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Show ' ............. .w, s - r.. v -.-i ' - A-rUA'-A A : .-.:.'0':-:i t'.-r v ;-sJ-i:iV" 4-7 v'---- -V-C' -V l.v "V 1'rcui cue lofty rim kw -lnt, 'Tax lor Canyon stretches for miles to the west before joining the Green River gorge. Below this point stand the tall monoliths called "Moses" and "Zeus." The shorter, isolated Have -Fun Exploring Taylor Canyon System By Fran Barnes The outline of Taylor Can-yen Can-yen ar.d its major tributary ? arxozs resembles a gnarled ar.d withered hand, lying across ac-ross the northernmost expanses ex-panses of Canyonlands National Nat-ional Park. Look west from The Neck cn the Island in the Sky park rcd and you are looking down into the upper tip of Taylor , Canyon the mid'lle finger cf that giant har.d. Look nonh from high at:p Aztec Butte ar.d you are seeing see-ing Trail Canyon, the long misshapen little finger. H:ke east a few yards from near the end of the Upheaval Dome road and you will be standing stand-ing on a high rim, overlock- L ir.g Trail Canyon from about the first knuckle of that same digit. Drive west on either of the two jeep trails that leave the county road that approaches ap-proaches Island in the Sky from the north, between the Dead Horse Point turnoff and the Canyonlands National Park entrance, and you can get to the rim of The Big Draw, one of the two thumbs on this gro".esque-looking 'hand" of canyons, or tn Rough Canyon, the index linger, lin-ger, and the unnamed side-canyon side-canyon that is the second thumb. The ring finger can only be seen from the air, or after a two-mile hike from the Island road, but it is there, a deep and spectacular redrock can yon branching southeast from Taylor Canyon. Until last year, most of this "hand of canyons" was outside of the park boundaries. boundar-ies. Less than half of the palm, the little and ring fingers, fin-gers, plus the tip of the middle mid-dle finger were in the park, and in the north the boundary boun-dary was sensibly drawn ti follow the northern canyon rim of the Taylor Canyon complex. Thus, the whole "hand," plus a peninsular plateau between the index finger and one thumb, is now within Canyonlands National Park. Viewpoint Glimpses The Island viewpoints overlooking over-looking Taylor Canyon and its tributaries offer tantaliz- ; .... :- . : -- v--.. .v.v.v- . . . -:--;i-3 7 r...... - k- ': . ,r--r-r .-..' vi' -.. . ' '. . -. ri-H 'r s.-' - '' . - . - G ' ' V ' . '' " & - .- i: 1. - f ?X..4v- . 2 .4.- . - : i, - ' l ,:-:;-v ' Yv.--. :. : 1 .. . r -. - .; : v ; .;-- .4 . - . 'v --v. ..vi ' v ,4 v ; -.--,- ' -v v vy- ; w - -i:-':---'. ;'.'.v-:x; ; . . .' :i'---. , .-i-Ve. ;AV-i;?''?t; Some three miles up Taylor Canyon from the Green River is a spacious rock "home" huilt under two gigantic boulders. boul-ders. This .shelter, with its picture-window front opening, was probably con figure, Zeus, was sealed in 1970 by veteran "desert climber," Eric Bjornstad. (Photo by F. A. Barnes) structcd and used by miners who worked this canyon in the 1950's. Hopefully, now that this picturesque structure is in (:.-iivo:I:i.(!s National Park, it will be preserved as a novel bit of human history. ing glimpses down into this gigantc maze, but it is also possible to obtain a more intimate in-timate look at some of these deep and picturesque gorges, without setting out on a rugged rug-ged week of backpacking. It is possible to drive off-road vehicles several miles up the main canyon, and a short distance into the Big Draw, by following a graded dirt road, then the sar.dy wash bottom of Tavlor Canyon itself. it-self. To reach Taylor Canyon from below, drive from Moab toward Dead Horse Point, but turn west off of the paved read toward Mineral Canyon. It is not advisable to take highway-type vehicles beyond the summit of the Mineral Canyon switchbacks. Off-road vehicles can descend des-cend the awesome trail down into Mineral Canyon, then turn downriver on the White Rim Jeep Trail. About two miles beyond the park boundary, boun-dary, which is marked by a sign, watch for a branching trail to the left that soon goes near a water standpipe. Be warned the water that comes from this faucet is potable but very, highly mineralized! min-eralized! Trail Deteriorates Shortly beyond the well, this old mining trail deteriorates. deterior-ates. Years of flash flood runoff have eroded it quite badly. From this point on, it is advisable simply to drop down into and follow the ary rock-and-sand streambed thus, no permanent wheel marks are left. Following the stream course is challenging in places, but passable to off-road vehicles. . From the summit of Mineral Min-eral Canyon on, the scenery is spectacular. The Green River gorge is walled by sheer Wingate cliffs hundreds hun-dreds of feet high, and