W. Lloyd Williams

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a space for all the aspects of my life...

A Bridge and a Buckle

August 4, 2009 A  steep 2 mile round-trip hike passes scorched rock, a sequence of natural bridges and juniper trees twisted into freakish forms on the way to Hickman Bridge.

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Up close, the siltstone and sandstone grains flow in yellow, pinks and oranges.

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Next, we explored some of Hole-in-the-Rock Road through Strike Valley, between mesas and red and white buttes specked with trees and the Waterpocket Fold - a giant buckle in the Earth's surface. Over millions of years ancient seas, tidal flats and deserts deposited layers of sediment then "regional mountain-building bent or flexed rock layers into a huge fold." It's an odd landscape that stretches over a hundred miles. Of course Wordpress photos don't do the view justice.

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Just off Hole-in-the-Rock Road, away from the Waterpocket Fold, Burr Trail scales Muley Twist via back to back switchbacks. Most RVs are restricted and wet weather can make the road impassible even for 4WDs. Though we enjoy these exciting climbs in our Jeep, I noticed after the fact that we said next to nothing during the climb, and I remember holding my breath more than once, and I might have suppressed a squeal in the path of an oncoming RV...

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Anyway, the crest rewarded us with extraordinary views of the Henry Mountains, Waterpocket Fold, Red Circle Cliffs and Long Canyon.

-P