OCR Text |
Show Safari Special ... You may be building road on Kane Sorinas trip Veteran leader, Royce Henningson, will guide a group of adventuresome jeepers over what may possibly be the most challenging 4-wheel road of all the Safari routes, Kane Springs Canyon. It is highly recommended that only experienced drivers with short wheel-base wheel-base vehicles try this beautiful, but difficult route. The road runs the length of Kane Springs Canyon from the Hole 'n the Rock to the Colorado River, then up the river to Moab. After leaving U.S. 163 just a few yards from the Hole 'n the Rock turnoff, jeepers enter the upper branch of the canyon complex. Although Al-though this marks the beginning of just a 12-mile route through the canyon, Royce can guarantee that there will be plenty to challenge even the most experienced driver. A narrow, eroded, bulldozed bull-dozed path is encountered high above the cleft down which the canyon stream plunges, confining the route between the rock walls of the canyon. The trail widens momentarily, mo-mentarily, but is soon forced into the stony stream bed on the canyon floor by erosion of the soil. Royce remarks that no one has yet this spring managed man-aged to complete this tough jeep trail. "High run-off will cause a lot of quicksand in the wash bottom," he said, and the road criss-crosses the stream over and over again. Thick tamarisk lines the trail as it travels along the muddy stream bed and crosses soft sandflats before be-fore dipping down again into the rocky canyon. Red sandstone cliff walls rise imposingly on both sides of the canyon providing an impressive and colorful backdrop to the Kane Springs trail. As the canyon widens towards the end of the trail, jeepers will drive through a gently rolling, delicately colored landscape, land-scape, ascending to Kane Springs itself, then switch backing up to join the paved road following the Colorado River back to Moab. Leader Royce Henningson Henning-son suggests that drivers on this trail come well-prepared well-prepared to do some "road building" along the way. "We may not make it," he said, "but we'll sure give it the old college-try." Shovels, gloves, heavy duty jacks, and tow cables are a "must" for those who choose to brave the uncertain and spectacular Kane Springs Canvon trail. |