Trip Report
Saturday 10/16/2021. Drive Silverthorne to Page, about 10 hours. No problems. Joined by Jonathan and Jacque Kriegel, and Al and Jane Curran, in the evening. Al is a geologist at Smith College whom I had not seen since leaving Smith in 1990.
10/17/2021. Edmaiers Secret with Jonathan and Al.
10/18/2021. Guided tour of three slot canyons near Kanab with Jonathan, Al, and Jane, and guide Paul Gagner of Dreamland Safari in Kanab.
10/19/2021. Castle Rock climb with Jonathan.
10/20/2021. Sidestep Canyon and Blue Wonder with Jonathan and Al.
10/21/2021. Fossil hunting near Buckskin TH and then Paria townsite walk.
10/22/2021. Drive to Moab. Joan and I stopped at Navajo National Monument for short walk.
Saturday 10/23/2021. I ran Alcove Springs trail in Canyonlands down to Moses and Zeus towers, and back up.
Highlights
10/17: Seeing the lace tower for the third time yielded the best photo of all. It will appear in a forthcoming geology book.
10/18: Crinoid fossils and steep Moki steps in PeekABoo slot canyon, which had excellent color. Then a tricky drive crossing the Virgin River a dozen times to go through Merwyn and BayBill slots.
10/19: The route to the summit held our interest; it was all on spectacular Navajo sandstone. At the top (probably the second highest tower) we found an arch which had not been documented. On descent we crossed the valley and returned by the opposite slope on good terrain up high, but steep gully to finish.
10/20: Blue Wonder slot with Jonathan, carrying and using a tripod. We exited via the Hoodoo Birthplace.
10/21: We found some small crinoids upstream of the Buckskin Gulch TH. Then we drove to the Paria movie set and walked down to the river. The Chinle slopes near the movie site were remarkable. And there were great views of Castle Rock and Red Top.
10/22: The forest near the national monument was very nice. There is a 17-mile round trip trail to some ruins that might be worth considering in the future.
10/23: Rough trail. Getting all the way to Moses was satisfying.