Hurrah Pass
The name "Hurrah Pass" alludes to the joyful
exclamation of a mountain biker arriving at its top,
exhilarated by cycling and scenery. At least that's my
theory. OHV riders are not immune to the sentiment either.
"You are supposed to say Hurrah" said one woman,
getting off her motor bike with four wheels to the white
haired grand mother sitting on the back.
"Hurrah" sand the white haired grandmother
quietly.
Actually the name seems to be making fun of this
sentiment. After all, the other side goes to a`place named
"chicken corner", not one of the locations with
fear inspring names like Poison Spider Mesa or respectably
sounding Golden Strike Trail. But this is a named pass (
the subject of these pages ) and a beautiful one at that.
picture
page
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1.(3980ft,mile00) START-END NORTH:
road leaves Colorado River south of King's bottom.
2.(4190ft,mile07) junction with trail up Cane Creek
3.(4780ft,mile10) TOP: Hurrah Pass
4.(3980ft,mile14) junction with double track trail
on left
5.(3870ft,mile15) START-END SOUTH: low point where
road crosses a wash |
 Approaches
From North.
A paved road follows the south side of the Colorado River from Moab. A
sign warns of extreme cycle racing and Hurst traffic, if I interpret
the pictorial sign language correctly. A picture of the sign is
included in picture page. The road turns to dirt and away from the
Colorado up Cane Creek. It crosses a low ridge and descends into a
slot, from which an exit is not visible until you get down into its
depths. After another small climb the road enters a wide valley, whose
width is exactly defined by vertical red walls. After the Kane Creek (
or "Behind the Rocks" ) route diverts to the left, the road becomes one
single crazy spaghetti that slurps its way to the top by following
every curve of every rim along the way. By doing so the route travels
upwards in elevation (obviousely), but downwards through geologic time,
as you traverse five separate geologic formations tilted into an upward
fold. This structure, knows as the Kane Creek anticline, is resposible
for the incredible diversity in all things rocks, in this corner south
west of Moab.
The best place to view this is from a vantage
point, that is one Wingate cliff higher, but oh-so-far to reach, the
end of the Anticline Overlook road, a dead end road reachable by
turning off US191 about 20 miles south of Moab and the then returning
north another 20 miles (also a good bike ride)
From South. The description of the
approach start where the road is practically on the level of the
Colorado River. From a pedalling stand point the short approach has
roughly three sections. First: sand, second: gravel, third: hard rock.
From a geologic standpoint, the ride starts in the formation under the
one encountered at the summit, named the Elephant Canyon formation.
Here it happens to be harder than what is underneath and has caused the
creation of some shallow, intricate canyons. The road then catches a
short ride on ledges of the Cutler formation to the top.
Tours
Dayrides. An out and back ride from Moab to Chicken
Corner, going over the pass twice measuered 41 miles with 3000
ft of climbing (which is slightly high due to a low battery)
in 4:4 hours on a very hot day (m3:07.05.25)
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Utah's summits and passes
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