Paul Gross, Richard Fite, Michael Jensen Sierra Club Leaders  

September 20-26, 2015

THE RAINBOW PLATEAU

The canyon country of the Colorado Plateau is one of the most unique and scenic places on the planet.   In many people’s experience, including this trip’s staff, the portion on the Navajo Nation south of the Colorado River and east of Page known as the Rainbow Plateau is the absolute best. We shall almost certainly have the area entirely to ourselves. In addition to the incredible scenery we will see pictographs, petroglyphs, ruins, a variety of Anasazi artifacts, and quite possibly have an up-close experience with the beaver that live in the lower canyon.

OUR ROUTE

The trip begins in on the southwest flank of Navajo mountain at a rock formation known as Round Rock.  We will follow a little used Navajo livestock trail into the canyon, perhaps doing a side trip up the canyon, before camping beside a large deep pool suitable for swimming.  The second day we will probably follow another hard-to-find Navajo sheep trail to the top of Cummings mesa, then return to the same campsite.  Days 3, 4 and 5 we will backpack down the canyon.  Day 6 we again leave the canyon to explore the high slickrock mesa between Forbidding canyon and Bridge canyon.  We will reach the Rainbow trail around Navajo Mountain late in the day, camping at a site known as Painted Rock Camp due to the artwork on a nearby rock face.  The last day we follow the Rainbow Trail to Rainbow Bridge and the boat back to Page.