Argument AGAINST Deletion - by Duane McRuer The future for Navajo Mountain as a listed "Desert Peak" again appears to be in doubt--isn't this at least the third time it has been proposed for d-listing? The usual arguments cited for dumping Navajo have some modest merit if one takes then at face value; "it's a drive up; it's a long way off; there's a repeater on an undistinguished and relatively flat top; and it's a "holy" mountain for the Navajo". Navajo certainly isn't one of my favorites, but let's try to provide some balance. Yes it is possible to drive up the extremely rough road-- if one is a very aggressive and carefree driver in a four wheel drive vehicle (preferably owned by someone else!) with a multicar support party. I was with a 4WD car and driver both times I climbed the mountain--the first time we were stopped by a road block in the guise of a dead horse (with a ripe odoriferousness reflecting the casualness of road mamntenancel; the second time by some extremely steep, gravelly sections and a reasonable caution that lack of any support within miles tends to engender in an owner-driver! In a very informal survey of 4WD-owner desert peakers who had climbed the peak only one of seven indicated that they had been able to "drive up"--the rest were all stopped on the way. Yes, it is a very long drive. So, unfortunately, are Ruby Dome, Wheeler and others which we continue to treasure while complaining. Yes, the summit area includes a repeater. It also has fantastic set of remarkable world class views which do require some movement about the flat, forested, summit area to see-Monument Valley, the broad expanse of the Navajo reservation, and Rainbow Bridge. Few other desert peaks have that kind of prospect! Yes, it's a "holy" mountain; so is Humphreys and some other peaks in the area. When I last climbed Navajo (September. 89'), the tribe had posted a large sing--"Welcome White Man"--alongside the rude track up the peak, hardly an indication that outsiders were unwanted! Also, many would take the position that the "holy" character of the mountain make it a very desirable peak to have on the list. There are other reasons for Navajo to be retained on our list. The first is that it exposes us to a major Southwest area including the Navajo reservation. An idea basecamp/gathering spot just a few miles away is Navajo National Monument (one of the very few National Monuments wnere the campground is both excellent and free), which teatures cliff dwellings and interesting canyon view of its own. From the Monument Navajo Mountain is a short drive on mostly paved roads. A somewhat more esoteric view of Navajo is its unique character among the listed desert peaks--it is the only laccolith on the list! A laccohith is the result of a forceful injection of an igneous intrusive body into the generally horizontal strata of the Canyonlands area that domes up the overlying strata without bursting through--kind of a gigantic pimple with an igneous filling! Now who could possibly vote to remove such a wondrous geological phenomenon, especially since it's the solitary representative of its kind on our list!

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