All language subtitles for Undiscovered Vistas Series 1 04of14 Utah 1080p HDTV

(♪♪♪)

In the high plateaus of Utah

lies a kingdom of towering rock
in the rugged badlands.

(♪♪♪)

From a maze of narrow canyons

to a sea of soaring spires...

it is one of North America's
last great wild lands.

Home to one of the world's

most spectacular
natural structures...

a lifeline to the desert's
parched creatures,

a place where canyons
are carved from chaos...

one of the world's
roughest natural wonders...

This is the Colorado Plateau.

(♪♪♪)

(♪♪♪)

(♪♪♪)

(♪♪♪)

Zion National Park...

A geological treasure,

stretching across
nearly 230 square miles,

of Southern Utah's
Colorado Plateau:

more than 100,000 square miles
of high desert plains,

sprinkled with pines
and junipers.

It is a high altitude
desert plateau

bounded by the Rocky Mountains,

the Great Basin
and Sonoran Deserts.

The Colorado Plateau
straddles Utah, Arizona,

Colorado and New Mexico

and has a land mass larger
than the entire United Kingdom.

Zion is defined by a landscape

of deep canyons,

majestic arches

and towering sandstone walls.

It is like a wild gallery
of sculpted rock.

Elevated as high as 4,000 feet
above sea level,

Zion National Park
is the second-tallest point

on the Colorado Plateau.

Its canyon walls stand taller

than the world's
highest skyscraper.

>> I love being
completely surrounded

by the rocks and the canyons

and just being a little tiny
piece of this vast area.

>> Millions of years ago,
a shift in the earth's crust

pushed huge swaths
of rock upward,

lifting Zion
to its current elevation.

This uplift was the first
of many events

to shape Zion's landscape.

Streams,
pouring off the plateau,

cut into ancient rock layers.

Sediment and large boulders
were carried downstream,

sculpting a magnificent canyon.

One waterway is still carving
its path through Zion.

The Virgin River.

This is the lifeblood
of Zion's ecosystem

and the architect
of its mighty canyon.

Though averaging
only 100 feet across,

the Virgin River
is astoundingly steep:

dropping 7,800 feet
along its 160-mile path.

An average descent
of 50 feet per mile.

By contrast,

the Mississippi River
drops just one inch per mile.

As the river descends
into the valley,

it gains speed,
hastening erosion

as if cutting into a cake
to expose its many layers.

The Virgin River
slices through the canyon.

(♪♪♪)

At Zion, water is everything.

>> The Virgin River itself truly
is the lifeblood of this region,

it's how we still today
are able to grow gardens

and have agriculture

and it plays a very big role
for the last 10,000 years

in human inhabitants
here in this region.

>> In the 1850s,

Mormon farmers settled
in the valley of the park,

building communities
along the river.

The canyon floor was farmed
until the 1900s

when Zion
became a national park.

Named by these Mormon pioneers,

"Zion" means a
"place of peace and refuge".

The Virgin River is an oasis
in the middle of a dust bowl.

Rimmed by the Mojave
and Great Basin deserts,

Zion lies at the intersection
of three separate ecosystems.

The park blooms with more
than 900 plant species

found nowhere else in Utah.

The river flows year round
providing vital drinking water

to a surprisingly wide diversity
of wildlife.

Five-hundred more species
of animals

live along its banks
than in the surrounding desert.

In the southwest,
water is a cherished commodity.

Down in the valley,
southeast of Zion,

a long and arid stretch of land,
called a Dry Wash,

lies in the foothills
of the high plateaus.

With less than 1 inch
of rainfall a year...

The soil is robbed of color.

The air deprived of moisture.

The land, bone-dry.

But not for long...

Summer months bring heat.

They also bring
the North American monsoon.

>> The actual overall
weather pattern of the area

completely shifts.

And that's actually where
the word "monsoon" comes from.

It's an Arabic word
from " mausim "

which actually means "season".

So it's a seasonal shift
in the wind patterns

in the entire region.

