Arches and Canyonlands National Parks Read online

  Text © 2013 Mike Graf

  Illustrations © 2013 Marjorie Leggitt

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, except as may be expressly permitted in writing from the publisher. Requests for permission should be addressed to Globe Pequot Press, Attn: Rights and Permissions Department, PO Box 480, Guilford, CT 06437.

  FalconGuides is an imprint of Globe Pequot Press.

  Falcon, FalconGuides, and Outfit Your Mind are registered trademarks of Morris Book Publishing, LLC.

  Illustrations by Marjorie Leggitt

  Models for twins: Amanda and Ben Frazier

  Photos by Mike Graf with the following exceptions, which are licensed by Shutterstock.com: inside front cover, pp. i, 8, 22, 38 © Darren J. Bradley; p. i inset, p. 110, inside back cover © Keneva Photography; p. 1 © Peter Wey; pp. 7, 55, 59 Courtesy National Park Service; p. 11 © Scott Prokop; pp. 14, 17 (bottom) © Rudy Balasko; p. 17 (top) © Jeffrey M. Frank; p. 19 © Erik Harrison; p. 25 © Mountain Photography and Software LLC; p. 26 © Patricia Hofmeester; p. 27 © Manamana; p. 42 © fotokik_dot_com; p. 69 © RIRF Stock; pp. 71 (top), 73 © J. Norman Reid; p. 82 © Dennis Donohue; pp. 101, 105, 106 © Robert Crum; p. 109 © Boris15

  Maps courtesy of National Park Service

  Layout: Melissa Evarts

  Project editor: Julie Marsh

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  Graf, Mike.

  Arches and Canyonlands national parks : in the land of standing rocks / Mike Graf, illustrated by Marjorie Leggitt.

  p. cm. — (Adventures with the Parkers)

  ISBN 978-0-7627-7962-8

  1. Arches National Park (Utah)—Guidebooks—Juvenile literature. 2. Canyonlands National Park (Utah)—Guidebooks—Juvenile literature. I. Leggitt, Marjorie C., ill. II. Title.

  F832.A7G73 2012

  979.2'58—dc23

  2012012734

  Printed in the United States of America

  10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

  CONTENTS

  1 A First-Time Leftie

  2 Don’t Forget to Brake!

  3 Ancient Food Storage

  4 The Moab Facial

  5 Would You Buy That Car?

  6 What Goes Up, Must Come Down

  7 Is That You in the Mirror?

  8 Muscle Man Poses

  9 The Rabbit’s Foot

  10 Hide and Seek

  11 Triple Twins

  12 Good-Bye Mom and Dad

  13 Cowboys and Indians

  14 Please Don’t Hurt My Baby

  15 Lucky Us

  16 Sanctuary in the Shade

  17 Piling on the Rocks

  18 The End and the Beginning

  1

  A First-Time Leftie

  James put down his pen and looked at his family. His twin sister, Morgan, and his mom and dad were staring out at the vast, dry landscape surrounding their campsite in eastern Nevada, on their way to Arches and Canyonlands National Parks. After a few moments, Mom gathered cooking supplies and put them on the picnic table.

  James picked up and dropped his pen, twice. Then he noisily cleared his throat.

  Dad noticed the cue. “Have you got something there for us?”

  “Only the start of a story I’m working on,” James replied. “But I like what I’ve written so far.”

  “Will you read it to us?” Mom asked curiously.

  “Sure,” James replied. “It’s about John Wesley Powell. Since I did that report last year on his expeditions, I can’t stop thinking about his travels.”

  For a moment James’s mind drifted back to spring semester in Mr. Block’s class. “And my family is going to the area Powell explored this summer,” James informed his teacher at the end of his speech.

  “That was a great presentation, James,” Mr. Block said. “Can you come back next fall and tell me how your travels went?”

  “Sure,” James said, before receiving a round of applause and then taking his seat.

