Geoduck Spire
Just in case there’s some youngsters reading this post, Kodachrome was a color film used in cameras and motion pictures, aka movies. The Eastman Kodak Company had Kodachrome on the market for 74 years in various formats, but discontinued it in 2009.
The Kodachrome Basin story goes something like this…way back in 1949 The National Geographic Society and The Explorers of New York organized an expedition to explore one of the least known wild areas in the United States. That last frontier in Utah was known as Escalante Land. The colors were so amazing and constantly changing throughout the day that they coined it Kodachrome Flat.
In 1960, the area was set aside as a State Reserve and the name was officially changed to Kodachrome Basin with Kodak’s blessing.
We were pretty hyped to camp here and we were not let down. It was an amazing area and a terrific campground. It was very quiet. The generator hours are from 12pm-4pm! So that certainly helps with the noise. And for the first time this trip it was really noticeable that we are no longer vacationing on a teacher’s schedule. Typically in a campground like this there would be kids doing laps on bikes and scooters, but there no kids in sight.
The only downside is zero cell service, but the visitor’s center has WiFi and waffle cones and is less than two miles from the campground. If you do happen to find yourself here do not bike Shepard Canyon. It’s complete hell on a bike.
Another Utah state park off the checklist.
Site 23 at sunrise, there’s that Geoduck Spire again.
Scooby-Doo and Shaggy were our neighbors. Astro from The Jetsons was also in the campground.
A view of the aptly named Basin Campground. If you look closely you can see our shiny Airstream and the Geoduck Spire.
I find so much humor in this. 😂 I can just visualize some idiot wanting a refund because there were bugs!
Kodachrome did have a few nice short biking trails, this is Grand Parade trail.
From Angel’s Palace Trail looking at the entrance to the state park
Golden Crownbeard
Crested Wheatgrass
We left the park twice to do some hikes. This is Willis Creek.
I really like the pine trees in this photo.
Close to the confluence of Willis Creek and Sheep Creek. I’m nowhere near close to being an engineer, heck I don’t even know if engineers make these type of calculations, but that’s Amelia at the bottom of the shear wall. My guess is it’s 250 feet tall.
The famous Grosvenor Arch. It’s 11 miles from Kodachrome.
Cottonwood Narrows
Narrows are not as tight as slots, this is about as tight as Cottonwood got.
Some scrambling required!
Tufted Evening Primrose
I just love it when people do things like this to signs.
There are 70 spires in the park. This is Chimney Rock.
Finally we had some evening color!
And a sunset on Geoduck Spire
Not a young person here. I vividly remember my father being very upset when Kodak removed Kodachrome. He took slides exclusively while we traveled and did not like the color balance of Ektachrome (the replacement). I still have some of his slides from our travels in their six Airstreams.
We will have to get to Kodachrome Basin sometime, thanks for the information!
Roger (www.casarodante.org)
PS. I used to have that album on vinyl.
Thanks Roger! You’ll love Kodachrome for sure.
Thanks for the background on how Kodachrome Basin was named. Again, just spectacular pictures. And I am sure you are enjoying the freedom of knowing you don’t have to hurry back to work!
Retirement is wonderful