Up the Grand Staircase

Our 2011 and 2012 Jeep Trip series is Frederick Dellenbaugh’s fault.  Had he not published A Canyon Voyage back in 1908, we might have gone on a cruise.

Actually, LuJean doesn’t like ships any more than I do, so after doing a little reading*  I decided a chance to climb the geologic blocks of the “Grand Staircase” seemed like an interesting alternative.  It’s something Dellenbaugh would have thought worthwhile. We would begin at the Colorado River at Toroweap and visit successive strategic overlooks, ending at 10,000 foot Powell Point on the southwest edge of the Aquarius Plateau.  From there we would retrace the 1872 journey of A.H. Thompson and Dellenbaugh to the Dirty Devil River via Pleasant Creek and the Henry Mountains.

Pleasant Creek begins on the top of the Aquarius Plateau and flows through Capital Reef.

Since first photographed in the 1870’s, the image of Toroweap Point has been iconic, yet it’s not likely anyone you know has been there. Although easier to reach than it once was, it remains challenging as I discovered when I stopped by the BLM office in St. George.

                                    

“Last year a fella with a rented SUV had two flats in the first fifteen miles” a ranger warned. 

“It can cost as much as two-thousand bucks for a tow out of Toroweap,” a nearby gentleman helpfully volunteered.

When I mentioned our delima to our neighbor, Guy Brown, he simply said “you need to rent** a Jeep Rubicon.”  Since I love jeeps anyway (my first two “cars” were jeeps) it was an easy decision.  LuJean and her sister Beth were up for an adventure so off we went.

*  Some excellent books that inspired these trips:

Clarence Dutton, Tertiary History of the Grand Canon District

Frederick S, Dellenbaugh, A Canyon Voyage

Frederick H. Swanson, Dave Rust – a life in the canyons

George C. Fraser, Journeys in the Canyonlands of Utah and Arizona, 1914-1916

Elias Butler & Tom Myers, Grand Obsession – Harvey Butchart and the Exploration of Grand Canyon

W. Kenneth Hamblin, Beyond the Visible Landscape – Aerial Panoramas of Utah’s Geology

Chinle Formation near the Old Paria townsite.

**  Guy sent us to Brian at Rugged Rental in Salt Lake City who rented the new Rubicon’s to us – a bit more expensive than a Ford Fiesta but not bad for a vehicle that can literally go anywhere and is a blast to drive.