  Morgan scooted next to her brother. “Go ahead,” she said, while nudging James and glancing at his journal. “I want to hear your story too.”

  James quickly looked over his writing. Then he began. “The first line is actually something Powell said.”

  The landscape everywhere away from the river is rock, cliffs of rock, tables of rock, plateaus of rock, terraces of rock, crags of rock . . .

  James paused for a second and looked up.

  “Wow,” Dad pondered. “It must have been something to come upon the area back then. Southeast Utah is definitely a unique part of the country.”

  Morgan glanced at James’s story. “How come your writing’s so sloppy?”

  “I’m using my left hand,” James replied nonchalantly.

  “Left hand?” Mom echoed. “Why?”

  James paused for a second, thinking, then answered. “Because after the Civil War, that’s all John Wesley Powell had.”

  “Interesting,” Dad replied. “Go on. I want to hear more.”

  “I’m writing this now as if he’s reporting in his journal,” James explained.

  “That’s unique and creative,” Mom said. “I like that approach.” Encouraged, James continued.

  June 24th, 1869

  We’ve been traveling for about a month now along the placid Green River. The crew is famished, but we’ve been finding some game along the way. Of course we have plenty of water, but it’s muddy and I don’t think it’s settling well in our stomachs.

  The whole region is amazing. The rock formations are different than anything any of us have ever seen. Outside of that there’s not much life out here (although the crew thinks there might still be some Indians around).

  Several of the gang are grumbling about quitting. After Disaster Falls when we lost so much of our equipment and food, I can understand why. A few have commented that this whole journey is just a waste of time. Others are more concerned about the unknown dangers or rapids that lie ahead. But so far I’ve persuaded them to continue on.

  We’ll see how it goes.

  John Wesley Powell

  James put his journal down and looked at his family.

  “That,” Dad exclaimed, “is fantastic!”

  “I definitely want to hear more,” Morgan added enthusiastically.

  “I’m going to work on it while we’re on this trip,” James replied.

  Morgan took one more look at James’s journal. “Not bad for a first-time leftie,” she acknowledged. Then Morgan noticed the initials for the signature her brother had written at the bottom of the journal.

  “JWP!” Morgan realized. “Look! John Wesley Powell and James William Parker.”

  “Hey!” James exclaimed. “You’re right!”

  2

  Don’t Forget to Brake!

  The following morning the Parkers left eastern Nevada and drove across Utah. Late in the day they arrived at Moab, the gateway town to Arches and Canyonlands National Parks.

  There the family stocked up on groceries and other supplies. They camped near the wide, muddy Colorado River, just outside of town.

  The Parkers got up early the next day and headed toward Canyon-lands’ Island in the Sky district on Highway 313. As the road climbed a series of twists and turns, the family gazed at the rock-strewn scenery outside. Soon a sign along the road appeared: no food, gas, lodging, or water ahead!

  “I love it!” Dad exclaimed. “True wilderness in one of the least developed parts of the United States.”

  The road reached a plateau, and the area was now a grassy table
land. The family eventually passed a turnoff to Dead Horse Point State Park.

  “You gotta love the names out here,” Dad commented as he drove.

  James pulled out a Canyonlands park map. He quickly scanned it. “You should hear some of the other names,” he said.

  “Tell us some,” Mom requested.

  James surveyed the map and began reading. “Well, there’s Candlestick Tower, Washer Woman Arch, and Upheaval Dome,” James said, studying the Island in the Sky area.

  Then James searched other parts of the park. “And there’s the Maze, Musselman Arch, Chocolate Drops, the Great Gallery, and Paul Bunyans Potty.” James paused to laugh. “It really says that!” he exclaimed.

  “It all sounds pretty intriguing,” Mom said.

  Soon the family crossed the Canyonlands National Park boundary. They stopped briefly at the visitor center. After that the road became a thin two-lane highway with cliffs dropping off into deep canyons on both sides. Dad maneuvered across the “Neck” and parked at the nearby Shafer Canyon overlook.

