lots more moab pictures

 I have been getting some requests for more pictures of my trip to Moab this Spring Break.  This is me humbly complying with said requests.  This picture is from my first campsite in Elephant Canyon of the Canyonlands.  Absolutely stunning view, but the high exposure made for a cold, windy night. There is no way you can fully appreciate these rock formations from a simple photograph, by the way. 

This is from the same campsite, but a different perspective and time of day, obviously.  Seeing the dark rock formations against the fading sky was artistic in itself, I just snapped a photo.  

Speaking of rock formations, this one caught my eye. Does anyone else see a phallic nature to this particular rock? Or is it just me and my mind in the gutter alone?! This is near my second campsite in Lost Canyon. Much more protected from the elements here and close to a fresh water source. Score!

If you have never been to Moab or the Canyonlands, these little piles of rock are what guide you along the trial.  Known as cairns, these man-made piles of rock are a trail marking idea created in prehistoric Eurasia. I really loved searching for the cairns as I wove my way through canyon after canyon.  It made me feel like I was on the right path, but still, in a sense, creating my own. 

My favorite formations I saw were these "mushrooms." They come to be through erosion and weathering of the weakest layers of rock first, which are under a stronger layer, creating the mushroom effect.  The picture below also shows signs of weathering.  I was obsessed with the textures, grains and diversity of all the rock here.   

This last photo is of me just starting my journey into my first canyon.  Along the trail there are a few ladders and this hand rail, but be warned, backpacking in the Canyonlands is not for the out-of-shape individual.  You are truly adventuring when you backpack here.  Which, in my opinion, is just how I like it.  What fun is anything if there is no sense of danger accompanying it?

namaste