Sculpted by Time

As soon as you see the entrance into the Mosaic Canyon it is apparent where the water has worn its welcome.  Venturing up the canyon it quickly encloses you with arms of marble.  Because of marble’s ability to be sculpted it shows the path the water has taken over the ages as it has slowly eaten away at the stone.  A little trick to see the true beauty of the marble is to pour a little bit of your water onto the rock to show all the detail that gets lost without the element that is wearing it down.

Proceeding farther up the trail you leave the marble behind, and the canyon begins to open up a bit.  In this part of the canyon it is much more open, affording views that many find too alluring to leave.  Here there are smaller trails leading up side canyons or following ridges, these canyons offer their own adventure while the ridges show views of the valley beyond.

If you decide to go farther into the canyon you won’t be sorry that you did, as the canyon closes in on you again you have to navigate around and through some very large boulders that will be rooted in their current location for many more eons.  Just up from this are more dry falls, similar to size as the marble at the beginning, these appear to be black marble.  After you climb them it’s important to be on the look out for the cairns.  These will mark the way to get around the massive dry falls that will block your way farther up the canyon.

The panoramic at the bottom is at the first opening and gives you the first unincumbered view of the mountains, if you look closely at the left side in the shadow where the canyon narrows there are two people walking that give you a great perspective on the size of the canyon.

This canyon offers numerous side trails, canyons and climbing.  Being that this was our first canyon we explored and as only one canyon among the countless that exist in Death Valley it has greatly increased our anticipation for our next and then the next and then the next and then the next…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This panoramic is of the first opening after you get past the marble beginning.