Pre-hike, Day 1:
     The herd of fluffies float gently around the Orange Cliffs, growing darker as they revolve. Rain spits, but just a little.
     I'm parked near Teapot Rock CG after a long drive, and there's not enough time left in the day to start hiking. I left N Arizona at 9 a.m. and arrived here about 6 p.m. The 38 miles of dirt taking three hours. Recent rains caused multiple speed bumps across the road. Amazing, I call Kathleen, who is in Costa Rica, from near Teapot Rock. A quiet night. The rain clouds have left and quiet has returned.

     Day 1: Entering Ernies Country: 10.7 miles, 15 ERM. Teapot to East Ernie Spring.
     Ms. Snake slides sideways as I walk the cut between two loops of this jeep-forsaken "road." Yikes. Perhaps a sidewinder?
     It's a 6 mile hike to the foot of the Golden Stairs, then a bit more to the TH for West Ernies Country. Down I go, over the dino back rock and to the West spring. Good water, albeit a bit high in alkali. Recent rains have left disappearing potholes and muddy agitated pools here and there - the agitation making the pools of no use for filtering, so I stick with the springs for now.
     My thought is to get East of the West spring and camp, yet I end up at the East spring and camp up on a rock bench, where it's a bit less hot, there is a bit of shade, and I hope, a bit less buggy. The no-see-ums chew on my scalp anyway. I find an abandoned hummer nest. During today's hike, I see one hiker, Mike from Oregon - who has escaped the moss growing behind his ears to hike the desert. Mike says "you're the first person I've seen in four days" before hastily shuffling down the trail, seemingly not wanting to extend the conversation.
     I invest some time entering GPS coordinates for the reported arches near Whitmore Arch. A project for tomorrow. Arch hunting. My pack is too heavy, but not awful. I seem to be staring this venture at the end of a cold front? It's a calm night, with stars galore. A mouse, or team of mice, repeatedly attach my rat sack containing bags of food. I get up to suspend it from the rock face, and the rodentia immediately find it and continue their assault. Like the arrogant "smartest guys in the room" who have directly caused the collapse of the U.S. mortgage and market system, at the feast of egos, even the mice go away hungry.

View from West Ernie Spring Camp - panorama (Image is very wide - scroll to view it (3129 x 480; 360kb) - Click the image for the full-size image)

     Day 2: Ranging Whitmore: Explore North Fork Range Canyon. 6 miles; 8 ERM.
     The wall-hugger arch pops into view as I slog up N Fk Range Canyon on an exploration and arch hunt. Curvaceous. So far, I've revisited Whitmore, failed to find Whitmore 2, and found Table Leg Arch on the return to the drainage from Whitmore. Refrigerator Door Handle Arch is seen as I saunter up the main canyon bottom. I also see Snakeskin Arch before being confounded by the mud and red water of the entry to the grotto. I climb up on the sandstone to look for a way around the grotto, and give up after some slickrock wandering.
     I find a vaulted ceiling type arch near E Ernie Spring. Thunder clouds ply the sky - yet virga is all I see. The evening breeze associated with nap time for thunderheads helps keep the bugs in the next county. Ahh, another visit to the precious spring.
     Just after sunset, it stopped raining. Glorious pink-fringed clouds drift.

Day 2 - Whitmore (Click the image for a full-size view)	ut-857 1 (Click the image for a full-size view)	ut-857 2 (Click the image for a full-size view)
ut-857 3 (Click the image for a full-size view)	ut-857 4 (Click the image for a full-size view)	ut-857 5 (Click the image for a full-size view)
ut-857 GPS (Click the image for a full-size view)	Table Leg Arch 1 (Click the image for a full-size view)	Table Leg Arch 2 (Click the image for a full-size view)
Refrigerator Door Handle A 1 (Click the image for a full-size view)	Refrigerator Door Handle A 2 (Click the image for a full-size view)	Wall Lounger Arch, UT-856 1 (Click the image for a full-size view)
Wall Lounger Arch, UT-856 2 (Click the image for a full-size view)	Wall Lounger Arch, UT-856 3 (Click the image for a full-size view)	Wall Lounger Arch, UT-856 gps (Click the image for a full-size view)
Snakeskin Arch 1 (Click the image for a full-size view)	Snakeskin Arch 2 (Click the image for a full-size view)	Snakeskin Arch gps (Click the image for a full-size view)
Ernie Skylight, ut-634 1 (Click the image for a full-size view)	Ernie Skylight, ut-634 2 (Click the image for a full-size view)	Ernie Skylight, ut-634 gps (Click the image for a full-size view)

