Here be goblins?

I've been flipping back to Minnesota every other weekend meaning opposite of that I'm left either house hunting or exploring Utah, and man o man what a lot there is to explore. I've found that happiness is a jeep, a tank of gas, and damn near any direction in Utah.

I was born in the Appalachian mountains in Virginia, did some growing up in the south east including the swamps of Florida, moved back up through the oaken forests of the north east and then out to the plains of south central Minnesota, north to the Canadian Shield and Boreal forests and now to the mountain west and the deserts. Deserts being the newest environment for me I'm itching to get into it.

So a couple Saturdays ago I set out for a place in south central/east Utah, Goblin Valley State Park.

From Wiki; Its eminent feature is its thousands of hoodoos and hoodoo rocks, referred to locally as "goblins", which are formations of mushroom-shaped rock pinnacles, some as high as several meters. The distinct shape of these rocks comes from an erosion-resistant layer of rock atop softer sandstone. Along with Bryce Canyon National Park some 190 miles to the southwest, Goblin Valley State Park is one location with some of the highest occurrences of hoodoos in the world.

The park lies within the San Rafael Desert southeast of the east limb of the San Rafael Swell and north of the Henry Mountains. Utah State Route 24 passes about four miles east of the park. Hanksville lies 12 miles to the south.

The drive down was pleasant if not down right enjoyable but then I think thousand mile road trips in a Rubicon are the highly enjoyable. The roads south out of where I'm staying have some impressive scenery, the journey being half the reward of any trip I typically have a grin plastered on my face the whole way.

Not too far south you hit high desert and it stays that way, mesas, cliffs, buttes, and finally I arrived just outside the gate to Goblin Valley.

Once inside you're free to roam virtually anywhere, and everywhere you look there is something that begs investigation and exploration. What follows are a collection of shots captured across the day of climbing, hiking and exploring.

Along the way I did manage to find water in the desert! Following what looked like an old stream bed into the shadows I found the following coming up out of the ground.

There's no way I could get all of the images into this post, I think I took over 600 total. The place is like an alien planet with incredible rock formation throughout, vistas that are awe inspiring and incredible, all in I think it was more than a pretty good day in the desert!