Weather: Few clouds, coolish
temperature - in the 60's, little or no wind.
Present were: Ron, K7RJ;
Gordon, K7HFV; Clint, KA7OEI
Destination: The Syncline Loop
in the Island in the Sky district of Canyonlands National Park
Total distance: Approximately
7.9 miles, total, including some minor detours to look at various features,
etc.
Times: Leave car - 1000;
Begin descent - 1008; Reached bottom of valley - 1130; Junction
to White Rim Trail spur - 1157; Visited pouoff - 1225; Began
climb along spring - 1300; Cable in rock - 1328; Lunch - 1500;
Returned to vehicle - 1749
Altitudes in feet ASL (approx):
Trailhead - 5690; Highest point (near trailhead) - 5804; White
Rim Trail spur intersection - 4226; Cable in rock - 4460; Lunch
spot - 4850
Elevation gain/loss (approx):
Approx. 2330 ft.
Local sunrise/sunset on this date:
6:43 am/6:32 pm
Images (500-900k each, .JPG):
IMG01761 -
Ron at the trailhead. #1763 shows Clint
at the trailhead.
IMG01764 - One
of the first views we got of the valley before us. Yes - we had to
go down there... #1765 is similar.
IMG01769 - Farther
down the trail, or vantage point allowed a better view into the Green River
gorge. #1768 is similar. This
is one of the few places on the trail where the river itself is visible.
IMG01771 - Ron
and Gordon descending
IMG01772 - A
view toward the Green River gorge, after losing even more elevation.
IMG01777 - Ron
and Gordon at the junction of the spur that goes to the White Rim Trail/down
to the river.
IMG01782 - A
look down Syncline Valley (Ron and Gordon in the foreground.)
IMG01784 - Gordon,
near the pouroff, traversing a ledge.
IMG01785 - A
look up the Upheaval Dome spur trail from Syncline Valley. (We
didn't follow this trail - it was 1.5 miles each way.)
IMG01790 - Some
of the cliffs near the spring in Syncline Valley. Similar is
#1789.
IMG01792 - At
the head of Syncline Valley, we had to climb up again, regaining some of
our lost elevation: This shows from whence we came.
IMG01794 - Near
the top of the valley there is a portion that, without the park-maintained
cable, might be a bit tricky or dangerous to traverse: This shows
Clint maneuvering along that ledge. #1795
and #1796 show Ron on this cable.
IMG01799 - This
shows the ledge from above, with Gordon having just passed the more difficult
portion, but holding on to the cable nonetheless.
IMG01804 - A
view down canyon, toward the slot in which we ate our lunch.
Maps/profiles:
This was one of those "3 AM South-and-Red" trips: We meet at a designated place (usually a parking lot near the freeway) at 3 AM, pile into a car (or two) and head south. This usually puts us on the trail by 8-10 AM, depending exactly on our destination.For this trip, we got underway by 3:15 AM and arrived in Green River just before 7 AM to eat breakfast at the Tamarisk Restaurant.
It was closed.
We decided that, not being tourist season, it probably didn't open until 8 or so, as there appeared to be no activity at all inside - so we went to Moab to get breakfast instead. At about 8, we got to the Moab Diner, had some breakfast, and then backtracked to 7-mile canyon road and proceeded into the park, paid our money, and got on the trail at almost exactly 10 AM.
Ron's previous experience on the Syncline loop trail prompted him to suggest that we do it backwards from the way that most people do it - that is, do it "clockwise." The reason for this was that he'd remembered that the "traditional" way involved a fairly steep climb that is, by the time you are there, a western exposure in full sunlight during the hotter part of the day. Indeed, we noticed that the descent was steep and would likely not be too fun were it very hot.
This trail does not have too much to offer in the way of arches and the like, but it does command some spectacular views of redrock cliffs, glimpses into the Green River gorge (although one rarely can see the river) and some exposed geology.
What about the "Clockwise" versus "Counterclockwise" traverse of the loop? Not having done it both ways myself, I'll have to defer to those that have. Gordon says that his inclination (so to speak...) would be to do it counterclockwise: Doing it the way that we did it allowed us to descend rapidly to the bottom, and then have a rather gradual climb back up whereas Gordon's preference would be to walk downhill gradually for a long time and then face a rapid ascent at the end and just get it over with.
At about 6 PM (just before sunset) we returned to the car and headed out. On the trip back down 7 mile canyon I was forcefully reminded that my Jeep's fuel filter was somewhat clogged, causing low fuel pressure when the gauge read lower than 1/4 tank. By carefully feathering the gas we made it without too much difficulty to the filling station near the intersection of the 7 mile canyon road and the highway and topped off - which solved the problem (for now... With 4 gallons still in the tank, so we could have gotten to a different station, albeit somewhat carefully...) I might mention that 4 days later the fuel pump failed and it (and related components) were replaced.
The rest of the trip home was uneventful. As per tradition, we stopped and ate at the Pizza Hut in Price to cancel out any benefit that our days' activities had provided. The three of us arrived back at our respective homes (after dropping off at the meeting point) at about 10:30 PM, making for a long day...
Comments:
This page updated 20050316. All text and
images copyright 2005 by Clint Turner