     Day 3: Traipsing Tibbetts; The Fins: 10.3 miles, 15 ERM.
     The glint of shards catches my eye in this lithic field. It seems people of yore either did as I am doing - avoiding the expected, yet only sputtering, rain, or were hiding from the sun in this minor alcove near The Fins.
     Does this canyon have a formal name? I don't see one on the map, so I will call it the Fins Fork. Fork of what? The Green River? Who knows. Use your topographic imagination.
     Leaving camp in place for another night because of the proximity of clear water, I have already visited Tibbett Arch, found a "new" arch across from Tibbett, which I call Purlin Arch, and edged around fields of cryptobiotic crust to discover that Solitaire and Perched Boulder Arches are the same arch.
     Back trudging the wash sand, I find another snaking wall-hugger arch that needs a name beyond the mechanistic 31-UT-636. Eel Back comes to mind, and yet I settle for Wall Runner Arch. 31-UT-636 - this is like calling your girlfriend #43. Without class. Of course, with the propagation imperative of this pretty great state of utah, many cow women may be called by the number of children. How about Mary Alice #7 from Bigotville, Kanab? This has a certain post office kind of tone, don't you think? Industrial propagation, Now! Is the state motto. And yet, here I shuffle, solitaire.
     A lovely prong of lightning sparks the Fins, sky-seekers of this part of the desert. And, no people since Mike of Oregon two days ago. No new tracks either. I trudge back to camp dehydrated and sore from the sand slog. Purple skies, wind, and booming thunder force me to the tarp tent early. Powerful gusts fill my tent with fine sand, then it rains some. Again, the mice are chewing on the rat sack, without effect. Later, stars galore crowd the canyon slot.

The Fins Pano (Image is very wide - scroll to view it (2448 x 500; 332kb) - Click the image for the full-size image)

Day 3 Tibbett Arch 1 (Click the image for a full-size view)	Tibbett Arch 2 (Click the image for a full-size view)	Tibbett Arch 3 (Click the image for a full-size view)
Purlin Arch 1 (Click the image for a full-size view)	Purlin Arch 2 (Click the image for a full-size view)	Purlin Arch 3 (Click the image for a full-size view)
Purlin Arch location (Click the image for a full-size view)	Purlin Arch gps (Click the image for a full-size view)	Wall Runner, 31-ut-636 1 (Click the image for a full-size view)
Wall Runner, 31-ut-636 2 (Click the image for a full-size view)	Wall Runner, 31-ut-636 3 (Click the image for a full-size view)	Wall Runner, 31-ut-636 4 (Click the image for a full-size view)
Wall Runner, 31-ut-636 gps (Click the image for a full-size view)	Lithic Field (Click the image for a full-size view)	Day 3 Clouds (Click the image for a full-size view)
Day 3 Water (Click the image for a full-size view)	Solitaire Arch 1 (Click the image for a full-size view)	Solitaire Arch 2 (Click the image for a full-size view)
Solitaire Arch 3 (Click the image for a full-size view)	Solitaire Arch 4 (Click the image for a full-size view)	Solitaire Arch gps (Click the image for a full-size view)

