Notes and Correspondence 



317 



Extracts from Journal of Trip to Zion National Park, Southern Utah, 

 Kaibab Forest in Northern Arizona, North Rim of Grand Canon, 

 AND Across the Canon to the South Rim 

 By Breckenridge Armstrong 



Sept. 13, 1921. — Away from Lund, Utah, in automobile at 10:45 a.m. Weather 

 fine. Road good. Desert grayness relieved by beautiful patches of golden 

 blossoms across the level stretch of thirty-four miles to Cedar City. Thence an 

 uneventful but interesting drive of sixty-seven miles through a more rugged 

 country, intersected with productive valleys. Arrived in late evening at Wylie 

 Camp in Zion National Park. 



Sept. 14th. — All day — and a truly marvelous day it has been — exploring 

 Zion Canon. Inevitably the mind reaches out for comparisons with more 

 familiar places. Zion, with its valley approach and great walls, suggests 

 Yosemite, but except for the topographical outline there is really little close 

 resemblance. Here the tortuous Virgin River (North Fork) has ground its 

 way, not through granite walls, but chiefly sandstone, producing a succession 

 of great amphitheaters, which are amazing in their unique richness of color- 

 ing and variety of form. The cliffs, in very irregular and fascinating outline, 

 rise from about eight hundred to three thousand feet above the river-bed 

 (elevation, 3500), and the width of the cafion varies from fifteen feet, at 

 "The Narrows," to about one-fourth of a mile as a maximum. Beautiful 

 moon tonight and the crests of the cliffs east of the camp are bordered with 

 stars shining jewel-like in this clear atmosphere. 



Sept. 15th. — Weather continues ideal. A walk before breakfast, and then 

 hastily made plans with Mr. B. for tramp to the rim above the canon. The 

 long, zigzag, very steep trail makes an elevation of about three thousand feet 

 to the wooded plateau. It is a somewhat difficult climb, though not hazardous, 

 and is intensely interesting, revealing several deep, narrow gorges which are 

 miniatures, in the making, of the Zion Canon. They afford striking geological 

 lessons. The plateau has furnished lumber to the surrounding country for fifty 

 years, and there is left only the smaller pine growth. The expansive view from 

 the rim — thrilling and inspiring, too, looking into the canon — was a rich re- 

 ward for the energy expended. 



Sept. 1 6th. — Leisurely walk far up the cafion. As I stood alone in the after- 

 noon shadows in those vast amphitheaters I think I was more deeply moved by 

 the tremendousness and weirdness of it all than on my first day's walk. The 

 greatest single impression is perhaps that of El Gobernador (known by the 

 Mormons as The Great White Throne), a rock approaching in its massiveness, 

 and excelling in color, El Capitan or Half-Dome of Yosemite. 



Sept. 17th. — Away from camp on horseback at 5:30 a.m. A beautiful calm 

 moonlit morning. Was up to the steep rim trail when dawn came. We seldom 

 realize, until forced to rise early to see the day approach, how much of beauty 

 and joy we otherwise miss. Delivered the camp's horse to a rancher about 

 seven miles back on the plateau, and soon made arrangements for a fresh 

 mount to the village of Kanab, thirty-five miles from the ranch, through an 

 interestingly varied country of plateaus, valleys, and desert. Great ridges of 



