The red cliff face to your left flanks Sunlight Mesa. At the top is Elephant Head Rock, so named because of its shape. The triangle-shaped mountain to the right is named Pyramid Peak. To your far right is a prominent rock-topped mountain called Copman's Tomb. Copman's Tomb is named after Wolfgang R. Copman, a pioneer who was fascinated by the Canyon's splendor, and asked that his ashes be scattered over the mountain when he died.
At the bottom of Shell Canyon, Shell Creek flows as it has for the last million years, continuing to cut through these sedimentary and igneous rocks, deepening the Canyon. Shell Canyon was formed by this gradual process of stream erosion, cutting through layers of limestone, siltstone, shale, dolomite, and granite. The rolling landscape at the base of the cliffs was formed by slumping, the mass movement of soil and rocks from the cliffs into the valley.
Comments 0 comments