akkana, #Hiking the Box Canyon and Kitchen Mesa #trails at #GhostRanch, #NewMexico
It took some exploring to find our way out of the box canyon to the top of the box: the old trail has washed out. Then more wandering to find a route around the deep canyon and over to Kitchen Mesa.
The top of Kitchen Mesa is startlingly white: the Todilto formation, dolomite and gypsum. The Kitchen Mesa trail goes through the old Ceolophysis #dinosaur quarry. The whole area is beautiful Colorado Plateau #geology.
Looking up at a high sandstone butte in horizontal bands of shades of red and yellow, with a rounded white layer at the top
A hiker carefully descends through a steep, narrow slot filled with boulders
A valley surrounded by sandstone mesas. Just right of center you can barely make out two hikers.