Comb Ridge part oneComb Ridge (part one) on SR-95 11 miles west of Blanding, UtahMay 20, 2007. There are two commercial campgrounds in Blanding. We decided to stay in the one with some shade so we picked it but both RV-Parks were OK: $19.80 for FHU, gravel interior roads and sites. It is located on US 191 on the south side of town behind the shell station (hint, it is easy to find since Blanding is very small).
Tour bus we saw on the Moki Dugway
I know this has got nothing to do with Comb Ridge but I had to include this picture because we both spotted this bright blue buss in the distance and recognized it as the buss full of tourist that was climbing the awesome Moki Dugway yesterday. We watched closely as the buss passed us and tt was the same driver and he was still talking on his microphone. This is indeed a small world.
This picture is a good example of what the highway scenery looks like in southeastern Utah on US-191 between Bluff and Blanding.
Volcanic ash
Once we got situated in the RV-Park in Blanding we jumped in our Saturn and headed west out of Blanding on SR 95 on our way to Natural Bridges National Monument.
We spotted this greenish layer of rock imbedded between layers of sandstone on SR 95 about 10-miles west of Blanding. Joyce and I recognize this greenish material as volcanic ash. Is it getting that green coloring from copper? I would suspect so.
This layer of volcanic ash was exposed in a road cut as we approached Comb Ridge.
Uplifted rocks along Comb Ridge fault line
Eleven miles west of Blanding we were treated to some exciting geology. Here you can see the back side of a large fault in the earth. As you can see these sedimentary rocks are angled about 45-degrees. The other side is in a valley. We will get there in a minute. This is the back side of Comb Ridge. This event occurred when two tetonic plates collided. The plate on this side was pushed up while the plate on the far side dipped under this plate. The ridge created by these angled layers of sedimentary rock, primarily sandstone, create what "hogback" known as Comb Ridge.
Major uplift on edge of a fault known as Comb Ridge
These rocks are almost standing on end. We are at the cutting edge of the Comb Ridge fault.
Roadcut through sedimentary rock on Comb Ridge
This tremendous roadcut is allowing the road to egress from one side of the fault (Comb Ridge) to the other. What a magnificent road cut through about 20-million years of sedimentary buildup.
The road is about to drop off the face of Comb Ridge as you can see in this picture.
Sandstone cliff wall on Comb Ridge
As we fall down the other side of the rift we pass through sandstone that looks very similar to the sandstone layers we saw in Canyon de Chelly.
Fault along edge of Comb Ridge
This is the view from the valley floor on the west side of that north south trending fault. This block fell while the other side rose creating a lot of vertical movement.
Click here for another page dedicated to Comb Ridge
If you liked this Travel Adventure you might like one of these: Goosenecks on the San Juan River southern Utah
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Mike & Joyce Hendrix
Mike & Joyce Hendrix who we are We hope you liked this page. If you do you might be interested in some of our other Travel Adventures: Mike & Joyce Hendrix's home page Travel Adventures by Year ** Travel Adventures by State ** Plants ** Marine-Boats ** Geology ** Exciting Drives ** Cute Signs ** RV Subjects ** Miscellaneous Subjects
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