Another beautiful butte in Zion National Park, Utah (Sept.2007)
The trees are Utah Junipers.
Over 200 million years ago the area where
Zion NP is today was a desert basin.
Mountains eroded to sand, and sand formed
into dunes. Time passed ... seawater covered
the dunes as the environment changed.
Calcium carbonate cemented loose grains of sand
together, making sandstone. It turned the
seabed to limestone and mud and clay to mudstone and shale, forming the sweeping
diagonal cross-bedding we see today.


"The gardner plants an evergreen
whilst trampling on a flower.
I chase the wind of a prism ship,
To taste the sweet and sour.
The pattern juggler lifts his hand;
The orchestra begin.
As slowly turns the grinding wheel
In the court of the crimson king."

Words by Greg Lake/Robert Fripp (1969)