Goblins

After leaving Zion National Park I surely thought I wouldn’t be taking any more pictures of Utah’s rocks on this trip. Then we visited Goblin Valley State Park.

The official theory is that these sandstone structures are a result of many years of erosion. Maybe they look like hoodoos millions of years ago. But I have my own theory.

Here’s a picture of some real goblins. I think, just maybe, real goblins were turned to stone many years ago. I have no proof for my theory, but it seems obvious. And Wikipedia was no help on this one.

Anyway, Goblin Valley State Park has three valleys full of these formations. The park is about 50 miles from the nearest town in the middle of the San Rafael Desert.

 

I’m pretty sure this group of goblins was assigned to guard the entrance to a view point parking lot, maybe to keep the hobbits out, but again, that’s just a theory.

 

 

The stone goblins are a lot smaller than hoodoos (that’s neither a goblin nor a hoodoo in the blue shirt) but some geologists use the terms interchangeably.  I’m guessing those archeologists don’t adhere to my theory.

 

 

You may be able to see blowing dust in the distance in this picture. While we were at the park a cold front moved through a started up a small dust storm. The sand in this area is very fine, so it really coats everything including skin and hair and camera lenses. I understand now why Bedouins dress the way they do.

And now its time for a shower.