
Breathtakingly beautiful, and unlike anything we've seen anywhere else, are the red, rocky formations in Utah.
We left Salt Lake City heading for Moab, Utah, and Arches National Park. This was a place I had always wanted to see and it did not disappoint. Here are some photos from our drive away from Salt Lake City.
Indigenous tribes often see rock formations as ancestors, with deeply spiritual qualities. Earlier, when we were traveling across Montana, we stopped at a marker and saw a sleeping buffalo rock. This rock was part of a group of rocks that looked like a herd of sleeping buffalo that had been atop a mountain and many tribes believed the buffalo rocks had spiritual power. In 1932, the rock was moved. It was said to be restless. It now resides under a shelter on Route 2. Likewise, the buffalo stones I referred to in my last blog post, were thought to be powerful. Buffalo were an important resources for the plains Indians and were highly respected. I talked about the power imbued in some stones in the context of Hawaiian (ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi) and Māori culture in an earlier post (near the end, related to Pamela Polland's song).
All around Moab, Utah, and Arches National Park, we saw rock formations that were awe-inspiring. We thought they often looked like buildings in a prehistoric city. In fact, the formations were the result of a vast salt sea, which dissolved under subsequent layers of sandstone and sweeping winds, over millions of years. It was not difficult to understand how they are seen to have spiritual power. In fact, local tribes still hold ceremonies, privately, at or near some of these rock formations.
The following day, we set off for Zion National Park, 5 hours across Utah. We had not realized how beautiful the drive would be - multiple rock faces in the desert, from ancient seas.
Then, we arrived at Zion National Park. Wow - it was a similar beauty, but on a much grander scale. If Arches resembled ancient cities, Zion was a playground for gods. We took a shuttle to the visitor center, then took a second shuttle on the floor of the giant canyon.