Monday, April 25, 2011

Rocks and Goblins

Off again for another adventure and look who's driving?  Jackie got behind the wheel for the first time and did great.  We headed north on highway 6 out of Delta and then 36 miles out into the desert to one of the best rock hounding areas of Utah.


As you can see we found a place with no one around for miles.  What more could you ask for than a super quiet place and a nice firepit and oh yes, lots of rocks.

After loading up over 50 pounds of Joy Agate, Drusie, Chalcedony and Jasper we headed out to Topaz Mountain where we found a few pieces of Topaz.  Most of the people were attacking the mountain with hammers and pry bars but on this day it was not our thing so we sifted through the tailing's.  Topaz comes out of the mountain brown but after being subjected to light it turns clear and that is what we found.

Can you find Jackie digging Topaz in this picture?

This area of the desert and mountains is full of old mines and one day while driving up an old wash we hiked up the side of the hill to check this one out.  It looked to be 60 or 70' deep.  Not sure what they were looking for here but looks like they found it.  Don't slip, it's a long way down and no way out.

Another day another trip and up on the side of this mountain there was an old school bus.  We had no idea how they got it up there or why they did it.  Must have been used as living quarters at one time.

Put on the long lens so we could see the bus a little closer.  Looks like it is about ready to roll over the edge.

After 4 days in this spectacular area we went back into Delta to empty tanks, do laundry and back to Delta Community Church for Easter Sunrise Service and then off we went again to BLM land down the road from Goblin Valley State Park.  This is only a two night stay and then we finish the trip to Arches in the morning.

We arrived on Sunday afternoon and found a place with another great view.  It was a windy so no fire, watched a little TV and early to bed.  Tuesday morning we woke up to sunshine and a cool morning so off we went to the state park.  This is the only place in the world where mother nature left this kind of geology.

The valley was full of these unique eroded structures that you wander around and...


... if so inclined you could climb on them.


Jackie found a way to get to the top of this one.


The valley is surrounded with high hills with very unique features.  Can you find the face in this picture, it's looking to the right.  If you are ready to give up go ahead and scroll to the next picture and then come back to see it's location.



So go back and look above what looks like a cave and there it is.

If you found the face now see if you can see what we saw in this area of the valley?  On the left we see a boy on the left kissing and girl on the right and the big pile of rocks is two kids with there face toward the wall counting for hide and seek.  Use your imagination, well, that's what we saw.

Before leaving Jackson California we had all new tires put on the jeep and while running the washes at Topaz Mountain we got a big slice in the side wall of the left front tire.  We put on the spare and continued on our way.  Today while back in the washes near our camp the warning light came on saying we had a low tire.  Again miles from nowhere we turned around and got back home without any problem.  We will post some of the pictures on this trip at another time so come back soon.

To be continued...

4 comments:

Debbie said...

Why do they call it Goblin Valley? Did some people picture goblins in the rocks?

Nita said...

Guess that State Park will have to go on our bucket list. Looks like a very interesting place. Nice pictures. Jackie looks pretty comfy behind the wheel of the motorhome. Hope you are enjoying being back at Arches.

Kathy said...

You guys are visiting such a unique area, filled with so much geology! Utah is magical!

Did you ever see the movie "The Long Long Trailer" with Lucy & Desi?! :)

Have fun in Arches! At least the weather should be better than what Robbie and Alice had!

Dave Cannon said...

Great story! Next time you're in the area, you should stop by Garnet Basin and the Dugway Geode Beds.