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Show The beauty and! intfricgue otf Dry ForEi Canyon 1983 will be long remembered by residents of Dry Fork Canyon. To drive through this peaceful and beautiful area now, one would be hard pressed to believe that a month ago many people here were in danger of losing their homes from flooding. Although the creek now runs a slightly slight-ly different path in places than before the flood, the water is now totally contained con-tained in its banks, either new or old. The creek bed is substantially wilder than usual and covered with river rocks. Trees and other debris lies on top of the rocks, now weathering in the sun. Residents are just now cleaning up from the water and silt which in places, come right to the front door step. Wives occasionally glance out the window, wondering how that lovely creek could have raised with such fury, and wondering what next spring will bring. To the tourist or Sunday driver, the canyon holds none of those horrors. For those unfamiliar with the area, Dry Fork Canyon sits to the north and west of Vernal. Access to the canyon is west on Highway U-121, about 3 miles west of Vemal. Turn to the north on 3500 West. About 3 miles to the north a great stone wall rises toward the heavens, providing shade to the swallows that divebomb insects along the cliff. Along this cliff is "Remember the Main" park. The park is for locals and tourists. Picnicing and a playground are the main activities of the park. On the sheer rock wall looking west, a 75 year old hand-painted American Flag is seen. Later someone again dangled over the side of the cliff to paint a memorial to the battleship "Maine." Continuing up the canyon, proceed slowly to see the rock formations that make Canyonlands National park envious. en-vious. While watching the natural beauty of the area, be sure to also keep your eyes on the road. More than one accident has occurred while an unwary un-wary tourist became too enthralled in the rock formations. I - I ; t i j ; I I i DRY FORK CANYON interests the casual visitor, as well as the avid naturalist. A person need only look for a couple of minutes at any point along the canyon to see beauty in many forms. About 5 miles past "Remember the Maine" park the road divides. Dry Fork Canyon is to the right and Deep Creek is to the left. After turning right, Dry Fork Village is just one mile further. fur-ther. This is one of the early settlements set-tlements in Ashley Valley. Continuing past the settlement, the road follows the creek into Lower Dry Fork Canyon. Many spots are provided provid-ed along the creek to stop and picnic, as well as walk up the creek and enjoy en-joy the beauty of the area. Now that you have seen the many sites along the trip, the return should be even more interesting, stopping to snap a picture or two, and to see all those same sites from the opposite side. Photography should be especially good in the early morning hours and late afternoon. Sometimes shadows add more to pictures than the scenic wonder itself. Land along Dry Fork Creek and in Dry Fork Canyon is among the most expensive in all of Ashley Valley, and the houses built in the area make this point obvious. Note particularly the places some of the home are built. From the road it looks like it would take a helicopter for some of the people peo-ple to get home. For nature buffs the variety of wildlife and vegetation at any point is abundant. Many varities of birds inhabit in-habit the canyon, including hawks and vultures, blackbirds, kestrels, a couple cou-ple species of swallows, flycatchers, dark nutcrackers, magpies, and several species of small birds. The nature photographer need only look for a couple of minutes at any location to find something interesting in the wildflowers and other vegetation. vegeta-tion. Prairie dogs, squirrels, and marmots mar-mots scamper across the road. In the evening the lucky passerby may get a glimpse of a raccoon, and the unlucky passerby may get a strong whiff of a skunk. This entire trip can be made in a matter of a couple of hours, even with a few stops along the way. It is ideal for those times when you just want to get away from the television set and yet don't have time to get away for very long o I MANY DOCTORS find Dr. Hullinycr's medicine cabinet very interesting as they study the various kinds ot medicine in the bottles. . ;.;.' v. ' (:,-. ; v - .... r i DRY FORK CANYON provides an interesting in-teresting contrast between desert sidehills and lush pastures. The scenic at- traction to visitors includes wildlife, foliage, unique homes, and beautiful landscape. i ... i i1 - . -. ' i'i ; i 7 ; ; if-' n a '.i' A TRIP BACK through time to the "good old days" can be taken by a visit to the Daughters of Utah Pioneer Museum locoted on the corner of Second South and Fifth West. |
