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Author Archives: Teri J Pieper

Goblin Valley

We arrived at Goblin Valley on Halloween. That was not planned. It just happened.

The landscape of Goblin Valley is pretty unbelievable. As you approach the park, you can see the looming Wild Horse Butte that dominates the horizon. The campground sits right at the foot of it. During the short fall days, the light is constantly changing, giving new looks to the rocks and cliffs. Sandstone walls give the camping area a sense of protection from the elements. They also provide a pallet for people with high-powered spotlights to illuminate in the darkness. The second night I was there, numerous people were enjoying that activity while I was trying to do night sky photography. According to its website, Goblin Valley is known for its dark skies, perfect for attempts to photograph the stars. I had mixed results.

The goblins of Goblin Valley are stone shapes that resulted from millions of years of geologic history. They are made of Entrada sandstone (debris eroded from former highlands redeposited on a tidal flat). The goblins show evidence of being near an ancient sea with the ebb and flow of tides, tidal channels and coastal sand dunes. Fracture patterns within the sandstone beds create zones of weakness. The unweathered joints intersect to form sharp edges and corners with greater surface-area-to-volume ratios than the faces. As a result, the edges weather more quickly, producing spherical-shaped goblins. This information is from the Goblin Valley brochure.

Whatever caused the stone shapes in the valley, it is well worth it to get down off of the overlook and walk throughout the three valleys of goblins to get an up-close view of the impressive and whimsical rocks.

My campsite is at the lower left

 

Slot Canyons

Have you ever seen photos of slot canyons in the southwest? The beautiful rock and narrow passageways are beyond belief. These tunnels through the rock are formed by erosion over the eons. And during a rain event, you certainly would not want to be in one. I was lucky with the weather. During October, southeast Utah received over four inches of rain! While I was there, there was not one drop of precipitation. However, the dogs were lucky to find puddles or small streams of water on most of our hikes, left over from the previous month’s rainfall. I did always carry water for them but they seldom needed it.

The two slot canyons featured here are near the Goblin Valley State Park (more on that later) where we camped for two nights. The canyons, Bell and Little Wild Horse form a loop. They are located on Bureau of Land Management (BLM) lands and dogs are allowed. In fact, these were rated as dog-friendly. And I suppose if I had smaller dogs or if I had a human hiking partner, maybe we would have gone further and made the entire loop. As it was, we came across obstacles that were four feet or more and I had to assist Luna a couple of times and catch Sky once before she fell backwards. But what really stopped us in Little Wild Horse Canyon was a rock wedged in the slot. I would have had to go under it or clamber over it and who knows what other obstacles I might find past that one. You can see Sky crouch to get under it and the photo is deceptive and doesn’t really show how high it was. Oh well. We had gone quite a ways and turned back to explore Bell Canyon. Again, there were four-foot obstacles but then we came to one that was five feet or so and I could not imagine lifting both of my 63 pound dogs over it and then hefting myself over it too. Later I found out that were obstacles as high as eight feet!

Slot canyons are a test of my claustrophobic inclinations. I generally avoid closed-in areas. I was mostly ok with these canyons since I could often see the sky above me. However, near that wedged rock, the canyon was very narrow and dark. It was fun and stunningly beautiful. And the cottonwood trees were so beautiful.

There’s that rock.
See her crouching to get under the rock?

Travels with Dogs

The girls and I just spent three weeks traveling to Utah and New Mexico, going hiking, watching birds and we attended the International Western Music Association annual award show. It was a lot to take in.

The dogs were excellent travelers, always ready to hop in the car for the next big adventure. The weather was really lovely – sunny and cool for perfect days of hiking but also cold, often really cold at night. Luna and Sky curled up with me each night in the tent trailer and we managed to keep kind of warm most nights. We saw lots of amazing sights – great sunsets and sunrises, red rock and canyons of Utah, ancient ruins and thousands of Sandhill Cranes.

Our first campsite was at Antelope Island State Park near Salt Lake City. The lake is dreadfully low and I never did make it out to the water’s edge. Antelope Island can be a good place to see birds but the day I was there it was pretty windy. It has a pioneer ranch where you can walk among the old buildings and equipment. There are some horses you can rent and also there is an introduced herd of bison that is actively managed.

The marina is high and dry
Keep your distance from these guys
An old silo
This little Important Bird Area (IBA) is a small grove of non-native trees on the ranch.
You can see Salt Lake City in the distance

An Afternoon Walk

A friend and I walked with our dogs in the hills yesterday. It had rained the night before and the air was fresh and clean. There were low-lying clouds when we started but soon the sun broke through and we were warm going uphill. We heard a lot of shooting even though the main deer season is over. Probably target shooters. Luna doesn’t care for gunfire but she stayed close. We lingered a bit and the sun went down and suddenly it was chilly. Winter will soon be here.

Walking the Dogs

Another day in the woods with my dogs.

The lake level is way down so we could walk on the beach for quite a ways
Someone else walked ahead of us
I almost bonked my head on this wasp nest
Maybe a kingfisher?
elderberries