Under, and Softly

I seem to be heavy-handed with the camera, thumbing off rounds before the old ones even make it on to here. These are from a few days ago, and a hike from Ponderosa Campground, up at the north border of the park, down to what the suits' like to call HQ. Its a pleasant little swing of about 6.5 miles, dipping from above Frijoles canyon down to the bottom, and then following the surprisingly busy little stream down through remaining snow fields.

Slicing through the porous red sandstone, the water has cut a silent city of overhanging gardens, and at times, were your feet numb enough, you could wade under a shambling causeway of rubble or stand in que in a naturally hollowed out hamburger drive-through.

The softness of the rock is not uniform, however, and erosion produces martian topiaries of endless variation. A rather ubiquitous result is the tent rock formation; more on that later.