10
After turning south on Rim Rock Drive from the intersection with Colorado Highway 340 (Broadway), we cross the Monument’s northern boundary and reach the checking station at the West Entrance, where a small entry fee is charged during the summer. At the first left turn we are in red beds of the Chinle Formation, then in sheared and broken beds of the Wingate Sandstone along the Kodels Canyon fault. At the easternmost loop of the road we may look southeastward across Lizard Canyon to the Lizard Canyon monocline ([fig. 30]), and if we look down the slope to the east we will see one of John Otto’s well-built trails that formerly ascended the west side of Lizard Canyon to what is now the campground, long before Rim Rock Drive was built. Do not try to stop at the curve, however; play it safe, drive on, and park at Redlands View a quarter of a mile west.
REDLANDS VIEW
By walking about 50 feet north of the turnout, we get an excellent view to the west of the Kodels Canyon fault, as shown in [figure 31]. Just to the north of the fault are the sheared and broken beds of the Wingate Sandstone along the east end of this fault.
NEW EARTHFILL
Just beyond the turnout the road curves left through a cut in the Wingate Sandstone and ascends the east side of Fruita Canyon. About a quarter of a mile from the parking area we get a good view ([fig. 44]) to the west of the new earthfill on Rim Rock Drive between the two tunnels. The original fill was washed out in a few minutes on August 8, 1968, by a cloudburst that dumped an estimated 4 inches of rain on the mesa west of Fruita Canyon. A culvert beneath the road just north of the north tunnel was wholly unable to cope with the resulting flood, part of which plunged over the cliff but most of which roared southward through the tunnel. According to the only known eyewitnesses—a couple from Ohio whose car was stalled in 18 inches of swift water in the lower tunnel—an estimated 4 feet of water flowing through the north tunnel soon separated the two tunnels by a gaping chasm and flowed down where the fill had been but moments earlier. They jockeyed their car back and forth in the south tunnel and retraced the route back toward Fruita. Later I viewed the chasm from the portal of the north tunnel and found it awesome indeed.
NEW FILL ON RIM ROCK DRIVE BETWEEN TWO TUNNELS ON WEST SIDE OF FRUITA CANYON, looking west from east side of canyon. Previous fill was washed out by flash flood, as described in text. (Fig. 44)
The road remained closed for 1½ years until December 20, 1969, much to the annoyance and discomfort of both visitors and Monument personnel—particularly the latter. During the summer, the usual 16-mile daily round trip to the post office in Fruita via the West Entrance was increased to about 80 miles by way of the East Entrance. During the school season, wives of Monument personnel took turns driving a station wagon full of children on two daily round trips to the schools and post office in Fruita. Note in [figure 44], taken only 6½ years after the road was reopened, that small gullies already have been cut in the lower half of the new fill. Another local cloudburst could remove the new fill, but let us hope this does not happen!