travel

On the Trail to the Rainbow

Text by Christine Maxa Photographs by Steve Bruno We'RE IMMERSED IN THE WILDERNESS, photographer Steve Bruno and myself, on the way to Rainbow Bridge, at 290 feet high and 275 feet wide the largest natural rock span in the world. Under a sullen sky, the sanguine glow of the Navajo sandstone radiates a shade deeper than full sun would allow. Piñon and juniper trees cover the ruddy landscape, clinging to rocky walls, snuggling into crevices, and balancing across ledges, their gray trunks twisting as gracefully as a dancer leaning back into her partner's arms. Shocks of coral penstemon beam intermittently along the rock-strewn ground. Each year tourists on boat tours from Lake Powell's Wahweap Marina flock to Rainbow Bridge. But the rugged hike to the span was a lure we couldn't resist. The intense contrasts of the land here conjure a pensive moment. I've hiked this trail several times, and each return trip evokes the warm feelings I have when seeing an old friend. This trail, one of two to the bridge, however, is anything but user-friendly. The remote, unmaintained talus slopes of several deep canyons in this dry land make the route one of the hardest I've backpacked in Arizona. A Navajo contact at the recreation department in Window Rock told me that this whole area is sacred, especially Navajo Mountain, the 10,388foot arch-shaped citadel that watches over the trail. No one is allowed there; only medicine men, who go up in early spring to gather herbs for ceremonies.Between Navajo Mountain and Rainbow Bridge, I'm told, there are sacred springs, and "talking rocks" whose echoes warn of an interloper's presence in the spirit world. I only know there's a mysterious aura here. It taps me on the shoulder to remind me of its presence but scatters like quicksilver when I reach out to grab it.

This trip Steve Bruno and I started at the south end, planning to finish at the north trailhead where we parked his truck earlier. A total of 27 miles.

The pink stone ruins of Rainbow Lodge had marked the beginning of the trail. If the walls of the roofless buildings could talk, they might tell about how S.I. and Susie Richardson, who built the lodge in the early 1920s for $50,000, originally used it as a trading post and constructed the south trail with the help of Navajo laborers. They might gossip about the famous people who slept there - such as Teddy Roosevelt and Zane Grey - then paid handsomely for guided pack tours to Rainbow Bridge. They might even explain how Barry Goldwater spent so much time at the lodge, he ended up buying it. If the walls do share their secrets, though, they whispered them too softly to hear before the wind disbursed them into Navajo Mountain's jigsaw flow of canyons.

Until around the turn of the century, the labyrinthine canyons were so successful in keeping intruders out that even most Indians steered clear of the region. A handful of prospectors and trappers carved their mark in Bridge Canyon - where the north and south trails meet in the late 1800s, but it wasn't until 1909 that Dr. Byron Cummings, John Wetherill, and William B. Douglas led by a young Paiute named Nasja Begay officially documented the geologic wonder.

After his arduous experience, Douglas said that no woman would ever make the trek to Rainbow Bridge. I thought about that when I was whining about carrying a 50-pound pack over such difficult terrain. Steve swears his pack is a good 15 pounds heavierhis photography gear, you know. I'm leery about this, since I'm carrying most of the basic equipment we'll need. No matter, "Whimper" and "Whine" don their heavy packs and start their journey to Rainbow Bridge.

The wind whooshes through the terracotta curves of Horse Canyon, sliding neatly across weatherworn outcroppings and slabs of Navajo sandstone that look like giant shards of pottery. The whistle of a hummingbird hovers on the wind's updraft as the air weaves its way through the gorge. I follow the gust's path with my eyes as it races toward Navajo Mountain where the high-desert pygmy forest of piñons and junipers is replaced by towering spruce.

Though there's snow on the north face of Navajo Mountain - we saw it while parking the truckno trace of winter remains here on the mountain's drier side. Several reliable water sources await us on the north trail, but we will have to hike about eight miles to the first sign of water here on the south trail.

In summer, hikers can expect to trek the 13 miles to the bridge before hitting water. More than half this distance is through deep canyons that double as ovens when the rocks absorb the sun's intensity and breezes become as illusive as water. That's why we've come here in the cooler springtime.

