Forbidden Heart of the Rainbow, Navajo Nation, Arizona and Utah

The Trip

"But until we develop sucker-discs on our feet and learn to cling to smooth outbulging surfaces like house-flies... I am reasonably sure that none of our species will ever get down into Forbidden Canyon or, having got down there, ever get out again... It is reasonably certain that no living creature, anyway no two-footed or four-footed creature exists in It." - Irvin S. Cobb, Arizona Highways magazine, 1940

Like an arrow through its heart, Forbidding Canyon cleaves the Navajo Nation's Rainbow Plateau nearly in half. Irvin Cobb was not quite right about the canyon's two- and four-footed creatures. The canyon has frogs, lizards, beavers, coyotes, bighorn sheep, and mountain lions. Evidence that Native Americans inhabited the area for hundreds and even thousands of years is present throughout the canyon. But concerning tourist hikers and backpackers, Cobb was dead-on accurate. With very few exceptions, Forbidding Canyon has been and remains undisturbed. We are unlikely to meet anyone.

This eight-day backpack will explore almost the entire length of Forbidding Canyon. The canyon is initially broad and gentle, and we will enjoy the canyon's many shallow pools and small waterfalls, pausing as we wish for a brief and welcome swim. As we descend further, the canyon deepens and narrows as it squeezes between Cummings Mesa and Navajo Mountain. With thousand-foot cliffs on both sides of the middle and lower canyon, we will cross and re-cross an inner canyon with near vertical walls and frequent pour-offs, often using a hand-line for assistance. We will admire the canyon's pools, now deep and dark, and will wade or swim through one.

Except for the last two days, the entire hike is cross-country and off-trail. Depending on our precise route, we may see cliff dwellings, pictographs and petroglyphs, and long-abandoned Navajo hogans, and we will have one layover day to explore the Slickrock homelands above the canyon. We will take an afternoon hike to Rainbow Bridge, one of the world’s largest natural bridges. Currently, there is no boat service to access the bridge and the only way to visit is by foot. The hike ends at the east Rainbow Bridge Trailhead.

This eight-day hike begins at Round Rock on the rim of Forbidding Canyon southwest of Navajo Mountain. The day-to-day itinerary will depend on the weather and canyon conditions, the group's progress descending the canyon, and the interests of trip participants. The trip ends when the group returns to the east end of the Rainbow Bridge Trail. Except for the brief visit to Rainbow Bridge, the trip is entirely on Navajo Nation land not open to the general public. We will visit the area with a permit from the Navajo Nation and as guests of the local Navajo.

Day 1: After a 2.5-hour road trip from Page to Navajo Mountain, we begin our adventure with an easy descent on a rarely used Navajo stock trail. We will camp beside a large deep-blue pool suitable for swimming.

Day 2: On this layover day, we will explore the upper end of Forbidding Canyon, possibly climbing out of the canyon on a sheepherder's trail to the top of Cumming's Mesa or visiting a remote cliff-dwellers ruin. 

Days 3-5: We backpack down Forbidding Canyon. Initially relatively flat and level, the terrain will become increasingly steep and challenging. Depending on our progress, we may have opportunities for side trips out of the canyon.

Day 6: We ascend a tributary canyon and climb over Redbud Pass to a campsite in Bridge Canyon. This afternoon we visited Rainbow Bridge.

Day 7: We will hike up Bridge Canyon a short way before heading northeast. This is our longest day -- 10 miles and about 1,000 feet of elevation gain and loss. After the summer monsoon, our way can be strewn with loose dirt and boulders, which may slow our progress.

Day 8: We finish our hike to the eastern side of Rainbow Bridge Trail, where our trip ends and we are picked up. We will enjoy a traditional Navajo taco lunch in our Navajo friends' hogan before heading back to Page.

Getting There

The leader will provide information for travel to Page, AZ, and for getting from Page to the trailhead. Page is about a four-hour drive from Phoenix Airport and Las Vegas Airport; Contour Airlines has affordable services from Phoenix to Page. Participants should arrive in Page by late afternoon on Saturday (the day before the trip starts) in time to attend a pre-trip meeting at 7 p.m. Do not make non-refundable travel reservations until notified to do so by the leader.

Navajo friends will provide transport from Page to our trailhead. This transport is partly on a rough road requiring a high-ground-clearance vehicle. Because the transport is not part of the Sierra Club trip, the cost – about $100 – is not included in the trip fee.

Accommodations and Food

All meals are included. We will prepare lightweight, vegetarian-friendly meals from dried and freeze-dried ingredients using recipes tested on previous trips. Participants with special nutritional requirements should contact the leader. Participants will share cooking and clean-up with guidance from the trip staff. The first meal is lunch on Sunday and the last is lunch on Saturday. Because personal preferences in hot drinks and trail snacks vary so widely, these are not included in the trip commissary.

