Sierra Club Outings | Mystery Of The Rainbow, Navajo Indian Reservation

Photo: Richard Fite

Highlights:

Hike almost exclusively on Navajo land
Visit remote, rarely accessed desert wilderness

Includes:

All meals
All commissary and group equipment
Boat ride from Rainbow Bridge to Wahweap Marina

�On her haunches and behind her, toward the north, is where the girdling slopes jag off into one enormous oblong; an olympian commingling of terrifying sheer drops and distorted upheavals and all manner of cavernous holes and corridors--perhaps the roughest, wildest, most disordered conglomeration in a territory which nowhere and never is what you would exactly call docile." Irvin S. Cobb, Arizona Highways magazine, 1940

Early in the 20th century, John Wetherill, a well-known southwestern desert guide, led various adventurers including author Zane Grey, clothing manufacturer Charles Bernheimer and former president Teddy Roosevelt through Cobb�s �disordered conglomeration� on the way to Rainbow Bridge. Zane Grey later described the route as having the most dangerous slopes he had ever seen. Roosevelt described tilted masses of sheet-rock ending in cliffs, and difficult for both horses and men, and Bernheimer, describing the route as �fiendish�, wrote to his wife that there was nothing like it anywhere else.

We will hike to Rainbow Bridge and walk in the shadow of Navajo Mountain, but we won’t follow John Wetherill’s route. That route, known as the Rainbow Trail, is today traveled by possibly a hundred hikers every year. Our route is followed by no one. In comparison, it will make Wetherill’s look as flat as Kansas.

The rugged nature of the landscape makes this trip more than an introduction to hiking the Colorado Plateau. Rather, it is a mini-expedition through a rarely visited desert wilderness and once we leave the Rainbow Trail, participants are committed to the entire trip. Other than by helicopter, leaving early is impossible, and even by helicopter it would be difficult.
After following Wetherill’s now well-worn route, we will, by the end of the day, leave that route as we turn into the maze of cracks and slot canyons identified on early maps as Mystery Canyon. From this point on, our route is cross-country through a tortuous landscape that to this day has known very few non-native visitors.

Mystery Canyon is well protected from casual hikers. Its Colorado River terminus is a long blank wall. At its upper end, the canyon’s three branches embrace a nearly 2,000-foot high sandstone battlement of which history contains no record of ever having been climbed or crossed. All three branches are narrow, vertical slots with no easy, or easily found, routes in or out.

Our hike will take us into all three branches. All are relatively short and were it not for the pour-offs, plunge pools, ledges, cliffs and, in some places, nearly impenetrable vegetation, a motivated hiker could walk the length of each branch in a day. But the obstacles make this impossible without technical canyoneering skills and very nearly impossible even with them. We will backpack across the three branches of the canyon and day-hike in each of the branches where we can safely do so. We will see Anasazi ruins, moqui steps, pictographs, petroglyphs, a cave, a dinosaur, miles of slickrock and more vertical landscape per square yard than perhaps anywhere in the southwest.

Our last day begins with a short hike to Echo Camp -- now just a few rusting bed frames and disintegrating wood shacks but graced with a lovely spring and a shallow pool surrounded by maidenhair fern. Soon thereafter, we reach Rainbow Bridge, the destination for John Wetherill’s trips and the highest and longest natural stone bridge on the planet. The trip ends with a leisurely boat ride across Lake Powell back to Page.
Except for the brief visit to Rainbow Bridge, this trip is entirely on land within the Navajo Nation. We will enjoy the area as guests of the local Navajo, and the Sierra Club will make a donation to the Navajo Mountain chapter house or school to express our appreciation. Those wishing to hike in this area on their own should contact the Navajo Department of Tribal Parks and Recreation in Window Rock or the Navajo Mountain chapter house for a permit. Wetherill’s route -- the Rainbow Trail -- is an excellent excursion for independent, experienced hikers.

This eight-day hike will begin in Rainbow City on the shoulder of Navajo Mountain. Our Navajo friends will provide transport (not part of the Sierra Club trip) from Page, Arizona to our trailhead. The leader will provide detailed information regarding the meeting location and time and the Navajo transport. The transport cost is approximately $60. Because the transport is not part of the Sierra Club trip, the cost is not included in the trip fee. ALL PARTICIPANTS NEED TO BRING CASH FOR TRANSPORTATION.

Day 1: We will backpack about five miles, crossing Bald Rock and Cha canyons, and camping in a large alcove with evidence of ancient habitation.

