springdale. With millions of visitors it is the most visited park in Utah. Zion has an area of almost 600 km² and it consists of a number of high plateaus that are intersected by deep canyons. Zion NP is located at the junction of the Colorado Plateau, Great Basin, and Mojave Desert regions. The most important part is Zion Canyon. That is a gorge - 24 kilometers long and 800 meters deep - with high rising walls and slopes. The canyon walls are reddish and tan-coloured sandstone. The gorge has been carved out by the North Fork Virgin River and thanks to the river the canyon has a richly varied flora and fauna with numerous plant and bird species, as well as many different mammals and reptiles. In spring, when the snow in the mountains melts, the Virgin River drains large amounts of debris and sediment. As a result the erosion is still in full swing. In 1909 the area was named “Mukuntuweap National Monument” in order to protect the canyon, which nine year later became Zion National Monument; Zion being a term used by the Mormons, who were living in the area. In November 1919 the monument was redesignated as “Zion National Park”. Main picture : View from Canyon Overlook into the Pine Creek Canyon PiP1 : Checkerboard Mesa along the Zion - Mount Carmel Highway PiP2 and 3 : Zion Canyon near the Zion Lodge

In 1948 National Geographic explored the region and published some photographs in their edition of September 1949. The area was named “Kodachrome Flat”, after the relatively new brand of Kodak film they had used. In 1962 the state of Utah recognized the area as a state park, albeit under the name “Chimney Rock State Park”, for fear of repercussions from Kodak. A few years later the park was named “Kodachrome Basin State Park”, with the permission of the Kodak Film Corporation. Kodachrome Basin State Park features a unique landscape with 67 towering monolithic rock spires or chimneys. These sand pipes, or chimney rocks, are believed to be remnants of solidified sediment that filled the ancient geysers that dominated the landscape. Red, brown, white and yellow layers of sediment became exposed as outer layers of Entrada sandstone eroded. Today, these multi-coloured sand pipes range in height from a couple of meters till more than fifty meters (the largest spire is the so called Chimney Rock). Kodachrome Basin State Park opened to the public as a state park in 1963.

The rocky landscape of southwest America features many ravines; a remarkable form is the slot canyon. A slotcanyon is a gap with high vertical walls, which are very close to each other. Most slot canyons can be found in dry areas, where occasional heavy flooding occurs. During such natural disasters, the water with stone and other debris rubs through the softer rock layers, creating the narrow gorges. Little Wild Horse Canyon is considered being one of the most beautiful slot canyons in the south of Utah. Little Wild Horse Canyon was our first slot canyon, so we were quite impressed by its beauty and diversity. Sometimes with very narrow passages where we only just could walk straight on, but there were also wider stretches with trees and shrubs. Especially in the beginning of the canyon the walls were hanging over and some alcoves were created. We regularly came across small boulders that we had to climb over. Our walk was an experience we would not have liked to miss.

Goblin Valley is a small State Park, about 2 miles long and 1 mile wide. In the valley are thousands of amazingly shaped rock figures, most of them no more than two or three meters high, surrounded by a wall of eroded cliffs. The shapes of these rocks result from an erosion-resistant layer of rock atop relatively softer sandstone. In 1949 the valley was named "Mushroom Valley", because many of the rock figures resemble mushrooms. Later the name was changed into Goblin Valley, which is also a well chosen name because one can easily see an army of gnomes in these hoodoos. Goblin Valley State Park (and Bryce Canyon National Park) contain some of the largest occurrences of hoodoos in the world. The goblins, like the surface of the valley, all have the same chocolate brown colour. Plants and flowers can hardly survive in this dry, warm environment, so there is no vegetation at all here. It is also allowed to walk into the valley and wander between the goblins. Goblin Valley was granted the status of State Park in 1964.

For millions of years, the Green River, Colorado River and their tributaries have carved their way through the rocky landscape of Utah. This has created one of the most rugged areas in the United States, an almost impenetrable labyrinth of gorges with countless natural arches, bridges and the most irregular rock formations. The rivers divide the park into three parts, each with its own character. With more than 1.300 square kilometers park is Canyonlands the largest national park. The most visited part of the park is the Island in the Sky District, with a couple of overlooks providing spectacular views over the surroundings. With less than half a million visitors per year, this is the least visited National Park in the state of Utah. Main picture : view through Mesa Arch over the spires and canyons with the La Sal Mountains in the background. PiP1 : White Rim Overlook with a view of the Colorado River Canyon, and the spires of Monument Basin. PiP2 : Green River Overlook with the Stillwater Canyon with the Green River.

