Travels of The Mercury: Alaska – Canada Travels 2014, Moab, UT; Elephant Butte, John Wesley Powell River History Museum, October 12th to 16th.

October 13^th. Today we’re canyoneering to the top of Elephant Butte with Lisa, Kim and Neil. It’s the highest point in Arches National Park. On the south side are several arches including The Windows and Turret Arch. On the north side is the Garden of Eden.

Jim, Kim, Lisa, Neil and I get ready to climb Elephant Butte.

The sandstone butte is cracked and sculptured by erosion and wind. We have to select the right canyon to begin the climb and with no trail to follow Lisa guides by lands marks from previous trips.

Lisa leads us into a canyon in the Garden of Eden.

A sublime window looks to heaven in the Garden of Eden.

The route is a maze. The canyon narrows to a wide crack that slices across the north end of the butte and narrows again as we begin to climb.

The canyon narrows to a wide crack.

The crack narrows as we begin to climb.

We work our way up channels in the smooth walls, going from one ravine to the next. In some places we use a hand line for a little assist up ledges and short, steep pitches.

We follow smooth, steep channels from one ravine to the next in the sandstone maze.

From inside this maze of walls and cracks we’ve been unable to see how high we’ve climbed. Eventually the channel we're following leads to a gap in the top of a rock wall and our first rappel. We can see the flat, cliff-crowned butte above us.

Our first view of the top of Elephant Butte. We'll rappel into this drainage to get to the bottom of the
V-shaped crack in lower center of the photo where we can begin the climb to the top.

First we have to rappel down from the wall to get to the base of the final climb.The rappel is interesting and done in two stages. The first stage takes us down into the graceful curve of the wall. The passage slopes down to a pour off and we have to work our rope around the curving wall to a second short rappel to the bottom.

Neil goes first down the curving canyon wall.

Neil scopes out the u-turn in the rappel.

Jim goes next.

From here it’s just a short distance to the base of the expanse of sloping sandstone. The rock is at just the right angle to friction up and each of us takes our own way while enjoying the beauty of the changing horizon as we climb higher.

Jim, Kim and I are almost to the top.

There’s just one more thing. When we get to the cliff band at the top we have to squeeze ourselves up through one last crack. Once on top we have the pleasure of a 360 deg. view of Arches. To the north is Devils Furnace and if you know where to look and the shadows are just right you may be able to see a tiny loop which is Delicate Arch.

At the top looking northerly towards the Devils Furnace.

To the southeast are the snow-capped La Sals standing brightly against the blue dome of the horizon.

On the southern horizon are the corridors of buttes that give passage into Arches from the Visitor Center.

Looking SE to the La Sal Mountains. You can see the sun shining through an arch on the lower right.

Below us the thin line of the road to The Windows traverses the desert around the base of the butte and specs of cars, like tiny beetles, move along it. And over us is a dome of blue. We soak in the sun and scenery and though it never seems like enough time spent, we have to start down.

Kim, Lisa, Jackie, Neil and Jim on top of Elephant Butte.

The broad expanse of sloping sandstone we hike back down funnels into a smooth crack that ends in an undercut pour off above an amphitheater. It’s only about 75 ft. to the bench below but what a view!

We make our way back down the slope to the last rappel.

The slope funnels into smooth sloping pout off above an amphitheater.

At the top of the pour off Neil and Lisa rig the rappel.

Jim and I enjoying our adventures.

Lisa and I going for the rappel. We have to wade through the pool.

Jim rappels into the amphitheater.

Jim, Me, Lisa and Neil, at the bottom of our last rappel on Elephant Butte.

Once back on the desert floor we hike about a mile to the parking lot, past stone monoliths that guard the base of the butte. The monoliths are those that just a short time ago we were looking down on. It’s another day well spent.

Neil and Kim hiking out of the canyon.

Looking back up into the amphitheater.

On our way back to the car we hike through the monoliths that crowd around the base of Elephant Butte.

More monoliths in the Garden of Eden at Elephant Butte.

This has been one of the most beautiful and most strenuous yet of our canyoneering adventures.

October 15^th. We spend the day going to Green River to visit the John Wesley Powell River History Museum. It has the history and an excellent movie of the Powell Expedition as well as a history of other famous Colorado River explorers and displays of the boats they used. On the lower level is a dinosaur exhibit. It's a great museum to visit.

A relief mural at the Powell Museum.

A life-size sculpture of Powell running the rapids

A sculpture dedicated to the Powell Expeditions mapping of the Grand Canyon.

The dories used in the explorations of the early river runners.

A replica of one of Powell's dories.

If you’re not impressed with the dories you may like to float down the river in this watermelon we saw behind the museum. Green River has an agriculture economy and there are stands offering squash and melons. This melon probably floated down the street in a harvest celebration parade.

The water melon float, in celebration of melons everywhere.

We camp at the dinosaur tracks on BLM land along Highway 191 between Moab and I-70. These are the tracks of Allosaurus and Camarasurus who walked here in a younger world.