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Show ' - - ' . " : - . ...... - ., - - J ' - 0! " - . - , - - - 1 If . i i-C . " ' ' . - 'V'v' ,v ' fi-, Ay v ' uc; .:,.-:? ----- THE YAM PA RIVER merges with the Green River, hidden by Shiprock, making a breath-taking view from Harpers Corner on Dinosaur National Monument. Harpers Corner See the river without getting yourself wet At the confluence of the Green and Yampa rivers, narrow canyons wind through sandstone and shale to climax at a massive upheaval at Shiprock. What better way to view it all than from Harper's Corner. Harper's Corner, named after a local rancher who used the narrow mile-long strip to corral cattle, lies in the heart of Dinosaur National Monument. Access to the isolated area is on a highway north of Dinosaur Headquarters, Head-quarters, east of Dinosaur, Colo. From the visitor's center in Colorado, Harper's Corner is 31 miles. From Vernal, the trip is 68 miles. The mile hike to the end of Harper's Corner makes a pleasant walk through some of the most picturesque areas of Dinosaur Monument. To the right side of the corner as you walk in, you see the Green River winding win-ding around Shiprock at Echo Park. The other walls of Shiprock fascinated early explorers by the numerous times their yells echoed off the canyon walls. The Yampa River merges with the Green River on the other side of Shiprock. To the left is the Green River going down through Whirlpool Canyon. Whirlpool's canyon walls are dark and somber, made up mostly of limestones and shales left by ancient seas. As these waters retreated, windswept wind-swept dunes piled up to become the light-colored sandstone of the Yam-pa's Yam-pa's cliffs and domes a layer which should lie on top of the Whirlpool Canyon Can-yon rocks. But when this area was being be-ing uplifted to its present elevation, faulting occurred; the rock layers were bent and broken as some blocks of land were pushed higher than others. Most of the area's history is sketchy. The ruggedness of the land limited exploration ex-ploration by routes other than the Green River. William H. Ashley, a fur trapper, was the first man known to have descended the Green. In the week or so that it took his party to pass through the canyons in 1825, the rapids nearly wiped out his small hide-covered hide-covered bullboats, and Ashley no doubt decided against traveling any further by water. The next man to challenge the Green was John Wesley Powell in 1869. Despite the loss of a wooden boat in a rapid not far from Harper's Corner, which they named Disaster Falls, the party followed the Green to its junction junc-tion with the Colorado and continued down the river through the Grand Canyon. Can-yon. Their stay at Echo Park was a welcome treat after days of battling white water. Along the trail to the end of the corner cor-ner are 16 trail markers explaining the interesting sights along the path and the history of the area. The walk takes about two hours. Far below you spot buildings of the Chew Ranch on a small tributary of the Green River called Pool Creek. Theranct maintained as a historical"' Before the Chew family" Creek was the home of 7l' character, Pat Lynch, whos--into the area in early' 1880 years lived a hermit's life kn-cabins kn-cabins along the lower Yams' and Pool Creek. Pool Creek called Pat's Hole after him. " The canyon walls, in a sheltered mankind since --' times. Drawings pecked Creek's cliffs show that theF--people, who were hunter farmers, lived there nearly ii, ago. They came as we have s' the magic of water in a thirr While in the Harper's Cor you may want to take sec" many side trips: EchoPark.? Park overlook, or to the car or the picnic area. t - . i--T-i-'-1-i I THE GREEN RIVER sweeps around Shiprock at Echo Park as one of the many river scenes that can be viewed on the Harpers Corner trail. |
