Last updated: July 24, 2022
Place
Sound of Silence Trail Stop 12
NPS Photo/Conrad Provan
Quick Facts
Amenities
1 listed
Scenic View/Photo Spot
This spot provides a place to rest, rejuvenate, and cool down before climbing the rocky ridge ahead. Solitude and refuge are two things that national parks and monuments offer. These are places to reflect, learn, and experience nature. Also protected are other qualities such as dark night skies and natural quiet — rare commodities in cities where many of us live. Growing around you on the slope are Utah junipers. The most common tree species in Utah, it covers one-fifth of the land area of the state. It seems like they can grow nearly anywhere, even out of solid rock. Their roots are the secret. A massive system that makes up 2/3 of the tree’s total mass, the tap root can be 25 feet deep and lateral roots may extend out 100 feet. The juniper berry is actually a tiny pinecone, and is eaten by rabbit, fox, coyote, and many species of birds. Junipers grow slowly. Older trees, which may be 650-850 years old, have sculptural qualities. Even dead, a juniper may stand silent and strong for several hundred years. Like all of the plants at this 5,000 foot elevation, the juniper must survive on a sparse 10 inches of precipitation a year.
As you hike, check out the sky and you may see a Turkey Vulture or two, flying on silent wings high above you. Lightweight for such a wide wingspan, they teeter and totter on the breeze, rarely flapping their wings. An excellent sense of smell leads Turkey Vultures to carcasses where they feed cooperatively. Think of these silent birds not as purveyors of death, but rather as elegant birds who transform death into life on the wing. Look carefully at each soaring bird and you may be lucky to see a Golden Eagle, easily confused with a vulture at first glance. The Golden Eagle, at 10 pounds, is a much heavier bird, outweighing the vulture by 6 pounds. Eagles do not teeter and totter, and they hold their wings out flat, while vultures hold their wings in a slight V-shape. Both are dark birds, the vulture is here only during the summer, the eagle a year-round bird. Perhaps a lizard has caught your attention during your hike, lending even more life to the desert. Six species of lizards are found here:
sagebrush, plateau, western whiptail, shorthorned, side-blotched and tree lizard. Listen for lizards rustling about in the leaf litter, looking for spiders or insects to eat.
As you hike, check out the sky and you may see a Turkey Vulture or two, flying on silent wings high above you. Lightweight for such a wide wingspan, they teeter and totter on the breeze, rarely flapping their wings. An excellent sense of smell leads Turkey Vultures to carcasses where they feed cooperatively. Think of these silent birds not as purveyors of death, but rather as elegant birds who transform death into life on the wing. Look carefully at each soaring bird and you may be lucky to see a Golden Eagle, easily confused with a vulture at first glance. The Golden Eagle, at 10 pounds, is a much heavier bird, outweighing the vulture by 6 pounds. Eagles do not teeter and totter, and they hold their wings out flat, while vultures hold their wings in a slight V-shape. Both are dark birds, the vulture is here only during the summer, the eagle a year-round bird. Perhaps a lizard has caught your attention during your hike, lending even more life to the desert. Six species of lizards are found here:
sagebrush, plateau, western whiptail, shorthorned, side-blotched and tree lizard. Listen for lizards rustling about in the leaf litter, looking for spiders or insects to eat.