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Showing posts with the label Waterpocket Fold

Glorious Utah, into Capitol Reef

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It was an early morning start from the "Snuggle Inn" in Loa. The sun was catching the irrigation systems in the fields and we passed a herd of bison in a field, not roaming free unfortunately but worth investigating. We passed through the little town of Torrey and entered  Capitol Reef National Park, Our first stop was the Visitor Centre where they were just about to start a talk about the history and geology of the Park. Capitol Reef National Park occupies an area of 378 square miles encompassing about 3/4 of the 100 miles long Waterpocket Fold, a steep monocline or fold in the earth's crust which formed about 70 million years ago during the uplift of the Colorado Plateau. The formation is white and yellow Navajo sandstone and red Wingate sandstone, and these have been sculpted into buttressed cliffs and pinnacles by the actions of wind and water. The Fremont River and it's tributaries have formed deep canyons through the formation where the cl