Day 2: We descend a canyon named for the Paiute Indian who originally guided John Wetherill to Rainbow Bridge. After an optional day-hike through a slot with deep water, we climb steeply out of the canyon, crossing to the upper end of Mystery Canyon where we will spend the night. Although our campsite is only about one-half mile from the previous night�s campsite, we will need nearly the entire day to get there.

Days 3- 4: We backpack to the other two branches of Mystery Canyon, camping and day hiking in the canyon.

Day 5-6: We backpack out of Mystery Canyon to Oak Canyon, and take a side trip to an overlook. We will day hike on the sixth day to a high butte with 200-mile views if the weather is clear; we may also find dinosaur fossils, and explore a cave with pictographs.

Day 7-8: We rejoin Wetherill�s route, backpacking about half the seventh day to the upper end of Bridge Canyon. On the eighth day, we hike down Bridge Canyon to Echo camp and Rainbow Bridge, then we return on the tourist boat to Page.

All meals are included in the trip cost. We will create simple but scrumptious gourmet meals from dried and freeze-dried ingredients using recipes tested on previous Sierra Club trips. We will have no food cache or resupply, so we must carry our entire food requirement for the eight days. Those who wish to avoid beef and pork will have no trouble doing so. Hard-core vegans will have difficulty with the menu. Participants with unusual nutritional requirements should contact the leader. Participants will share cooking and clean-up activities with guidance as necessary from the trip staff. Because personal preferences in hot drinks and trail snacks vary so widely, these are not included in the trip commissary. Accommodations in Page are not included in the trip. Page has numerous motels; the leader will provide information and recommendations.

Although the total backpacking distance (about 30 miles) perhaps would merit only a moderate difficulty rating, the rugged nature of the terrain makes this a more difficult trip for which participants must be in good physical condition. Stamina will be less important than a high level of confidence on steeply sloped slickrock. The trip has no prolonged ascents or descents and no technical climbing. We will, however, set up a handline in places to provide extra support and bolster confidence. In places, we will traverse on steep slickrock with moderate exposure, perhaps 30-100 feet. Participants must be agile, nimble, experienced with walking on steeply inclined slickrock, comfortable with bouldering and with scrambling in steep joint cracks with loose rock, and not distracted by heights. Some days will include day hikes in shallow water and bushwhacking through dense vegetation and willow thicket. Participants must be able to carry all their personal equipment plus a share of the commissary -- perhaps as much as 45-50 pounds total backpack weight at the beginning of the trip.
The rewards of the trip, in scenery and solitude, will be commensurate with the trip difficulty.

Complete backpacking equipment, including a reliably dry tent, backpack, sleeping bag comfortable in the low 30s, sleeping pad and rain gear, is essential. Group commissary equipment will be provided. Due to the challenging terrain across which we will hike and the need to carry all our food, lightweight equipment is critically important. Participants must minimize nonessential items. Much of our hiking will be on smooth sandstone or on sand for which light weight fabric and leather hiking boots are ideal. We will not encounter long scree slopes with sharp jagged rocks as are common in many mountainous areas, and heavy mountaineering boots are excessive.

Although we will not backpack in deep water, we will dayhike in shallow water and appropriate footwear for this is desirable. Springtime weather on the Rainbow Plateau is usually sunny, comfortable and pleasant but it is also highly variable and participants should come prepared for extremes of hot and cold. In early April, pleasantly cool nights and warm days are likely, but uncomfortably cold or hot weather is possible. Nighttime lows in the 30s are likely and even in the 20s are possible, as are snow and rain. Daytime temperatures in the 60s or 70s are likely but may range anywhere from 40 to 85.

Discussion of conservation issues will focus on conservation of public lands and water in Arizona and southern Utah. We will specifically discuss the conservation issues raised by the flooding of Glen Canyon behind the dam.

The payment of a deposit does not confirm you as a member on the trip. Participants must be approved by the trip leader. After signing up for this trip, you will be sent a confirmation packet containing approval materials (Participant Approval Questionnaire, Medical Form, Liability Release Form). Each applicant (including those on the waitlist) must fill out these forms and promptly mail them to the trip leader. The leader will review the approval materials and notify you of your acceptance in a timely manner.

Peter Horan is an avid mountain climber and all-around outdoors person. He has led numerous trips in the Sierras, the Tetons, the California coastal ranges and Montana, and participated in Sierra Club trips in the Grand Canyon. Peter was assistant leader on Sierra Club Rainbow Plateau and Grand Canyon backpack trips in 2005 and has hiked in the slot canyons of southern Utah on several occasions. When not living out of a backpack, he works as the CEO of a large Internet company.