Kissing Couple is a 5,815-foot-elevation (1,772-meter) sandstone pillar located in

Colorado National Monument Colorado National Monument is a National Park Service unit near the city of Grand Junction, Colorado. Sheer-walled canyons cut deep into sandstone and granite–gneiss–schist rock formations. This is an area of desert land high on the Colorad ...

, in Mesa County of western

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the wes ...

, United States. This iconic 400-foot-high tower is situated on the west side of Monument Canyon, 1.5 mile southeast of the monument's visitor center, and west of the community of Grand Junction. It is also a half-mile south-southeast of another popular climbing destination, Independence Monument, and both can be seen from viewpoints along Rim Rock Drive. It is so named because it resembles an embracing couple. This geographical feature's name was officially adopted in 1982 by the United States Board on Geographic Names. Older USGS maps have the feature's name misplaced by about one-half mile to the southeast. The

first ascent In mountaineering, a first ascent (abbreviated to FA in guide books) is the first successful, documented attainment of the top of a mountain or the first to follow a particular climbing route. First mountain ascents are notable because they en ...

of the summit was made May 4, 1960, by Layton Kor, Harvey Carter, and John Auld via the five pitch, route named ''Long Dong Wall''. The first free ascent was made in 1977 by Andy Petefish, Tom Stubbs, and Jim Pearson. Some climbers alternatively refer to Kissing Couple as "Bell Tower."

Geology

This tower is the remnant of a differentially eroded

fin A fin is a thin component or appendage attached to a larger body or structure. Fins typically function as foils that produce lift or thrust, or provide the ability to steer or stabilize motion while traveling in water, air, or other fluids. Fin ...

composed primarily of cliff-forming

Wingate Sandstone The Wingate Sandstone is a geologic formation in the Glen Canyon Group of the Colorado Plateau province of the United States which crops out in northern Arizona, northwest Colorado, Nevada, and Utah. Geology Wingate Sandstone is particularly ...

, which consists of wind-borne, cross-bedded quartzose sandstones deposited as ancient sand dunes approximately 200 million years ago in the

Late Triassic The Late Triassic is the third and final epoch of the Triassic Period in the geologic time scale, spanning the time between Ma and Ma (million years ago). It is preceded by the Middle Triassic Epoch and followed by the Early Jurassic Epoch. ...

. The thin

caprock Caprock or cap rock is a more resistant rock type overlying a less resistant rock type,Kearey, Philip (2001). ''Dictionary of Geology'', 2nd ed., Penguin Reference, London, New York, etc., p. 41.. . analogous to an upper crust on a cake that is ha ...

at the summit consists of fluvial sandstones of the resistant

Kayenta Formation The Kayenta Formation is a geological formation in the Glen Canyon Group that is spread across the Colorado Plateau province of the United States, including northern Arizona, northwest Colorado, Nevada, and Utah. Traditionally has been suggested ...

. The slope around the base of the Kissing Couple is Chinle Formation.Stanley William Lohman, ''The Geologic Story of Colorado National Monument'', Geological Survey Bulletin 1508, pages 28-30. The floor of the canyon is Precambrian basement rock consisting of gneiss, schist, and granites. The tower has a small

natural arch A natural arch, natural bridge, or (less commonly) rock arch is a natural landform where an arch has formed with an opening underneath. Natural arches commonly form where inland cliffs, coastal cliffs, fins or stacks are subject to erosion ...

which formed from an enlarged vertical

joint A joint or articulation (or articular surface) is the connection made between bones, ossicles, or other hard structures in the body which link an animal's skeletal system into a functional whole.Saladin, Ken. Anatomy & Physiology. 7th ed. McGraw- ...

. Precipitation

runoff Runoff, run-off or RUNOFF may refer to: * RUNOFF, the first computer text-formatting program * Runoff or run-off, another name for bleed, printing that lies beyond the edges to which a printed sheet is trimmed * Runoff or run-off, a stock marke ...

from this geographical feature drains to the

Colorado River The Colorado River ( es, Río Colorado) is one of the principal rivers (along with the Rio Grande) in the Southwestern United States and northern Mexico. The river drains an expansive, arid watershed that encompasses parts of seven U.S. s ...

, approximately three miles to the northeast.

Climate

According to the

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...

system, Kissing Couple is located in a

semi-arid climate A semi-arid climate, semi-desert climate, or steppe climate is a dry climate sub-type. It is located on regions that receive precipitation below potential evapotranspiration, but not as low as a desert climate. There are different kinds of sem ...

zone. Summers are hot and dry, while winters are cold with some snow. Temperatures reach on 5.3 days, on 57 days, and remain at or below freezing on 13 days annually. The months April through October offer the most favorable weather to visit.

Gallery

File:Kissing Couple and Monument Canyon.jpg, Southeast aspect from Rim Rock Drive File:Monument Canyon View, Eastward.jpg, West aspect from Rim Rock Drive File:Kissing Couple in distance.jpg File:Scenes from Rimrock Drive in Colorado National Monument 2.jpg, Independence Monument (left) and Kissing Couple (right) File:Colorado National Monument - Kissing Couple.jpg File:Climbers on Kissing Couple.jpg, Climbers on Kissing Couple File:Egypt Rock, Kissing Couple, Grand View Spire.jpg, Egypt Rock (left), Kissing Couple (center), Grand View Spire (right) seen from Monument Canyon Trail File:Kissing Couple detail.jpg, Kissing Couple detail File:Colorado National Monument aerial.jpg, Aerial view with Kissing Couple lower right

References

{{reflist

External links

* Weather forecast
National Weather Service
* Kissing Couple rock climbing
Mountainproject.com
Colorado Plateau Landforms of Mesa County, Colorado Colorado National Monument North American 1000 m summits Sandstone formations of the United States Rock formations of Colorado Geologic formations with imbedded sand dunes Climbing areas of Colorado

Geology

Climate

Gallery

See also

References

External links