>> Ancient traders sailing the
Indian Ocean and Arabian Sea

were the first to describe
this weather spectacle.

They observed a system
of alternating winds

across the tropics.

In winter, the wind blows dry

from the mountains
to the northeast.

In summer, it gusts
from the opposite direction.

A difference in temperature

between warmer land
and cooler sea

causes wind to flow from the
moist ocean to the dry land,

creating the seasonal monsoon.

>> This wind pattern shift
sucks moisture up

from the tropics
up into the southwest

and when the moisture comes up
into this area,

it combines with daytime heating

and you get these really
large thunderstorms

that form
over the higher terrain.

(Rain pouring)

>> Heavy thunderstorms
in the high terrain

dump as much as 2 inches of rain
in just 2 hours.

Spread over
a 20-square-mile dry wash,

millions of gallons of water
flood this parched land.

>> All of that water has time
to accumulate

and start running down
this wash.

If you can imagine

this is about the size
of a 6-lane freeway.

And right now
it's bone dry,

I mean the ground is just--

there's just very little
moisture here at all.

It can go from the conditions
that we have now to--

I could be under 3 or 4 feet
of water right now

where I'm sitting,
almost instantaneously.

(♪♪♪)

>> Flash flooding,

a sudden, destructive
rush of water,

provoked by heavy rain.

(♪♪♪)

>> This massive torrent
of debris laden carnage

just comes tearing
through these washes.

And you'll just see
this dark wall of debris

come rolling around the corner

and the only way to describe it
is a tsunami on land.

Branches, boulders,

entire trees become debris...

left behind in the destructive
path of the flash flood.

>> There's a lot of
evidence here in this wash

of a flash flood that
came through here.

If you look around,
there's tree branches,

there's bushes,

things that just don't belong
in the wash.

And, you know, even this
pine cone right here

is a good example of debris that
can be carried down a flood.

There's no pine trees
for 30 miles of this location.

(♪♪♪)

There's a quote around here:

"There's two easy ways to die
in the southwest:

thirst and drowning."

>> The walls of the canyon
tower more than 2,000 feet high.

The trails wind
for hundreds of miles.

Southern Utah's slot canyons
attracted venture seekers

year round.

But they become a deathtrap,
prone to flash flooding.

>> That is a dangerous
place to be

and you can lose your life
in that situation,

which happens
every few years out here.

People will die
in the slot canyons

and the reason for that is,

in a slot canyon
there's nowhere to go.

You're literally in a groove

that's been carved in the
sandstone hundreds of feet deep.

You can touch both walls
and see miles ahead of you

and there's a flash flood
approaching you from the back,

you only have one option:
to run away from it.

And you're not gonna outrun
a flash flood.

If you're gonna come hike
into the backcountry

in the southwest,

know your weather forecast
for that day.

>> The destructive power
responsible for taking lives

is also the creator

of Southern Utah's
striking canyons,

carved into the landscape
with abrasive force.

On an average day,
the Virgin River

flows at forty cubic feet
per second.

>> For a large part of the year,
it's not flowing very high.

There's not a lot
of this erosion happening.

But when a flash flood happens,

it can really intensify
the river,

and that's when it starts
picking up more of the material

from the bottom of the river

and really carving the way
at the sandstone walls.

>> During a flash flood,
the river can swell up

to 200 times
its original volume, in minutes.

Strong enough to carry
a boulder the size of a car,

fierce enough to rip full-grown
trees out of the ground...

the Virgin River moves debris

at a rate of 300 million tons
a year,

carving out the canyon walls
and floors with every deluge.

Scoured by wind,
sculpted by water,

and wrinkled with time,

Zion's cliff face tells
the story of its creation.

More than 200 million years ago,

as the ground rose and fell,

the landscape changed:

transforming shallow seas

into one of the world's largest
sand dune deserts.

(♪♪♪)

(♪♪♪)

Groundwater
filled with minerals

seeped through the layers

binding sand particles together
like cement.

