Trip Report

April 10-19, 2023. Personnel:

Stan Wagon and Joan Hutchinson (Silverthorne, Colorado)
Ian Hope-Simpson (Wolfville, Nova Scotia, Canada)
Janet Jacks and Dave Blakeslee (Silverthorne, Colorado)
Katie Larson (Montezuma, Colorado)
Bob Portmann (Silverthorne, Colorado)

April 10.  Drive Silverthorne to Page.

April 11.  Spencer Trail at Lee's Ferry, and a little exploring at the top. 2000 feet climb; 6 miles; Katie, Janet, Dave, me. Highlights: View of the silt-filled, greenish Paria River entering the Colorado River, which was clear. That clarity is due to the pure water coming past Glen Canyon Dam. There was a great view of a horseshoe in the Colorado River -- the "Last Horseshoe" —  with the long view of the river cutting the vast plain to create Marble Canyon. And the snow-covered Kaibab Plateau in the distance. From the top we saw a group of five bighorn sheep on a lower shelf.

April 12. Katie is sick. Dave, Janet, Ian and I went to Thousand Pockets, using a rented Jeep. Highlights: 2-toned (white and purple) tourist plant (aka, spectacle pod flower). The pockets atop a high mesa were very nice. We then headed west to a different mesa, but there was nothing interesting there and we took an intricate route down steep terrain to get back to the car. 6 miles, 1300 feet climb.

April 13. Katie still sick: Dave, Janet, and I went to Yellow Rock Valley. We parked at the bend about 1.5 miles S of the standard parking area and broke through the steep terrain to get near, roughly, the best of Red Top. Then we circled around (after trying a steep wall that would have worked) and ended up in a beautiful valley of colorful rock between two routes we had taken two years ago. We exited that at its northern end, and were then on easy terrain back to Yellow Rock area and down the trail. We walked the road back to the car. 6 miles; 1600 feet climb.

April 14. Katie is fine. Dave is sick. Katie, Janet, Bob, me to White Pocket in  two rented Jeeps. We took the southern route from Page via Lees Ferry. We climbed White Pocket Butte (Class 3) then descended through White Pocket. Then we drove to near the Cowboy Hat, visited that feature (good Moki marbles at its base) then camped a little farther along the road to the Wrather Arch viewpoint area. It was a cold night (25 degrees estimate).

April 15.  We drove a few miles from the camping spot and hiked to the E side of a butte with the Domes of the Gnomes on the E side.  We explored that side extensively. There is a small white pocket area, and then a very complex section of steep domes. We finished by climbing the mesa, but then getting stopped by a deep cleft, and we returned to the car on our approach trail. There was some beautiful spiral lichen in the area of the white pockets. We returned to Page via the northern route. 6.7 miles, 1200 feet climb. The lichen are perhaps in the Sarcogyne genus, I am told by an expert at Brigham Young University. A good article about sandstone lichen is at <https://www.colorado.edu/asmagazine-archive/node/933>. This photo shows similar lichen 15 miles away: <https://fineartamerica.com/featured/lichen-incising-sandstone-coyote-butte-nhpa.html>. But I have found no explanation of the spiral patterns.

April 16. With Joan and Ian to Rimrock Hoodoos and the Slender Hoodoo.

April 17: Drove to Farmington, New Mexico. Met Bill and Elaine Belvin for dinner.

April 18: Explored the De-Na-Zin Wilderness area south of Farmington, New Mexico, with Bill and Elaine. Great hoodoos and arches and some complex impassable terrain.  We saw a great Double Hoodoo, then De-Na-Zin Arch (in San José formation, then we crossed the main wash and saw an undocumented arch in the distance. Then Right Angle Arch. I think these features are San Jose Formation (caprocks) above the Nacimiento formation. (Ojo Alamo is below). See See:  <https://pubs.usgs.gov/pp/0552/report.pdf>.

To Los Alamos, losing 1.5 hours on a dead end road E of Cuba. 6 miles, 700 feet climb. The geology here is late cretaceous and early cenozoic, consisting of the Ojo Alamo and Naciemento formations from the Tertiary, and the Naha&Tsegi and Sheetwash alluviums from the Quaternary periods.

April 19. Short walk in Los Alamos. On the drive home we ran into a sandstorm near Alamosa and a snowstorm at Fremont Pass.