Category: Geology

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Desert Rain

San Juan River from Goosenecks State Park Courtesy & Copyright Eric Newell, Photographer
San Juan River from Goosenecks State Park
Courtesy & Copyright Eric Newell, Photographer
Rain in the desert heightens the senses.

My hands loosely grip the oars. My rain jacket is zipped to my beard, and my ball cap is pulled down tightly on my head. Standing on the floor of my raft, I lean gently on the oars, pushing the raft downriver on choppy, strong current. A gentle upriver breeze pushes against my face. Random raindrops pelt my cheeks. The sounds of the river sloshing and swirling fill the air. Wet rocks glisten and every hue is enhanced.

The river is swollen and running heavy with sediment from monsoon rains that have arrived both in the form of violent, lightning-charged microbursts and broad, regional storms.

San Juan River Utilizing Its Floodplain Near Bluff Utah Courtesy & Copyright Eric Newell, Photographer
San Juan River Utilizing Its Floodplain Near Bluff Utah
Courtesy & Copyright Eric Newell, Photographer
The water smells pungently of dirt and is so heavy-laden with silt that it looks more like rusty sludge than water. Deposits of fine sediment remain everywhere water has splashed, coating the raft, our feet, and our clothing with grime.

San Juan River Flood Plain Near Bluff Utah Courtesy & Copyright Eric Newell, Photographer
San Juan River Flood Plain Near Bluff Utah
Courtesy & Copyright Eric Newell, Photographer
The swath of sky between the canyon walls is a steel-gray plate of mammatus clouds. It will be another wet evening in camp. I crane my neck and my eyes follow the edge of sky along the canyon rims. I am dwarfed by layers of limestone and shale that were laid down as sediment eons ago, then hardened to stone, then thrust upward by the unhurried, relentless forces of a continent in motion. All the while, the river cut through the uplift, eating away one grain of bedrock at a time, carving this canyon.

San Juan River In Mexican Hat At About 22000 CFS Courtesy & Copyright Eric Newell, Photographer
San Juan River In Mexican Hat At About 22000 CFS
Courtesy & Copyright Eric Newell, Photographer
Beyond the clouds, I imagine billions of stars above—invisible in the daylight—and our vulnerable little planet traveling through the cosmos.

The pages of Lisa Kearsley’s San Juan River Guide, on the deck of my raft, have turned in the breeze. I could look up the geologic periods and names of the various layers—yet again. But right now, today, just being here, lost in the wonder and awe of this canyon, is enough. In the scope of geologic time, how did I get so lucky to be in this place, on this day, in this particular storm? This moment will be lost in the ages, but it is crystalized in time for me.

An ancestral Puebloan granary, concealed beneath an overhang, catches my attention. We drift past. No one else notices. A few bends later, a bighorn ram walks the edge of a ledge above the river. It pauses and turns its massive head to watch us drift along. People and creatures have inhabited this landscape for millennia. Each of us are just passing through.

Mexican Hat Boat Ramp with the river running 41000 CFS Courtesy & Copyright Anna Hart, Photographer
Mexican Hat Boat Ramp with the river running 41000 CFS
Courtesy & Copyright Anna Hart, Photographer
That was between Bluff and Mexican Hat, September 16, on about 4,000 cubic feet of water per second—or CFS.

A month later, on October 23, the San Juan Country Sheriff closed the river due to extreme high water. The river had breached several sewer treatment plants upstream and local agencies were overwhelmed mitigating flood damage. On October 26, the river peaked at about 41,000 CFS—flow levels not seen since the 1970’s. The river dropped to about 5,000 CFS for a few days, then peaked again at 34,000 CFS on November 3. Two separate fifty-year flood events occurred in an eight-day span, isolating and inundating communities in three states.

Above the river, on the outside bend of the canyon near mile sixteen, century-old cottonwood tree trunks, weathered to dark gray, rest one hundred and twenty feet above the river bottom. They were once adrift.

Analysis conducted by Lynn Orchard, under the direction of Bob Webb at the University of Arizona in 1999, indicate these logs were deposited by a flood in 1911. By radiocarbon dating debris from past floods in the canyon, they calculated the 1911 flood likely produced the largest flows in the lower San Juan canyons during the past 4,000 years, with maximum flows around 150,000 CFS.