(♪♪♪)

Over millions of years,

desert sands
turned to sandstone,

as sediment transformed
into rock.

In the eastern corner
of the park,

a natural wonder bears witness
to Zion's desert past:

Checkerboard Mesa -

named after its distinct
crisscross pattern.

The engravings
etched into the rock

tell the story
of Zion's geological history.

Horizontal ridges reveal
the region's past life

as a sand dune.

More than 200 million years ago,

ancient winds
blew across the desert,

piling sand dunes
one on top of another.

Hardened over time to stone,

these ripples were preserved

in the sandstone walls
of Checkerboard Mesa.

When the desert sun retreats,

temperatures drop
by as much as 60 degrees.

Water rolling down the mountain
freezes in its tracks,

leaving behind
deep vertical fractures,

like cracks in pavement
after a harsh winter.

In the mid-sixteenth century,

Spanish explorers arrived
in the American southwest

in search of gold and gems.

Instead, they discovered the
geological treasures of Zion.

Among the canyons, plateaus
and arches,

explorers found isolated
flat-topped mountains.

Fascinated by their form,
they called them "mesas",

meaning "table" in Spanish.

(♪♪♪)

Hidden amid Zion's
geological grandeur

are hundreds of natural arches

chiseled
into jagged canyon walls.

Tucked away in the remote

northwestern corner
of the park

rests one of Zion's
most spectacular wonders.

Suspended high
above the rugged cliffs,

a ribbon of rock stands proudly
against the canyon wall.

Stretching more than 280 feet,

the Kolob Arch is one
of the longest natural arches

on the planet.

The arch is nestled
in Zion's Kolob Canyons,

a remote 50-square-mile expanse,

where soaring cliffs
and deep slot canyons

stand largely undiscovered.

Overlooking all of Zion,

Kolob Canyon's tallest peaks

soar 8,700 feet above sea level.

In the 1850s, Mormon settlers
arrived at Kolob Canyons.

They used the area for timber
and grazing stock.

Astounded by the soaring walls
of sandstone,

settlers called these canyons
"Kolob",

a word derived
from Mormon scripture,

meaning
"residence closest to heaven",

Along the jagged walls of Zion.

future arches
begin to take shape.

The formation of an arch
begins with water,

trickling into cracks
along the surface.

Water freezes
and expands each ridge

applying pressure
to the structure.

Eventually, the fragile
sandstone gives way,

crumbling and flaking.

While tougher strips
of rock remain,

forming a natural arch.

In architecture,

the arch is the most stable
load-bearing structure.

But over time, the erosion
that created these arches

will eventually destroy them.

In the heart
of Zion's main canyon,

perched high in the clouds,

more than 1,400 feet
above the canyon floor,

is one of the world's
most extreme hiking trails,

Angel's Landing.

>> It's a 1,400-foot elevation
gain from river level here

all the way up to the top,

and the last half mile
of Angel's Landing

is a vertical drop
on both sides.

So you're pulling yourself up
a series of chains

to get all the way out
to that edge.

>> In 1916,
on an exploration up-canyon,

the Methodist Minister
Frederick Fisher looked up

at the monolith and proclaimed,

"Only an angel
could land on it."

By 1926,
a trail was cut into solid rock,

leading hikers
up to the heavens.

(♪♪♪)

Down in the valley,
ringed by towering rock,

seeps and springs
trickle down sandstone,

collecting at the canyon base.

The Emerald Pools.

Hanging gardens bloom
from the jagged walls,

watered by moisture
seeping through the sandstone,

and a gentle mist of spray
from the falls.

Junipers and towering ponderosa
advance thirsty roots downward

in search of nutrients.

Water weeps into the canyon,
streaking the rock face black,

while droplets dance
on fallen boulders below.

>> It's a little surprising
for some people who come here,

and, you know, they expect
to see a barren landscape

but really, it's like
a little oasis in Zion.

