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"What shall we name those four unnamed formations
standing erect above this end of The Maze? From our vantage point
they are the most striking landmarks.... In a far-fetched way
they resemble tombstones, or altars, or chimney stacks, or stone
tablets set on end."(Edward Abbey, Desert Solitair,
a Season in the Wilderness, Simon & Schuster, New York,
1968)
When Edward Abbey first wrote
these words he was standing on the Maze Overlook (page 217) looking
at what we now call the Chocolate Drops. The Maze has since been
protected as a part of Canyonlands National Park, and consequently
it is still possible to share the feeling of wonderment that
Abbey must have experienced forty years ago.
The Chocolate Drops formation consists
of four vertical rectangular shaped columns of Organ Shale that
rise almost 200 feet above the ridge separating South Fork Horse
Canyon from Pictograph Fork Canyon. They are one of the most
prominent landmarks in the Maze and can be seen from miles around.
The trail described here also passes by a half dozen other pillars
of Organ Shale on its way to the Chocolate Drops. These formations
are all part of an area known as the Land of Standing Rocks.
Follow the cairns from the parking
area around the east side of the large monolith beside the road,
then on towards the other spires farther out on the plateau.
All of these formations are the unlikely remains of a 200-foot-thick
layer of Organ Shale that once covered Canyonlands. By now, however,
the unrelenting forces of erosion have almost completely removed
the crumbling rock from the area, and only a few pinnacles of
red shale still remain. After about thirty minutes the trail
passes by the next group of Organ Shale formations, including
one particularly picturesque mound that is topped by an enormous
balanced rock. So precarious is the capstone that it is hard
to pass beneath it without unconsciously walking a little faster.
From the balanced rock to the first
Chocolate Drop is about three miles. The route is well marked
with cairns and not difficult to follow. It is generally an easy
walk across level ground, however at one point some minor scrambling
is necessary to get to the bottom of a low spot on the ridge.
If you look to the right when you reach this point you will find
an easy way down the slickrock to the bottom of the incline (about
50 feet lower), and beyond this point there are no additional
obstacles.
As you walk northward along the
ridge you can frequently peer into the bottom of Pictograph Fork
on your right. At one point you can look directly down at the
Harvest Scene pictograph panel (page 218). From the trail the
panel is almost three-fourths of a mile away, however-too far
to recognize any of the pictographs. When you finally reach the
last Chocolate Drop on the end of the plateau you will also have
a clear view of the trail down from the Maze Overlook. |
