Monday 22 July 2013

King Canyon: Part 2

The first part of the walk around the rim of Kings Canyon is a steepish climb up at ridge that sticks out into the valley floor.  Although its a rather sharp way to start the walk, it does get almost all of the up out of the way right at the start.

Once your "up" you can walk around the rim of the Canyon, with just a short drop back down towards the valley bottom at the canyons narrow point.  Its a wonderful walk.

Once you are near the head of the canyon you start to get views of the main walls - which are to say the least rather spectacular.  Over millions of years a small crack in the surface has been expended to form this canyon of red and orange rock.

The rock of the canyon was formed in the bed of an old sea and in places you can still see the wave ripple marks in the body of the rocks.  All it needed was a sand castle and it would have been a modern beach (albeit a rather hard one!).

The central tenant of geology is that the present is the key to the past - in other words the things that are happening today, also happened in the past.  And current geological features, no matter how big, are formed by these same processes.  Kings Canyon is one of the best places to see this idea converted into a landscape.








You can find more pictures from around the world (and less Grade 8 geology!) at Our World Tuesday.

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25 comments:

  1. Coloring Outside the Lines22 July 2013 at 21:07

    What a beautiful place to hike & photograph!

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  2. Timur Wilde Photography22 July 2013 at 21:11

    Oh what a beautiful place... Hope that i can see it sometime !!

    Greetings

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  3. Revrunner22 July 2013 at 21:12

    Great images, Stewart! I'm enjoying my virtual visit to the canyon.

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  4. Kerri Farley22 July 2013 at 22:34

    What a beautiful place!!

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  5. Irma22 July 2013 at 22:48

    Hello Stewart,
    Beautiful place there, I enjoy the canyon.

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  6. Marcia22 July 2013 at 22:56

    Those are some incredible shots. Looks much like the Grand Canyon. What were the temps like when you were there? Is there a river in the bottom?

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  7. TexWisGirl22 July 2013 at 23:32

    the sheer walls are pretty amazing!

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  8. Gunnar Hustad23 July 2013 at 00:12

    Excellent landscapes - I like!

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  9. John @ Beans and I on the Loose23 July 2013 at 00:19

    Looks identical to places I've been in Arizona and Utah. Liked seeing the ripple rock. I find geology like that and stand there trying to imagine an ancient inland sea of eons ago. Hard to do.

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  10. Anonymous23 July 2013 at 01:04

    Gorgeous rugged scenery.

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  11. Sylvia K23 July 2013 at 01:35

    What a beautiful place, Stewart, and your photos are terrific!! I love that RED!! Reminds me of places here in Arizona! Hope you have a great week!

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  12. Karen23 July 2013 at 01:55

    Terrific shots Stewart!

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  13. Bas.23 July 2013 at 03:19

    Wat een geweldige serie ik word er nou al stil van laat staan als je daar werkelijk loopt.

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  14. Fun6023 July 2013 at 04:52

    These photos bring back great memories for me. I remember the ripples in the rock. We started the walk at 6am to avoid the worst of the heat.

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  15. Margaret Birding For Pleasure23 July 2013 at 05:36

    Hi Stewart Wonderful rock formation and colouring was great. Margaret

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  16. Noel Morata23 July 2013 at 08:48

    that last image almost looks like a petroglyph, thahks for sharing!

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  17. eileeninmd23 July 2013 at 10:25

    Beautiful scenery and shots of the Canyon! It does remind me of the Grand Canyon or parts of Arizona. Great shots, Stewart!

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  18. Unknown23 July 2013 at 17:13

    wow :)

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  19. Christian Perrin23 July 2013 at 18:39

    Beautiful images. I like the little forest that has managed to eke out a living at the bottom of the canyon.

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  20. Unknown23 July 2013 at 22:29

    Great area to visit!! Boom & Gary of the Vermilon River, Canada.

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  21. DIMI24 July 2013 at 06:12

    It realy is one of the best places to visit Stewart!!!Wonderful pictures!!!How much i miss Australia!!Thank you for sharing!!!
    Dimi...

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  22. amanda25 July 2013 at 05:57

    Spectacular!
    Here in the states, the southwest is where we've fallen in love with red & orange landscape, in Utah, for the most part.
    The varying surfaces of our world amaze me.
    Was it hot there? Or mild temps, being this is your winter?

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  23. Pat Tillett28 July 2013 at 08:28

    Fantastic photos Stewart! What a beautiful place. This scenery looks very similar to parts of the American southwest.

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  24. Jana Iverson Last28 July 2013 at 08:29

    Amazing photos!

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  25. Huldra31 July 2013 at 07:53

    Wow.. So beautiful! This must have been quite an experience. Thank you for sharing :)

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