  Morgan, James, Mom, and Dad piled out of the car. A sign indicated the Neck Spring Trail. “Hmm,” Dad pondered. “Maybe we can do that hike later.”

  Morgan looked at her parents. “What do they mean by the ‘Neck’?”

  Mom found a sign about it and called everyone over.

  The Parkers read about cattle grazing in the area and how the Neck made a natural barrier for easy corralling of cattle.

  Across the parking lot two vans were surrounded by a group of people in bike shorts and colorful jerseys. Everyone started unloading mountain bikes from racks on top of the vans. Morgan watched until all the bikes were down.

  The group of cyclists gathered around a leader. “Okay,” she began. “We’re going to drop you off here. You’ll ride all the way to Potash, about the most spectacular twenty miles you’ll ever bike anywhere. There’ll be two rest stops along the way.” The guide paused to hand out maps. “And we’ll have a well-earned lunch waiting for you once we meet again down by the river.”

  The guide looked the group over. “One more thing. Shafer Trail down into the canyon is very steep. Don’t forget to use your brakes! And it’s a dirt road the entire way, too. There should be no land speed records broken here.”

  A great way to explore the park!

  The bikers started pedaling away. Meanwhile Morgan, James, Mom, and Dad meandered over to the lookout. They gazed out at the panorama of deep, sheer-walled canyons.

  Morgan gazed down. “There’s the road!” she exclaimed.

  The family waited a few seconds until the bikers appeared, gliding down the steep, switchbacked descent. Some took it faster than others. “Whoo-hoo!” one rider called out, a trail of dust in her wake.

  “Boy, that looks like an experience,” Dad announced.

  “And they’ll get to see the river,” Morgan added.

  After a few more minutes at the overlook, the Parkers returned to their car. They drove on and stopped a short time later at the popular Mesa Arch Trail.

  The family took the short walk and soon arrived at the canyon rim. Spread out before them were massive canyonlands framed by a rainbow-shaped arch at the top of the mesa.

  Mesa Arch

  The family approached the sandy-colored span of stone until it felt as if they got any closer, they would tumble into the desolate canyon.

  “It’s like a giant window into the desert,” Morgan exclaimed while taking out her camera. Then she extended her arm out to pretend to touch the arch. “It seems so close.”

  Mom held on to Morgan’s shoulder and peeked into the chasm far below. “Please don’t try that anymore,” she said. “It’s a long way down.”

  Dad took a deep breath and gazed at the immense, wild scenery. “Now this is a national park!” he exclaimed.

  Meanwhile, James pulled out his map and studied it while glancing up at the distant figures of rock in the canyon. “Hey,” he announced. “There’s also an arch way out there. And . . .” James paused to study a distant rock pillar with a hole in it. He looked at the map again. “It does kind of look like a woman bending over to do laundry.”

  James pointed out Washer Woman Arch to his family.

  “Wow,” Mom said. “We really are in an unusual place.”

  3

  Ancient Food Storage

  The Parkers spent the next few hours at Willow Flat Campground waiting for the heat to subside. They set up their tents and rested in the shade while a few flies and gnats buzzed around.

  In the late afternoon, Dad yawned and stretched, then got out of his chair. “Okay,” he called out. “Let’s go explore.”

  The family drove a short distance to the nearby Aztec Butte trailhead.

  After trudging along the sandy start of the trail, the Parkers began climbing steeply up the butte. They followed rock piles, or cairns, marking the way.

  A quarter of a mile later, they made it to the flat-topped summit. Morgan, James, Mom, and Dad gazed at the views surrounding them. In the distance the massive, remote canyonlands beckoned to be explored.

  Soon the trail dipped to just below the summit. Now the pathway weaved through a series of eroded alcoves and small caves. “It’s so nice and cool in here,” Morgan commented about being in the shade.