Four miles of terrain rugged enough for Zane Grey to comment that the hike "is not for everyone" is just about the right distance for our bodies to adapt to the rigors of tumbling into and climbing out of deepravines. The trail has taken on a different look. Like a free-spirited woman with a vast wardrobe, she's replaced her redness with a peaceful buff that blushes pink with the setting sun.

We make our first night's camp on a rare horizontal shelf nestled among a jumble of rocks just above the trail. We are not the only ones to have claimed this spot. The imprints of mountain lion paws are all over the place.

But the swirls, cracks, and delicate layers of rock surrounding the trail capture Steve's attention, and he empties his backpack to get his camera equipment. I find my suspicions to be true regarding his pack's weight: Photography equipment is not the real explanation for his heavy pack. It's candy.

The next morning on the rim of Cliff Canyon, we see the alkaline stripe above the azure waters of Lake Powell. Here the trail takes a dramatic two-mile, 1,600-foot-deep plunge into the canyon. The sheer walls artfully stroked with shades of desert varnish unsettle my senses. I'm diminished before giant rock faces whose overwhelm-ing presence is better viewed on the down-hill than during an ascent.

On a previous trip in the summer, I trudged up the aptly nicknamed Killer Hill in the midafternoon when my only sal-vation from the relentless sun was the stingy shade of a juniper tree. I'd counted the steps to my next rest stop and wondered if my dizziness was from the sun, dehydration, or hunger. The Richardsons, proprietors of the Rainbow Lodge, were no strangers to rescue missions, carting out weaker hikers languishing on this indomitable slope.

From a midway vantage point on our hike into Cliff Canyon, Steve and I watch the trail follow the rumpled canyon bottom and disappear around the craggy bends. As we hike deeper in, through watery corridors, past petroglyphs at a crook in the canyon, and beyond the lower-your-pack-and-crawl-under-a-rockslide descent of Red-bud Pass, the bold colors of our surroundings Hikers on the north or south trails to Rainbow Bridge must obtain a permit from the Navajo Nation Parks and Recreation Department. To stay overnight, a backcountry-camping permit also must be purchased. For current permit fees and an application packet, the best place to contact is the Cameron Visitor Center, P.O. Box 459, Cameron, AZ 86020; located at the junction of U.S. Route 89 and State Route 64; (520) 679-2303 (open weekdays, 9 A.M. to 5 P.M.).

On the Trail Rainbow

WHEN YOU GO

To reach the Rainbow Bridge south trailhead from Phoenix, take Interstate 17 north to U.S. Route 89, turn northeast onto State Route 160 (toward Tuba City), then head west on State 98 (toward Page). At 14.5 miles, turn north onto Indian Route 16, then proceed 33 miles (the road will be paved the first 12 miles, then it becomes a graded but washboard-sandy track) to a fork. Turn left here and continue 6.5 miles on to the trailhead. Though the unmaintained south trail is in marginally good shape, it should be attempted only by experienced hikers who are skilled at trail finding. To reach the trailhead for the easier north trail, do not make the left turn off the sandy track; instead continue north approximately eight more miles. The trailhead is at the end of the road. Some Navajos live in the north trail area. Treat all residents, structures, and livestock with respect. Camping and swimming are not allowed at Rainbow Bridge National Monument. There is no water at the monument, but chemical toilets are provided. For more information, contact the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, Box 1507, Page, AZ 86040; (520) 608-6404.

Whether following the north or south trail, visitors should practice leave-no-trace ethics: Pack out all trash; do not clean anything in streams; camp at least 200 feet from streams; stay on existing trails; bury all human waste. Campfires are prohibited.

(LEFT) Colored by the diffuse light of early morning, Rainbow Bridge frames the walls of Bridge Canyon.

It with full impact. The terrain is stuffed full of redbud and sagebrush, cottonwood and oak trees, and dozens of brightly colored wildflowers, all braced by several-hundredfoot-high walls painted with desert varnish. An artist's dream; a botanist's paradise; a hiker's wonderland.

