Lynn Sessions

David and I hike to an obscure canyon of of South Draw in southern Capital Reek National Park. The 7.5′ topo maps indicate a “natural arch” there though we have been ‘skunked’ by this kind of map label before.

After a hard climb we reach the spot designated on the map only to find a large overhanging rock and no arch. There are no game trails into that area so we guess that the canyon has a dead end. We start to explore the area and find a nice B class arch just around the corner. The map may have the location off a few hundred feet.

In the alcove under the arch, any footprints should have been protected for many years but there are none. We do find the site of a very old camp fire though.

We continue exploring the canyon until a slot canyon becomes too skinny for my claustrophobia. However, we do see a large area of ‘arch country’ in the distance that we will need to explore someday.

After exploring a bit of this kind of country, there is no doubt in my mind that there are many undocumented natural arches out there.