KODACHROME BASIN STATE PARK (Day 21 - part 1)

Sunrise from the tent

I arrived just before 8 am at Kodachrome Basin State Park. The ranger wasn't in yet so I filled out a self-pay envelope for the park fee. No sooner had I completed it when the ranger arrived... so at least I was able to get a park map.

The Black-tailed Jackrabbit is also known as the American Desert Hare. Its long ears help keep it cool, much like the radiator of a car. Tiny blood vessels in the ears release heat as blood circulates through them..

Interesting Jackrabbit facts:

- They live anywhere from sea level up to 10,000 feet.
- They are the third largest North American hare, weighing up to 6 pounds.
- Females don't make an elaborate nest and may even just use a shallow hole. Young hares are born fully furred, with open eyes, and are mobile within minutes of birth. The mother doesn't protect or even stay with them except during nursing (which lasts about 2 months).
- Hares are 'hopping lunches' for basically everything... eagles, hawks, owls, coyotes, foxes, bobcats, badgers, wolves, snakes, etc.
- Females are larger than males.

Kodachrome Basin State Park gets its name from old-style photography film, of all things. The spectacular changing color and contrast of the rocks in different light led the National Geographic Society, in 1949, to ask the Kodak Film Corporation for permission to name the park after one if its popular brands of film at the time, Kodachrome. Developed in 1935, the film was eventually discontinued in 2009 due to the widespread transition to digital photography. It was opened to the public as a state park in 1963.

Click for a larger image

I headed into the park. It was getting hot very quickly!

I started with the Nature Trail, an easy 1/2 mile loop with a paved surface and many informative signs.

Look deep, deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better. - Albert Einstein

In the foreground is a good example of slickrock.

Nearly 70 monolithic spires, ranging from 6 to 170 feet tall, jut up from the valley floor.

The park's most distinctive features are called Sedimentary Pipes (large columns of sedimentary rock that rise from the basin floor). While their exact origins are not known, there are several theories. One suggestion is that earthquakes caused cracks or pathways in the rock which then filled in with harder sediments. As the surrounding rock eroded away, these pathways remained. Another theory is that these pathways are the remnants of ancient springs, which after becoming choked with sediments, became harder than the rock that surrounded it. Again, enter erosion. And finally it is suggested that the pipes were formed from water-saturated pockets buried under layers of sediment. Pressure from these rock layers eventually forced the wet slurry upwards... again cementing to a harder stone, and again withstanding the wear of erosion.

There were many highly informative signs

At an elevation of 5,800 feet, plants must adapt to the drought conditions and extreme temperatures of semi-desert conditions. Instead of big shady leaves, they often have thorns or spines and very tiny leaves, if any at all. The leaves have a waxy coating to keep them from drying out during the day. At night, pores on the leaves (stomata) open up and absorb moisture. Many plants have special root system which allow them to collect water from deep underground. Plants such as cacti can store large amounts of water in their stems and roots.

The Pinyon Pine is monoecious, meaning it has both male and female cones on the same tree. The seeds are an important food source for many animals.

Roundleaf Buffaloberry is also known as Lead bush due to its color. The berries can be used to make jams and jellies.

Cryptobiotic soil crusts consist of cyanobacteria, lichens and mosses. This is what prevents the desert from becoming giant sands dunes. It basically prevents erosion, increases soil fertility and increases water infiltration.

Unfortunately the soil crusts are easily damaged. Signs everywhere asked people to remain on trail... but it was obvious that very few actually listened.

Potentially decades of growth destroyed in mere seconds

The finest workers of stone are not copper or steel tools, but the gentle touches of air and water working at their leisure with a liberal allowance of time. - Henry David Thoreau

Dead trees provide nesting habitats, perches for birds of prey, and even food (for woodpeckers eating the insects living there). They also help hold the soil in place, preventing erosion. Once decayed, they release important minerals back into the soil.

Grasses are also very important against erosion. They also are an important food source.

Human subtlety will never devise an invention more beautiful, more simple, or more direct than does Nature, because in her inventions nothing is lacking and nothing is superfluous. - Leonardo Da Vinci

Mormon Tea is in the same group of plants as pines and junipers. Male plants prefer steep, drier spots while female plants like wetter areas that offer more moisture for seed production.

The leaves are SO tiny that they have basically just become scales. Photosynthesis is carried out in the green stems of the plant.

Many animals depend on the Utah Juniper for food. Again, note the tiny scaly leaves meant to prevent moisture from evaporating in the heat.

The thick pads of Prickly Pears are actually the stems.

The cacti also have fine, tiny barbed spines called glochids. Once lodged in the skin, they are very difficult to remove.

All Plateau Striped Whiptails are female. There are no males. The eggs are unfertilized and the hatchlings are clones of the mother. Occasionally, a female will mate with a male of a different species (kind of like breeding a lion and a tiger and getting a liger). The offspring are parthenogens, meaning they are females that can produce eggs genetically identical to their own cells, resulting in an asexual, clonal population.

return • continue