The Wrinkle























How to describe a monumental sized wrinkle in the sunken earth?  Not like the pile of dirty laundry in your closet, but a gigantic groove in the earth that extends through a sizeable portion of the tremendous state of Utah.  Over one hundred miles of twisted, warped mass so diverse, so bizarre there is nothing else like it on the planet.   

A mingling of soil, rocks, mountains and canyons.  Next a collision of fault lines thousands of feet high sliding ever so slightly collapsing into each other over millions of years.  A massive chain of waterpockets and folds rise from the ravaged landscape.  Eerily stretched, distorted pockets are scattered throughout mountainsides and along gorges.   Your imagination takes hold, you see the disfigured, horrific Ghostface from Scream! its face, sliding, melting before you.  You summon the courage to open your eyes, heart racing, hands trembling as you witness the unobstructed drama that only nature can devise.   Goosebumps all around, it gives you the creeps.

From chaos emerges impossible beauty and the result is stunning.  Ominous mountain ranges of every color, dramatic cliffs, massive domes, natural bridges, mighty rivers and clear mountain streams all comprise the magnificent Waterpocket Fold, a mind blowing spectacle unique to Capitol Reef National Park.  It is impossible to express how gorgeous and ferocious the earth can be.  The unrestrained combination of almighty power and beauty united in this place unexpectedly lures a peaceful soul.

Utah is largely desolate and unplugged in these parts, not necessarily by choice but geography demands it.  I'm not sure when or if I will ever make it back here, but in this moment I know I will never forget it. 

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