Guidebook of the Western United States Volume 707 (Paperback)

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1922 Excerpt: ...view as the traveler pursues his way down the river bank. As the train rounds the first sharp curve below the station the variegated beds of the Gunnison formation may be seen on the north (right), where they have been exposed by the cutting for the railroad track. About a mile below the village the Dakota lies about 300 feet above the level of the track and the light-red sandstone of the Triassic makes its appearance at that level, but it is so poorly shown that the traveler may not be able to identify it. A view down the river valley from this point, however, shows that the bright-red sandstone is very conspicuous in the cliffs--it is, in fact, the most prominent rock to be seen. The profile of the cliff on the north side of the canyon is represented in figure 33. In this part of the canyon the red sandstone is so brilliant that the outcrop looks like a flame or a mass of red-hot iron on the hillside. At Kent siding, just beyond milepost 321, the valley is somewhat wider than it is farther upstream, and the traveler may obtain, on the north, an excellent view of the canyon wall, which is about 175 feet high and is capped by Dakota sandstone and the brownish-red sandstone that marks the top of the Triassic system of rocks. Although the canyon is in general very narrow there are at some places along the river level lands and small farms. The stream, like all others in this region, is fringed with cottonwood trees and willows, but among these are interspersed dark spruce trees, which give a pleasing contrast. In summer there is a decided difference between the dark-bluish tint of the spruce trees and the soft green of the cottonwoods and the willows, but the color effects are at their best in early autumn, when the leaves of the cottonwoods and the willows a...