Field trip: echoes and pyrite in Ophir Canyon

One of the things I found most interesting in this sound book I read was the way the author talked about listening—really listening—to the sounds around us. He talked about how different places in the world have distinct sonic characters in the same way they have distinguishing visual characteristics, and he described having his students go on "sound walks" while blindfolded, so they could experience a place acoustically, kind of like you'd do a "nature walk" to see birds or something. This seemed like the coolest idea to me! So we tried it in various places: near a busy construction site, in our neighborhood, in a downtown area, and then in a more remote country area by my friend Cathy's house. The sounds in each place were so different! It made me think about how much the sounds are part of the experience when we go camping, or hiking. It's so peaceful to be somewhere where all you hear is wind and birdsong!

While we were in Tooele County, we went to a place we'd been wanting to go: Ophir Canyon, where our rockhounding guide assured us there is pyrite to be found! We always welcome the chance to find cool rocks, and this was a really easy site because the roads getting there are all paved, and you can find all kinds of pyrite just in the pile of mine tailings by the road!

Teddy got one of the rocks and walked around talking on it like it was a phone. Very businesslike.

And, as an added bonus for our Sound Unit, we discovered some great places to hear echoes in this canyon! You can hear them in this video:

Little Wild Horse Slot Canyon

We haven't ever hiked a slot canyon before, but I've always wanted to! Little Wild Horse is near Goblin Valley, and everything I read said it was a good place for families and little kids, so we were excited to try it out. I thought, based on its designation as an "easy" or "beginner" slot canyon that it probably wouldn't be as cool as some of the "advanced" canyons (the kinds you have to rappel into or whatever)—but I thought it was great! Beautiful narrow slots, and gorgeous light streaming down from above, and interesting sand dune lines and ripple marks on the rocks. I can hardly imagine how there could be a more beautiful place! Here's some information about how slot canyons are formed. We read that there are more of them in Utah than in any other place on earth!

It was really hot the day we went, and the slot sections were SO nice—you could even feel the cooler air coming off the rock walls before you walked in. There were some really narrow squeezes, but nothing TOO difficult, and even Goldie (who is three) managed it all okay, with a couple boosts here and there when we had to climb over big rocks. I was walking with her most of the time, and there were a few places when squeezing myself, and the camera around my neck, AND Goldie, through the  rocky passages was a bit tricky. But we just took it slow and we were fine.

I would LOVE to hike this again on a cool fall day. It's on our list of places to revisit for sure!

The hike starts out in this wide sandy wash. This was the hottest part! It was a relief to get into the (relatively) shady canyon area.

We carried our lunch up just past the wide part, then ate and left our cooler there to pick up on the way down. There were just a few of these large overhanging rocks to provide shade.

The children were constantly climbing up rocks and into little holes. They were so pleased with themselves! I always tell them they are free to climb around and explore as long as they are in front of me and not behind! So they're constantly racing ahead to give themselves time. It keeps everyone going. And I'm usually coming last with the baby or the smallest ones, so it's not too hard to stay ahead of me! :)

At one point I was walking through a section of canyon and I thought I heard someone giggle, but no one else heard it so I thought I was imagining things. A few minutes later I caught up to Sam and said "Where's Goldie?" She was gone! We went back and found her coming up the trail alone, laughing to herself and saying "I was hiding." Eeek! We had to make a new rule that everyone has to come out and reveal themselves when I come by!

I love the graceful, scalloped shapes these walls make. Can you spy Daisy?

Here's one of the narrowest sections. Tiny Goldie just walked on through, but most of us couldn't even get our feet to fit on that tiny floor! We had to walk along on the walls.

Sam, doing the bulk of the work holding that heavy, heavy Theodore.

I loved the view looking up too!

Smooth waves and scoops.

I love how rich the colors are as you go in and out of light and darkness, too. Those reds and oranges in the rocks glow like fire!

Tiny girl and big rocky walls

Goldie found this dead lizard. Poor little guy.

Such a cool rock "doorway"

These sweeping upward fins are so amazing! See little running Junie for scale.

Hot. We sought out any little shade we could find.

More fins and holes, and Marigold. This Goldie was really the best little hiker. Cheerful, talkative, brave. I loved being with her.

Something about that little tiny speck of light you can see through the winding slot section really made me love this part. I think it just makes it feel like a secret little tunnel.

Here's one of those ripple-marked rocks I was talking about in this post. You can tell from these rocks that this area was an ancient beach. It is so strange to stand in this hot, dry place and imagine a sea lapping onto sand right here millions of years ago!

These smooth, sheer walls are amazing!

Teddy finally fell asleep for a short time, which was a great relief to everyone. He looks so sweet, doesn't he? Certainly not like someone who would SCREAM a bloodcurdling scream of frustration and anger every few moments while awake! Never.