     Day 4: Valley of the Doll House Zombie: East Ernie spring to Doll House and back; 14.6 miles, 18 ERM (sand slog).
     The red pattern, is it a pattern, is it natural? catches what is left of my mind on this long sand slog to the Doll House (DH). Walking meditation. Wait, there is a pattern. Ancient, ghostly images floating on a smooth rock face. I employ my trusty pocket binocs and see - pictos! I find another set too, not far from the DH rough road.
     Again, I see no one and it's now been 3 days since Mike. I don't push my luck by visiting the vehicle camps near the DH. I do see the LaSals and use my phone to call the Archman! for directions to Muffin Arch, an arch that seems to be in different places on my two maps. I also call the lovely Kathleen in Costa Rica.
     A huge anvil cloud blossoms and extends over me, accompanied by refreshing breezes and blocking the piercing sun. Glorious.
     I started out the day with a full water bag (1.5 gallons?) of spring water and five filtered quarts. I leave the bag and two quarts at the mouth of Sweet Alice Canyon for an expected explore and camp venture tomorrow. Dry, dry, dry. I continue to the DH with my three quarts, which will be a bit short by the time I return to my rock camp near East Ernie spring. Zombie-like, I shuffle through the endless sands. The route uses drainages to avoid crypto damage. Along the way, I enjoy Owl Eyes Alley, an assortment of owl faces eroded into the rock - and their uneven ovals remind me that Barn Owls ears are not symmetrically placed - so they can better pinpoint sound in absolute darkness.

Doll House Pano (Image is very wide - scroll to view it (3593 x 500; 368kb) - Click the image for the full-size image)

Day 4 Cactus (Click the image for a full-size view)	Owl Eyes Alley 1 (Click the image for a full-size view)	Owl Eyes Alley 2 (Click the image for a full-size view)
Owl Eyes Alley 3 (Click the image for a full-size view)	Owl Eyes Alley 4 (Click the image for a full-size view)	Owl Eyes Alley 5 (Click the image for a full-size view)
Owl Eyes Alley 6 (Click the image for a full-size view)	Owl Eyes Alley 7 (Click the image for a full-size view)	Owl Eyes Alley 8 (Click the image for a full-size view)
Owl Eyes Alley 9 (Click the image for a full-size view)	Owl Eyes Alley gps (Click the image for a full-size view)	Picto 1 (Click the image for a full-size view)
Picto 2 (Click the image for a full-size view)	Picto 3 (Click the image for a full-size view)	Picto 4 (Click the image for a full-size view)

     Day 5: Sweet Alice and her Muffin: Explore Sweet Alice Canyon. 9.2 miles; 14 ERM.
     I'm napping in the luxurious coolness of the alcove below Muffin Arch, Cedar Mesa SS slickrock feeling as fine as a 5-star bed. Of course, I don't know what a five-star bed feels like - let's just call it comfy. And, how many 5-star anywheres have anything like the sweeping arc of Muffin?
     I've moved camp to the cache area (from yesterday) and then continued up Sweet Alice Canyon. Arch hunting. And the bounty is fine.
     It all started with a revisit of Owl Eyes Alley, seeing more vacant republican-like eyes staring at me. Sentient? Not! After I leave the main pack at the cache and start up Sweet Alice, I start seeing arches, some where the WAD predicted, others were surprises or errors. And, of course I then went hunting for Muffin, finding a Muffin Toaster too.
     Now the gnats and no-see-ums are driving me off my viewing veranda, and the sun colors are fading from the Eastern escarpment of Sweet Alice - so, I try for a pano photo. I am reminded how water intensive we are - hauling your water reminds one of this. Then, there are those propagators in utah and other extreme places, more and more, wanting more water, plunging additional straws in an over-allocated Lake Foul, mining the limited aquifer. Fewer and fewer are the opportunities for solitude, clean air, clean water, open space, the list goes on. And on.
     Yet today, on Day 4 of this hike, there are no people and no new tracks. Except the tracks of the wily Coyote, the secretive fox, the plentiful and assorted lizards and mice and beetles, perhaps a Ringtail.
     Ranting note:
     In 1718, developers (French colonist Jean Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville) ignored engineers' warnings about the hazards of flooding and mapped a settlement in a parcel of swampland between the mouth of the Mississippi River, the Gulf of Mexico and a massive lake to the north. New Orleans.
     In 1876, and today, the American public and Congress ignored John Wesley Powell=s proposal to organize settlements around water and watersheds. Too much, too little water, same result - a predictable "crisis." Who can deny we on a collision course with ecological and Malthusian catastrophe? Just as the theory of rain following the plough was a preposterous fraud, the belief that we can make the desert bloom is equally unsupportable. It=s a wonderful opportunity to return New Orleans to a swamp. And, we in the West live at precisely the time to steward our precious little water by reversing human population growth, engaging in enlightened zoning (a la Powell), and requiring those who benefit directly pay for water projects, whether its building a dam, emptying a swamp, "restoring" a beach (can you say "global climate change?"), or building a pipeline to make the desert bloom.

