"So, Mama don't take my Kodachrome away..."

Kodachrome by Paul Simon.

It was a chilly, blustery day at Kodachrome Basin State Park. I donned tights, lots of layers and a Windstopper jacket to brave the elements for my ramble. I miss my shorts and tank tops! 

So Jeffy, how did this park get named for a now extinct Kodak color film? I'm glad you asked because I'm in Cannonville, Utah (Yawn!) and I have plenty of time to expound.

Back in 1948, a squad of National Geographic Society photographers descended upon the area. One Jack Breed piped up, "It was a beautiful and fantastic country...we renamed it "Kodachrome Flat" because of the astonishing variety of contrasting colors in the formations."

Personally, I think "Mostly Mud-Colored Rock Flat" would be more accurate, but Jack was here first. 

At that time, Kodachrome film was fairly new on the scene. (Maybe NGS was scoring some payola from Kodak!). In 1962, the land was deeded to the Beehive State for use as a park. A little later, Utah was granted the OK by Kodak to use Kodachrome as the name. Why not? Free advertising! 

In 2009, Kodak discontinued production of Kodachrome. Digital cameras made film obsolete. Future generations will one day say, "Daddy/Mommy! What's Kodachrome?"

You're a Baby Boomer if you know what a Brownie camera is!

The wind can stop anytime now...

From downtown Cannonville, Utah, yawn...

The Land of Giddy...

If Zion National Park is the Land of Make-Believe http://jeffsambur.blogspot.ae/2015/04/a-make-believe.html than Bryce Canyon National Park is a Land of Happy Hikers. Grins are  prevalent except on the steep climbs. The visitors aren't happy then. But when they halt mid-stride and look around, they'll usually smile again. It's a place to let your imagination run wild. 

Didn't that rock look like a camel's head? Wasn't that Queen Victoria over yonder? Is that a couple in the act of coupling to the left of that pine tree? The Hoodoos (the name for the eccentric rock formations) won't say.

The Paiute Indians believed the stones were the Legend People. However, they were evil in nature. The trickster Coyote turned them into crumbly columns for their digressions. The story is a Native American knockoff of Lot's Wife and the Pillar of Salt. I guess humanity has only so many yarns.

It's a park in constant transition. The rock is sedimentary and soft. Every time it rains (like today) or White Death descends from the sky, a little more is flushed away into the Paria River drainage. So you better hurry to catch this whimsical place before its a geologic memory. 

BTW:  the park is not a canyon, it's an amphitheater. In the 1870's a Mormon pioneer named Ebenezer Bryce helped build a road to the rim and its bounty of timber. His neighbors called it Bryce's Canyon.

Old Ebenezer is credited with describing the nearby turf this way, "it's a hell of a place to lose a cow!" 

From rainy Tropic, Utah.

It's Saturday, (the Hebrew Sabbath) this Wandering, Wondering Jew is taking a day of rest here. 

Hark! Is that an IPA calling me?

A Make-Believe...

Landscape is how I describe Zion National Park. Regardless of the viewpoint or the season, that one thought never changes. This place can't be real. 

Spires, turrets, pyramids, canyons, vertical slabs, one Virgin River, mesas, rock slides, a few mammals and birds, it's all here. Paint it all with colors ranging from subtle pastels to Peter Max Day-Glow pigments. To this mix, add heaps of tenacious pine trees that eke out a living in a few scoops of substrate. Their deep green hues put the finishing touch to the whole well orchestrated scene. Simply Amazing. 

When I see Zion, I want to shout "Encore! Encore!" 

But there is only one Zion National Park in the world. That is why the world comes to Southwest Utah. It's not for the brewpubs. Real brewmasters live elsewhere. 

I've walked 33 miles in three days here. I'm growing older but Zion never grows old. When I return, I'll think once again, "this place can't be real!" 

Excuse me, I've got to look up and gawk now.

Cheers from beyond the Zion Curtain,

Jeff

A note about the pics: 

On Angel's Landing at rush hour. It'll be within a few years, that too will require a permit. Looks like a traffic cop is needed there.

The tilted tree obviously got into my Imperial IPA stash. It was standing straight and tall before it imbibed. For those of you who are concerned, I'm down to two cases of brew. I think I have enough to get me to the Colorado border. I'm kind of worried about my coffee supply though. 

I love the squirrel notice on the buses. It's great the NPS has a sense of humor at times. 

Get out here before you need a visa to see it.

Bye