San Juan River Overflowing Its Banks Courtesy & Copyright Eric Newell, Photographer
San Juan River Overflowing Its Banks
Courtesy & Copyright Eric Newell, Photographer
In an era of dams, diversions, and drought, watching the river overflow its banks and utilize its floodplain is a remarkable once-in-a-generation phenomenon. Every now and then the river rises up and reminds us that it has been here for eons, and will continue to run its course, carving its way through the canyons.

I am Eric Newell and I am wild about Utah and our wild rivers.

If you would like to contribute support for flood victims in and around Bluff, Utah, please consider https://bluffcommunityfoundation.org

Credits:

Images: Courtesy & Copyright Brandt & Anna Hart as well as Courtesy & Copyright Eric Newell
Featured Audio: Courtesy & Copyright © Friend Weller as well as J. Chase and K.W. Baldwin
Text: Eric Newell, Edith Bowen Lab School, Utah State University, https://edithbowen.usu.edu/
Voice: Eric Newell, Edith Bowen Lab School, Utah State University, https://edithbowen.usu.edu/

Additional Reading

A comprehensive look at the flooding, Explorer Vault, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JmxiGbdl0mQ

San Juan River Flows Near Bluff, Utah, USGS, https://waterdata.usgs.gov/monitoring-location/USGS-09379500/#dataTypeId=continuous-00065-0&period=P30D&showFieldMeasurements=true

The 1911 Four Corners Flood: Could it happen again? KUST, Four Corners Public Radio, https://www.ksut.org/history/2023-10-01/the-1911-four-corners-flood-could-it-happen-again

Orchard, Kenneth Lynn, Paleo Flood Hydrology of the San Juan River, The University of Arizona, https://repository.arizona.edu/items/b62d9d40-aede-4d19-9fc2-e837124bf4b6

How deep? Compare Sand Island Boat Launch images from Maps.Google.com with the 41000 CFS at Sand Island Boat Launch Gallery above, https://maps.app.goo.gl/xpzEHHa5k4Qtd7nr9

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The Colorado River, a World-class Sculptor

Today’s story was written by Carlos Ramos, facilities director at Stokes Nature Center. I will be reading the English translation. To hear Carlos’s version in Spanish, you can find it online or listen Wednesday night at 9:01 p.m.

August arrived and the heat was at its peak. Summer was well established in Utah, and educational outings were making the most of the season. There is nothing better than leaving everyday life behind and spending a few days immersed in nature.

This last August, I went canoeing on the Green River with incoming freshmen of Utah State University and a few guides from the USU outdoor programs. The Green River is the main tributary of the Colorado River and stretches some 730 miles through Wyoming, Utah, and Colorado.

It is a brilliant, world-class sculptor, taking its time to shape magnificent red and orange sandstone mountains into unique, priceless works of art. During the late summer, the river is very calm, an excellent time to paddle. The journey becomes a time to listen, observe, sing the most off-key melodies, and learn about everything around us.

After five days, we learn that disconnecting from daily routines and worries about what might happen in the world makes us more attuned to nature, more observant, more creative, and more grounded.
One of the non-negotiable requirements of this trip was no technology. At first, I wondered how we could return to a time when we did not depend on cell phones and other communication systems, so we can enjoy the world around us.

After five days, we learn that disconnecting from daily routines and worries about what might happen in the world makes us more attuned to nature, more observant, more creative, and more grounded. As we realize that it does not take much to be happy.

Labyrinth Canyon is home to a wide variety of bird species and serves as a nesting sanctuary for peregrine falcons and golden eagles. You can see great blue herons and, of course, bald eagles as well as swallow nests on the immense walls of the colorful cliffs.

Mammals include beavers and otters, as well as larger mammals such as desert bighorn sheep, mule deer, coyotes, and foxes. On some days during this trip, we saw other nature lovers like us taking the time to enjoy fishing.
These dark, muddy waters are home to several federally protected fish native to Utah, including the Colorado pike minnow, the humpback chub, the bonytail chub, and the razorback sucker.

The banks of the Green River are adorned with trees such as willows and cottonwoods. In addition to adding a touch of beauty, their roots help stabilize sand bars, and they provide food and building material for beavers.

Above the canyons, the land is covered by a delicate living carpet of cyanobacteria, mosses, and lichens, known as cryptobiotic crust, which is vital for preventing erosion and fixing nutrients in the soil.