Sweet Alica at Sunset Pano (Image is very wide - scroll to view it (5140 x 500; 588kb) - Click the image for the full-size image)

Movie of Muffin Arch - 26 MB (Click the image to see the short video - 26 MB)

Day 5 Sunrise (Click the image for a full-size view)	Day 5 Sunrise (Click the image for a full-size view)	Ernie Spring East (Click the image for a full-size view)
Maze 9 view 1 (Click the image for a full-size view)	Maze 9 view 2 (Click the image for a full-size view)	Maze 9 view 3 (Click the image for a full-size view)
Maze 9 view 4 (Click the image for a full-size view)	27-ut-591 view 1 (Click the image for a full-size view)	27-ut-591 view 2 (Click the image for a full-size view)
27-ut-591 view 3 (Click the image for a full-size view)	27-ut-591 gps1 (Click the image for a full-size view)	27-ut-591 gps2 (Click the image for a full-size view)
Toitey Bowl-Maze8 1 (Click the image for a full-size view)	Toitey Bowl-Maze8 2 (Click the image for a full-size view)	Toitey Bowl-Maze8 3 (Click the image for a full-size view)
Toitey Bowl-Maze8 gps (Click the image for a full-size view)	Muffin 1 (Click the image for a full-size view)	Muffin 2 (Click the image for a full-size view)
Muffin 3 (Click the image for a full-size view)	Muffin Toaster 1 (Click the image for a full-size view)	Muffin Toaster 2 (Click the image for a full-size view)
Muffin Toaster 3 (Click the image for a full-size view)	Muffin Toaster gps (Click the image for a full-size view)	Bimodal Wall-hugger 1 (Click the image for a full-size view)
Bimodal Wall-hugger 2 (Click the image for a full-size view)	Bimodal Wall-hugger 3 (Click the image for a full-size view)	High Holer 1 (Click the image for a full-size view)
High Holer 2 (Click the image for a full-size view)	High Holer gps (Click the image for a full-size view)	Sunset Day 5 (Click the image for a full-size view)

     Day 6: Solitaire revisited: Sweet Alice Canyon to Teapot TH, 13 miles, 18 ERM.
     The purple rays, afterglow to the sunset, seem to emanate from the elegant radiator fins sprouting along the dirt road. Behind them, silhouettes of the Henry Mountains reminded me that this country has been overpopulated in a short time, the Henry's being the last discovered range in the lower U.S., sighted by John W. Powell, who was later insulted for all his exploration and service to planning/siting communities (which of course was ignored in favor of military/industrial tourism-type development) with attaching his name to a vast and destructive sewage pond. Lake Foul. Of course, it is not a lake. It's a settling and evaporation pond that has the face validity of never ending propagation and expansion. Real analysis pronounces the insanity of this "validity." Develop and die.
     My plan was to hike back to W Ernie spring for the night. I stop at Ernie West Spring to refill. Then a successful hunt for a NB and a Pueblo ruin. Keep going. Hike and hike more. Pleasant clouds help seal the decision to hike and hike some more. It's a long slog along the jeep forsaken route to Teapot Rock. I partially fill my sun shower bag at the truck and enjoy a good rinse. Then, I drive partially out - discovering that the big thunderheads had produced rains in this part of the landscape that had rutted the road in the park, less so as I continued South. Nature's speed bumps. I find a lonely slickrock surface for a late camp, just a couple of miles from the pavement leading to the crossing of the Colorado River as it enters the pond.

