Apocalypse Road

BoyNhisDog · Posted: 12/18/2004, 9:08 am Post subject: Apocalypse Road

That is what I have always called it. At one time it was the main road to the Dam and beyond from Page. Now it has been cut off for decades. When there, it is a high-speed road into the desert lands. It can be traveled over for about two miles then one can swing off into a trackless maze of sandstone waves and peaks. The road is slowly disintegrating. Plants rise from the cracks and the outlying desert lands add to the apocalyptic air. For a short while, I am the last man on earth.

Each time is different. This time I come across a series of perfectly round shallow pools. Questions, why are they perfectly round? How did they get there?

Light and shadows define the surreal edges, which eventually lead to the flooded Colorado channel, which is now a part of the big lake. The solstice is at hand and its rich light defines this strange terrain so well.

Much of this area was flooded at one time but the receding waters have left a white salty looking covering to the landscape. This is not a lasting thing. It is already crumbling away to revel the original colors. Some called the coming of this lake a sort of Apocalypse in itself but the land heals itself with no help from us. It comes at first in small ways but it is real.

Perhaps the reason these lands are as fascinating as they are is explained by the way they act as a reflecting pool of what was so many millions of years ago before a world wide Apocalypse changed everything. The dinosaurs did not survive but somehow life itself did.

I sit beside the pool and prepare to slice an apple I took from a basket at the hotel while I contemplate these things. The way back will be dark enough for a headlamp during the last few miles but the illuminations of the day will help to carry me home.

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Sande J · Posted: 12/18/2004, 9:24 am Post subject:

What a great gift to share at the holidays...as always amazing photos..there is no doubt, you need to be published.
The round pools are truly unique..doesnt it just make you want to go back in time and follow the transformation to see exactly how they got that way? It is so enlightening when the earth shares her images and lets the eye of the beholder imagine. Smile

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Davis2001R6 · Joined: 12 Dec 2003 Posts: 5591 Location: Italy

Awesome as always Glen!

SUN_HIKER · Joined: 05 Dec 2003 Posts: 1057

Incredibale pictures; hope someday I'm lucky enough to see some of these places.

Merry Christmas! Very Happy

GB
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BoyNhisDog · Posted: 12/18/2004, 11:13 am Post subject:

Thank you so much all! I was thinking that the little plant in the salty sand looked so holiday appropriate, like a miniature desert poinsettia with the red leaves.

GeorgAz · Joined: 04 Jan 2003 Posts: 815 Location: Scottsdale

Wow! Thank you Glen,for the amazing photos!

Shihiyea · Joined: 20 Oct 2003 Posts: 1135

Trishness · Posted: 12/18/2004, 6:33 pm Post subject:

Merry Christmas Glen and thanks for sharing another incredible journey and pics.

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"Eastward the dawn rose, ridge behind ridge into the morning, and vanished out of eyesight into guess; it was no more than a glimmer blending with the hem of the sky, but it spoke to them, out of the memory and old tales, of the high and distant mountains." � J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of The Rings.

Hikngrl · Posted: 12/18/2004, 7:30 pm Post subject:

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JW · Posted: 12/18/2004, 9:47 pm Post subject:

Hikngrl · Posted: 12/19/2004, 5:32 am Post subject:

I too thought of Craig Childs when I saw your picture of the perfectly round holes. There is another spot in his book (that I don't have time to find or quote this AM) that describes a collection of such holes hundreds or thousands of them I can't remeber now. Perhpas tonight when I get home I will go find it. If Jim hasn't taken care of it for me before then!
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BoyNhisDog · Posted: 12/19/2004, 7:51 am Post subject:

Thanks everyone! Merry Christmas!

Jim, Hikngrl, this is what I'm looking for. Your information is good. I sort of see a "lip" around the water pocket but did not see any overlapping. I have not ever come across this elsewhere in the area though they may be there. The recent rains filled these making them much easier to see. I estimate they are only a couple of inches deep though I did not dig in the dry ones to find the bottom of the sand.

There are quite a few strange phenomena in the area and all are there for very specific reasons. I just don't possess the knowledge of why.

I did remember an image I took a couple of years ago up in the same general area. I found several of these after I saw the first one. Circles and holes can be started and made in many different ways. This is simply a wind driven plant holding on by its tougher root.

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Seize from every moment its unique novelty and do not prepare your joys
- Andre Gide

JW · Posted: 12/19/2004, 1:28 pm Post subject:

There is a type of petroglyph that I've seen a few times, strangely, on the tops of rocks, that I suspect may be depicting those types of circles.
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ghoster · Joined: 14 Nov 2003 Posts: 152 Location: Scottsdale

I wonder if it could have been formed by gas or boiling escaping from beneath these. Just by looking at the pictures it seems to be some kind of frozen bubble that has burst. LIke in oatmeal when it boils too long. Just a thought, sure would like to go there, where is this road?

BoyNhisDog · Posted: 12/19/2004, 2:42 pm Post subject:

Jim that is interesting. I think a circle can have a lot of significance.

That is a fascinating thought ghoster. The best way I can describe where the road lays is; I was staying at the Marriott. From there you cross the road to the north and then walk east toward town but not too far. You should be able to see it out there. They bulldozed part of it away from the new existing road so you have to go through the sandy desert for a short way to get to the road. From there you just walk down it toward the lake and dam. It only goes one way. I usually take it as far as the sandstone formation that you can see off to the right of frame and then swing off the road and go behind that and then in any direction that my feet go. You will see many "waves" and formations. It is really pretty overwhelming to me. Take a map. It is National Park service lands so it is fine to be there but if you wrap around far enough to the east you will come to Antelope canyon. The north portion is still NPS but there is a point where you can transition to the Rez.

There are places where you will come to shear cliffs that drop to the waterline and places where you can get all the way to the water and swim in the warmer months.

For the most part this is a much overlooked place to hike and explore. I would be very surprised if you see anyone else out there. You might see someone boating in the channel and one time an Indian family came by walking with purpose. They looked over at me but in true Indian fashion, they focused on what they were doing and where they were going. Not so much as a nod. I have no idea where they were going. They disappeared very quickly as if they were never there.

If you were to continue down the road it finally comes to a cabled off barrier that says no motorized vehicles. If you step over that, you can walk to the Dam and the bridge. Stay to the east of those if you want to explore the lands that you see in the photos and many more like them. It is somewhat vast in its own way. It is also very surreal like much of the lands all around the lake and its feeder canyons.
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Seize from every moment its unique novelty and do not prepare your joys
- Andre Gide