Ancient History in Rock and Pine (Dixie Forest, UT)
It’s that sense of perspective you get when you look across a vast expanse of land and feel yourself transported back in time. Like a single ant in a vast colony you become just a very small part of a greater experience. Some people get out of sorts in a place like this while others slot in as if the space had always been waiting for them.
I’m more of the slotting kind and for me this part of Utah is a little like that. I could spend all day gazing at the ancient rocks, or losing myself in the woods. The earth here has history dating back 270 million years. Capitol Reef (which I can glimpse from my campsite) is a waterpocket fold that juts up from the ground like a massive 100-mile long wrinkle in the earth’s surface. It contains over 10,000 feet of sedimentary strata and correspondingly millions of years of geological history. The surrounding Dixie National Forest stretches from the Grand Basin to the Colorado plateau encompassing an enormous two million acres of land. This is a place where land and space collide in the most awesome way.
So, if you feel like slipping into a bit of real history, this may just be the spot for you.
Nina,
In a very expressive way you have captured the wonder many of us feel looking at the geological features of places like Capital Reefs and pondering the significance of the span of millions of years needed to create the scenery before our eyes. And the photos complement the description beautifully. Thanks, Lauren
Thanks very much for the lovely comment 🙂