Scenery for a million miles at Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument

You can’t help feeling small at Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, just a tiny blip in Earth’s staggeringly ancient history. … Read More The post Scenery for a million miles at Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument appeared first on Digging. July 02, 2023 Is 1.8 million acres big enough for you? That’s the size of sprawling Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in southern Utah, one of our stops on our spring RV trip out west. Utah felt like one big park to us — it contains 5 national parks plus 8 national monuments — with jaw-dropping vistas of snow-capped mountains, red rock mesas, striated canyons, and weirdly formed hoodoos at every bend in the road. In late April, spring wildflowers added patches of purple that popped against the terracotta rock. Grand Canyon (A), Chocolate Cliffs (B), Vermilion Cliffs (C), White Cliffs (D), Zion Canyon (E), Gray Cliffs (F), Pink Cliffs (G), Bryce Canyon (H). From Grand Staircase – Wikipedia. The staircase of Grand Staircase (“escalante” is Spanish for “climbing”) refers to a vast area of geologic uplift that “steps up” from the Grand Canyon in Arizona to Bryce Canyon in Utah. Uplift and erosion make it possible to read the history of the earth here and see how its climate and flora and fauna evolved over the ages. You can’t help feeling small at Grand Staircase, just a tiny blip in Earth’s staggeringly ancient history. Mountain ranges and seas have risen and fallen, a tropical climate evaporated to desert. Unimaginable creatures roamed this changing landscape for millions of years and then died out, making room for new life forms. The earth endures, changing in time with its own eons-per-tick geologic clock, with or without us. It’s a place to look, ponder, wonder at, and open yourself to. Up next: Petroglyphs, pioneer orchards, and uplift at Capitol Reef National Park. For a look back at Part 1 and Part 2 of my visit to Red Hills Desert Garden in St. George, Utah, click here. I welcome your comments. Please scroll to the end of this post to leave one. If you’re reading in an email, click here to visit Digging and find the comment box at the end of each post. And hey, did someone forward this email to you, and you want to subscribe? Click here to get Digging delivered directly to your inbox! __________________________ Digging Deeper Come learn about garden design from the experts at Garden Spark! I organize in-person talks by inspiring designers, landscape architects, and authors a few times a year in Austin. These are limited-attendance events that sell out quickly, so join the Garden Spark email list to be notified in advance. Simply click this link and ask to be added. Season 7 starts in August. Stay tuned for the lineup! All material © 2023 by Pam Penick for Digging. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited. The post Scenery for a million miles at Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument appeared first on Digging.