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Sandstone Weathering Forms - You've Gotta Love'em

Sandstone Weathering Forms

Brandon here...  I don't know about you, but I absolutely LOVE sandstone weathering forms.  In fact, the reason I am a physical geographer is largely due to the passion I have for mountain biking (and hiking) on slickrock (a weathering form in itself).  Natural arches, bridges, fins (described in image caption below) weathering pits, rills, slickrock, hoodoos, theater-headed canyons, slot canyons, cross-bedded patterns, vertical cliff faces along the Colorado River, smooth "waves" of sandstone - it's too much really.  It must be the combination of the array of colors in the rock, the smooth texture and varied shapes that I like.  I can't quite put my finger on it... but I do like to put my mountain bike tires on it. 

Here are a few shots of amazing sandstone weathering forms:


A section of "The Wave" (more on this place in Module Two).  John wanted to surf this wave, but I told him he could not because it is ROCK, not a San Diego-style Pacific Ocean wave he is so used to surfing.  Did you know John is a long-board surfer?

Beehive Rock.  Crazy, eh?

Red Sandstone "fins" in middle of image, La Sal Mountains in background.  These "fins" often form natural arches!  John and I camped at the very spot from which this photo was take.  What a beautiful sunset!  Shot is facing east away from setting sun.

There are some more "just for fun" cool photos here  www.2zmtns.com. (there's a neat series of photos taken along the Kokopelli's Trail - this trail connects Loma, Colorado with Moab, Utah).