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Show i ' - -.t , s l. t hv.-l - . v - . . I - -'-.'V . -r i k ,v . - ,. , .-. - - j - - i ... ' x,v,v.,... TS4i'- c, '.. . ' . , '- S . . . -1 .. ,w:. . -i;. "" -' " '--iT1" - - . ,;.V The main trail on top of Poison Spider Mesa ends at this lofts-rim lofts-rim of Moab Valley. The Potash Road and Colorado River are directly below, and the community of Moab can be seen in the near distance. The view from this point is so fascinating that it is difficult to leave for the return trip. A few dozen people reach this magnificent viewpoint when led there during Moab's annual jeep safari, but few others find the way to this "view fit for a king." Gre9 Vievj mm Poison Spider Mesa - . . - , , y'T- .iT'i ' ' " ' .a; i f . , - ;: - k ..... The southwest rim of Poison Spider Mesa offers breathtaking views down into the Colorado River gorge. Utah 279 can be seen far below in this picture, as well as the verdant flats of Kings Bottom. 1 he cliff hpro ic ImAct fiftn foot hicrh F. A. Barnes The very name of Poison Poi-son Spider Mesa probably prob-ably sends shudders up the spines of some can-yonlands can-yonlands visitors by summoning, sum-moning, up visions of a frightful land just crawling crawl-ing -with loathsome, venomous ven-omous arachnids. Yet nothing could be further from the truth. How this wild and spectacular spec-tacular mesaland acquired ac-quired its name would most likely be an interesting in-teresting tale in itself, but one fact is certain -there are no more "poison spiders" on Poison Poi-son Spider Mesa than anywhere any-where else in this region, and certainly far fewer per square mile than within Moab city limits. True, with diligent searching it might be possible pos-sible to find a few black widow spiders on Poison Spider Mesa, hidden away in dry little cavelets or under large overhanging rocks, but these relatively relative-ly rare motes of ebony black can be found almost anywhere in the western states, and even seem to thrive best in and around ar-ound human habitation. In the wild, they are few and far between. So, other than a few of these tiny and extremely extreme-ly shy spiders, which you would have trouble finding if you tried, Poison Spider Spi-der Mesa is as beautiful and safe as anywhere else in this area. It doesn't deserve de-serve its menacing name. I i " 1 11 "' - ii a mii) . n .. J in niii,,.'Hi-.im.in'"J" "in li'i--. r-Tr -rj The Poison Spider S jeep tra o f crs sole nd id vienss from m.-.nv places. ' ''tKisT 'he La Sal mountains and Hfh.nd-ihc-lvtKs be seen. Short walks from the trail can also leac to canyon rim overlooks. There are dangers on this mesa, however, but only the dangers inherent in any cliff-bound land. From a high flying airplane, air-plane, or on a map, Poison Spider Mesa resembles a fat-stubby foot, with that foot shoved into a boot formed by the meandering curves of the Colorado River. The top of this boot is defined by the deep slash of Bootlegger Canyon, a rugged gorge of solid rock that separates sepa-rates Poison Spider Mesa from a still higher land to the north. Thus, lofty Poison Spider Spi-der Mesa is trulyamesa, or tableland. It is bounded on two sides by the soaring soar-ing walls of the Colorado River below The Portal where the river leaves Moab Valley, on a third side by one wall of Moab Valley which has the river at its base, and a fourth side by a deep, slashing canyon. This canyon does not completely sever Poison Poi-son Spider Mesa from its companion mesa to the north, but leaves them connected only by a forbidding for-bidding expanse of sharply sharp-ly tilted rock that ends at a high rim that looms more than a thousand feet above Moab Valley at its north end. The geology of Poison Spider Mesa is interesting, inter-esting, although far from unique in this area. It is somewhat like a more gentle, less spectacular and extreme Behind the Rocks (T1 111573). Yet it offers explorers, whether traveling on foot or by off-road vehicle, features to be found nowhere no-where else -- such as rim views of the Colorado River Ri-ver Gorge below The Portal, Por-tal, rim views of the northern end of Moab Valley, distant views of the more outstanding features fea-tures of Arches National Park to the north, and Little Arch, perched high on the rim of a sheer cliff, hundreds of feet above the river. Little Arch is also misnamed. mis-named. When viewed from the river or Cane Creek Road it does, indeed, seem "little," dwarfed by the immensity of the rock walls that surround it, but from above, just behind this large pothole type "arch," it seems anything but "little." Much of the southwestern southwes-tern part of Poison Spider Mesa is relatively flat on top, or at least the basic geologic strata are fairly level. The surface, almost entirely Navajo ' sandstone or deposits of , Cont. on B2 iew horn Pmmn Snider Mesa ' Cont. from Bl sand eroded from this ancient desert-dune stratum stra-tum is eroded into gullies, benches, shallow canyons and countless rounded domes of exposed sandstone. sand-stone. But the truly spectacular spec-tacular part of the mesa is its northeastern third, where the complex geologic geo-logic forces that formed Moab - Spanish Valley have tilted all the