About eight miles west of Bluff, UT, US-163 cuts through a stunning monocline called Comb Ridge. This fold in the earth’s crust, developing 65 million years ago, is similar to folds we’ve seen and especially the Waterpocket Fold in Capitol Reef National Park. How do these rock folds develop? It is all about tectonic plates. What kind of plates? Let’s go . . .
Welcome to a 10-acre Utah State Park with unbelievable views. The issue today is the wind. It is blowing steady at 25-35 mph with gusts over 50 mph. Since this park known for “standing on edges,” hold onto your hat and anything else that is study and solid.
Let’s go for a hike to a little known canyon in the Irish Canyon area along UT-95 in Utah. No, I’m not kidding. Leprechaun Canyon is part of the Irish Canyon area 28 miles south of Hanksville. You must carefully count the miles because there are no signs and the unpaved parking area is easy to miss. Ooops, have to back up, I just missed it. Luckily there are no cars on UT-95 as far as the eye can see in either direction. Ahh, wilderness.
Although this area is known for full-geared climbing and rappelling, only walking and a tiny bit of scrambling is needed to explore Leprechaun Canyon. Just my kind of “challenge”, so let’s go!
The Long-billed Curlew is North America’s largest shorebird. It also holds the world record for the longest billed bird compared to body size. It uses its bill to dig deep into mud pulling out crabs, shrimp, and other marine invertebrates. So what are they doing in the prairies of Montana?!
