Devil's Garden

On our way back from Boulder, Russell and I decided to take a little detour before heading back to camp. We wanted to go back and see one of the sites we missed the day before when we were going to Hole in the Rock. We turned down the Hole in the Rock road and unloaded the four-wheeler; we did not want to be beat to death again by the bumpy road. The four-wheeler was also faster than the truck on the dirt road and we were running out of daylight. We drove about 13 miles and turned off the road to go the Devil's Garden.

As you will soon see, this sign was an understatement! If you can't read it, the sign says "Devil's Garden, Outstanding Natural Area." The Garden was not only outstanding, it was AMAZING!

All over this area these beautiful sandstone hoodoos stood like castles. These unique structures were formed due to different rates of erosion over the years. The harder layers of sandstone on top eroded slower that the softer sandstone on bottom creating these mushroom shaded formations. The rock surfaces were also pocked with holes making them easy to climb.

Emily saw me climbing the rocks and she wanted to be a part of it too. She started climbing by grabbing the inside of the holes in the rock and pulling herself up. It was so cute! But then she realized there was dirt on the ground and her attention was directed toward the fun dirt.

We got some pretty cute pictures of Emily as we climbed through out the many rocks and crevasses. I think my favorite is the one where she is looking through the little hole in the rock but they are all fun.

And of course we got a lot of fun family pictures. Thank you to all the other tourists and family members who agreed to take our pictures for us, they turned out really good. Too bad we were in our grubby clothes because some of these would make great Christmas cards or something. The one I think is the coolest is the picture of our silhouettes as the sun is going down. Of course Emily had to be picking her nose in some of them because that is her favorite past-time. I don't know how to break her of that habit because every time I try to make her stop she throws a fit! What a little stinker!

I think this picture is awesome! Russell is standing on to of a tiny sandstone arch. Below him is probably a 20+ foot drop. While I was looking up information on Devil's Garden, one writer stated, "The structures of Devil's Garden are fragile and rare...no one really knows when they might collapse, it is not kosher to stand on stone arches and bridges. Just remember this simple maxim: you fall you die!" When I read this, I laughed thinking about was this picture. I don't know if this was the smartest thing to do but it turned out to be an awesome picture! Luckily the stone didn't break!

Russell was so proud of his accomplishment. Here he is pointing to the arch he conquered and once again Emily is picking her nose. Ugh!

Devil's Garden was awesome! I am so glad we decided to come here before heading back to camp. The Garden definitely made the day. When I heard Devil's Garden, I imagined a meadow with a lot of vegetation and flowers (you know a garden) so I was not expecting to see these amazing rock formations. It definitely was a pleasant surprise for me, and definitely better that a meadow of flowers.

Devil's Garden marked the end of our adventures in the Grand Staircase National Monument. The next morning we headed for home. We had a great time exploring new places. There is so much to see out there that we needed more than two days. I think Russell and I will definitely go back another time so we can see more of the sights including, Posey Lake, Calf Creek Falls, Chimney Rock, Peek-A-Boo slot canyon, Spooky Gulch, and more. Another trip we plan on taking will be to explore the other side of the Hole in the Rock pioneers trek to the San Juan valley. This area is on the other side of Lake Powell in Mesa Verde. It is so ironic that I have lived in Utah my whole life and have never seen many of the natural wonders and sites of this great state. My bucket list has definitely gotten longer since this trip. I recommend it to everyone.