Day 6 Columbine (Click the image for a full-size view)	Day 6 Flower (Click the image for a full-size view)	Precious Water (Click the image for a full-size view)
Pueblo Ruin (Click the image for a full-size view)	Pueblo Ruin (Click the image for a full-size view)	28-ut-595 1 (Click the image for a full-size view)
28-ut-595 2 (Click the image for a full-size view)	28-ut-595 3 (Click the image for a full-size view)	28-ut-595 4 (Click the image for a full-size view)
28-ut-595 gps (Click the image for a full-size view)	NRA Sunset (Click the image for a full-size view)	Sunset and the Henry Mtns. (Click the image for a full-size view)

     Post-hike, Day 8 by total trip:
     I get up and tour my slickrock bedroom. I can see the water tower of Hite and a bit of the sewage pond, bathtub ring displaying the excessive growth this region has failed to sustain. Quiet. Still, I have seen no one since day 1 of the hike. Lovely. Solitaire. Desert Solitaire, a phrase borrowed from Ed Abbey, most likely his most significant book.
     I drive the last two miles to the tarmac, then continue towards the Moqui Dugway lilting down toward Mexican Hat. I did not see another person until I was past Hite, out of the NRA (National Recreation Area) across White Canyon, droning along the highway and feeling like I was going out of control fast at 50 MPH. A fitting conclusion, seeing no one along this first stretch of tarmac, to an A-Mazing Maze Solitaire.

     Arches found during this adventure include:
    (Refer to the map in this report.)

     Whitmore Shown accurately on all maps.

     Wall Lounger Arch, UT-856: (up canyon from Whitmore)
     This wall arch is in the main canyon, up canyon from Refrigerator Door Handle Arch (up canyon from Whitmore). Look to the right side of the drainage (going up canyon). You will be about 0.75 miles from where the Ernie Country route crosses the wash leading to Whitmore Arch. The arch is about 20' above the canyon floor at: UTM 12 S 583294E; 4221543N; WGS84.

     UT-857: (near Whitmore Arch)
     After visiting Whitmore Arch, walk South along the edge of the wall from Whitmore, staying generally at the same level as Whitmore Arch. The arch is in the top part of the same layer as Whitmore, in a narrow side drainage. The distance from Whitmore is estimated to be about a thousand feet, via the route (not straight line). Keep your bearing by using the estimated UTM coordinates of: 12 S 583812E; 4221483N; WGS84.

     Table Leg Arch: (near Whitmore)
     When returning to the canyon floor from visiting Whitmore Arch, look in the ground level overhangs to your left for Table Leg Arch. Coordinates are: UTM 12 S 583676E; 4221460N; WGS84.

     Refrigerator Door Handle Arch: (up canyon from Whitmore)
     Once back on the main canyon floor after visiting Whitmore Arch, proceed up canyon, scanning to your right (going up canyon) about 40' above the canyon floor for this arch, which has two openings looking like its namesake. You will be about 0.5 miles from where the Ernie Country route crosses the wash leading to Whitmore Arch. The arch is at: UTM 12 S 583341E; 4221413N; WGS84.

     Snakeskin Arch: (up canyon from Whitmore)
     This slithering arch is in the main canyon, up canyon from Wall Lounger Arch, UT-856 Arch (up canyon from Whitmore). Look to the right side of the drainage (going up canyon). You will be a little more than one mile from where the Ernie Country route crosses the wash leading to Whitmore Arch. The arch is about 50' above the canyon floor at: UTM 12 S 583642E; 4221968N; WGS84.

     31-UT-634, Ernie's Skylight: (W of Ernie Spring East)
     This arch is not possible to see from the route between the Mother and Child feature and the Doll House, that is, the Ernie Country route. Hike East from the canyon containing Whitmore Arch, which is the Eastern fork of Range Canyon. After about 0.6 mile of hiking East from the canyon containing Whitmore, you will see a side track leading to East Ernie spring. To locate Ernie's Skylight, backtrack about 800', to the second narrow canyon to the North of the Ernie Country route. Climb up into this canyon to get a view of Ernie's Skylight. The arch is about 300' North of, and in the lip of Cedar Mesa SS from the viewpoint, which is at approximately: UTM 12 S 584160E; 4221098N: WGS84. You will probably want to use your GPS to locate this arch.

