The red rock desert
The red rock desert
We left Prescott on Thursday and headed to Kanab, Utah. We spent the night about 40 miles from the actual town of Kanab, in the red rock desert. I have loved the red rock desert for a very long time. The colors, and the plateau formations are gorgeous. After driving for 5 hours, we hurried and ate dinner so we could go wandering in the desert.
There are big old junipers in this area, plus a lot of sagebrush and a few flowers. We LOVE the smell of sagebrush so it was very nice to get a handful of it. But the way these old junipers stand out against the landscape, just gorgeous.
And it’s the variety of color and texture in the land here that make it so special.
We came across the most interesting find too. There were 2 very short rock walls pretty close to each other. And large, old tin cans. Someone had lived here, we are guessing maybe in the 50’s. How they got here I have no clue. No roads, no old paths, nothing.
I have never heard of any old mines in this area, but that doesn’t mean they weren’t around. We found the sole of a child’s shoe, lots of broken glass ware, and a wild array of……stuff.
This was an old metal hardhat. This image to me tells the whole story. It’s like someone got frustrated, jammed their hardhat on this tree, and walked away.
When we were heading back to the house, we ran across this oddity. I have no clue about this at all. It was taller than 6 feet, and just a stack of rocks.
We spent most of Friday rock hunting, and looking to see if Kanab was a place to relocate the shop. We have looked at this area off and on for several years. After taking a closer look, we were able to cross it off our list. The desert there is beautiful, but it’s all private, BLM, or right next to the highway. So the search continues.
Friday afternoon we drove to St. George and have been visiting friends all weekend. Onward to points north today.
Wow what an odd place and wonder who lived there and why? Such a mystery. Have a marvellous Monday.
Best wishes Molly
I love a good mystery though.
Great set of pictures – I do wonder what story those objects tell. Even if we can’t know, its a good game to make up the story to fit the facts.
Cheers – Stewart M – Melbourne
And it’s so hard not to think up a story, it’s that whole human nature thing.
wow. Breathtaking photos and I too love the creating stories of the objects. I also really like the Red Rock desert and St. George!
The red rock is pretty, but after driving to Vegas last year we had our fill. Red rock overload. We love your idea of how the hat got onto that wood piece!
I could never get my fill of red rock, but we are all different. I like my hat story, and I’m sticking to it. LOL
super cool photos, love the red rock!
I can see why you rushed to get there…:)JP
We love it, and love spending time when we can.
Good Morning, lovely images from the desert.. I love the last two shots.. especially the cool tree. Happy Monday!
oh, those trees!!! the rock wall to shelter someone’s back was a neat find.
I heard they made lots of westerns out there. The town they built burned down. Lots of beauty and primitive areas abound. Maybe Dameron would be a good choice.
What lovely rich colours!
LOVE this set of pics! Sedona is on my bucket list for … someday! I have always wanted to see that place!! I just have to convince my husband to go WEST again! It is a very long trip for us to go out there…especially if we go south in the spring. Hope you find a place for your shop!!
Sedona is nice too, but way more people there. I hope you make it west again, maybe then we could meet.
Isn’t the area just gorgeous? I told myself that one day I would go back there for another visit and you just reminded me!
Well there you go…you’re welcome. LOL
Its is very pretty there! Much more color than Arizona. Good luck on your shopping! Love Dolly
Great landscape images, Mary!
Dearest Mary! HELLO! I am terrible late; I got sidetracked with my first day of being on Spring break! What fun I am having so far, but then I came and had difficulty getting into your site, but I finally made it! (difficulty getting in from my blog roll but via Google it worked!)
OK, these skies are so blue, so vivid….and such an interesting “museum” of sorts. The things you find in the dessert Mary are a silent history of man and dessert. The stories than could be told….but ARE told in your photos. Gorgeous! Anita
Good glory, I meant, DESERT! :)
I love how that area has land that looks like it has rainbows in it. Your photos are jaw-dropping amazing!!
And that stack of rocks? Desert Jenga perhaps?? ;)
Oh, that hard hat picture does say it all. Def’ly one of those “a pic is worth a thousand words” shots. (His “thousand words” at the time were probably unprintable!)
Normally, when I think of the desert I don’t imagine a very colorful place. I’m sure that’s just a stereotypical though. Your photos are so beautiful and it’s amazing all of the color that they capture in the desert!
Maybe someone camped there? Pitched a tent and tried their hand at striking it rich. ;-)
Such a pretty place! All those red shades remind me of Nola. :p
Your photos remind me of our visit today in Sedona…red rocks, blue sky, white whispy clouds, and dead junipers:) Great combination! Your photos are lovely:)
That first photo is perfection. I love those twisty junipers and red rock.
I’ve never been to Kanab. It’s just a bit too far for us to justify (given that our desert time is limited). I love the cool red rock and the junipers! The junipers in NE Utah had the most incredible berry crops. Did the ones in Kanab too?
Have you ever been to the wave? We enter the lottery about 4 times per year but have never won permits.
The juniper were pretty loaded there too. You should try to get to that area some day, so much hiking. Buckskin gulch is the longest slot canyon in the world, and amazingly beautiful. 5 years ago we parked near the office that does the daily draw for the wave and vermillion cliffs. I put in for both. They draw the wave first, and if you don’t get that you can try for vermillion cliffs. We went to vermillion cliffs. It’s a huge area right next to the wave and we were the only ones there. I think you can put in for that area on line too.
Your photos are so delicious that I could just eat them Mary. Wow. The colors and the vibrancy. I loved Kanab when I was there. It spoke to my soul. I am so jealous. Wish I had been there with you. Sigh.
So much beauty there! But I bet it’s hot there in the summer!
Pulling out my shovel and screen and planning a road trip for my archaeology organization! That homestead is fascinating, especially being in the middle of nowhere with a child’s shoe remnants and that interesting hardhat “statement”. And those rock piles! So much to discover. As always, LOVE the photos. :)
You would probably have a blast. There was another place fairly close to this where someone had stayed too. The first place we found, had two rock “homes” but the walls were so short. There were broken dishes that had a mark on them that said, “US Army medical equipment” with the snake medical symbol. Probably got them from a surplus place. Too many things to mention really, so much stuff to look at.
Well I WAS excited about an 18th century homestead we’re about to excavate, but it’s starting to pale in comparison to the mystery of these desert places!
Gorgeous! We were out there a few years ago and I would love to go back and spend more time hiking. Judging from the hat, it’s a great place to visit, but maybe not to live there, lol.
What a beautiful desert. I love to find old home or camp sites when we are out hiking in the woods…it really is so interesting to think about and to see the old relics there.