>> Water, carving its path
through Zion's porous sandstone,

hits an impenetrable
roadblock...

a rock layer
called the Kayenta Shale:

sandstone packed with silt, mud
and clay,

resistant to erosion.

Forced to change its course,
water gushes out of the rock

in a series
of cascading springs,

spraying the canyon's
parched walls

on its descent
into the Virgin River.

(♪♪♪)

Down in the valley,

towering walls tightly envelop
the Virgin River-

creating a 15-mile maze of
winding trails, through water.

The Zion narrows.

A gorge, 2,000 feet deep

but only 20 feet across,

zigzags through the park:

One-hundred times deeper
than it is wide.

Whether hiking
in the Virgin River...

or climbing 2,000-foot cliffs...

Zion is a playground
for those who seek adventure.

More than 160 miles
of hiking trails

wind through Zion National Park.

From short, single-day hikes
to backpacking trips,

spanning several days,

some choose
to sightsee vertically.

2,000-foot canyon cliffs

entice thrill-seekers
from around the world.

Treacherous multi-day climbs
are made more daring

by the slick rock surface
of Zion's sandstone walls.

(♪♪♪)

>> I like to get out
into the back country.

I like the wilderness locations.

I really enjoy being able
to spend a whole day here

and not see anyone.

If you just put
a little bit more effort forth

and hike some of the more
strenuous trails,

you can find complete solitude.

>> Zion's landscape
of soaring cliffs,

forested plateaus

and deep gorges

extends beyond the boundaries
of the park.

To the southeast lies
Canaan Mountain Wilderness area,

a high and wild plateau
of slick rock

dotted with ponderosa pines.

>> It's a multiday
backpacking trip

across a waterless expanse
of sandstone.

So it is very, very strenuous
and it's just very difficult

because you do have to pack in
a lot of water

and then filter the tiny amounts
of water

that you can find
along your way.

There are hundreds of miles
of established trails

and slot canyons and peaks

that are still waiting
to be explored.

(♪♪♪)

>> Zion is a wild
and remote paradise

for hikers and explorers.

(♪♪♪)

Down in the valley,

the morning sun pours light
on the canyon's western wall,

igniting Zion
with a golden glow.

(♪♪♪)

In the foothills
of the shaded canyon,

mule deer graze,

savoring the coolness
of early dawn.

Named after their greatest
desert adaptation,

these deer have a set
of large mule-like ears

atop their heads

that functions
as a cooling system.

Blood vessels,
close to the skin's surface,

release body heat
into the surrounding air.

The mule deer's grey coat
blends in with desert shrubbery

to provide camouflage
from potential predators:

cougars, coyotes
and, for young deer, eagles.

In fall and winter,

mule deer survive on a meagre
diet of desert shrubs.

The changing seasons
and summer monsoons

bring a feast of greens.

As the desert sun
climbs above the canyon,

mule deer take shelter

in the shadows
of the soaring sandstone walls.

Like all desert creatures,

they have mastered a game
of hide and seek,

with the beating rays
of the daylight sun.

Down on the simmering
canyon floor,

a gopher snake seeks refuge,

retreating into fleeting shade,

afforded by the tangled
branches of the desert brush.

(♪♪♪)

As the evening sun descends,

the silhouette
of Zion's majestic mountaineer

is burned into the desert sky.

The bighorn sheep -

one of nature's
most talented climbers...

Bighorns inhabit
the steep, soaring mountains

of eastern Zion.

This seemingly inhospitable
landscape of vertical rock

is home.

Elevated more than 2,500 feet
above the valley,

these rugged cliffs
are a safe zone.

With ledges
as narrow as 2 inches,

scaling a mountain this steep
is a treacherous task

for large predators,
like coyotes and mountain lions.

But for the bighorn sheep,

it provides
a quick escape route.

Desert bighorn sheep
are born equipped

to scale these steep mountains.

Their outer hooves
are like toenails,

formed to hook onto even
the smallest of rocks.