Night fell, and the camp began to take shape. Everyone pitched their tents, and dinner was prepared and enjoyed, accompanied by stories, games, and trivia amid laughter and murmurs. The hours passed slowly in this wonderful place, somewhere you never want to leave.

When darkness fully settled in, our guests of honor arrived. A night filled with lights, whose shapes and names leave even the greatest dreamer pondering. The stars made their majestic entrance, tracing even the unimaginable across the sky, where creativity can discover 1000s upon 1000s of shapes. We waited for a glimpse of the Milky Way, and of course, the Queen of the Night, the Moon.

If I could wish for time to stand still, I would choose this place without hesitation, in the company of people as special as these traveling companions. They will forever be among the 1000s of explorers who have journeyed through these beautiful treasures of a wild Utah.

The story was written by Carlos Ramos, a Utah naturalist with a passion for the nature of this incredible planet, and he is definitely Wild About Utah.

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A Washington County Big Day

Roadrunner in a Tree, Courtesy Pixabay, Mike-RJA1988 Contributor
Roadrunner in a Tree
Courtesy Pixabay, Mike-RJA1988 Contributor
As dawn breaks, I find myself with a fellow birder at Lytle Ranch on the Beaver Dam slope, elevation approximately 2000 feet. With the binoculars and cell phones, birding apps in hand, we begin our search. By nightfall, we will be at Kolob Reservoir elevation, a bit over 8000 feet.

Lytle Ranch Courtesy & Copyright Marshall Topham, Photographer
Lytle Ranch
Courtesy & Copyright Marshall Topham, Photographer

Courtesy & Hell-Hole Canyon in the Rain Copyright Marshall Topham, Photographer Courtesy & Hell-Hole Canyon in the Rain
Copyright Marshall Topham, Photographer

Birding Students from UTU Courtesy & Copyright Marshall Topham, Photographer Birding Students from UTU
Courtesy & Copyright Marshall Topham, Photographer

My Family Birding Courtesy & Copyright Marshall Topham, Photographer My Family Birding
Courtesy & Copyright Marshall Topham, Photographer

Fishhook Cactus Courtesy & Copyright Marshall Topham, Photographer Fishhook Cactus
Courtesy & Copyright Marshall Topham, Photographer

Ephemeral Pool Copyright Marshall Topham, Photographer Ephemeral Pool
Copyright Marshall Topham, Photographer

Marshall Birding Courtesy & Copyright Marshall Topham, Photographer Marshall Birding
Courtesy & Copyright Marshall Topham, Photographer

Our list of birds observed for the day will exceed 100 different species. This day, we will have passed through numerous life zones, beginning in the Sonoran life zone of the Mojave Desert and ending up in the alpine forests of the Canadian life zone.

In birder’s language, we call this a big day.

There are 924 bird species known to be in the United States. The average county in Utah has approximately 295 species, but Washington County, Utah, boasts 400 species.

The incredible diversity of bird life is due to several factors. Probably the most important is the convergence of three different geophysical features. The Great Basin Desert invades Washington County from the north, the Mojave Desert from the south, and the Colorado Plateau comes in from the east. Each different geophysical feature brings with it its own distinct complement of plants and animals, and therefore birds. In addition to the merging of geophysical features, Washington County is incredibly diverse topography. The elevation changes from 2000 feet to over 10,000 feet at the top of Pine Mountain, which locals refer to as Pine Valley Mountain.

The numerous different life zones provide opportunity to observe many different species of birds. Erosion has also played a part in the diversity of life here. What was once the bottom of washes that filled with magma from ancient volcanoes are now the tops of ridges capped with basalt or lava. This inverse topography is not common elsewhere in a state, and it provides unique microhabitats, such as north-south slopes, which retain different amounts of moisture due to their orientation to the winter sun. The difference in soil moisture content produces different plants and attracts different birds.

There is also the fact that we are near the convergence of two different migration flight ways, the Pacific Flyway on the west and the central flyway to the east. Birds from both these flyways can find their way into the county.

Soil types should also be included in the list, from basalt to sandstone and limestone, and various different soils found in the area contribute to the diversity of plant life, and therefore bird life, as well. Sandstone is known to create both ephemeral pools after rainstorms on the surface and absorb water like a sponge, which slowly leaks out at the base, creating life-sustaining water seeps.

