Kings Canyon

Kings Canyon was a three hour's drive from Ayers Rock. We spent about a day in the area and hiked both along the base of the canyon as well as around the rim. The pictures of course don't capture the full beauty of the place. There had been a hard rain the day we arrived and the plants responded to this by giving the air a wonderful smell.

The water source of the canyon is a relatively small watershed on top of the canyon, fed by rain only. The canyon rarely has flowing water, but there were numerous pools of water created by the recent rains, as well as the deeper and more persistent channel and pool in the "Garden of Eden" near the top of the canyon.

A view of the mouth of the canyon from the top:

The wall that the previous photograph was taken from (just a TAD overexposed):

The top of "the maze", a collection of sandstone domes at the top of the canyon. These domes were eroded in such a way that their sides were stepped and easy to climb:

Looking up the section of the canyon in which the "Garden of Eden" is found:

The pool in the "Garden of Eden". Swimming is allowed!

A shot of the same pool from the rim of the canyon:

Finally, one of the transient pools at the top of the canyon: