Road Trip

Not a bad little Memorial Day weekend adventure considering it was an on-the-fly plan C.

Plan A was to camp with some folks from work near Capitol Reef National Park, but some stuff came up and it wasn't going to work out. Plan B was going to be an epic canyon hike near Lake Powell topped off with an ascent of the Henry Mountains.

Heading north out of Cedar City early Saturday morning, everything was going according to plan. Then it started to rain. Somewhere near Circleville it started to pour, and by the time I was to Torrey I knew any slot canyons, dirt roads, and high mountain climbs were out of the question.

Below: Rain clouds smother the top of North Cainville Mesa east of Capitol Reef.

I found myself at Hanksville, with a full tank of gas and absolutely no plan on what to do next. I called Susie and told her I'd probably just head back home. I wanted to at least drive home a different way, so I pulled out my maps and started to plan my route.

And that is when plan C materialized. It required a lot more driving and less biking and hiking, but with bad weather conditions it was just going to have to do. With renewed enthusiasm, I pointed the Civic southward and headed out.



The first stop was Hog Canyon. This is a tributary to North Wash near Lake Powell. The rain had stopped just long enough for me to run up the trail to a nice little water fall and plunge pool. Its clear waters were inviting, but it was still a little too cool for a dip.

A little searching around near the mouth of the canyon revealed a nice pictograph panel, albeit a bit spooky looking.





From Hog Canyon, I continued to head south, crossed Lake Powell at Hite, and headed toward Natural Bridges National Monument which I had never visited before.

Above: clouds flow from the top of Jacob's Chair on the way to Natural Bridges.


Above: Sipapu Bridge - the second largest natural bridge in the world.

The main attractions at Natural Bridges are 3 huge bridges that span the White River and Armstrong Creek, all within a few miles of each other. Most people just drive around the little paved loop and take pictures of the bridges from the rim. I had heard of an unmaintained route that linked all of the bridges via the canyon bottoms so I stopped by the Visitor Center to ask the rangers about it. They said something about a group the previous day that tried it and barely made it out having to ford the river several times in chest-deep water, and that they were recommending everyone stay out of the canyons. This of course, was just the sort of stuff I wanted to do.


A nice little trail takes you from the rim and Sipapu Bridge Overlook to the canyon bottom. Douglas Fir trees grow large in the more shaded areas.


Above: making my way down from the rim to the bottom of the White Canyon Gorge.

Below: some of the more exposed sections have ladders.



Above: once at the bottom, you simply walk down the wash. Normally dry, this day it had a decent flow but the deepest water I had to get into only came up to my waist.

Above: hiking down canyon with the massive Sipapu Bridge behind.




If you carefully scan the cliffs as you hike down, some very well-preserved Anasazi dwelling can be spotted on the north side of White Canyon.












Above: hand prints of the Ancient Ones.




Above: approaching Kachina Bridge.





Above: passing below Kachina's massive span.



From Kachina, the route goes up Armstrong Canyon where flooding of a nick-point had created a nice waterfall.

Below: taking a bubble bath in plunge-pool froth.



The last and smallest bridge is Owachomo. Much thinner (and therefore older) than the others, this one wont be around too much longer.




Leaving Natural Bridges, the clouds began to break setting a beautiful scene while driving down off of Cedar Mesa.


I got to Goosenecks State Park just as the sun was setting and set up camp right on the rim.



The view from my tent:



The next morning, the rain had stopped and only low clouds and non-threatening fog patches remained.


Above: view to the north at Cedar Mesa.


Morning light on one of the Gooseneck meanders.

Leaving Goosenecks S.P., I made the relatively short drive to Monument Valley.

Above: the "Rand-McNalley-Atlas-cover" shot.




The recent rains had really helped pack all the sand that typically makes riding in Monument Valley a chore. Conditions were perfect this day for a quick loop on the Tribal Park Scenic Drive.






Above: the Three Sisters.




Above: a quick Google-Image search brings up 100s of pictures of John Ford Point, one of the most photographed places on Earth. If you pay a Navajo a couple of bucks, he will ride his horse out to point for the classic western shot. Well, I didn't have a couple of bucks on me, so when no one was looking I got Shven or Svenn, or whatever-his-name-was to take my picture as I ran out. I thanked him afterwords and all he could say in broken English was, "vour cam'ra hazzeen better days."

Below: me and my own trusty steed at John Ford Point (photo by Svenn).






Taking a break at Artist Point.



I must say, I packed quit a bit in just two short days.

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Goblin Valley

By all accounts, spring break 2009 was a smashing success. Temps got a little hotter than expected during the day and a lengthy ATV ride caused a little stress, but everything else pretty much went according to plan.

Above: the campground at Goblin Valley State Park. Yeah, it's exposed, dry, and pretty hot - but that's what desert camping is all about. Warm showers, flush toilets, and plenty of room for the kids to explore are some of the pros.



