Yesterday, I went with Annie to Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks National Monument. Tent Rocks became a national monument in 2001, so it's relatively new! I had never been there before, but I will definitely return.
The "tent rocks" were formed when volcanic eruptions left lots of material (such as pumice) in the canyon. The tents are maintained because they have hard caps of tougher stone that is less likely to wear away and holds the hoodoo in place.
I didn't get any pictures, but perhaps the best part of the day was getting to see a roadrunner! Meep meep!
Annie and I hiked the Slot Canyon trail and the Cave Loop trail, which was about 4 miles in total. The Slot Canyon trail had some steep inclines, which led us through narrow passages between the tents to the top of the mesa for a beautiful view!
Some of the trees had either grown like this, or had water wash away the stone that they originally put their roots into:
From the inside of the canyon, the sun made beautiful patterns on the rock:
And some passages were quite narrow!
Once we started climbing the steepest part of the trail, we got some incredible views of the tents that we had just hiked around:
Here, you can really see the layers of stone as well as the darker, tougher cap at the top of the tents!
From the other side of the mesa, there were more view of the white rock!
Proof that I was there!
This tree had been eaten away by worms, which left intricate patterns on the wood.
Even though we had to retrace our steps down from the mesa, the rocks were still breathtaking.
One of the best parts was ducking under this fallen rock! Watch out!
I think this is the best shot I got all day. The rock has so much movement to it, despite being quite solid.
Wow! Fantastic pictures!
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