Surprisingly, Utah ranks only 45th out of 50 states in the United States with regard to the number of people who consider themselves birders. The national average is 24% but in Utah, only 11% think that they would qualify. This is a bit unfortunate, because research has shown birding to have tremendous advantages for human physical and cognitive health. Committed bird watchers have detectable brain differences that suggest bird watching reshapes the brain in much the same way as learning a language or a musical instrument does. Three combined studies in the UK have shown bird watching to be a remedy for stress, anxiety, and depression. Becoming a birder physically reshapes your brain. Considerable research shows that learning and practicing bird identification increases the structural density and complexity in brain regions tied to physical processing, attention, and working memory. These changes help build a cognitive buffer that protects against age-related memory decline.

Perhaps Terry Tempest Williams put it best: “Birds are wherever we are. They are our companions. Birds are mediators between heaven and earth.”

This is Professor Marshall Topham from Utah Tech University. I’m wild about Utah.

Credits:

Images Courtesy & Copyright Marshall Topham, Photographer
Also included photos Courtesy US BLM: https://www.flickr.com/photos/blmutah/32152508267/in/album-72157667920964286/
Featured Audio: Courtesy & © Bob Holmes, Composer, Hugh Jones, Producer, Rubber Rodeo-Before I Go Away, 1984, https://www.discogs.com/release/9698183-Rubber-Rodeo-Scenic-Views
Text: Marshall Topham, https://ees.utahtech.edu/faculty-staff/
Additional Reading: Lyle Bingham, https://bridgerlandaudubon.org/

Additional Reading

Wild About Utah pieces by Marshall Topham https://wildaboututah.org/author/marshall-topham/

417 Species in Washington County, Utah United States, eBird Printable Checklist, eBird.org [visited June 22, 2026] https://ebird.org/printableList?regionCode=US-UT-053

Birding in Washington County, UtahBirds.org, http://utahbirds.org/counties/washington/index.html Note, this is not a TSL-protected connection: http not https.

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Earth Day

Eyes on Earth, A sliver of Earth is illuminated against the blackness of space in this photo taken by an Artemis II crew member through an Orion spacecraft window on the third day of the mission. Credit: NASA
Eyes on Earth
A sliver of Earth is illuminated against the blackness of space in this photo taken by an Artemis II crew member through an Orion spacecraft window on the third day of the mission. Credit: NASA
Earth Day, Earth Week, and my preferred, Earth Year. Let’s pretend to join the Artimus 11 crew for a wild 300,000 mile journey to the dark side of the moon for an Earth rise. Suddenly a soul piercing view appears and with it, in a brief second, we are transformed into a profound Earth lover. Eyes mist. Hearts race. A deep longing sweeps over us, a homesickness never before experienced. This celestial blue oasis hanging in an infinite black void contains all that we are, all that we love, from the long arch of human history to this very moment, sweeps over us. Transfixed, transformed, filled with an unquenchable longing.

Now imagine our return flight as earth’s gravity plunges us ever faster toward north America, and Utah before veering toward the blue Pacific for splash down.

The Great Salt Lake at Sunset Courtesy Pixabay, BJohnson, Contributor
The Great Salt Lake at Sunset
Courtesy Pixabay, BJohnson, Contributor

Four planets and the Moon are visible in the twilight sky over ancient Bristlecone Pine trees at Cedar Breaks NM Courtesy US NPS, Zach Schierl, Photographer Four planets and the Moon are visible in the twilight sky over ancient Bristlecone Pine trees at Cedar Breaks NM
Courtesy US NPS, Zach Schierl, Photographer

Cedar Breaks National Monument- the Pink Cliffs Courtesy USGS Cedar Breaks National Monument- the Pink Cliffs
Courtesy USGS

Condor Committee in Zion National Park Courtesy US NPS Condor Committee in Zion National Park
Courtesy US NPS

National Parks in Southern Utah Arches National Park, Bryce Canyon National Park, Canyonlands National Park, Capitol Reef National Park, Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, Natural Bridges National Monument, Zion National Park Courtesy US National Park Service (NPS) National Parks in Southern Utah
Arches National Park, Bryce Canyon National Park, Canyonlands National Park, Capitol Reef National Park, Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, Natural Bridges National Monument, Zion National Park
Courtesy US National Park Service (NPS)
https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/national-parks-in-southern-utah.htm