In the 1960s,

desert bighorn sheep
were extinct at Zion.

Early pioneers
brought livestock

and with it, diseases
that decimated the wild sheep.

Eventually, the species vanished
completely from the park.

A decade later,
the national park service

reintroduced this icon
of the Rockies

back into Zion's canyons.

Today, the population
is at more than 500

and growing every year.

After a day of rest,
in the canyons' shaded caves,

desert bighorn sheep
emerge from hiding.

Mothers and their young
assemble on a mountaintop

to feed in the final hours
of daylight glow.

Bighorn sheep find safety
in numbers...

Females, called ewes,

band together in herds
of up to 15.

Groups of males
are much smaller,

with as few as 2-5 members.

The sexes only get together
during breeding season.

>> Springtime here in Zion
is a very neat time of year

for looking
at the desert bighorn.

They have lambs right now

and you can see the families
on the rocks,

you can see the lambs

trying to learn
how to make their way

across the landscape
following their parents.

>> Protective mothers supervise
their young, watching,

as they take their first
steep steps into the world.

Cautious lambs
tread carefully across the rock,

hesitant to make their way down.

While others throw caution
to the wind

and learn to run
before they walk.

Soon, these lambs will develop
their signature horns.

Males will grow a large,
curling rack

that weighs
as much as 30 pounds.

The females don't quite live up
to the bighorn name.

Theirs are much smaller
and don't curl.

Rams use their horns as weapons

during the rut of mating season.

The horns of desert sheep
are also everyday utensils:

they are used
to break open cacti -

a desert plant
that keeps the sheep hydrated

when water is scarce.

In the cool setting sun,
bighorn sheep are in no rush

slowly nibbling
on nearby shrubbery.

Well-adapted to the desert,

bighorns can go a week
without drinking,

sustaining their body moisture
from their food alone.

In times of need,
a desert bighorn can lose

as much as 30%
of its body weight in water -

almost as much as a camel -

and still survive.

As the setting sun
shades the canyon,

bighorns take a final nibble

before heading back up canyon
for the night.

(♪♪♪)

East of Zion,

nature slowly sculpts
intricate formations

from the limestone walls
of Utah's highest plateau.

At a towering elevation
of more than 6,600 feet,

the Paunsaugunt Plateau
is blanketed by snow.

More than 16 feet

collect on the plateau
each year.

Paunsaugunt means
"home of beavers",

named by the Paiute,

the indigenous people
of the Great Basin area.

Bristlecone Pine Forests -
alpine meadows -

lakes and streams,

stretch 25 miles long
and 10 miles wide.

Carved into the high plateau
of deep green forest

is one of Utah's most
stunning natural treasures...

Bryce Canyon National Park.

A sea of soaring spires

extends across 56 square miles

of Southern Utah's
Colorado Plateau.

The park curves
along a semicircle

referred to as an amphitheater.

Down in the bowl,

the bright orange pinnacles
of Bryce

shift shapes and shades

as nature's spotlight
moves across the sky.

>> When you step onto the rim of
the Bryce Canyon Amphitheater,

it's really a scene
that's not like anything

you've ever experienced
anywhere.

And it's just a feeling of awe

that nature
can create some place

that is just so spectacular.

>> More than 50 million
years ago,

an ancient lake
covered this land.

And its unique pinnacles

were nothing more than sediment
on the lake bottom.

Layers of calcium-rich mud,
silt and sand

settled at the base.

Iron-rich minerals
dissolved in the water

and seeped through the sediment,
like food coloring,

rendering it a deep orange hue -

the signature shade
of Bryce's brilliant peaks.

Over millions of years,
the calcium-rich sediments

solidified into limestone
and mudstone.

The building blocks
of Bryce canyon.

These colorful layers
of sediment surfaced

as the ancient lake was drained

by the uplift
of the Colorado Plateau.

Despite its name,

Bryce is not considered
a real canyon

because it was not carved
by flowing water.

