Posts
Another amazing day in the Southwest. We woke early, checked out of
our Moab hotel, packed up the car, and drove north out of Moab to
Canyonlands National Park. The weather was sunny, dry, and brisk. We
wound our way into the park, gaining altitude and driving onto a mesa
known as Island in the Sky. After an hour or so we reached the end of
the road at the Grand View, a scenic area that looks out onto and into
massive canyons on three sides. We arrived just in time for the Park
Ranger's 11:30 lecture and had him to ourselves. He told us about
John Wesley Powell's explorations along the Colorado River 2,000 feet
below us, and also some colorful anecdotes about Butch Cassidy and the
Sundance Kid robbing banks and fleeing through the area to a hideout
known as Robber's Roost. He also told us about the legend of Dead
Horse Point. The boys scrabbled onto the rocks, staying a safe
distance from the precarious drops, and had time for a short hike and
lunch before we drove back to the visitor's center, where we all had a
quite a surprise. But first, a bit of background. While preparing
for our trip the first week of M-term back in East Hampton, we watched
a series of National Park videos about the Moab area and Canyonlands
National Park. These podcasts were all hosted by a woman Park Ranger
named Karen Hanker. Each time, we downloaded a new podcast, the boys
would greet her -- "Hey it's Karen again. How you doing, Karen?"
Well, as we drove into the park this morning, the gang commented that
it would be funny to see ole Karen Hanker, and as we talked, the
legend of Karen Hanker grew, to the point that Hank even composed a
song, a Moab version of "This Land is Your Land," which contained a
line about Karen Hanker. So on our way out of the park, we decided
to stop at the visitor's center. Michelle and Max went in before the
rest of us, and as Michelle came out a couple of the boys asked her if
there was a woman ranger inside and she said yes. We found Max just
inside the door, and he said to us in an urgent whisper, "That woman
has a name tag that says 'Karen.'" The rest of us stood and looked at
the ranger behind the desk, until finally we realized it was indeed
THE Karen Hanker. Several of us cautiously approached, then Hank
walked up, said Hello, and told her she was in a song he had just
composed, whereupon Hank sang for her his Moab/Karen Hanker "This Land
is Your Land." We then told her the whole story of how we became
Karen Hanker fans, and she was quite flattered. The photo below is
proof that this all actually happened. Afterward, we drove through
the incredible Utah landscape -- from red rock dessert back into and
through snow covered mountains, and on to Salt Lake City. We're due
to arrive at 10:20 PM tomorrow (Wed) night.
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Monday, March 9, 2009
Rock Art -- Natural and Man made
First thing today, we went to hike the Delicate Arch trail in Arches
National Park. On the way we saw the Wolfe Ranch, made by a man from
northern Utah. Next along the trail to Delicate Arch, we saw a Ute
Indian Petroglyph with pictures of animals and hunters. Of all the
rock art we would see (more to come), this was of the most recent
period, done a hundred or two hundred years ago. The trail soon
became slickrock and after another 30 minutes or so of ascending, we
reached the edge of a cliff. It was really windy, with gusts up to
sixty miles an hour, but the arch at the end of the trail was
awesome. We hiked back down, finding a less windy place to eat
lunch, returned to our cars, and drove farther into the park to the
trailhead for Landscape Arch. This is widely considered the longest
arch in the world, at over 290 feet. At its thinnest point it is only
6 feet thick. It was 11 feet thick, but a huge chunk cracked off and
fell in 1995. Since then, the path that led under the arch has been
closed. We hiked back into a strong, sand-blowing wind and drove out
of the park and along a couple of roads that wound along the Colorado
river in search of more petroglyphs. We found several that were
extensive and detailed. The first panel was from the "Formative"
period, from A.D. 1 -- A.D. 1250, and was from either the Anasazi or
Fremont people -- both of whom were Ancestral Puebloans. We continued
up the canyon until we came to a sight with another rock art panel and
also a set of dinosaur tracks. These were from an allosaurus in the
Jurassic period 150 million years ago. Next, we drove along a road on
the other side of the Colorado river until we came to a sight with a
large panel of petroglyphs from both the Archaic and Formative
periods. The archaic period goes back all the way to 12,000 B.C. All
the petroglyphs, along with our hikes, made the entire day a lot of
fun. We some day hope to return.
--Christian and Jack (with editing from teachers)
National Park. On the way we saw the Wolfe Ranch, made by a man from
northern Utah. Next along the trail to Delicate Arch, we saw a Ute
Indian Petroglyph with pictures of animals and hunters. Of all the
rock art we would see (more to come), this was of the most recent
period, done a hundred or two hundred years ago. The trail soon
became slickrock and after another 30 minutes or so of ascending, we
reached the edge of a cliff. It was really windy, with gusts up to
sixty miles an hour, but the arch at the end of the trail was
awesome. We hiked back down, finding a less windy place to eat
lunch, returned to our cars, and drove farther into the park to the
trailhead for Landscape Arch. This is widely considered the longest
arch in the world, at over 290 feet. At its thinnest point it is only
6 feet thick. It was 11 feet thick, but a huge chunk cracked off and
fell in 1995. Since then, the path that led under the arch has been
closed. We hiked back into a strong, sand-blowing wind and drove out
of the park and along a couple of roads that wound along the Colorado
river in search of more petroglyphs. We found several that were
extensive and detailed. The first panel was from the "Formative"
period, from A.D. 1 -- A.D. 1250, and was from either the Anasazi or
Fremont people -- both of whom were Ancestral Puebloans. We continued
up the canyon until we came to a sight with another rock art panel and
also a set of dinosaur tracks. These were from an allosaurus in the
Jurassic period 150 million years ago. Next, we drove along a road on
the other side of the Colorado river until we came to a sight with a
large panel of petroglyphs from both the Archaic and Formative
periods. The archaic period goes back all the way to 12,000 B.C. All
the petroglyphs, along with our hikes, made the entire day a lot of
fun. We some day hope to return.
