Utah Canoeing Trip – Days 21-23, May 29-31

Days 7-9 on the river

Getting to Know Things and People Better

Now that we were settled in, more of the details and depth of nature around us became apparent. We noticed more of the shapes and contours of rock faces and how they related to each other, the river and other natural features, past and present. We also had multiple encounters with some of the people we met on the river and were getting to know each other better.

One benefit of an epic, long and very remote trip like this is that it brings out the more dedicated adventurers as opposed to the weekend warriors of the city. There was almost zero garbage or human impact. The people we met were generally very well traveled and quite knowledgeable in terms of nature; at least intermediate outdoors skills were a given in almost every group.

Interesting Erosion Profiles

There are numerous interesting erosion artifacts in this wall

The scale of this wall was impressive, it was probably over 200 feet tall

Neat pair of formations that, when aligned, look like a cross, hence Powell named it “The Butte of the Cross”

Turks Head

This formation is yet another interesting artifact of erosion and is a notable feature at one of the river meanders. The river is around 3,700 ft elevation, the mesa upon which Turks Head rises from is 4,000 ft, the top of Turks Head is 4,400 ft. We set up camp on the river’s edge below this formation and spent a couple of hours hiking and exploring the area. The scramble up was enough to make me nervous, the scramble down more so. We made it back down off the cliff not long before sun down.