My driver took me on another great adventure today. He is doing such a great job of keeping me entertained! There was a threat of rain (soggy, impassable roads) but we headed out anyway to try our luck on a '5' trail and luckily it didn't rain.
The trail started in a sandy wash (dry creek bed in Arkansas) and very tight canyons; if the jeep had been any wider we might still be in that wash. The trail was very, very deep sand. Now I'm afraid of deep sand, having been stuck on occasion in my childhood in Florida, and generally close my eyes when my driver takes off through a long stretch. of sand. We had read about sand beds before we started the trip, and the ominous advice was to let most of the air out of your tires and then reair them after each sand bed. Now that sounds like fun doesn't it! But our little jeep takes those sand beds (with full air) without a slip or slide. Next trip I may open my eyes! Besides the sand, there was lots of slickrock--what this place is famous for. It is called slick, but that doesn't mean it is smooth. More places to close my eyes.
The main attractions on the trail are the buttes: Monitor and Merrimac. For those who don't remember their War of Northern Aggression (just for you Randy) history, those were the first two ironclad ships that battled in 1862 off Hampton Roads, Virginia. The Merrimac was actually the CSS Virginia. Another bit of information I'll throw in (the old school teacher in me still comes out at times) is the difference between buttes and mesas. A butte is an isolated hill with steep, often vertical sides, and a small, relatively flat top. A mesa is similar but has a top wider than its height while a butte's top is narrower.
We lost the trail (from our jeep book) somewhere along the way. The desert is a hard place to decide which sandy track to take. But we drove by the buttes (and stopped for lunch) and had a much better view than the outlined trail. Of course, we had to backtrack over some rough, steep slickrock when our 'trail' ended.
Picture 1: Merrimac; picture 2: Monitor; picture 3: Determination Towers
Very interesting. I never knew the difference between a butte and a mesa.
ReplyDeleteYour jeep trail stories are starting to scare me, though. I never knew jeeping was so dangerous. Sand pits, slickrock, and disappearing trails...yikes.