The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1934-11-09
INTERESTING LETTERs FROM
THE WEST
Visits Zion National Park

vada, a former resident of Rising
Sun, describes below a visit to Zion
National Park, Utah.
ION Wednesday afternoon, July
18th, we arrived at Zion National
Park. Our drive to the Park, over
II SO highway, was one thrill after
another. On either side of the road
way were walls of beautiful color
formations. The most spectacular is
the Great Arch Of Zion seen from the
Zion-Mount Carmel Highway. 1t is
1872 feet long, 5S5 feet high, and is
cut 80 feet back into the cliff sup
porting it. Some claim it is the
largest Natural Arch (not bridge) in
the world.
Towering above all other noun
tains is the West Temple, 772S feet
in elevation, 1906 feet above the val
ley floor. The opposite side, the
East Temple, lilo feet. The Watch
man, guarding the gates of Zion, a
great red peak rises to point, with
an altitude of 6,5S5 feet. The Sem
tinel on the west rim, near the check
ing station, rises 3077 feet above
the valley.
"At the checking station, the car
and passengers are registered and an
entrance fee of $1.00 for each car is
paid. When leaving the Park the
car and passengers are checked also.
mot their height, but their seren-
ity, their sheer, massive architecture,
and their colors, make these noun
tains noble r
1.-THE drive up the canyon is a con-
stantly changing panorama Of cliffs.
On the left is the Altar of Sacrifice,
whose stains suggest barbarian
atonements. On the right are the
Twin Brothers. 'Mountain-of-the-
SUM- Left again, The Three Patri-
archs', then to the right The Great
White Throne
Gable Mountain derives it's name
from an ancient cable which once
stretched from the cliff to the valley
below. In the early days, the Nor
mon pioneers sent to settle in the
valley, complained to Brigham
Young, of the shortage of wood and
lumber. Lumber will soar down
from the cliffs like an eagle, replied
he prophetically. In 80 years his
promise was realized. In 1900 a
young mechanic, David Flanagan,
conceived the idea of the cable from
the rim to the floor of the valley.
Lumber cut and sawed on the east
rim of Zion, then lowered to the
floor of the canyon, where it could
be loaded into wagons. After four
years of unremitting labor, the pro-
ject was completed. Many hundreds
of thousands of feet of lumber have
been lowered on the cable. Much
of the lumber used in building Zion
Lodge came down the wire,' I was
told.
1.-THE cable had a single span OF
about 1900 feet. For many years it
was the most historical relic in the
canyon. In 1880 it was considered
by engineers to be unsafe as the sup
porting timbers had decayed, so it
was abandoned.
1.-THE river makes it's bend around
an interesting pile of rocks, readily
recognized as the Great Organ, al
most Mahogany red. Behind the
organ rises Angles Landing then
Cathedral Mountain. To the north
seen up the Narrows, is the Temple
of Simawawa.
"The Narrows, or upper end Of
the Canyon is named from the fact
that the canyon narrows down to q
chasm 1900 feet deep and but a few
feet wide in some places. At some
places one wall overhangs the other
one. In food times, water has been
known to rise 40 feet in few min
utes, and the Narrows is no place to
be caught when it's starts to rain.
"The trail from the end of the
highway to the beginning Of the
Narrows winds along under the east
wall, past series of cliffs from
which trickle scores of streams.
Here are the Hanging Gardens
of Zion. Surrounding each spring is
dense growth of ferns, moss and
flowers so verdant and luxuriant thai
it is difficult to believe that the des-
ert is but few miles away. In au.
tumn the Cardinal flower is found
in spring and each summer the Col.
umbine reigns supreme among the
flowers, 1 saw some of these, very
beautiful. Here a tiny snail exists
on the wet walls of the Narrows
And a queer little mollusk found
nowhere else on earth as yet.