Scott Chandler
Wildness is a necessity- John Muir
- Joined
- Jan 4, 2014
- Messages
- 1,099
02/15/2015
It's been a while since I had gone out and done some exploring. Sickness, trip to SLC, more sick... it has been ridiculous. So finally I got off my butt and went to a spot I have heard about.
Two hours later I was cruising the north shore road in the Lake Mead NRA. I decided I was going to visit the Anniversary Narrows fairly last minute and was not well prepared to find them. It didn't help that I was being distracted by all the neat country.
Eventually I hit the Calville Wash Rd and shortly after the Anniversary Mine Rd. At the trailhead I was met by an obnoxious fence and signage trying to stop me. Generally I'm a heeder of signs but I had come a long way and I was a little miffed that the sign was threatening me with death (KEEP OUT, STAY ALIVE) for enjoying our public lands... I'm not entirely sure what it is about but my guess is that there is some miner trying to throw weight over a useless old claim. Luckily the fence was easy to get around.
Shortly down the wash I hit the old Anniversary Mine, burrowing into the folded rock layers after something. Maybe the giant fence and signs a quarter mile from the mine were trying to save me from certain death in that hole.
There were a couple neat holes dug into the upturned layers adjacent to the mine. My guess is that they served a bigger purpose before erosion washed away some cliffside because they are in a weird location now
The upturned layer that hole was in. It makes a sweet zig zag thirty feet up.
It wasn't too far past the mine before the narrows became visible along the crazy hill created by the upturned rock. The Anniversary Narrows cut right through this syncline, creating some pretty neat lines and swirls.
There are actually multiple slots in the total Anniversary Narrows. They were all mostly the same but the transitions were neat. There would be an opening with a couple big ledges slanting up and a slot cutting into it. Cool, and each one had it's own flavor followed by the overall awesome of the narrows.
It wasn't long before I was through the uplift and the Narrows. Past that the views were far less pretty so I turned back and savored the narrows again in reverse.
One picture I took on the way back had the weirdest quality to it. The limestone of the narrows must have had some wild reflective qualities because this picture looks almost more like a painting than a picture. At least that is how I see it.
The Narrows ended and back to the obnoxious fence and car I went. I found a neat cactus on the way.
Because I did not plan this trip very well I didn't know what to do after the slot. I drove around checking things out, walked up a dud of a boulder hop canyon and checked out Echo Bay. There is something really creepy about seeing the high water mark being over where one now drives. Pretty big pond I must say.
All in all, quite the fun time and now I have a few ideas for future excursions.
Featured image for home page:
It's been a while since I had gone out and done some exploring. Sickness, trip to SLC, more sick... it has been ridiculous. So finally I got off my butt and went to a spot I have heard about.
Two hours later I was cruising the north shore road in the Lake Mead NRA. I decided I was going to visit the Anniversary Narrows fairly last minute and was not well prepared to find them. It didn't help that I was being distracted by all the neat country.
Eventually I hit the Calville Wash Rd and shortly after the Anniversary Mine Rd. At the trailhead I was met by an obnoxious fence and signage trying to stop me. Generally I'm a heeder of signs but I had come a long way and I was a little miffed that the sign was threatening me with death (KEEP OUT, STAY ALIVE) for enjoying our public lands... I'm not entirely sure what it is about but my guess is that there is some miner trying to throw weight over a useless old claim. Luckily the fence was easy to get around.
Shortly down the wash I hit the old Anniversary Mine, burrowing into the folded rock layers after something. Maybe the giant fence and signs a quarter mile from the mine were trying to save me from certain death in that hole.
There were a couple neat holes dug into the upturned layers adjacent to the mine. My guess is that they served a bigger purpose before erosion washed away some cliffside because they are in a weird location now
The upturned layer that hole was in. It makes a sweet zig zag thirty feet up.
It wasn't too far past the mine before the narrows became visible along the crazy hill created by the upturned rock. The Anniversary Narrows cut right through this syncline, creating some pretty neat lines and swirls.
There are actually multiple slots in the total Anniversary Narrows. They were all mostly the same but the transitions were neat. There would be an opening with a couple big ledges slanting up and a slot cutting into it. Cool, and each one had it's own flavor followed by the overall awesome of the narrows.
It wasn't long before I was through the uplift and the Narrows. Past that the views were far less pretty so I turned back and savored the narrows again in reverse.
One picture I took on the way back had the weirdest quality to it. The limestone of the narrows must have had some wild reflective qualities because this picture looks almost more like a painting than a picture. At least that is how I see it.
The Narrows ended and back to the obnoxious fence and car I went. I found a neat cactus on the way.
Because I did not plan this trip very well I didn't know what to do after the slot. I drove around checking things out, walked up a dud of a boulder hop canyon and checked out Echo Bay. There is something really creepy about seeing the high water mark being over where one now drives. Pretty big pond I must say.
All in all, quite the fun time and now I have a few ideas for future excursions.
Featured image for home page:
