Above, is a diagram, a cross-section, running north from Grand Canyon in Arizona to Bryce Canyon in Utah. The sandstone layers have warped since their depositions, but the younger rocks still rest on the older. On your left is my view today as I stood on the rise you see in the diagram to the north of Grand Canyon. I am looking north, head-on into the Chocolate Cliffs at the bottom of the Grand Staircase, the brilliant Vermillion Cliffs above them, and the White Cliffs forming the third step.
Kanab is on the sandstone that forms the Chocolate Cliffs, the Kaibab Formation, north of where it falls off in a grand step. The town
nestles at the base of the brightly painted Vermillion Cliffs seen here.
I took one step up the Staircase from Kanab and walked along the
White Cliffs, which contain the Navajo Formation laid down some 190 million
years ago as best I remember. Here I saw
the impression of a leaf that fell about that time, but I rely on reason here,
not memory. 
Exquisite pictures and story, love the words, the names for things and all the beautiful colors. It
ReplyDeletes already worth having a slide show here. So looking forward to following along and seeing the full story!
Better poets live in Utah than along the McCloud River near Dunsmuir. Their cliffs are Vermilion and Chocolate, rather than Middle and Upper.
Delete