Consumption or possession of alcoholic beverages is illegal in the Navajo Nation. We will demonstrate our respect for the Navajo by compliance with their laws. 

Pre- and post-trip accommodations in Page are not included in the trip. The page has numerous motels; the leader will provide information and recommendations.

Trip Difficulty

This trip is not recommended for inexperienced or acrophobic backpackers. Although the total backpacking distance (about 40 miles) would perhaps merit only a moderate rating, the rugged terrain makes this a more difficult trip and participants must be in good physical condition. Stamina will be less important than a high level of confidence on steeply sloped sandstone slickrock and the trip has no prolonged ascents or descents. We will use a handline in places to provide support and bolster confidence. Participants must be agile, nimble, experienced with walking on steeply inclined sandstone, comfortable with bouldering and scrambling in steep joint cracks with loose rock, and not distracted by heights. The rewards of the trip in scenery and solitude will be commensurate with the trip's difficulty.

The trip includes one 40- to 45-foot technical, roped, vertical descent. The leader will closely manage this and participants do not need rappelling experience. We will cross the canyon stream, Aztec Creek, many times and we will walk frequently in shallow water. In the lower canyon, we will wade or swim through some pools with water that may be 4-5 feet deep.

Forbidding Canyon is truly a labyrinthine maze. This topographical complexity and the fact that we are not following an established trail impose several constraints on participants. Most importantly, we must hike in a reasonably closely spaced group and participants who like to hike far ahead of the group or lag far behind should choose another trip. After we leave the canyon rim, participants are committed to the entire trip. Other than by helicopter, leaving early is impossible.

Equipment and Clothing

Complete backpacking equipment is required. The leader will guide the equipment. Due to the trip’s challenging terrain and the need to carry all of our food, modern lightweight equipment is essential. Personal equipment should not weigh more than 20 pounds; participants are also expected to carry up to 15 pounds of group food and commissary equipment. Participants must be able to carry all their equipment plus a share of the commissary – perhaps as much as 40 pounds in total backpack weight at the beginning of the trip. The leader will provide a detailed equipment list and equipment recommendations. 

Because much of our hiking is on smooth sandstone or sand, lightweight fabric, and leather hiking boots are ideal. We will not encounter long steep slopes with sharp jagged rocks such as are common in many mountainous areas so heavy mountaineering boots are excessive. 

September weather on the Rainbow Plateau is usually sunny and pleasant but participants should come prepared for extremes of hot and cold. In late September, pleasantly cool nights and warm days are likely but uncomfortably cold or, more likely, hot weather is possible. Nighttime lows in the 40s are possible as is rain. Daytime temperatures in the 70s and 80s are likely but may range from 40 to 90. Thunderstorms, relatively common in summer, are less likely in September but are still possible. While we have little risk of being caught in a flash flood because we won't be in a narrow slot canyon, we will need to be alert. The greater likelihood is that a flood might delay our progress through the canyon.

References

Books:

• Bernheimer, Charles, Rainbow Bridge: Circling Navajo Mountain and the Exploration of the “Badland” of Southern Utah and Northern Arizona. This book describes Bernheimer’s travels with John Wetherill on the Rainbow Plateau and around Navajo Mountain from 1921 to 1924.
• Babbitt, James, Rainbow Trails. Glen Canyon Natural History Association. A collection of stories and essays describing adventures on the Rainbow Plateau. Cobb’s essay, “Testifying, O Lord, As to Rainbow Bridge," is particularly colorful. Usually available at the Glen Canyon Dam visitor center.
• Roberts, David, In Search of the Old Ones. A readable account of the Anasazi from the perspective of a backpacker and amateur archaeologist. 
• Abbey, Edward, The Monkey Wrench Gang. A completely fictional fantasy about acts of eco-sabotage in the Southwest. Several of the incidents take place in or near Page. 
• Kluckhohn, Clyde, To the Foot of the Rainbow. This book, described as a tale of twenty-five hundred miles of wandering on horseback through the Southwest, was first published in 1927 and recently republished with photos of Lake Powell.

Maps:

• U.S. Geological Survey, 7.5-minute quad, Chaiyahi Flat
• U.S. Geological Survey, 7.5-minute quad, Rainbow Bridge

Website:

• https://www.richardfite.com/forbidden-heart-of-the-rainbow.html

Conservation

Discussion of conservation issues will focus on public lands and water in Arizona and southern Utah, including issues raised by Glen Canyon Dam and Lake Powell. We will discuss stewardship of the land we will be traveling on as described and practiced by the Navajo, how climate change has affected the area, and strategies for preserving this sacred place.

Sierra Club National Outings is an equal opportunity provider and when applicable will operate under permits obtained from U.S. federal land agencies.