Camping is not allowed in Rainbow Bridge National Monument, so we stop for the second night about a half mile away. We're surrounded by an amphitheater of red rock that echoes the serenade of frogs, crickets, and the last glissando melodies of canyon wrens as the day crosses the thresh old of twilight.

A walk to the bridge among a field of mauve mariposa lilies reminds me of the wide-eyed enchantment Bridge Canyon provoked on my first trip. Rounded walls smoothed by the elements, as if with a skilled potter's hand, rise over emerald creek waters now tinged copper by the cliffs' reflection in dusk's glow. Rainbow Bridge, the legendary arch that formed an access for a hero god to cross the tumultuous storm-racked canyon, perseveres as elegantly as ever. Like most visitors, I sit and stare at it for a good long while. Without the focus of Rainbow Bridge distracting us back on the trail, we stop to admire pools, cascades, and slickrock flows in the stream the route follows as we backtrack a few miles through Bridge Canyon to get to the north trail. We are particularly drawn to the vermilion alcoves carved into the streaky canyon walls.

Our steps are labored as the trail makes its long, arduous climb out of Bridge Canyon then topples in and out of several more canyon systems. The track leads across benches between the cuts and shows us a side much different from the sheer red rock of the south trail. We see monoliths, Brycelike spires, and stunning, delicately colored panoramas in the north section.

At Nasja Canyon, the north trail's largest chasm, the salmon blush cliffs capped with white sandstone peaks glow as the sunlight dances from one ridge to another. Rosy sun rays spotlight the tops of junipers, ponderosas, and piñons, casting a special glow upon Owl Arch as a slice of blue sky peeks through the cliffs.

In the folds of Nasja Canyon, we find some steps cut into the steep slickrock slope that lead up to an Indian ruin. A wall of flat rocks stacked atop one another blocks the entrance to the 20-foot-high hollow in the canyon wall. We see other areas that could have ruins, and we hope to explore them tomorrow morning if the weather holds. But it doesn't.

We start our final day on the Rainbow trail under a rag-wool sky heavy with the threat of rain. Like the palette of flowers along the trail, the colors of the canyon walls intensify under the gray ceiling. When the trail becomes a loose connec-tion of cairns across a wavy sea of slickrock, a panorama to the north presents a maze of domes in a swirl of sagebrush, juniper, and piñon. To the east, Bald Rock Canyon slices a gash that parts the red sea of rock. To the west, Nasja Canyon shows off its pale rock walls with a mesmerizing rhythm created by crossbedding, then caps tion of cairns across a wavy sea of slickrock, a panorama to the north presents a maze of domes in a swirl of sagebrush, juniper, and piñon. To the east, Bald Rock Canyon slices a gash that parts the red sea of rock. To the west, Nasja Canyon shows off its pale rock walls with a mesmerizing rhythm created by crossbedding, then caps the movement with fierce red walls growing columns and peaks. It's picture-taking time for Steve, which gives me a few extra moments to ponder the remaining five miles and to remember the last time I was here.

I know the drama of Bald Rock Canyon will make us forget the time. We'll dawdle there and promise ourselves we'll be back to visit its slickrock channels with stairstep borders, the giant alcoves on its dramatic walls, and stands of oaks congregating in the canyon's niches. Then we'll drag our-selves out of its steep incline and cross another bench. We'll negotiate the last canyon system, Cha Canyon, where we'll finally see Steve's truck from the trail. And that's exactly what happens. Except this time the trail goes the extra mile in leaving a good impression. Rain falls as we top the north trailhead, and fresh snow dusts the domed peak of Navajo Mountain. Sunbeams break through a menacing sky, bathing mesas in the distant west in their warm light. Moments like this keep me coming back to Rainbow Bridge. MAdditional Reading: For more about AriArizona's diverse scenic splendor, we recommend Travel Arizona: The Scenic Byways. The 112-page book takes travelers on 22 tours along Arizona's Scenic and Historic Roads with entertaining and informative text, maps, and 135 full-color photographs. Scenic Byways costs $14.95 plus shipping and handling. To order telephone toll-free (800) 543-5432. In the Phoenix area or outside the U.S., call (602) 258-1000.

Arizona Highways 53