Just beyond the turnout the road curves left through a cut in the
Wingate Sandstone and ascends the east side of Fruita Canyon. About a
quarter of a mile from the parking area we get a good view (fig. 44) to
the west of the new earthfill on Rim Rock Drive between the two tunnels.
The original fill was washed out in a few minutes on August 8, 1968, by
a cloudburst that dumped an estimated 4 inches of rain on the mesa west
of Fruita Canyon. A culvert beneath the road just north of the north
tunnel was wholly unable to cope with the resulting flood, part of which
plunged over the cliff but most of which roared southward through the
tunnel. According to the only known eyewitnesses—a couple from Ohio
whose car was stalled in 18 inches of swift water in the lower tunnel—an
estimated 4 feet of water flowing through the north tunnel soon
separated the two tunnels by a gaping chasm and flowed down where the
fill had been but moments earlier. They jockeyed their car back and
forth in the south tunnel and retraced the route back toward Fruita.
Later I viewed the chasm from the portal of the north tunnel and found
it awesome indeed.
[Illustration: NEW FILL ON RIM ROCK DRIVE BETWEEN TWO TUNNELS ON
WEST SIDE OF FRUITA CANYON, looking west from east side of canyon.
Previous fill was washed out by flash flood, as described in text.
(Fig. 44)]
[Illustration: Petroglyph]
The road remained closed for 1½ years until December 20, 1969, much to
the annoyance and discomfort of both visitors and Monument
personnel—particularly the latter. During the summer, the usual 16-mile
daily round trip to the post office in Fruita via the West Entrance was
increased to about 80 miles by way of the East Entrance. During the
school season, wives of Monument personnel took turns driving a station
wagon full of children on two daily round trips to the schools and post
office in Fruita. Note in figure 44, taken only 6½ years after the road
was reopened, that small gullies already have been cut in the lower half
of the new fill. Another local cloudburst could remove the new fill, but
let us hope this does not happen!
On the next curve to the east the road cuts entirely through the red
Chinle Formation, which here has a measured thickness of 103 feet.[37]
From the base of the Chinle to about the creek crossing the road cuts
expose the old Proterozoic metamorphic rocks, which here have a purple
hue.