     Tibbett Arch:
     From where the Ernie Country route crosses the wash, hike up canyon for about 2.8 miles. Note that at about 1.5 miles up the canyon, take the right fork (the left fork leads to Wall Runner, 31-UT-636). You will see an open canyon area on your right (East). You will also see the sweeping grace of Tibbett Arch at UTM 12 S 587173E; 4223650N; WGS84. If you go farther in for a photo of Tibbett Arch, beware and use existing paths or drainages to avoid trampling the cryptobiotic soils. While there, look to the North for Purlin Arch.

     Owl Eyes Alley:
     Hike the Ernie Country route between the Mother and Child feature and the Doll House to about 0.6 miles East of where it crossed the canyon containing Tibbett Arch, or a bit over a mile West of where it crosses Sweet Alice Canyon, the canyon containing Muffin Arch. You will encounter Owl Eyes Alley in a narrow section of the route near UTM 12 S 586525E; 4221320N; WGS84.

     Purlin Arch: (near Tibbett Arch)
     From where the Ernie Country route crosses the wash containing Tibbett Arch, hike up canyon for about 2.8 miles. Note that at about 1.5 miles up the canyon, take the right fork (the left fork leads to Wall Runner, 31-UT-636). You will see an open canyon area on your right (East). You will also see the sweeping grace of Tibbett Arch. Look high in the North wall of this opening for Purlin Arch, which is a direct line connecting Tibbett, the solitary pillar in the opening, and Purlin. The viewpoint for Purlin is at UTM 12 S 586970E; 4223886N; WGS84, and Purlin is about 200' North of this viewpoint.

     Solitaire Arch: (S of Tibbett, next opening, E side of canyon) - same as Perched Boulder, I prefer name of Solitaire - more appropriate when you look at the arch. Tom - these (Solitaire and Perched Boulder) are the same arch, giving me lifetime web access credits for two arches.
     This high pothole arch is in the same canyon system as Tibbett Arch. From where the Ernie Country route crosses the wash, hike up canyon for about 2.5 miles. At about 1.5 miles up the canyon, take the right fork (the left fork leads to Wall Runner, 31-UT-636). You will see an open canyon area on your right (East). Check your GPS, then walk into this open area for about 0.4 miles, looking for the distinctive ring-shaped stain of desert varnish on the white Cedar Mesa SS. The gem part of this solitaire ring is also a guide. Watch out, use the drainage to avoid crushing the prevalent cryptobiotic crust. Approximate coordinates for this arch are: UTM 12 S 587357E; 4223243N; WGS84.
     You will see how come this arch is sometimes called Perched Boulder Arch. I prefer the name Solitaire.

     31-UT-636, Wall Runner Arch: -- probably the same as Maze 2?
     This arch is in the same canyon system as Tibbett Arch. From where the Ernie Country route crosses the wash, hike up canyon for about 1.5 miles to where the canyon forks. Take the left fork (the right fork leads to Tibbetts and Solitaire). Continue up this side canyon for about 0.75 miles, gazing at the left wall (looking up canyon) for Wall Runner Arch. Again, watch out for cryptobiotic soil as you use your GPS as a general guide to UTM 12 S 585473E; 4223049 N; WGS84.

     Toitey Bowl Arch, Maze 8: (coordinates incorrect in WAD)
     Hike the Ernie Country route between the Mother and Child feature and the Doll House to where it crosses Sweet Alice Canyon, the canyon containing Muffin Arch (note that Muffin Arch is incorrectly marked on many maps, but all place it somewhere in Sweet Alice Canyon). Hike up Sweet Alice for about 2 miles. You will see 27-UT-591 on the South-facing side of a wall. Hike East from the viewpoint for 27-UT-591, which is about UTM 12 S 588479E; 4224121N; WGS84 to the East for about 0.3 miles to Toitey Bowl Arch. The arch is at approximately UTM 12 S 588707E; 4224120N; WGS84.