Its towering spires
were chiseled

by the freezing and thawing
of rain and snow.

At nearly 9,000 feet
above sea level,

Bryce is the highest point
on the Colorado Plateau.

On a clear day,
the view from Bryce

is a breathtaking
150-mile expanse

of rugged cliffs
and desert plains.

But, as the elevation climbs,
the temperature drops.

With the setting sun,

temperatures at Bryce can plunge
by as much as 40°F.

Winter nights can get
as cold as -30°F.

Snow, thawed by the warm sun,
then freezes overnight.

Bryce canyon goes through 200
of these cycles each year.

Snowmelt trickles down the walls
of Bryce,

pooling in the rock's
vertical ridges.

As water freezes overnight,

it can expand by as much as 10%.

Bit by bit,
ice pries these cracks open,

expanding them slowly,
like potholes in a city street.

Eventually, openings are cut
right through the rock

and holes, called windows,
form in the walls of Bryce.

When a window grows too big,
the top stretch of rock

linking the two vertical walls
collapses.

From small pebbles

to large, boulders
the size of a minivan,

the rocks of Bryce
come tumbling down

to be washed away by snowmelt
and flash flooding.

Left behind are bizarre
and mesmerizing pinnacles:

hoodoos.

Like a fingerprint,

every hoodoo in Bryce canyon
is unique.

These orange pinnacles,
shaped like totem poles,

vary in size.

Some are the height
of an average human,

others as tall
as a 10-story building.

(♪♪♪)

The Paiute,
a nomadic tribe

that inhabited the
Paunsaugunt Plateau of Bryce,

believed these soaring pinnacles

were solidified remains
of people,

turned to stone
for their evil deeds,

frozen for eternity
by a vengeful god.

Early Spanish explorers

believed that Native Americans
worshipped these stones.

The Spanish called them
"hoodoos", in reference

to an African-American
spiritual tradition.

As the evening sun descends,

the hoodoos of Bryce burn red
against a crisp blue sky.

Crowded into 2 miles
of Bryce Park

is the largest concentration
of hoodoos on the planet.

Each layer of rock
that makes up Bryce Canyon

erodes at its own pace,

sculpting the unique curves
of every hoodoo.

Mudstone is the softest
and most easily eroded.

It is usually the narrowest part
of every pinnacle.

Limestone is the toughest,

it is the wider, top block
that caps the hoodoo.

Acting as a protective layer,

limestone shields the mudstone
below from erosion.

But even this protective rock
eventually erodes away

and the hoodoo becomes nothing
more than a pile of dirt.

As old hoodoos vanish,
new ones are created.

Eventually, the erosion
that creates these hoodoos

will also destroy them.

It is estimated,
in fewer than 3 million years,

the hoodoos of Bryce
will disappear:

worn down by wind,
water, gravity

and the ravages of time.

From the colorful pinnacles
of Bryce,

to the deep and winding narrows
of Zion...

The high plateaus of Utah

are a natural
and geological treasure.

>> It's premiere country,
premiere landscape,

just beautiful formations
to come see.

A once-in-a-lifetime place.

>> The highest peak of the
plateau offers a front row seat

to one of nature's
most beautiful spectacles.

>> When you first walk up

to the edge of
the Bryce Canyon Amphitheater,

it's just an absolutely
awe-inspiring experience

to see these thousands
of brilliantly colored hoodoos

right in front of you.

>> A rugged landscape

of soaring cliffs
and boundless canyons...

>> The vastness of Zion
is what makes it special to me -

the reminder that I get
every day that I'm a speck.

I'm so tiny in the grand scheme
of things,

and I love being completely
surrounded

by the rocks and the canyons

and just being a little
tiny piece of this vast area.

>> This wild stretch
of Southern Utah

is a window
into its rich geological past.

Zion's walls reveal the history
of ancient desert dunes.

The forces that continue

to carve through
the high plateaus of Utah

remind us that the story
of this majestic land

is still being written.

(♪♪♪)

(♪♪♪)