Butler (Grosvenor) arch Utah
Butler Arch (now called Grosvenor Arch) is the highlight of the 48 mile Paria River/Cottonwood Creek road. It is a short one mile side trip off that road to visit this beautiful double arch.
According to the information sign at the site, the top layer of the arch is 95 million old sandstone on top of 165 millon year old sandstone with a missing "eroded" layer in between. The sandstone is ancient and the arch a masterpiece of nature's art.
NOTE: I have a strong bias towards "original names" of place, instead of those honoring some bigwig that supplant the original later on. So I prefer Denali over Mt. McKinley; Tahoma over Mt. Rainier; and in this case I will stubbornly stick to BUTLER Arch rather than Grosvenor Arch (which for me is hard to figure out how to pronounce anyway).
For those of you who like to read further about "credit and name
usurpers": You can read the story about the Folsom and Clovis
points discoveries with this photo:
www.flickr.com/photos/12150532@N04/3569731651/in/photostr...
CANNONVILLE TO HWY 89 - PARIA RIVER VALLEY
Day one of this road trip was driving mostly interstate highways from
my home in Eastern Washington to a rest stop off I-70 (Exit 86 at
Fremont Junction, Utah), where I got a good night’s sleep.
Day two was spent trolling the Burr Trail road for autumn photography opportunities, just east of Boulder Town, Utah. Later that day I met my hiking friend John, in Escalante, Utah where we made final plans for a day hike in the Escalante River Canyon country, the next day.
Day three: John and I loaded our day packs into my old 4 X 4 pickup truck and drove to the Egypt trailhead early morning. We then took an enjoyable 10 mile round trip day hike down Fence Canyon, down the Escalante River, up Neon Canyon to the Golden Cathedral. Great hike.
Day four John headed north to his home in Western Washington and I headed south to explore the country between Cannonville, Utah and highway 89. The road is 46 to 48 miles long, depending on which road sign you read. The first 18 miles from Cannonville to Kodachrome State Park are paved. The next 30 miles to highway 89 is dirt and four wheel drive, high clearance, is a good idea. It had rained in the area recently and the dirt section had lots of deep ruts and boulders washed out onto the route out of side canyons in many places. The scenery made the drive well worthwhile.
After reaching highway 89, I made a quick stop to talk to the ranger at the Paria River rangers’ station then on to Kanab, north to Carmel Junction then the always scenic. Highway 9 into Zion National Park. I spent the entire afternoon taking short hikes in Zion NP and didn’t leave the park until the sun was gone. I then headed for home with a couple stops to get some sleep along the way. These photos are from day four of my trip. The drive and hikes down the Paria River and Cottonwood Creek canyons from Canonville to highway 89 and then the time spent in Zion NP.
Comments and faves
Pictoscribe - Home again (31 months ago | reply)
Very spectacular, with you on the Tahoma, and Pato for Mt. Adams while we're at it.
Mara 1 (31 months ago | reply)
Fabulous place !
Excellent photograph.
oldmantravels (31 months ago | reply)
Peter -- thank for the photo visit. Politicians and big wigs will always name things after themselves and each other - - hoping for or possibly agreeing to reciprocation (their egos require it). I'm just happy there are places like these in wide open spaces for us all to visit and enjoy. My first visit here and I enjoyed it a lot. OMT
oldmantravels (31 months ago | reply)
Mara - Agreed (on the beautiful scenery) and thanks for the photo compliment. OMT
meadowmom (31 months ago | reply)
Yes, even National Geographic Arch would at least have implied more of a story... Ignoring its name, I still have to admit it's a glorious arch.
oldmantravels (31 months ago | reply)
Laurie - - I'm with you 100%. Isn't it great that it is preserved on public land for us all to enjoy. OMT
tgiacb717 added this photo to their favorites. (27 months ago)