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Show PAGE 28 THE ZEPHYRNOVEMBER 1990 Looking Back side-Canyo- ns UTAH GUIDE A alluvium, but arc accessible only at the canyon mouths or at rare points intersect. where Enterprising cattlemen moved into the valley about Moab in the 1870s, and were ranging the whole countryside by 1885. Many of the canyons now in the Monument afforded good range, and since it was legend among cowboys that the frugal Mormons never lost a cow if she could be followed, it is not unreasonable to assume that the intricacies of the canyons were well known to them. Some of the arches carried, besides their sanctioned names, range designations that bespeak long and perhaps affectionate familiarity. Double Arch, for example, was known as the jughandles, and Delicate Arch as the schoolmarms pants. And the Turnbow or Wolf Ranch cabin at the terminus of the road into the Delicate Arch section, though still serving line riders in 1940, possesses a venerable decay that could scarcely have accumulated to it in less than 50 years. Credit for discovery of the Arches has been tentatively given to Alexander Ringhoffer, a miner who worked his way into the section in 1922. Dr. J. W. Williams -and L. L. Bish Taylor, in 1940 Editor of the Moab Times-Ind- e pendent , packed in shortly thereafter and began a long siege to arouse the interest of the National Park Service, which was persuaded to recommend establishment of the Monument in 1929. Harry' Reed, an eastern photographer, came to Moab in 1935 to test descriptions of the Arches scenery. He found few people who knew where the Arches were, and a smaller number who had visited them. Inquiries among cowboys disclosed that they want nothin out there. Jest a lot of holes in rocks this notwithstanding that one of the holes was just nine feet short of a Utah city block or a. football field in length. The following year, Reed was appointed part-tim- e custodian of the Monument, and in the fall, Harry Long-Shee- p Goulding, trader to the Navahos of Monument Valley, drove to the Windows section in a specially equipped car. In 1937 Grand County ran a bulldozer and grader over Gouldings course, and the first tourists visited the Monument. In 1938, President Franklin D. Roosevelt, by proclamation, enlarged the boundaries of the Monument to the d present 33,680 acres. The Monument, in spite of its with the horns pointing west. boundaries, is roughly crescent-shupeIt has five sections, each different in geologic interest and scenery: The Windows, centrally located; Courthouse Towers, in the southern extremity; Klondike Bluffs, at the point of the northern horn; Devils Garden and Delicate Arch, comprising the remainder of the northern horn. The U. S. Park Service, which administers the area, distinguishes sharply between a park and a monument the former is scenic and inspirational, the latter is primarily educational. Arches National Monument was set aside to preserve and make accessible its splendid examples of wind erosion. Various sections should be visited in the company of a guide (furnished through the custodian) who will explain the invisible geology behind the visible forms. TO THE STATE Compiled by W orkers of the Writers' Program of the Work Projects Administration for the State of Utah 1941 -- right-angle- Arches National Monument d, Windows section, 9 miles on State 93, which branches from US 160, 122 m. north of Moab, thence by foot trail, 3 m. round trip, 4 hours from Moab to Moab; Courthouse Towers section, from US 160, 45 m. north of Moab, thence by foot trail, 5 m. round trip, xj4 hour from Moab and return; Klondike Bluffs section from Salt Valley Road (right at 10.1 m.), which branches E. from US 160, 26 m. north of Moab, thence by foot trail, 3 m. round trip, 6 hours from Moab to Moab; Devils Garden section, via Salt Valley Road, which branches E. from US 160 26 m. N. of Moab, turning left on Salt Valley Road at 13 m., thence by foot trail 35 m., or 10 m. round trip, 4 to io hours froni'Moab to Moab, depending on length of tour; Delicate Arch section, from terminus of Salt Valley Road (at 22 or.), thence by foot trail, 3 m. round trip, 6 hours from Moab to Moab. Roads are unimproved, but patrolled six days each week, and offer no difficulties if speed is kept below Highway Approaches: . 35 m.p.h. Administrative Offices: 5 m. E. of US 160. Information: Moab Custodian's home at Moab; Park Cabin on State 93, Garage, Moab Times-lndepende- nt, Moab Lions Club. mmmmmammmmmammmammamamBmaBi Back to the Soda Fountain Accommodations: Hotel, tourist camps, guest homes at Moab. Hotel at Thompsons. No improved campsites in Monument. Transportation: Private car. Horses for pack trips available at Moab; prices variable. Communication: Telephone and post office at Moab and Thompsons. Express office at Thompsons. No telephone at Monument (1940). Climate, Clothing, Equipment: Elevation of Arches National Monument is 4,000 to 5,000 feet; winter snowfalls seldom exceed 4 inches or last more than a day. The diurnal temperature range, however, is large. Warm clothing the year round is advisable for evening wear. For daytime, except in winter, shirts. light rugged clothing. Cowboys wear denim jeans and Straw hats, unless are fairly useless in a region where the wind blows hard enough to carve through solid rock. Rubber soles are helpful for climbing "slickrock, but oxfords are an abomination in deep sand. Carry own water and camping equipment for overnight stays. Film in special sixes sometimes difficult to obtain in near-b- y towns. Admission: Free. Guide service to any or all of the sections furnished without charge by custodian. long-sleev- chin-strappe- ed d, ARCHES NATIONAL MONUMENT lies in the redrock country north of Moab, between the Colorado River and US 160. It is a region of desert sandstone, of deep and tortuous canyons, and its thin, multicolored topsoil supports pinon and sage. From the highway, except for the castellated pile of the Windows section, the whole area appears to be a flat and desiccated plain, intersected by occasional reefs n desert. Southward the pyrathat glow redly against the Mountains La Sal mided rear, alien blue, from the valley floor, and the high peak Tukuhnikivatz, a Ute name meaning shows snow the year around. Northward are the Book Cliffs of Tavaputs Plateau, but eastward and westward the desert rolls out interminably, with a deceptive levelness. Squat hillocks of sand conceal gorges two, three, and four hundred feet deep, their sheer or overhanging crests revealed only from the rim. Many of the canyons have Sweetwater springs in them, and patches of meadow in sandy Wjv ?, . -- t desseSft, -- k gray-gree- OPEN 7 DAYS A WEEK in the T-sh- irt shop - formerly Family Drug |
