Saturday ~ August 4, 2012
Memo: If you are ever in the general vicinity of GATEWAY CANYONS RESORT, put it at the top of your list to visit.
While Pops and I were registering to take our helicopter ride, Little Miss P entertained herself in the activity center.
Our pilot was Michael Gullotti.
He started his career as a professional helicopter pilot in 2004.
With extensive Grand Canyon flying experience, he knows what makes for an unforgettable journey through nature's most spectacular scenery.
Michael was formerly the Chief Pilot and Federal Aviation Administration Check Airman for the world's largest helicopter tour company.
The helicopter is a Eurocopter AStar B-3.
We all posed for a photograph just before taking off.
Little Miss P was so excited about taking her first helicopter ride.
You can tell she was excited by the smile on her face.
Since Pops is a geologist, he had a fun time explaining the formations to Little Miss P.
Because the captions were a joint effort with Pops trying to explain to me from a different Time Zone, what-is-what in the following photos, there may be some mistakes.
Please feel free to correct me.
1.
The top of this mountain is the Morrison Formation.
It is where dinosaurs are found.
The upper cliff is the Entrada Formation.
This is where arches are formed.
It is called "slick rock" because it's smooth enough to ride a mountain bike on.
The lower cliff is the Wingate Formation.
It is a petrified sand dune.
The red layer below the sandstone cliff is the Chinle Shale.
It is known as the Painted Desert in Arizona.
It has petrified wood in it from ancient forests.
The gray colored layer below the red layer is the Moenkopi Formation.
It is famous for making Fisher Towers on the road to Moab and "hoodoos" or "goblins" that you see in the Cars movie, at Disneyland, and in Roadrunner cartoons.
If you look more closely, some of the photos below have been zoomed in to see the formations more clearly.
They have been numbered so that you can refer to them and add information or ask questions about them.
2.
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4.
You can see the La Sal Mountains in the background.
5.
6.
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8.
The Dolores River winds its way through the area of Gateway Canyons.
9.
10.
Here are the "hoodoos'" or "goblins" in the Moenkopi Formation, and if you look closely . . .
11.
. . . you can see one standing all alone with a large square-shaped rock on top.
12.
In the photo above, you can see Sheep Trail.
During the mining days, the drivers would leave their truck door open so that if it started to roll down the mountain, they could jump out quickly on the other side.
13.
Can you see the shadow of our helicopter ?
14.
You can see for miles and miles and miles.
At one time, we were flying over Utah.
15.
This rock formation is called The Indian Maiden.
16.
This is the Dorsal Rock Formation.
17.
It resembles the dorsal fin on a fish.
18.
It's much bigger than the dorsal fin on a fish.
19.
Colorado Scenic and Historic Byway 141 is in the photo above.
You can see a car or two on it.
20.
'
The resort looks like it is a "long-way-off," but it only took a couple of minutes to land there.
21.
Getting closer.
22.
Then we flew over the Dolores River one more time, before we landed.
23.
24.
Home Sweet Home
25.
There is the famous palisade that is so recognizable in the area.
26.
Pilot Michael and Little Miss P after the ride.
What fun for Miss P - and very educational too!
Posted by: Karmyn R | August 12, 2012 at 11:06 AM
Fun for me looking at the photo's, wow what a beautiful area
we live in (or wish we did)
Posted by: Running with the Pack | August 12, 2012 at 12:37 PM