     Maze 9: (this arch needs a suitable name)
     Hike the Ernie Country route between the Mother and Child feature and the Doll House to where it crosses Sweet Alice Canyon, the canyon containing Muffin Arch (note that Muffin Arch is incorrectly marked on many maps, but all place it somewhere in Sweet Alice Canyon). Hike up Sweet Alice for a little over 1.5 miles. You will see the Maze 9 arch about half way up the wall, and to the East at approximately UTM 12 S 588473E; 4223877N; WGS84.

     27-UT-591: (coordinates incorrect on map, beware)
     Shown in incorrect location, yet according to WAD, on the WV on-line map.
     Hike the Ernie Country route between the Mother and Child feature and the Doll House to where it crosses Sweet Alice Canyon, the canyon containing Muffin Arch (note that Muffin Arch is incorrectly marked on many maps, but all place it somewhere in Sweet Alice Canyon). Hike up Sweet Alice for about 2 miles. You will see 27-UT-591 on the South-facing side of a wall, and on the East side of the main wash. The viewpoint for 27-UT-591 is about UTM 12 S 588479E; 4224121N; WGS84.

     Muffin Arch:
     Hike the Ernie Country route between the Mother and Child feature and the Doll House to where it crosses Sweet Alice Canyon, the canyon containing Muffin Arch (note that Muffin Arch is incorrectly marked on many maps, but all place it somewhere in Sweet Alice Canyon). Hike up Sweet Alice for about 2+ miles. You will see 27-UT-591 on the South-facing side of a wall. Hike up canyon a few hundred feet from 27-UT-591, then turn left, West, and hike the winding small drainage to avoid the cryptobiotic soils. Hike about 0.5 miles from the main wash, and begin scanning to the SW for Muffin Arch, which is at UTM 12 S 587764E; 4224225N; WGS84.

     Muffin Toaster Arch: (near Muffin Arch)
     Follow the directions for Muffin Arch. As you skirt below the arch, looking for a way up to the bench below the arch, you may pass Muffin Toaster Arch at UTM 12 S 587816E; 4224166N; WGS84.

     Bimodal Wall Hugger: (see from same waypoint as is High Holer Arch)
     Hike the Ernie Country route between the Mother and Child feature and the Doll House to where it crosses Sweet Alice Canyon, the canyon containing Muffin Arch (note that Muffin Arch is incorrectly marked on many maps, but all place it somewhere in Sweet Alice Canyon). Hike up Sweet Alice for about 0.6 miles. You will see Bimodal Wall Hugger Arch (to the SE) and High Holer Arch (to the East) in the opening to your right, East, high in the canyon walls. A good viewpoint to see both arches is at UTM 12 S 588266E; 4222691N; WGS84.

     High Holer Arch:
     Hike the Ernie Country route between the Mother and Child feature and the Doll House to where it crosses Sweet Alice Canyon, the canyon containing Muffin Arch (note that Muffin Arch is incorrectly marked on many maps, but all place it somewhere in Sweet Alice Canyon). Hike up Sweet Alice for about 0.6 miles. You will see Bimodal Wall Hugger Arch (to the SE) and High Holer Arch (to the East) in the opening to your right, East, high in the canyon walls. A good viewpoint to see both arches is at UTM 12 S 588266E; 4222691N; WGS84.

     28-UT-595: - Range Arch
     From the trailhead for the route into Ernies Country/Fins from the Doll House 4x4 road at UTM 12 S 581435E; 4221702N (which is near the Mother and Child feature), hike down into South Fork Range Canyon. When reaching the canyon floor, turn up canyon and hike to its end. Estimated coordinates of 28-UT-595, which appears to be a NB, are:12 S 581943E; 4221469N; WGS84.

     Arches on Rd 633, from near Hite to The Maze:

Go to this separate report for photos of Rd 633 arches.

     Starting at MP 46.4 on Hwy 95, at the top of the hill climbing out above the bridge over the Colorado River and headed for the Dirty Devil Bridge (if you reach the Dirty Devil Bridge, turn around -you have gone too far), drive North onto Road 633, which travels to the Orange Cliffs area of The Maze District of Canyonlands NP. MP 0 for Hwy. 95 is at Hanksville, Utah.

