| OCR Text |
Show THE ZEPHYR DECEMBER 1990 PAGE 29 and horseback region. Those who know the Garden say it is impossible to get lost m it, because you have to come out the way in. The lower portion, known as the FIERY FURNACE,youis go so rough and broken up, with abrupt walls and ledges, that it has been but cursorily explored. However, according to the Park Service, it contains many arches and windows and other formations that are W ' k ' .A ' 'imm V, v j : j. "Hit Is . i - tnly SOf. among the finest examples of wind erosion in the world, and trails are planned that will open it to visitors not equipped with the impedimenta of mountain climbing. hike into Devils Garden leaves the Salt The most frequently-take- n Valley road 13 m. east of its junction with US 160, traverses the eastern slope of Salt Valley to the base of the Garden, and ascends to a point beneath high in the cliff face. Here an immense block has been wedged from the wall of sandstone by the exn sand has already begun its work panding action of ice, and of chipping through the cavity. Northward, the trail follows the cliff arches on the way, only a few of which for six miles, passing forty-fiv- e are named. Pine Tree Arch, half a mile beyond is 30 feet wide and 60 feet high, and takes its name from a hardy another pine that grows immediately beneath it. half mile northward, is high in the cliff face and commands a wide sweep of desert, a kind of Gargantuan peephole. of the hike, is perhaps the most Landscape Arch, near in the region. Its slender ribbon of banded spectacular formation black and salmon stone, only a few feet in thickness, has a length of 291 feet, and is 118 feet above the canyon floor. Its span is believed to be the longest in the Americas. There are those, seeing it and the warm-hue- d desert vista it frames, who are content to turn back without further exploration. Most others push on through scored corridors to Double-- 0 Arch, a pair of windows arranged in double-dec- k as if to last eroded windows. The alive mere an appetite jaded by keep single form in the Garden that bears a name is Dark Angel, a towering and ominous creation that might have been done by Gothic gargoyle-carverThe monolith looks out southward, brooding over a kind of solidified Pandemonium, whereof Harry Reed says, You can almost smell the brimstone. Arch-in-the-Makin- Arches Realty (SOI) Joe Kingsley 690 South Main Moah. I 'tail S 259-569- 3 Outside Utah nJ2 FAX (801) g, 259-593- 0 wind-drive- Arch-in-the-Maki- Hole-in-the-Wa- mid-poi- ng, 5th Grade Teachers . . . are Terrific! ll, nt s. DELICATE ARCH In Delicate Arch section there is but one arch of any consequence, yet it is probably the most popular section with return visitors. Salt Valley road terminates at Turnbows cabin, a specimen of frontier architecture almost completely identified with the Deliground on which it stands. From the cabin, the west buttress of cate Arch is visible against the skyline. The trail begins in the canyon bottom, ascends from it after a quarter of a mile, and climbs across slickrock to the top of the canyon wall. Below, in a shallow depression, its sides rising like those of an irregular saucer, is a platform that rises almost as high as the walls, and atop it, alone and sharp against the climb up the sky, is Delicate Arch. Descent into the bowl and the is truly slick, platform is slow but not dangerous. The slickrock wind-mad- e its whorls, in and when it catches the slanted rays of the sun it spatters the light almost as flint does. The arch can be made Jo z, serve splendidly as a frame for the La Sal Mountains, for Tukuhniki-vatand for the Colorado River country between. Cabinets, Furhituret Doors and Custom ;V Box 1806 Castle Valley Star Route Interior Finishing ..i custom homes, additions, remodeling Moab, Utah 84532 (801) ; 259-729- 6 . ' j t V? f. ' |