Cliffs Above the North Fork Virgin River, Zion National Park, UT Courtesy USGS Cliffs Above the North Fork Virgin River, Zion National Park, UT, Courtesy USGS

I’m reminded of the many flights taken to Southern California to train my AP Environmental science teachers, senses gratified by stunning views of the Great Salt Lake, a magnificent patchwork quilt of blues, reds, whites aware it’s teaming with brine shrimp, brine flies, and bird life, now sweeping over green, snowcapped mountains and high plateaus toward the red canyon country deeply incised by magnificent Colorado, Green, and Virgin rivers.

It becomes apparent that Utah has a unique beauty like no other, its varied landscapes replete with diverse life forms from Gila monsters to tetradactyl-like California condors, from over 800 bee species, to several thousand species of plants. Utah!! Home!

Considering this is factual fiction contrived by Jack’s brain, for all its splendor, let us pause over what I consider to be a standout to match a Great Salt Lake sunset- the Markagunt plateau. This magnificent piece of our beloved Earth has been sliced and diced into pure grandeur of deep canyons, much of which this mere Earthling has traipsed over- Zion National Park, Cedar Breaks NM, the shores of Navajo Lake, all resplendent with iconic species of life- pica, black hawks, black bear, Peregrine falcons, painted buntings, desert bighorn sheep, canyon tree frogs. Within the boundaries of Zion National Park our state’s highest biodiversity is found to match its magnificent, varied terrain.

Just to the west three bioregions merge where the Colorado Plateau intertwines with the Mojave desert and great basin spawning biological diversity beyond imagining!

Reaching across our marvelous state are stunning marvels- Bryce Canyon, Arches, Canyonlands, Capitol Reef, and an myriad of state parks that deserve national monument status considering their unique geology and grandeur- Snow Canyon, Goblin Valley, Coral Pink Sand Dunes, Kodachrome Basin, Dead Horse, Goosenecks, Antelope Island, Great Salt Lake- Splashdown! Now back to reality, a lovely spring morning to celebrate Spring replet with canyon wildflowers, gushing spring runoff, and the return of neotropical birds bless us with their hatchlings.

This is Jack Greene for Bridgerland Audubon Society and I’m Wild about our otherworldly Wild Utah.

Credits:

Images: Earth -Courtesy NASA – Artemis II Crew
Courtesy USGS – Cedar Breaks & Zion Cliffs
Courtesy US NPS, Zach Schierl, Photographer,
also Courtesy US NPS, Condors and Southern Utah National Parks
Sunset at the Great Salt Lake Courtesy Pixabay, BJohnson, Contributor https://pixabay.com/photos/sunset-utah-great-salt-lake-6032689/
Featured Audio: Courtesy & Copyright Kevin Colver, https://wildstore.wildsanctuary.com/collections/special-collections and
Anderson, Howe, and Wakeman.
Text & Voice: Jack Greene, Bridgerland Audubon, https://bridgerlandaudubon.org/
Additional Reading Links: Jack Greene & Lyle Bingham, https://bridgerlandaudubon.org/

Additional Reading:

Wild About Utah Pieces by Jack Greene, https://wildaboututah.org/author/jack/

National Parks in Southern Utah, National Park Service, US Department of the Interior, https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/national-parks-in-southern-utah.htm
Condors, Zion National Park, US NPS, https://www.nps.gov/zion/learn/nature/condors.htm

Arches National Park, Geology and Ecology of National Parks, USGS, https://www.usgs.gov/geology-and-ecology-of-national-parks/arches-national-park
Bryce Canyon National Park, Geology and Ecology of National Parks, USGS, https://www.usgs.gov/geology-and-ecology-of-national-parks/bryce-canyon-national-park
Canyonlands National Park, Geology and Ecology of National Parks, USGS, https://www.usgs.gov/geology-and-ecology-of-national-parks/canyonlands-national-park
Capitol Reef National Park, Geology and Ecology of National Parks, USGS, https://www.usgs.gov/geology-and-ecology-of-national-parks/capitol-reef-national-park

Cedar Breaks National Monument, USGS, https://www.usgs.gov/media/images/cedar-breaks-pink-cliffs

Utah State Parks, https://stateparks.utah.gov/parks/