Laura’s Journal: Walnut Canyon National Monument

Posted on by snukes
Starting zoomed out…
Walls!
Like a treehouse, but in and made of rocks.
I know a lot about rocks, but this formation totally confounded me. I could not think of any form of sedimentation or erosion that could possibly have produced this. …
AND THEN I FOUND THE INTERPRETIVE SIGN!
These patterns are created by blowing sand! Every time the wind shifts, the pattern of rock shifts. SO COOL.


Transcription:

Wednesday, April 28, 2021
WALNUT CANYON NATIONAL MONUMENT

There are cliff dwellings, and then there are entire canyons full of cliff dwellings. Walnut Canyon is stunningly beautiful as a natural phenomenon. It’s very easy to see why people would want to live here, but less easy to imagine fighting the challenges of the cliffs in order to construct a home. Before descending the very gracious stairs to do the walking tour, even tourists are warned:

GOING DOWN IS OPTIONAL, BUT COMING BACK UP IS MANDATORY!

I bet grandmas back in the day were a lot tougher (and less prone to vertigo?) than (most) grandmas today.

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