Continued - Desert Magazine of the Southwest

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Jeep convoy drives into the
entrance of a large cave used as
a shelter by early-day
cowboys near the Needles
Country
Tom Shelton gazes into the water of a
huge "pot-hole" near The Chute
as other members of the party edge
down-canyon to view newly-discovered
Pioneer Natural Bridge—named
onor of Arthur Lyman
the San Juan River and the Needles Country. (In the
November, 1956, Desert Magazine, W. G. Carroll described
a jeep trip he and three others made to the Needles.
After I had seen this country, I felt that Carroll had been
a very conservative writer. He could have used the adjectives
"fantastic" and "colorful" and "beautiful" about
every third sentence!)
For me, our expedition had its thrills as our convoy
of four jeeps climbed up and down the slick rock hills,
and we had more bumps than I care to remember, but
all in all it was a pleasant tour in a land that will one day
be as famous and as heavily traveled as Monument Valley,
or even Bryce and Zion parks.
We saw the Goose Necks of the San Juan River,
visited the noble plateau of Nokai Dome, stood at the
top of Cottonwood Canyon across from historic Hole-inthe-Rock.
We climbed over Clay Hill Pass to Gray Mesa,
chugged up the Chute-the-Chute in low compound gear,
*—J** Fern Frost eases her jeep down a steep
sandstone slope near
Elephap.! Hill. The next jeep awaits its turn.
visited the ruins of Ruin Valley where a forgotten Indian
culture once flourished, and wandered among the brilliantly
colored spires of Chesler Park. We saw the cliff dwellings
of Horse Canyon and Salt Creek, and we watched the sun
set behind lovely Angel Arch. There were a dozen other
points of interest in the 525-mile Jornada that Frost led.
His tours are but one of a dozen or more that are
available through experienced guides in Utah and northern
Arizona. These guides are licensed and franchised. They
are experienced men and women who know their areas.
Some conduct river float trips, some specialize in short
trips from comfortable lodges, others combine river and
car and pack trips.
Guided trips are becoming increasingly popular and,
surprisingly, they appeal most strongly at the present to
folks who are "old hands" at Southwest travel. The desert-
Continued
FEBRUARY, 1960 17