Escalante, Utah, is a jumping off point for exploring the Grand Staircase – Escalante National Monument. Bill Clinton designated the area a national monument in 1996. It was a controversial step. Clinton came in third in Utah in the 1992 presidential election behind George Bush and Ross Perot. Many in Utah were concerned that the designation would prevent economic development in the area. It is a huge area - at almost 1,900,000 acres it is the largest US national monument.
Over two decades, many locals grew accustomed to the national monument and some embraced it. A thriving tourism business has developed in Escalante.
President Trump explored the possibility of doing away with many national monuments, but found that it was likely illegal to do so. In October he announced a different approach – not attempting to remove monument status, but reducing the sizes of several of them significantly. The scope of these changes is still unclear, but the peerless physical beauty, irreplaceable dinosaur fossil fields, and Native cultural stes of the monument are likely to lose out in favor of potential fossil fuel exploration.
Two quotes for your consideration:
“Of all the paths you take in life, make sure a few of them are dirt.” (attributed to John Muir)
“Wilderness is not a luxury, but a necessity of the human spirit.” Edward Abbey
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One easy to explore area of Grand Staircase-Escalante NM is called Devil’s Garden. It is an excellent place to explore Beauty in Light… in Shapes… and in Textures.
Sometimes if feels like the sun plays games with the rocks of Utah… peeking in and out… scorching heat and cool shadows shoulder to shoulder…
The sandstone of Utah is the perfect medium for erosion by wind and water. The human eye and mind cannot begin to absorb the infinite variations in shape.
Two stone hawks stand sentry over Devil’s Garden.
Did ancient Egyptians find their way to Utah to leave eroding sculptures?
It is easy to get lost in the wonder of the giant rock formations and lose sight of the Beauty in small things… the textures of rock and wood and sand…
Aerial photo of Utah canyonlands? No… just an example of the beauty one can find by looking down. This is about two square feet of Utah sand. It seems like at least once a year the Idiots feel compelled to quote from William Blake’s Auguries of Innocence…
To see a World in a Grain of Sand
And a Heaven in a Wild Flower
Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand
And Eternity in an hour