Petrified Forest National Park is well known for its many chunks of petrified logs ( www.ipernity.com/doc/294067/45523794 ), but it offers more fascinating and intriguing scenery. The Blue Mesa area of the park is part of the second-oldest layer of the so called Chinle Formation, deposited approximately 220 - 225 million years ago. This formation can be seen across the park with the multi-coloured Painted Desert (PiP 1) and the Blue Mesa badlands. Blue Mesa (main image) - easy accessible by a three mile long loop road - is a very desolate landscape of mudstone and sandstone layers in blue, purple and greys. The landforms have been sculpted by erosion. The Tepees (PiP 2) is a part of Blue Mesa with tall, cone-shaped hill striped with almost perfect layers of reds, pinks, blues, greys, purples, and white.

Devil’s Garden - or officially Devil’s Garden Outstanding Natural Area - is a rather small part of Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. It is a real hidden gem, only accessible via a quite bad gravel road and not very well signposted. This has the advantage that there are not so many tourists like in the more well known parks in Utah (during our visit we were just the two of us). Devil’s Garden consists of a collection of irregularly shaped sandstone rock sculptures, which are the result of wind and water erosion over the centuries. There are three different sandstone layers and one can see very well that the erosive forces on each layer have had a different effect. The bottom layer forms a kind of pedestal, on which are short hoodoos that consist of a narrow dark layer with a wider hood above it that is much lighter colored. Besides the hoodoos you can see many other small rock formations and some arches.

Monument Valley - or officially Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park - is without doubt one of the most striking examples of the breathtaking beauty of the empty desert in the southwest of the USA. The vast plain serves as a backdrop for the silhouettes of the red rock formations. With its natural beauty it is one of the most majestic and photographed places on earth. Before human existence, the area was a lowland basin. For hundreds of millions of years, materials that eroded from the Rock Mountains deposited layer upon layer of sediment which cemented a slow and gentle uplift, generated by ceaseless pressure from below the surface. These horizontal strata were quite uniformly elevated one to three miles above sea level and the basin became a plateau. Millions of years ago there were many more rocks in this area, which consisted of various types of sandstone rock. The softer layers are worn away by the natural forces of wind and water, causing the so-called mesas. These are wide rocks that are flat at the top. The continuous erosion process ensures that even a mesa wears away very slowly. The harder top layer wears less quickly than the softer sides, so a mesa gets narrower and narrower. If the width of rock is eventually smaller than its height, it is no longer a mesa, but a butte. Also the butte slowly wears away, until a spire remains. Even those rock needles will slowly disappear completely. Most of the park is located in Arizona, the northernmost point belongs to the state of Utah. Window is one of the most visited stops so the viewpoint can get rather crowded. Main picture: North Window, between Elephant Butte and Cly Butte, looking towards East Mitten Butte, with Castle Butte, Bear & Rabbit and Stagecoach in the background PiP1: the famous panorama with the Mitten Buttes and Merrick Butte PiP2: Merrick Butte, along the Valley Drive PiP3: classic image of Monument Valley, taken at mile marker 13 along the road from Mexican Hat (US Highway 163)

A number of canyons within the borders of the Navajo Reservation in Arizona form the National Monument Canyon de Chelly. “Canyon de Chelly” is the translation of the Navajo word “Chéyi”, which means “inside the rock” or “canyon”. The area received the status of National Monument due to the many archaeological finds that have been made. There is evidence that people have lived here almost continuously for 5.000 years. Canyon de Chelly is not only interesting because of its rich human history, but also because of its impressive nature. As a matter of fact the National Monument consists of four large canyons and many small side canyons. The shallow muddy Chinle Wash flows through the canyons; the constant presence of water ensures that there is always a lot of vegetation. In the west, the cliffs are less than 10 meters high, but further east the canyons become deeper and deeper. In the east the walls rise about 300 meters above the bottom of the canyons. Canyon de Chelly is still inhabited by the Navajo Indians and visitors are not allowed to go everywhere. Main image: bottom of the canyon with the Chinle Wash PiP1: Canyon de Chelly, seen from one of the overlooks along the South Rim Drive PiP2: Spider Rock is the most famous monolith in Canyon de Chelly. PiP3: White House - a Puebloan village built into a sheer 500 foot sandstone cliff - was occupied between 1060 AD and 1275 AD. One can visit the ruins through the White House Trail; the only trail by which visitors may enter the canyon without a permit or an official Navajo guide.