rock strata sharply upward to form the western rim of Moab Valley. Because of this tilt, much of this part of the mesa is bare rock, with far less loose sand, and the rim that overlooks the upper .end of Moab Valley is the highest part 01 me mesa. Un one side of The Portal, this rim terminates in a huge, monolithic dome of Navajo sandstone that towers to-wers more than 1200 feet above the river. Farther north, the rim averages a little over 5000 feet in elevation, or about 1000 feet above the valley floor. Only one vehicle trail penetrates Poison Spider Mesa, although this trail has several short spurs. The cliffs that surround the mesa on three sides prevent easy access except. ex-cept. at one point, and the tilted, rocky, canyon-scarred canyon-scarred nature of the fourth side denies access by that route, although a few hardy trail cyclists claim to have conquered this all but impassable route. The Poison Spider Mesa jeep trail is strictly for off-road vehicles operated ope-rated by competent drivers, dri-vers, and even some of these have been known to get into trouble on this terribly broken trail. Once a year, just before the annaul Moab Jeep Safari, Sa-fari, this trail gets a little maintenance, but the succeeding twelve months of weather, plus the churning chur-ning wheels of quite a number of off-road vehi-- vehi-- cles, usually reduce this trail to 'near impassabil-ity impassabil-ity in several places. The trail also offers another challenge -- for the last two miles it is very difficult dif-ficult to find. Each spring, again just before the annual an-nual jeep safari, the trail isj marked by flagging with tiny strips of plastic ribbon, rib-bon, but even where these flags survive, the kind of marking that is good e-nough e-nough for a safari leader familiar with the trail is not always adequate for less experienced explorers. ex-plorers. The Poison Spider Mesa jeep trail begins six miles downriver from U.S. 163 on Utah 279, or the "Potash Road" as it is known locally. A sign and gate mark the start of the trail, just a few yards from a roadside display of Indian petro-glyphs petro-glyphs and several dinosaur din-osaur tracks. As the main trail climbs steeply up onto the mesa, one inconspicuous spur trail follows a. ledge for most of a mile, at a level midway between the river bottom and the mesa top. This ledge offers interesting in-teresting views down into the river gorge, but soon deadends at an impassable impas-sable slash in the cliff. Shortly after the main trail tops out onto the mesa proper, it crosses an expanse of slickrock which obscures the trail's direction, but keen eyes and a little luck will enable en-able a driver or hiker to find the correct trail, although this has been made more difficult by misleading tracks left by confused drivers. The main trail continues contin-ues in a general north- easterly direction, but only luck or trial-and-error will keeD a driver unfamiliar with the mesa on this trail. Short spurs, made to seem well-used by other confused drivers offer endless choices. Some such spurs, however, how-ever, go to sights worth seeing. One ends on a slickrock bench, where a short hike leads to a breathtaking view down into the Colorado River gorge. Another spur, not so easy to follow, ends near Little Arch. Still another enters an area where an oil-drill rig operated op-erated for a time several years ago. The main trail, if it can be found and followed eventually reached the high rim that overlooks upper Moab Valley. From this lofty vantage point, the buildings of the Atlas Minerals uranium mill and otner structures take on the appearance of toys, and the valley and its surroundings sur-roundings resemble a carefully crafted 3-D map. From this rim, too, it is possible to see toward to-ward the northwest the distant outline of Jeep Arch, a large span within with-in a remnant of reddish Entrada sandstone left standing on a slanting base of white Navajo slickrock. This arch seems deceptively close, yet is at least two and a half miles away as the raven flies, and can be reached from this direction direc-tion only by a strenuous hike of several miles. But perhaps the most magnificent view from the rim is toward the east. There, starting from the rim, a vast three-dimensional panorama stretches stret-ches to the far horizon. At the cliff base, a rugged rug-ged talus slope ends at Utah 279. Just beyond the black ribbon of the road, the Colorado River meanders mean-ders between tree-bordered banks and through snow white sand bars. Beyond the river, a huge marshland merges gradually into verdant meadows dotted with cattle, cat-tle, then into the community com-munity of Moab. This pic- turesque little town is bounded on the east by the rcd-hued cliffs of a broad, elevated sand flats area, which in turn is limited by the still higher benchlands of Wilson Mesa, South Mesa and other foothill promontories. promonto-ries. And soaring above all. snowcapped for much of the year, are the conical coni-cal peaks of the beautiful La Sal Mountains. Truly, a scene fit for a king -- but only available avail-able to kings who own off-road vehicles and have the luck and pluck to find their way to the very end of the main trail on Poison Spider Mesa. |