1st thing on the agenda was to explore the Valley of Goblins. Most of us adults remember finding fairly extensive caves when we were kids some 25 years ago, so we did our best to find them again for our kids to enjoy.






We never could find the same caves, but we found plenty of smaller caves, slots, and windows to play around in.






If you hike to the far east side of the valley and scramble up to the rim, you are greeted with a fine view of the flat and barren San Rafael Desert.





Below: a junior geologist hard at work searching for jasper nodules within the Jurassic Curtis Formation.



Above and below: an adventure-packed day two started off with a jaunt up the famous Little Wild Horse narrows.










Above: I was asked what these white bumps were in the Navajo Sandstone. I could tell they weren't your typical concentric-banded iron concretions (a.k.a. Moqui marbles or Navajo berries), which are more symmetrical and are typically a much darker rust-red than the surrounding sandstone. The only explanation I could come up with is that the rock had infected pores that were filling with puss. But, no one was buying it.






After lunch a group of us went out to Temple Mountain. Most went on the Behind-The-Reef ATV Trail while myself and Mike poked around the mountain.

Temple Mountain is honey-combed with uranium mines, and has historically been one of the biggest Uranium producing districts in the state. The first claims were maid in 1898 when the physical properties of Uranium and its daughter elements (mostly vanadium) were poorly understood. Mining here really got underway in the 1910s, fueled by the erroneous belief that radium had healing powers and could cure cancer and the like.

People tried injecting the radioactive substance into there bodies, bathing in it, and applying it as salves and inhalers. It was years later, and too late for many, until the real effects of radioactivity on the body were understood.

A second and larger mining boom hit Temple Mountain in the late 1940s spurred mostly by the advent of nuclear power and weapons development during the cold war. Uranium from Temple Mountain was used in the Manhattan Project and in the development of the first atomic bomb.


Above: Mike poses near a tram tower and ore bin on the east side of Temple Mountain.


Above: view to the west on the eastern flank of Temple Mountain.

Much of the Uranium mineralization in this area is concentrated near large collapse structures. Notice how all the layers of rock on the right side of the photo are flat lying, but as you follow these layers over to the left, everything appears to have collapsed down into the mountain. These columns of shattered rock allowed mineral-laden water to rise up through the rock column which interacted with organic-rich zones in the Triassic-aged Chinle Formation where the Uranium-rich ore was deposited.

The Chinle is known for its petrified wood, but if you find any around Temple Mountain, it may be radioactive! These same fluids that rose up through the collapse tube also bleached the overlying Wingate Sandstone so that it is nearly pure white (typically, its a deep red - like around Fruita in Capitol Reef).




After dinner we got a late start for the treasure hunt. So it was a race to follow the clues on the cryptic map before it got dark. The 200-year-old map showed a faint trail leading from Goblin Valley to some sort of "eyes" in the cliff to the north.


After a steep hike up the cliff, we finally found the "eyes" and the 2nd part of the map.

Fitting the two maps together we were directed to a tiny crack canyon than only small kids (and big kids, if they really sucked in) could fit through.

With Dad's broad and authoritative knowledge of ancient Indian and Egyptian glyphs, we were able to decipher the last clue leading to the treasure.


Above: Zoe negotiates through Fat-Man's Misery in search of the final clue.



On the morn of day #3 we we packed up plenty of drinks, snacks, and a lunch and headed for a long drive through the middle of Sinbad country in the interior of the San Rafael Swell.

After fixing a flat, we finally made it to the Hidden Splendor Mine complex which was the starting point for our hike down Muddy Creek.


Muddy Creek starts above 10,000 feet and 70 miles away high in the Wasatch Plateau. The cool mountain-derived stream is a welcome companion along this hike through one of the deepest canyons in the Swell.


The Hidden Splendor bunkhouse, a.k.a the "Motel 6." Miners would climb up the mountainside daily from here to start the dangerous business of uranium mining.

The Hidden Splendor was discovered by Vernon Pick in 1952. Vernon knew nothing about geology and had virtually no prospecting experience when he stumbled upon one of the riches ore bodies in the region. It would make Vernon a millionaire over the next two years as many tons of ore shipped daily. The Atlas Corporation offered Vernon 9 million dollars for his mine, confident in their geologist's estimates of 540,000 tons of ore still available in the mine. Vernon sold, but the Atlas Co. ended up shipping only 90,000 tons before the ore pinched out in 1957.

Interestingly, Life magazine ran a story on Vernon's 10 million dollar mine, where he claims he was stalked by mountain lions, harassed by rattlesnakes, and had to float down the raging Muddy on a makeshift raft constructed by strapping two logs together with his shoelaces and belt.


If you've spent any time hiking in the Muddy River Gorge, then you'll know Vernon liked to exaggerate a bit. These same "harrowing" conditions sure are hit with kids today.









I hope everyone had a good time, and start planning for May, 2010.

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