Fun Question - where is the highest cliff touching the lake…
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Gem Morris
Keeper of San Juan Secrets
If it’s not Tapestry Wall I’d be surprised
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Jan Hertzen
Well-Known Member
This is at Peekaboo Arch, about 18 miles up the San Juan. I estimate it is about 800' above the high water mark and straight down.
Dorado
Keeper of San Juan Secrets
My butt cheeks are clenching just looking at that picture
Bill Sampson
Keeper of San Juan Secrets
I have stood in that exact location
Maverick5207
Escalante-Class Member
I was thinking the sameMy butt cheeks are clenching just looking at that picture
Jan Hertzen
Well-Known Member
Believe me, every movement was very very deliberate. I crawled out there from the left, and standing up was something I had to think about for a while before making the move.
Rob’SleekCraft
Active Member
powellglass
Active Member
Yes you have Bill! Now that was a great hike
powellglass
Active Member
I was thinking too it was Peekaboo arch.
nzaugg
Escalante-Class Member
The elevation at the top of Tapestry Wall (Mancus Point) is about 4,380 ft. At current water levels, that puts the top of tapestry at about 800 ft. above the lake surface. Seems pretty high up there!
Just below the Rincon (along what I call Wall Street), there are higher spots, but they aren't as steep to the water, though they are quite a bit higher.
There are a handful of spots (they look like spires) in the San Juan that go higher as well, but they aren't as tall as the cliffs south of the Rincon.
If the lake were more full, the area across from Wetherill Canyon appears to be the highest, dropping off of Billie Flat Top from an elevation of 4,720 or so feet.
Just below the Rincon (along what I call Wall Street), there are higher spots, but they aren't as steep to the water, though they are quite a bit higher.
There are a handful of spots (they look like spires) in the San Juan that go higher as well, but they aren't as tall as the cliffs south of the Rincon.
If the lake were more full, the area across from Wetherill Canyon appears to be the highest, dropping off of Billie Flat Top from an elevation of 4,720 or so feet.
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JFRCalifornia
Keeper of San Juan Secrets
I guess it all depends on how you define a "cliff." It is the straight vertical drop from the edge to the lake surface? Does it have to be straight? Does the talus slope at the bottom count?
It's a fun question to ponder. Some of those cliffs in the drainages in the back of Iceberg Canyon are pretty impressive. The back end of Bishop Canyon (the first right fork as you head up Willow Gulch) is another good one. Then there's the drop from the top of Cummings Mesa (5210) down to Wetherill Canyon. Not completely vertical, but impressive for sure.
But in terms of what I think of as a sheer cliff, it's got to be Tapestry Wall. Just for fun, here are two comparison photos from the same vantage point on the top, looking southeastward across the lake toward the mouth of Knowles Canyon. The first is from September 1999, when the lake was essentially full (3693). That's me with the apple. The second shot is the same view from September 1962, before the lake...
It's a fun question to ponder. Some of those cliffs in the drainages in the back of Iceberg Canyon are pretty impressive. The back end of Bishop Canyon (the first right fork as you head up Willow Gulch) is another good one. Then there's the drop from the top of Cummings Mesa (5210) down to Wetherill Canyon. Not completely vertical, but impressive for sure.
But in terms of what I think of as a sheer cliff, it's got to be Tapestry Wall. Just for fun, here are two comparison photos from the same vantage point on the top, looking southeastward across the lake toward the mouth of Knowles Canyon. The first is from September 1999, when the lake was essentially full (3693). That's me with the apple. The second shot is the same view from September 1962, before the lake...
kilojuliett
Active Member
Inquiring minds want to know. What is the wood contraption beyond you? it took some effort for someone to build that.
JFRCalifornia
Keeper of San Juan Secrets
I'm not entirely sure what that structure was, but it had some metal cables attached to it, so it wasn't purely decorative. You can see it wasn't there in 1962. That said, in the times I've gone to the top since 1999, that wooden structure slowly disintegrated, and by 2019 had just become a broken pile of rubble. Sometime between then and now, somebody erected an American flag at that point, clearly visible from the lake.
nzaugg
Escalante-Class Member
I've always thought it was a VHF repeater antenna, when looking at it from the water. Nice to see what it looks like up close. Some day I will convince somebody in the crew to hike to the top with me.
Dan Spitzer
Well-Known Member
At one time I had read that it was on old survey marker. Can't remember the source as it was some years ago.
JFRCalifornia
Keeper of San Juan Secrets
There is still a USGS benchmark up there. Here it is. I don't think the (now destroyed) wooden structure had anything to do with that marker, except that it was generally in the same location...
Curiously, the 1952 benchmark does not show the elevation, and calls the point "Mancus", while the resulting 1953 Mt. Ellsworth USGS quad does show the elevation at this point as 4385, but labels the point as "Mancos." Either the map or the marker has misspelled the word...
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