     Set your odometer to zero (0) when you leave Hwy 95. See the map above.

     Maze 633 Arch 1 is on your right at 13.6 miles from Hwy 95. GPS coordinates are roughly: UTM 12 S 561441E; 4197395N; WGS84

     Maze 633 Arch 2 can be seen from the car park for Arch 1, and is another mile and a half up the road.

     Cove Arch is on your right at 21.4 miles from Hwy 95. Pull off on the slickrock on your right, and look just below your level and about 600 feet to the East for Cove Arch. GPS coordinates for Cove are roughly: UTM 12 S 568607E; 4202738N; WGS84

     Maze 633 Arch 3 is on your left at 25.5 miles from Hwy 95. GPS coordinates for the carpark to view this arch are roughly: UTM 12 S 571511E; 4207391N; WGS84

Maps:

Click here to go to my GPS track backpacking The Maze. It will appear as a Google map on a USGS topo background. Change the scale of the map (the "+") to better see the route. Move around on the map with the 'hand.' Click here to enjoy a full-screen view. Enjoy

Click here to go to my GPS track driving from Hite R.S. to near Teapot Rock - look for arch icons. UTMs are based upon WGS84 datum. It will appear as a Google map on a USGS topo background. Change the scale of the map (the "+") to better see the route. Move around on the map with the 'hand.' Click here to enjoy a full-screen view. Enjoy

Movie:

Click here to: see a video of Muffin Arch. (26mb)

Panos:

Click here to: see a Pano - LaSal Mountains to Abajo Mountains

Pano - View from West Ernie Spring, Camp 1

Pano - Sweet Alice at Sunset

Pano - Doll House

Pano - The Fins

Previous WV Reports about The Maze:

Chocolates for Easter, 1998

Water-Ooooh in THE Maze, 2000

Snowfest attempt in THE Maze, 2009

Related Sites:

Click here to see The Archman's site on Utah and area arches.

World Arch Database.

Abbey's Web -- The man who is Desert Solitaire.

Ben's Scenic USA - Picture of the Day.

Steve's excellent photos - birds in flight, panoramas, etc.

We Are Breeding Ourselves to Extinction (click here for full article)

All measures to thwart the degradation and destruction of our ecosystem will be useless if we do not cut population growth. By 2050, if we continue to reproduce at the current rate, the planet will have between 8 billion and 10 billion people, according to a recent U.N. forecast. This is a 50 percent increase. And yet government-commissioned reviews, such as the Stern report in Britain, do not mention the word population. Books and documentaries that deal with the climate crisis, including Al Gore’s “An Inconvenient Truth,” fail to discuss the danger of population growth. This omission is odd, given that a doubling in population, even if we cut back on the use of fossil fuels, shut down all our coal-burning power plants and build seas of wind turbines, will plunge us into an age of extinction and desolation unseen since the end of the Mesozoic era, 65 million years ago, when the dinosaurs disappeared.

We are experiencing an accelerated obliteration of the planet’s life-forms—an estimated 8,760 species die off per year—because, simply put, there are too many people. Most of these extinctions are the direct result of the expanding need for energy, housing, food and other resources. The Yangtze River dolphin, Atlantic gray whale, West African black rhino, Merriam’s elk, California grizzly bear, silver trout, blue pike and dusky seaside sparrow are all victims of human overpopulation. Population growth, as E.O. Wilson says, is “the monster on the land.” Species are vanishing at a rate of a hundred to a thousand times faster than they did before the arrival of humans. If the current rate of extinction continues, Homo sapiens will be one of the few life-forms left on the planet, its members scrambling violently among themselves for water, food, fossil fuels and perhaps air until they too disappear. Humanity, Wilson says, is leaving the Cenozoic, the age of mammals, and entering the Eremozoic—the era of solitude. As long as the Earth is viewed as the personal property of the human race, a belief embraced by everyone from born-again Christians to Marxists to free-market economists, we are destined to soon inhabit a biological wasteland.

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