Hopping Amongst the Grand Staircase Escalante Toadstools

January 23, 2009 23:12 by author

October 4, 2006

We had finished a hike thru Wire Pass to the junction with Buckskin Gulch and had a couple of hours left before sunset. We stopped at the BLM Paria contact station to see what recommendations they had. They suggested we check out the toadstools just up the road. So there we were pulled over at the junction of Cottonwood Canyon Road and Route 89 debating taking a drive on Cottonwood vs. the toadstools; the drive was on our to do list, the toadstools were not, and we weren't sure how interesting they sounded anyway. Up pulls a BLM pickup with a beautiful young lady behind the wheel who asks if we need help. Yikes! Two guys from Pennsylvania in the dusty Utah desert for a week, fumbling around trying to decide what to do, and here she comes to our rescue? Just like in the movies.

Well, we end up hanging out with her for about a half hour, and it turns out Megan really knows the area and she says we will not be disappointed with the toadstools. Barry, ever the ham, asks for a picture.

Funny side note - a full year later we head to Utah again and stop in the visitor center just outside Kanab and who do we see but Megan. We - all three of us - do a double take, like hey, I know you - Megan? Yeah, aren't you the 2 guys from Pennsylvania? From now on, it will be a disappointment if we do not see her during every visit.

Now, on to the toadstools. It's about a 30 minute walk to reach them. Pretty mundane scenery along the way, but when you finally get there - geez, is this Mars? The moon? Just insane rock formations. Here's pretty much the first view you get - not quite there yet, but starting to see what's to come.

It's as if every rock was delicately placed and feature of the land was painstakingly painted by hand.

This shot shows the distinct colors of the rock layers. You can see how the rock has eroded over time to create this crazy place. Dark brown at the very top, white next, then orange.

As you can see, some rocks are enormous - wonder how long before this guy falls.

A true random scattering of rocks of all sizes and shapes.

Most people just get to this main area and look around, then leave. But if you go to your left you find more interesting formations around the corner.

Cool colors

Nice rock pile

The surrounding landscape is also quite awesome!

I just love the colors in this area. After a while you realize how long the erosion process must have taken and the different density of the rock layers.

Well, curiosity got the better of me and I had to see if these delicately balanced rocks were fused tight to each other or not. I would think they would be but it turns out they are not. I moved exactly one rock, this rock, just a little. Any guess what's hiding underneath?