| Show e n v. v J d f I. I n tT ri 1 I Eadi Earliest Area Forest Ranger Described Beauty r c Of l alt all tl the colorful words abo about t the aria area a a since It achieved recognition recognition after the National nal Park alk proposal was Instigated d none is more des- des than that written many anY years ago by the first US U.S. Forest Service officer stationed d In the Moab area Writing about his experiences experiences expert expert- nees nee's later tater in his book Ranger Ran Rati ger gel Trails JQhn Jphn RUs tells about the first glimpse he had of 01 the tiie area now known as the s. s Late in thu th afternoon I Y rode up up- th f mountain mo sand land landa a across ross th the flat to top tb got gat alook a alook alook look at the country west of the forest h l me m lay l yi a weirdly tj beautiful a l. l landscape pe a n maze maze of tangled Cliffs Cliffs' and canyons serrated rock spires arid and turrets stretching wes west westward ward as far as th the eye could see ee into no the setting sun Somewhere in that uninhabited habited jungle of rocks the Gr nt and the Grand Grand' river joined to form the Colorado For For miles to the north and to the south the country was impassable useless and barren barren bar bar- ren Yet as the striking sun drew distorted shadows across its twisted face there was an odd and impressive beauty about it Nothing lives there except I horned homed toads lizards mountain mountain moun moun- tain sheep and an occasional coyote It is fit for nothing else Here and there its deep canyons hide the cliff built built homes of a race that lived a thousand years before and etched on theIr walls their walls are the undecipherable record of their history Men penetrate this desolate region only in the winter r when there water inthe Inthe in hi hithe the canyon sinks In the summer summer summer sum sum- mer they are hell hen holes of heat Here are canyons whose walls Vans rise for hundreds of feet yet so sa narrow one orre can toss a stone from rim rim to rim lira with ease ease Needle-like Needle spires shoot from their depths into a turquoise sky Row after row of serrated rock formations formations forma forma- onna- onna with mushroom tops or capped by delicately balanced slabs of rock stand like long files of Egyptians bearing burdens on their heads It Is a land to dream over for tor in some indefinable way It seems to present the story of creation to hold hotd loc its rocky fastnesses tal tales tale's s' s that have been lost among th the centuries cen cen- tudes Dead it is and has been beert for lor thousands of years yet It seem seemed d to to me that here the Creator had vivid picture of dt QI time eternal that was good for man manto manto manto to see sec A picture that h has s lived liv ed pd f lot for of centuries and Will l live ve velor for lor centuries more I It was tJi there r before the pyramids Iv c tg buItt before the days of ot Dab Babylon l n and lyre Tyre 1 Rome omo rp rose and fell teU Theo The cliff cliff- lets ort It w will l be there t ere untouched d unchanged when the glittering glitter gUtter ing skyscrapers of ot Manhattan are swaying skeletons rusty of sty steel on a barren barron coast Gradually ly the shadows of i night drew their curtain over Ayer its mystery l' l I turned to to my my horse and r rode de feeling very small and Insignificant n Ig- Ig |
