SketchTravel Southwest US

September 12, 2014

A collection of sketches from several trips
The southwest canyonland area is so large and interesting that it is hard to cover in one trip. I've compiled sketches here from three previous trips, though none of the sketches show Zion, Bryce, Escalante, Grand Canyon, Monument Valley or Antelope Canyon. I will leave those for another post. I have included a few excerpts from my journals to add a little context.

Moab and delicate arch

Moab – mountain bicycle capital of the world. The sky was white at 6:00am. I made tea and looked around at the place where I was staying – a small garden, the shed for bicycles, a cat by my door hoping to get fed. The morning sun rose at 7:30am over the east hills. A crow caws from one of the big cottonwood trees in the yard. Another cat is trying to catch a hummingbird. I made a quick sketch of the red rocks on the hilltops before leaving for another day of exploring.
Delicate Arch is the most recognized arch by far and is honored on the Utah license plate. The hike to it cuts across desert sagebrush as it gently climbs up and around the hills that form the windswept basin which contains the arch. Near the top, the trail hugs the cliff on the right with a steep drop off on the left. It preoccupies your attention until you round the curve and come upon the view of Delicate Arch, seemingly coming out of nowhere, or at least somewhat unexpected. It stands proudly in a huge smooth bowl of stone, making you wonder how it is still there in all its majesty when everything around it has fallen away from erosion. It is such a perfect setting, you could almost imagine there is a caretaker keeping it all tidy and swept clean.

North Window Arch

This is one of two fantastic arches found on the Windows Trail. Turning off of the main Arches Entrance road at Balanced rock, I drove the short distance to the trail. The trail wanders through wide open country that allows you to experience these amazing arches from close and farther away as you take a relaxed walk around the area. Many interesting rock formations in addition to the arches.

Turret Arch

Turret Arch is also on the Windows Trail, with its tall outcropping of sandstone acting like the protective tower of a fortress.

ufo rock

Actually that is what I named it! I love seeing all the fantastic formations of rock here. The softer layers give way to erosion more quickly, leaving the harder upper layers balancing in curious ways. Some reminded me of flying disks, almost separated from their bases.

Balanced Rock

One day I think the top rock will become entirely separated from the lower rock, causing geologists to speculate on how it remains suspended! Secrets of the desert haha! Pottery shards were drawn from ones I saw in a museum.

Fin Canyons at Devil’s Garden Trailhead

We made a quick lunch at Devil’s Garden trailhead before heading off to the northwest. Taking short breaks to appreciate the expansive views. Big fingers of red rock, entrada sandstone, side-by-side like massive drunken dominoes. Split apart from underground pressure pushing up the Colorado Plateau. They are then softened into rounded shapes from moisture, wind and time. Passed Landscape Arch and Wall Arch. 
Hiked along a narrow fin of rock with steep drop-offs on both sides, then along the edge of the outcrop to Double O Arch where we took advantage of the shade and breeze to rest, and do a sketch. Took a side trail to Navaho Arch and Partition Arch, both beautiful spots. I slept well that night.

canyonlands

We awoke to clear skies and warm weather. Drove to the north entrance to Canyonlands, hiking to Upheaval Dome, Mesa Arch, Murphy Overlook and Grand Viewpoint. Then north to Green River and southwest to to Goblin Valley. Spent a short time walking around those strange mud hobbit shapes like melted chocolate snowmen. 
We also stopped at the trailhead to Little Wild Horse Canyon and Bell Canyon, taking a hike into the very narrow slot canyons for a while. They were so narrow my day pack scraped on both sides. A long day of hiking. Stopped for a dinner of local trout and rattlesnake cakes at some diablo restaurant. 

Reading about Navaho witchcraft. I got a book on Everett Ruess’ letters and blockprints of the Southwest at the Needles, Canyonlands visitor center. Currently reading a book on Navaho Oshley, as well as Masked Gods by Frank Waters.

On to Canyon de Chelly

We drove west into Arizona watching lightning flashes in the dark cloud front ahead. Finally turned south on 191 and drove the dark 65 miles to Chinly. We passed large bulls like ghosts grazing along the highway due to the Navaho reservation’s free range laws. Next morning we saddled up and entered the canyon with our guides. We saw First Ruin, then Junction Ruin at the confluence of Canyon de Chelly and Canyon del Muerto, taking in various petroglyphs and pictographs along the way.

Later we walked the trail down and across the valley to White House Ruin, where I did a sketch of the ruin. A fantastic canyon! Brilliant light, strong shadows cut through the cliffs to the floor where five and six hundred foot high sandstone slabs meet the smooth sandy river channel. It is as if they were cut straight down with a giant knife. I saw a blue heron beside a shady pool.
Next morning we drove to the canyon edge at White House overlook to watch the sunrise. It was cloudy though and as I headed down on foot a lightning flash convinced me otherwise.

Cave Springs

Took a short hike at Cave Spring through low sandstone rocks with wide overhanging capstones. We saw some plants with large white flowers and dark green leaves that looked like Datura, but we weren’t sure. From the high points we saw black thunderheads releasing their curtains of rain to the southwest and east. The Needles were bathed in sun to the north. We made a mental note to be careful of canyons now since the rain from far away can flood through these small canyons unexpectedly. It cleared later that night.

mesa verde

We headed south from Arches, seeing beautiful red rock outcroppings as the sandstone gives way to the desert sage table. Then that in turn changes to hills of juniper and pinon. East at Monticello taking highway 666 to Cortez, then on to Mesa Verde. We climbed that steep, narrow road to 8,040 feet, then dropped down to 7,000 feet as it hugged the edge of the snaking ridges. Many black skeletons among leafy shrubs from forest fires, an otherworldly black landscape. Saw a few deer in there feeding on who knows what.

Our guide took us through the cliff dwelling Balcony House and then to Cliff Palace with its narrow entrance down steps that had a secret place above where guards would make quick work of you as an intruder. These dwellings have such a presence about them, with their kivas and sipapus in the bottom (opening to mother earth). I can’t imagine a more integrated building style. The structures blend into the surrounding stone so well they are difficult to spot. Not only hidden by the overhanging rock, they’re built by local stone so that they feel like just part of the natural cliffs.
I liked seeing the seep spring at Balcony house, where water from storms moves down through the yellow sandstone until it hits shale, which it cannot penetrate; it leaches out into a pool along the trail. It is an ideal clean water source that is 500 feet from the bottom of soda canyon. They estimate some 30,000 cliff dwellers lived in this area, spread out through some 600 dwellings. Virtually every ledge under the mesa top was occupied.