Apr 12 – Tunnel Canyon

I hope everyone isn’t getting sick of red rock pictures because we can’t get enough of them. So many shapes and colours.

Today all the weather websites couldn’t agree on the chance of rain. We took it easy in the morning and then after lunch it still looked nice out so we went for a short hike.

We again headed back to the east side of the park for the hike up Tunnel Canyon. It is right at the eastern entrance of the second smaller tunnel on the highway. You just climb for 1/2 mile up about 300 vertical feet in a mostly slickrock wash to a saddle and a view of canyon below.

Our destination is the hoodoos above Jennie’s head, in the picture below.

Some sections were quite steep.

But not this steep.

Jennie sat in the shade and enjoyed the view at the saddle.

Another panorama, scroll to the right.

I, of course, had to climb up the hoodoos.

Holding up the clouds.

The view from up there was pretty good.

Back down to Jennie, in the circle on the center right edge.

Heading back down. So many textures.

 

Jennie was so disappointed about her pictures yesterday that we went back to the hoodoos.

I sat and had a rest.

Even though it never rained on us there were some dark clouds up there.

The line up to get back through the main tunnel was long. The tunnel is just over 11 feet high at the edge but domed up higher in the middle. Whenever a tall motorhome wants to go through they have to block traffic the other way and the motorhome drives up or down in the middle of the road. They get charged $15 each time they go through.