Geological Time Includes Now

Brute

Hooked
Saw this clip of a massive section of cliff falling into Lake Powell and couldn't help but to think, this could easily be a section of trail in Moab like Cliff Hanger or the like. šŸ˜³

https://www.reddit.com/r/interestingasfuck/comments/v1t9cr
I often see giant lonely rocks perched on a ledge above me while fishing, hiking or wheelingā€¦wondering when the time comes for departure. Forty years ago, I used to hike a mountain ridge that overlooks Waimanalo, and would stand on this giant rock that cropped out from the animal trailā€¦one day, I hiked up there and it was goneā€¦you could see the broken trees as it made its way down, but not the rock
 
Last edited by a moderator:

The BAD Influence

Caught the Bug
Near the overlook on Golden Spike at Magic Bush, there's a huge crack. As you step over, you can feel the wind blowing up through. We often wonder if that piece is going to fall today, or 1,000 years from now.
 

TrailHunter

Hooked
I've been through some areas where I even second guess getting a soft top... let alone the whole F'n cliff falling off. That shit scares me.
 

Kuboske

Active Member
Reminds me of my last trip to Black Bear Pass. Had to turn around because of a rock slide on the down hill one way part that blocked the trail. Happened maybe 30 minutes before we got there.
 

Colorado4x4

Active Member
Damn! I think about shit like Cliffhanger, Black Bear etc as well. If it happens then itā€™s my time. I look at pictures like this and think about those giant boulders that are teetering on the edge. And look at the canyon below. Those boulders came from the top.

Another spot I always crack up at is on I-70 around the Bookcliffs at Grand Junction and Fruita area. Check out the massive boulders that are south of the highway. They came from north of the highway! It would be like getting struck by lightning but it would suck if it happened.

Over 20 years ago me and a buddy were heading to Aspen to climb the Maroon Bells. We left the Denver area in the evening and we got to Glenwood Canyon at dark. One of the electronic signs said ā€œBoulder in left lane ahead. Warningā€. I slowed down and a few miles down the road there was a fucking boulder as big as the lane just sitting there in the left lane. By itself. It took up the whole left lane and was at least 15 feet tall. Road crews hadnā€™t gotten to it yet to put up signage and cones.

I worked a summer in Trinidad, Colorado and one day we had a mechanic driving to work in his F-550 and a boulder came off the cliff and landed on the hood of his truck. The boulder was almost as wide as his hood and a couple feet high. I talked to the mechanic and he wasnā€™t shy to admit that he crapped his pants! šŸ˜‚
36DD0C41-8D00-47A8-A6EB-0B7B596A79FF.jpeg
 

wayoflife

Administrator
Staff member
Last week, Cindy and I were doing some exploring out in the Mojave Desert and were driving along a shelf road that we've traveled countless times before in the past. As we started making our way down, we came across a sizeable rock fall about 5 feet high and it looked like it had just occurred or at least, within the last few days.
20221219113027-b9aa5de6.jpg


As you can see, the cliff side had just collapsed onto the road and you can see where tire track went right into it and without any signs of turning around.
20221219113024-1fc7e0ee.jpg


The rockfall was big enough to bury a side-by-side and or push a Jeep off the shelf road. Pretty spooky.

And yes, we had considered wheeling over it but it was still really unstable and even in Moby, it would have been some tough wheeling over really big rocks.
 

Brute

Hooked
Last week, Cindy and I were doing some exploring out in the Mojave Desert and were driving along a shelf road that we've traveled countless times before in the past. As we started making our way down, we came across a sizeable rock fall about 5 feet high and it looked like it had just occurred or at least, within the last few days.
20221219113027-b9aa5de6.jpg


As you can see, the cliff side had just collapsed onto the road and you can see where tire track went right into it and without any signs of turning around.
20221219113024-1fc7e0ee.jpg


The rockfall was big enough to bury a side-by-side and or push a Jeep off the shelf road. Pretty spooky.

And yes, we had considered wheeling over it but it was still really unstable and even in Moby, it would have been some tough wheeling over really big rocks.
A buddy and I had a similar experience running a narrow shelf road above Big Pine in the Inyo Mountainsā€¦a slide had occurred, blocking the trail with a single large rock on top. It was too narrow and steep to drive backwards to find a place to turn around. We spent an hour with shovel, chain and the winch to push the big rock off the trailā€¦at ten thousand feet, I was beatā€¦and I was a lot younger then.
 
Top Bottom