A gorgeous canyon that cuts deep into the Navajo Sandstone. It is great because of the comparative ease with which it takes one into the deep Navajo canyons. In the upper third of this hike the possibilities for side trips or taking new routes are numerous. Traveling is relatively easy considering that there are slots and chokestones.
The approach to this hike is written the way it is to avoid private land.
| TIME: | 7-9 hours |
| ELEVATION GAIN: | 1,500 Feet. |
| DIFFICULTY: | Easy route finding. Moderate+ scrambling. |
| MAP: | Golden Throne, Fruita |
| GEOLOGY: | Lots of Navajo Sandstone. |
| PLANTS: | Nice variety. |
| CIRCLE TRIP: | For a premium circle go up Calf Canyon (described in this book) and down this one. |
| ACCESS: | From the Visitor Center drive 9.2 miles east on Utah Highway 24 to the Notom Road. From that junction, drive south on the Notom road 1.5 miles to a two-track on the right. Turn right and follow the track 0.5 miles to an area where people occasionally camp. (A) If you do not have a 4-wheel drive vehicle, park here. If you drive on, bear right and drive into the wash. Drive up the wash about 0.1 miles to a "T" in the wash. Go left (south) and drive 1.1 miles to the (unmarked) Park boundary. Leave your vehicle there. (B) |
Well up the wash beyond the above mentioned "T" there will be some fence posts on the left side south of the wash. There is no wire left, just some old posts standing in line. The second time there are posts on the left (south) side you are close. The wash will head toward the line of posts then just before reaching them, make a hard turn to the right (west). Go around that bend and stop.
The fence posts come to a small cliff, then continue west below it. Just beyond the cliff a small wash enters the main wash from the south. Walk up the west side of that small wash, past a fence post, head south, and continue staying low and east of the hill to the southwest. After passing the hill cross the largest wash between it and the next hill. Once across that wash bear right (southwest) and go up the ridge so that you pass north then west of the second hill.
From the west side of that hill continue south and a bit west to pass right (west) of the small ridge ahead. From west of that ridge continue south and walk down to the main wash-ahead. Three ridges will take you there but choose the center one so that you enter the (PN) Great Canyon wash at the northern point of its visible path.
Once in the wash turn right (west) and head upstream. All the walking for the last twenty minutes or more has been over red brown dirt or rock. Just after entering the wash, there will be a small hill face on the right (north) where there is red brown rock on top and gray rock at the bottom. That is the contact between the Entrada Formation the trip has been in and the Carmel Formation ahead.
For the first few yards in the Carmel Formation the main plant in and on the right side of the wash is Rubber Rabbit Brush. There is also a tall copper colored grass in the wash that is called Copper Grass or Big Bluestem. A bit farther up the wash there are two trees, the first of which is a Singleleaf Ash and the second is a Fremont Cottonwood.
Five minutes up the wash from the start of the Carmel the long wall on the left is made of gray and white rock. White is the true color, the gray is just stain due to weathering and dirt. The rock is composed of gypsum which is quite soft as evidenced by the squeezed and contorted sections along the way.
Twenty-five minutes into the Carmel the walls of the canyon narrow some and are composed of mostly sandstone beds which are much harder than the gypsum.
After about five minutes of the harder rock walls the canyon comes to a somewhat wider spot and a wash junction. Follow the main wash around to the left (south). One hundred feet from the junction there is a large (8 feet high) bush on the left (east) that has tiny elongated leaves. It is called Littleleaf Mountain Mahogany. Twenty five feet beyond that on the right side the larger bush with reddish bark and serrated leaves is Service Berry.
The wash curves way around to the left (east), and almost doubles back. After a short straight section there is a hard right (west) turn and as that turn starts there is a good size Singleleaf Ash, just beyond which there are some Apache Plume bushes.
About ten minutes above the junction the lower walls of the canyon soften. The harder thin bedded sandstone layer is high on the skyline but the lower portion is rounded. Again, the rock is a thick gypsum bed.
Two or three minutes into the softer rock there is a fifteen foot pour-over in the wash that is easily climbed on the left (south) side. Along that slope the silvery green leafed shrubs are Silverleaf Buffaloberry.
Just above the pour-over there will be a red brown sandstone layer beside the wash and a smooth section to walk in the wash. This is the most distinctive layer of the Carmel and is very near the bottom of the formation. A second patch of red brown rock in the wash is not as smooth and at the end of it the rock turns from red brown to tan. Keep an eye on the red brown layer as it gets higher above the wash. When it is about twenty feet above the wash the rock at wash level is the top of the Navajo Sandstone. The exact point where the change takes place is easy to see in some places and not so easy to see in others since the bottom of the Carmel can be tan sandstone similar to the top of the Navajo. The rest of the hike is in the Navajo Sandstone.
Ten minutes into the Navajo, a sandstone ridge barges in from the left (south) and the wash swings to the far right (north) side of the canyon. There are pour-overs ahead. The best route is to go straight and climb the slope of the ridge (50 feet). From there follow the bench above the wash until you see that the wash has come off that north wall and back into the center of the canyon. There will be some Ponderosa Pines along the wash there in the center of the canyon. Pick a comfortable route back down into the wash and continue up canyon.
In Capitol Reef National Park, Ponderosa Pines grow almost exclusively in the Navajo Sandstone. Along with them there is usually another plant that is particularly fond of the Navajo: the bright green leafed, red barked plant, Manzanita. It, too, is growing here on some sand hills among the pines.
Fifteen minutes after reentering the wash there are some water holes with willows and Cottonwoods growing nearby. The wash will be on the far left (south) side of the canyon and the route narrows considerably to a slot canyon. There are some chockstones to climb over before the slot ends and the canyon widens again.
Twenty-five minutes above the chockstones the canyon turns to the right (north) and climbs more steeply up a bouldery, brushy section. Move up that, then climb out to the left (west) when possible. From there the end is practically in sight so return to the main wash and follow in or beside it to the top. (D)
At the top the narrow cut on the right (north) side is easy to scramble down. Go down and walk out onto the Navajo table looking west.
CIRCLE TRIP: A great circle can be made from here. From the Navajo table walk left (south) and down some to another level, then continue south until there is a way up (left) to the head of the next major canyon (Calf Canyon). Follow the Calf Canyon description down.
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23June2017
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