Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument is a unique, often overlooked treasure located in southern Utah.
I passed by the monument on my way from Arches National Park to Bryce Canyon National Park. It was early in the morning and the lighting was majestic.
The National Monument now spans across nearly 1.87 million acres of America's public lands in southern Utah! That's a big place, however I only saw a fraction of its beauty.
While out exploring, I pulled over and got out of my car and actually walked down these sandstone hills. I felt like a fly as the sandstone is not slippery and easy to walk across.
I camped for 3 nights at Calf Creek Falls which lies within the monument. Yes it was hot, but every where I went in Utah was hot! The creek ran right by my campsite, and when I got too hot, I set up my chair in the creek, grabbed some iced tea and just relaxed.
In spite of the heat, the highlight of my time there was the 6 mile hike up to Calf Creek Falls. It was very early when I started the hike, but I am a slow hiker and soon people were passing me by on the trail. Everyone was very friendly and stopped to talk with me.
Right about here I got really tired and stopped to catch a breath of hot, dry air. The red and white sandstone is stunning, and has been shaped through erosion to form patterns in the hills.
As I trudged up the trail, I lifted my head just in time to see the sunlight illuminating this tree.
The Ancestral Puebloans and the Fremont Indians lived here and farmed this land. Pictographs and granaries are seen from the trail, the evidence of a people long gone.
I love flowers, and this cactus flower caught my eye.
Desert varnish, a result of rainwater combining with iron and manganese, streaks the sides of the cliffs all throughout the canyon.
At last I reached lower Calf Creek Falls, a 126 foot waterfall, that cascades down the cliff into a pool of ice cold water. I tried to jump in and swim but it was just too cold. Instead, I dunked my head underwater and got my arms and legs wet to relieve my heat exhaustion.
So magnificent!
After the hike I was sitting on my chair in the creek when these 4 boys came charging up the creek, the next generation of river rats flaunting their machismo.
The campsite at Calf Creek Falls is first come, first served, no reservations. Good and bad. Good that I can usually get a site, bad if I don't. This is my campsite, the only one in the campground with a shade shelter. It was wonderful.
Good night to all, and may you find peace with God and with your fellow campers.