--Christian and Jack (with editing from teachers)
Sunday, March 8, 2009
What goes up....
This morning we met up with 3 tour guides from Magpie Adventures who
drove us to the Klondike Bluffs Trail. They gave us a quick lesson on
technique, then gave each of us an amazing, top-of-the-line bike. The
trip up to the edge of Arches National Park was rather difficult. The
climb consisted of mostly slickrock and sand. After we got to the
end of the trail, we took a short hike to the top of a butte. The
view was amazing and we were able to see the snow-capped La Salle
Mountains and all the red rock canyons. Our tour guide, Mike, was not
only an extremely experienced biker, but also very knowledgeable about
the local geology and landscape. He taught us about how oceans formed
and evaporated 29 different times to leave salt deposits that formed
the mesas and buttes of Utah's famous national parks. The ride back
was highly anticipated as now we were riding back down the mountain.
It was an extremely bumpy ride, but we all enjoyed it. Overall, we
had a wonderful day, capped off by some amazing Mexican cuisine in
Moab.
drove us to the Klondike Bluffs Trail. They gave us a quick lesson on
technique, then gave each of us an amazing, top-of-the-line bike. The
trip up to the edge of Arches National Park was rather difficult. The
climb consisted of mostly slickrock and sand. After we got to the
end of the trail, we took a short hike to the top of a butte. The
view was amazing and we were able to see the snow-capped La Salle
Mountains and all the red rock canyons. Our tour guide, Mike, was not
only an extremely experienced biker, but also very knowledgeable about
the local geology and landscape. He taught us about how oceans formed
and evaporated 29 different times to leave salt deposits that formed
the mesas and buttes of Utah's famous national parks. The ride back
was highly anticipated as now we were riding back down the mountain.
It was an extremely bumpy ride, but we all enjoyed it. Overall, we
had a wonderful day, capped off by some amazing Mexican cuisine in
Moab.
Morning in Moab
The trip from Park City to Moab was spectacular as we wound our way
down through the Wasatch and continued south into the dessert, the
boys pointing out the buttes and mesas and debating which was which.
It was dark when we arrived in Moab, but everyone woke up this morning
surrounded by redrock canyons and mesas, and in the distance the snow
covered La Salle mountains. Because I pulled a calf muscle skiing, I
did not join them on today's mountain biking trip. But Michelle did,
along with the three guides from Magpie Adventures, a delightful
husband and wife biking company that is extremely knowledgeable about
biking as well as local cultural history and geology. Expect to hear
from a couple of riders later today.
down through the Wasatch and continued south into the dessert, the
boys pointing out the buttes and mesas and debating which was which.
It was dark when we arrived in Moab, but everyone woke up this morning
surrounded by redrock canyons and mesas, and in the distance the snow
covered La Salle mountains. Because I pulled a calf muscle skiing, I
did not join them on today's mountain biking trip. But Michelle did,
along with the three guides from Magpie Adventures, a delightful
husband and wife biking company that is extremely knowledgeable about
biking as well as local cultural history and geology. Expect to hear
from a couple of riders later today.
Saturday, March 7, 2009
Friday Report
Today's conditions for skiing were great. After yesterday's powder
was groomed, we were able to ride smoother and faster. Snow was
falling throughout the day which left us with very low visibility.
Everyone has gained a lot of confidence from the previous couple of
days and decided to try out some more challenging terrain. We did,
however, have one mishap. One of our members, Dylan, fell hard and
broke his wrist. His wrist should be fine, but he'll be cutting the
trip short and flying home with his dad tomorrow. The rest of us are
hoping for a quick recovery. The mountains here are covered with
Pines and Aspens and make for great scenery. Skiing through them is a
lot of fun, especially when Hank uses his helmet cam. This was our
last full day of skiing here, and it was a blast (tomorrow we will ski
until early afternoon). We are excited to go to Moab next and visit
the national parks and, perhaps, see some of the ruins or cliff
dwellings of the Anasazi people.
-- Matt and Max
was groomed, we were able to ride smoother and faster. Snow was
falling throughout the day which left us with very low visibility.
Everyone has gained a lot of confidence from the previous couple of
days and decided to try out some more challenging terrain. We did,
however, have one mishap. One of our members, Dylan, fell hard and
broke his wrist. His wrist should be fine, but he'll be cutting the
trip short and flying home with his dad tomorrow. The rest of us are
hoping for a quick recovery. The mountains here are covered with
Pines and Aspens and make for great scenery. Skiing through them is a
lot of fun, especially when Hank uses his helmet cam. This was our
last full day of skiing here, and it was a blast (tomorrow we will ski
until early afternoon). We are excited to go to Moab next and visit
the national parks and, perhaps, see some of the ruins or cliff
dwellings of the Anasazi people.
-- Matt and Max
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
