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Show I jU LANDING IN II m ASCENDED D. (ISv H. 15. tirny) iiliv, perhaps most, of the im-e im-e tiuttes of red and white sand-(Ut sand-(Ut from the stupendous Juras-i Juras-i wal 1 of. Zion Canyon not only S I (J never been climbed but are con-lively con-lively regarded as unscalable. .not their height that makes them formidable to the mountaineer, for .highest does not exceed 4.000 feet vf the Mukuntuweap River, but t sheer vertically from base to fi affords few avenues of attack ! adds markedly to their isolated -Mir. ;ie towering red monolith called ;els Landing rises about 2,000 feet ve the river, opposite the Great :i:e Throne, and from its north- fl .;ern foot throws off a fluted pile. I million and oxblood. known as the g tai Organ. Round this the stream ves in a serpentine semicircle, -n from the south the form of An- Iii Landing is that of a sharp pyra-:al pyra-:al wedge, truncated just below ; apex. To its rear it is united to ; west wall by a lofty, narrow but- Led by David Dennett, a.guide, and A Ranger Harold Russell who, a fk before, had been the first hu- .is to stand upon the summit, our rry of nineteen set forth early on rtember 16 from Zion Camp; be- the guides, it consisted of Ran-j Ran-j Jones of Cedar City, Utah, C. J. -iugs, manager Department of e ;rs, C. & N. W. Union Pacific; A. IPersou, advertising agent, O. S. 5;!t Lake City and fifteen mem-:s mem-:s (seven of them girls) of the "a;a!cf Mountain Club of Salt Lake ;y led by Einar Lignell. The route led across the river and j 3 a part of the spectacular West :a trail which has been cut in zig-n, zig-n, .is from the perpendicular vermil-ft vermil-ft :n cliff. About five hundred feet j : it entered the narrow hanging j rge of Refrigerator Canyon, where 1 :e ardent sun was excluded, the I -uperature was 15 degrees cooler the -white sand along the dry ! -ater channel was amazingly like ' :ow. At times, the stars may be 1 . sn in broad daylight from the ; ; aths of this secluded gash. Sprue-; i and pines found footing there, ('A a few desert shrubs. The easy fiil led onward and upward until we me out upon the knife-like buttress -M joins Angels Landing to the ' bateau. There, the pioneering be-! be-! -M for the trail had another destina- ' ! a. and our route had only once be-I be-I re known the touch of shoe leather. I '-e the route matted on the illustrate illustra-te crest of the ridge, as it lay be-'ire be-'ire us, first descended to a rugged SP, then swept up in a great craggy .irabolic curve to the haunt of the -gels; the summit, in fact, appeared M 'lofty and inaccessible that the leg-"'d leg-"'d of the angels seemed wholly :?litible and some of us timidly de- I-berated the possibilities of joining :ir ranks. It is relatively easy going down to ,e gap; beyond that point the ridge ,ar'ed from ten feet to ten inches "iie, became dizzily steep, and occas-my occas-my presented little cliffs of ;r'rty or forty feet that 'eQuired slow I !51 careful progression by means of '"ps fingers, and prayerful exclama-0"3, exclama-0"3, assisted by the abdominal auscles. AH of the arts of crawling '?eets were imitated. Bt there were places too steep for but experts in rock work. A j jrPing hand would- clutch an inch- "(le ledge, put a bit of weight on it i '"d find the friable sandstone as soft 'D'e crust; a flat slab grasped tent- jlvelv had an exasperating habit . j 'falling down on one's head. There were five hazardous stietch-' stietch-' which ths guides and several ex- weiwea climbers of the mountain scaled unassisted; but the re-'hder re-'hder of the party required the aid 1 01ef; let down by these pioneers anchored to their bodies. At! i se interesting spots the climbers j ""'Sled over some 1,6000 feet of I ,ear' l)lre mountain air and all of ;m seemed not displeased when j r feet rested again in level rock. he apex of the monolith broaden-out broaden-out to a sloping platform of some le.'uy feet at its widest and one hun- lllt- Io.ik, capped by a pogoda- ll'o cone. There a cairn "of stones was erected, a scroll of names placed therein, and to its top was fastened the skull of a steer brought from the Tinted Desert north of. the Kaibab Forest. Angels Landing projects for into Zion Canyon and tho panoramas from its peak are of the highest grandeur, immediately below us was the Great Organ; opposite in the east, tho stupendous mass of The Great White Throne, soaring 1,200 feet higher. Northward we looked into the dizzy-walled dizzy-walled red amphitheatre called the Temple of Sinawava and beyond to the Narrows where the ethereal white cone of the Mountain of Mystery rises above the gory precipices. Behind us loomed the majestic, reposeful white cliffs of the uppper rim. Southward, the vision included the entire sweep of the east wall Red Arch Mountain, the Mountain-of-the Sun and the Twin Brothers, glowing in the sun. Such visits are part of the enduring enchantment of Zion; its magnificent, sculptured masses, displaying all the tones of red from peach blossom pink to the deepest' .carmine known to lipsticks, lip-sticks, and onward through Indian lake and maroon to reds that the shadows turn black; its atmospheric moods of bulk and color; its infinite variety; its unlimited opportunities for pioneer exploration with the reward re-ward of matchless vistas of scenes never beheld before by civilized man. Those of the artistic temperament who seek scenic effects not to be had elsewhere on earth will find Zion satisfactory. sat-isfactory. It is said that a safe trail may be made at small cost to the spot where the angels land and this will probably be done by next season. The splendid splen-did vermillion butte will then become a favored observation point for Zion's incrfcuaiiin ftiuug of visitors. Union Pacific Magazine. |