floored by verdant meadows surrounded sur-rounded by trees, desert brush and moisture-loving shrubs. The broad, brown river itself, it-self, is bordered by thick stands of river willow and feathery tamarisk. In the spring and fall, wildflowers add their many hues to these already colorful bottoms. Back to the Desert From the White Rim Trail on up Taylor Canyon, the normal aridity of Canyonlands Country reasserts itself, but the scenery grows, if possible, pos-sible, still more inspiring. The broad canyon, walled on each side by lofty, sheer escarpments es-carpments of Wingate sandstone, sand-stone, with wild-colored, grotesquely gro-tesquely eroded lower terraces ter-races of more ancient deposits, depos-its, twists and turns ajs it leads generally eastward. The main canyon averages about a mile in width, from high rim to rim, and continues contin-ues this wide for about five miles before branching off into narrower fingers. There are several highlights high-lights to watch for along the way. About three miles from where the Taylor Canyon trail leaves the White Rim Trail, watch for several gigantic boulders leaning against eacli (Continued on Page B-7) Scenic Taylor Canyon s New in Canyonlands (Continued from Page B-l) c'uher to the north of the wash. At some time in the past, someone, probably a miner, has made a ''home" under these rocks by walling up a , space under them with small-Ifsr small-Ifsr slabs of sandstone, much like an Indian cliff dwelling. The "front door" of this rock shelter offers a lovely view upcanyon. Less than a mile beyond this bit of curious human history, his-tory, the Big Draw branches off to the north. This is one of the two "thumbs". And, igain, an old mine road can be followed for at least a s short distance, first past an old miner's shack, then to the remains of still another tiny -f settlement. Here, the bat-, bat-, tered remains of an old auto ', help date the time when Big f Draw was the scene of much , activity. I 1 Continue on Foot 't for a respite from the sun I and desert dryness, park I1 here and hike on upcanyon I (w a half-mile or so, following follow-ing the cottonvood-shaded creek bottom. These trees are indicators of moisture, and water is there. First, moist sand appears, then a -.liny pool now and then. In a few hundred more feet, trick-fes trick-fes of running water appear, aid one source of the water can be seen a strangely grassy slope, from which water wa-ter seeps slowly into the creek bottom. This, and other tiny springs on up the canyon , have created a green oasis 2ut of lower Big Draw, an oasis that has given water and shelter to mankind bth white and red for thousands of years. Back in the main canyon, another main feature is with-in with-in sight, one visible from as-far as-far away as the rock shelter. . About two miles from the ioulh of Big Draw, the second sec-ond "thumb" branches off to the north. Between that canyon can-yon and Rough Canyon, the "index finger" stands a lofty, sheer-walled peninsula. At J the base of the ''thumb," this , peninsula tapers off in a hign j sloping ridge of deep red Cninle deposits. Standing on j top of this ridge is a row of ; vertical monoliths of Wingate 1 sandstone, the thin, towering : remnants of what was onc j a solid wall of rock. j Monkey Rock 1 The taller of these, som? 400 feet of vertical stone, somewhat resembles a hunched hunch-ed figure, staring gigantically down the canyon, standing eternal guard over this lovely lov-ely canyon system. This towering tow-ering figure bears no official offic-ial name, but has been called "Monkey Rock" or more dramatically, "Moses." The smaller, 200-foot finger just behind Moses was unofficially named "Zeus" by well-known desert climber, Eric Bjorn-stad, Bjorn-stad, when he scaled it sing-lehandedly sing-lehandedly in 1970, before thi? part of Taylor Canyon was annexed into the park. There are traces of old mine trails beyond Moses, . but these are so badly eroded erod-ed that the best way to explore ex-plore on up .tjie various "fingers" "fin-gers" of Taylor Canyon is on foot. The dry creek bottom -becomes very difficult to follow fol-low with a vehicle, but makes easy hiking. For those who wish to explore ex-plore on up this fascinating canyon system on foot, occasional occa-sional springs offer water, and it is possible to climb up out of the main "middle finger" canyon, and "lutle finger" Trail Canyon, onto the Island in the Sky and to the dirt road there. Before attempting this, however, park rangers should be consulted for detailed information in-formation and advice. But however you choose to to see them, from lofty rim viewpoints or from below looking up the "hand of, canyons" can-yons" called Taylor is worth seeing and is a worthy addition addi-tion to Canyonlands National Park. |