More creamy, wavy scallops.

Such great colors!

Goblin Valley and Agate Rockhounding

Oh, Goblin Valley. One of my favorite places in the world! I haven't been there since I was a little girl, pleasantly shivery from listening to my brother's stories about the goblins creeping out at dusk, and feeling that every spot I discovered there was mine alone.

My boys went here last Thanksgiving with my mom, and stayed in the yurts, which would be awesome, but they aren't big enough for our whole family…and I have never loved tent camping with babies. So, we stayed overnight in a hotel in Green River. It was nice because we swam in the pool in the hot part of the afternoon, then spent time in Goblin Valley during the cooler evening and again the next morning. Even better would be to go in earlier Spring, or Fall, but this was the time that we could make it work, and the heat wasn't too unbearable at those times of day.

I always wonder what it would have been like to come upon some of these places for the first time, without knowing what you were going to find there. As you get down toward the San Rafael Swell you can tell there's something interesting beyond, but Goblin Valley is set down low, to the other side, and from far away you wouldn't ever suspect anything was there!

We stopped by a spot where you can collect agate and jasper nearby. There was a great view of the San Rafael Reef. So jagged and cool!

We found some nice agate for the tumbler. But we would have stayed a lot longer if it hadn't been so HOT!

There are a few green places by the river, but most of the landscape is just dry and desert-y!

One thing I love about Goblin Valley is how freely you can roam around. I love that you can climb over rocks and scramble through openings and you don't have to stay in certain areas. And yet the whole area is relatively small, enough that the older kids can go off exploring on their own and not get lost.

The Amazing Abe seems to have provoked a smile from Teddy…

though his usual expression was more like this one. Although, to be fair, Teddy did start singing little happy hiking songs several times as we walked, which was adorable. That was when he wasn't vocally expressing his displeasure in torrents of unprintable words. Unprintable because they are in baby language, that is. But they carried a wealth of meaning nonetheless.

"Mommy, I am in a little nest."

I like all the shapes you can find in the rocks. Here are a camel and a dog, though Sam says it's a bear.

A funny guy's profile.

A duck? And Sebby.

Can you spy Abe?

I love the areas where you can see up into the next rock layer. The goblins are formed from the Entrada Sandstone (deposited about 170 million years ago) and the whitish-greenish layer is the younger Curtis Formation. During our slot canyon hike we even saw some rocks with ripple marks preserved on them, from a time this area was part of beach next to an ancient sea. (Lots more good information at this link.)

Can you spy Sebby?

On this butte, you can see the even higher layers that were cut away to form the valley. That sloping part above the Curtis Formation is the bottom of the Summerville Formation, and then the very top layer is the Morrison Formation, which is the same layer where all those dinosaur fossils in Dinosaur National Monument (and other places, too!) were found. (That one is youngest; only about 150 million years old.) We could see lots of these other layers in the rocks when we went there, too, even though it's clear across the state. They are big sediment beds! 

Here's a picture of that butte in better light the next day. You can see the layers really clearly!

I really liked this shelf-like area in a little mini-valley behind the first row of cliffs. Sam thought the outcroppings looked like fingers on a hand!

By far our favorite discovery (discovered by many before us, I'm sure, but we felt proprietary ownership over it all the same) was this big cave. Do you see the sort of bird-like face in the cliff, with a two eyes and a beak or open mouth?

You can climb inside, and then the chamber turns and goes even farther back, and there's a sort of skylight to let some light in. The little girls needed assistance getting past the entrance, but once in, they LOVED playing in there. Goldie could have happily stayed in that "little home" for the rest of her life!

The face's "eye" was a cave too. It was so fun to climb around and find all these little hiding places!

Inside the "eye"

Junie, dancing on a makeshift stage, as she is prone to do

I love how there's an atmospheric gradient as well as a rock layer gradient here.

A mad goblin

It was amazing how much the colors of the rock changed with the light. Sometimes the goblins were bright pink, and other times more orange or red or rusty brown.

But by far the best light was in the evening before sunset. Suddenly different faces of the rocks start to glow and change color, and the textures change and everything starts to look new and strange again. I had thought everything was beautiful before, but now it was even MORE beautiful! I love that delicate, glowing-from-within light on the sandstone.

We had climbed really high at this point. I took this picture of Malachi and then when I got closer and saw the dropoff behind him, I yelped "Get down from there right now!" I'm not usually scared of heights, but I'm terrified of my kids on heights!

Three boys and me

The colors were unbelievable.

Fading light.

As we were driving out, we could see some rock formations that made the shape of a man sleeping! :)

Such a great place. We'll be back soon, I hope!