Lovell
Wash is a tributary of the Colorado river. It cuts through some truly convoluted
rocks that have been uplifted so severely that the sandstone layers are nearly
perpendicular. Notice the twists in the rock layers that are visible in this
picture. Notice also the white layer. It is a mineral called Colemanite,
a high grade of borax. As the story goes, Borax Smith of Death Valley fame
purchased this mining claim on his wedding anniversary and so named it the
"Anniversary Mine". Narrow gauge railroad tracks were laid through
several tunnels and over a bridge crossing the wash to haul the ore out of
several mine shafts to the processing plant on the hill. The tunnels are still
accessible along the side of the cliff.
As
you start into the canyon, the colorful walls start getting narrower and narrower.
The floor of the canyon changes with every rainstorm. Heavy flash flooding
scours the canyon bottom and exposes chokestones that require rock scrambling
to get through. On the other hand, low intensity flash floods tend to drop
sediment in the canyon and cover the obstacles. When we hiked through, the
canyon floor was moderately flat and sandy.
We've seen it otherwise.