  Suddenly the family approached a bunch of flat stones piled up to make a room at the back of a cave. “Whoa!” Mom exclaimed. “Look at that!”

  “What is it?” Morgan asked, inching closer to the stone structure.

  After a moment Mom answered. “I think it’s a granary. It’s where Native Americans stored their seeds.”

  “They sure knew what they were doing,” Dad remarked. “Storing seeds up here where they could stay cool in the shade and out of reach of others.”

  Morgan took another step toward the granary. “I wonder if there’s anything left in it.”

  Ancient food storage location

  Mom held Morgan back. “I doubt it. Scavengers like rats would have gotten to it by now. And we need to leave it alone anyway. It’s an important historical relic that shows how people in the past lived.”

  EARLY FARMERS

  * * *

  Around AD 950 Ancestral Puebloans moved into the Canyonlands area. They were mostly farmers and grew crops of corn, beans, and squash. They also gathered seeds. These people built granaries throughout the area for storing their corn seeds and nuts from season to season. The granaries were often in hidden or hard-to-get-to locations and had small doors that were covered with slabs of rock. This helped to keep the rodents out. The people of this region left the area in the late 1200s due to a prolonged drought. Even today some granaries still have corn cobs, seeds, and other food items in them. Recently, archaeologists have taken some of the seeds and sprouted them, eight hundred years after they were placed there by the Native Americans.

  The family spent a moment longer looking at the ancient structure. Then they followed the trail under a ledge, passing more eroded caverns and another dilapidated granary.

  The path returned to the summit and looped back to where they had climbed up. From there the Parkers scrambled back down the butte and returned to their car.

  After a quick drive Morgan, James, Mom, and Dad arrived at the end of the road at Upheaval Dome. They hiked up another short trail and gazed at one of Canyonlands’ most unusual formations, a giant crater surrounded by cliffs and partially filled with mounds of grayish rock.

  “Wow,” Dad commented. “That is one huge hole in the ground.”

  The family gathered around an information sign and read the two theories about what caused Upheaval Dome.

  SALT OR ME TEORITE

  * * *

  Some scientists say Upheaval Dome was formed by salt. The area underneath Canyonlands National Park has a thick layer of salt that was left behind when the seas of the past evaporated. This salt layer has been buried under rock thousands of feet thick. Over time the weight or pressure on the salt layer caused the salt t
o bubble up, much like ice does in a glacier. This created the salt dome at Upheaval Dome.

  Others say Upheaval Dome is the result of a large meteorite, about one-third mile in diameter, hitting the earth about sixty million years ago. The explosion from the impact created the crater, and erosion since then has washed away any of the meteorite’s remains.

  “Okay,” James announced. “Those who think it was caused by a meteorite, stand over there.”

  James and Mom walked over.

  “What about you two?” James asked Morgan and Dad.

  “I’m not really sure,” Dad replied.

  “Me neither,” Morgan added.

  Morgan stared down into the large, circular crater with gray, sandy rock piled up in the middle.

  Finally Dad remarked, “I know I sound like a broken record, but I’ve never seen anything quite like this place.”

  “I feel the same way,” Morgan agreed.

  The Parkers left Upheaval Dome and made one last stop before sunset. They parked at the Whale Rock trailhead and, guided by two sets of handrails, scrambled up to the massive, smooth rock’s summit. There they wandered around, enjoying the views of the whole Island in the Sky area and the distant canyons as they faded into shadows from the dropping sun.

  4

  The Moab Facial

  The next morning James got up before his family. During the night he had decided not to write a journal from John Wesley Powell’s point of view, but to turn Powell’s adventures into a story. James wrote quickly while his thoughts were fresh . . .

  “So, you say you saw some man-made structures?” Captain Powell inquired of one of his younger crew members.

  “Yes, sir,” the young explorer reported. “We discovered what looked like a food storage area just below a cliff.”