SW Trip Day 15 - Great Basin N.P.

Our campsite at the Lower Lehman Creek Campground.

11/08/06 Wednesday

We spent yesterday driving across the great nothing of western Utah to get to Great Basin National Park.

Touring the Lehman Caves.

We skipped trying to hike Wheeler Peak because we had to drive home later. Instead, we took the Lehman Caves tour.

Is that a stalagmite in your pocket …

It’s a cool little cave with plenty of features to look at.

Early visitors wrote their names on the ceiling with candle smoke.

One section had graffiti left by visitors going back to the 1920s.

Pointy.

After the tour, we headed back home on Highway 50, The Loneliest Road in America.

SW Trip Day 13 - Riding the Slickrock Trail

It’s called the Slickrock Trail for a reason.

11/06/06 Monday

We came to Moab primarily to ride the world-famous Slickrock Trail.

The trail was originally created by motorcyclists (who also use the trail), but its popularity took off with the popularity of mountain bikes.

You can see Arches Natl. Park in the distance.

This was our first experience riding on slickrock, which is not slick at all, but has the grip of sandpaper.

The trail is 90% solid rock with the occasional sandy gully. It’s bizarre riding on solid rock all the time—you have to re-think how you ride and what is rideable.

Chugging up a steep hill.

The trail is very technical—you have to be a pro-level rider to clear the entire route. It has a lot of short, steep, up-and-downs.

It constantly challenges your level of commitment, as a fall on the sandstone will cost you a large patch of skin.

The cliff drops a thousand feet to the Colorado River. A group of riders sang “Happy Birthday” to Nancy here.

It’s a crazy area: you can see four-wheelers a short distance away, you share part of the trail with dirt bikers, there’s a national park in the distance, the Colorado River is 1,000’ below you, all in an area that would be a national monument in any other state.

Toward the end of the ride, we started getting more comfortable riding in this alien environment, but boy is it different.

SW Trip Day 12 - Natural Bridges to Arches NP

This is Kachina bridge as seen from the road.

11/05/06 Sunday

We camped in Natural Bridges’ little campground, and got up early to hike around a little bit before driving to Moab.

A panorama of the Owachomo Bridge, the largest of the bridges. You can see Nancy underneath it.

Balanced Rock.

We found an RV campground in the middle of Moab and made a half-day tour of Arches National Park.

The trail leading to the Windows section.

We went for a couple of quick hikes around the arches, starting at the Windows section.

The hills have eyes.

The Windows trail has a number of large arches.

The hike to Delicate Arch is mostly slickrock.

We then made the 3-mile roundtrip hike to Delicate Arch.

The final bend before Delicate Arch.

The trail doesn’t offer much scenery until the very end.

Iconic. License plate-ish.

There are signs advising visitors not to be “arch hogs” and stand under the arch, so as not to interfere with people taking pictures.

Didn’t matter; one hippie dude was camped out underneath it the whole time.

The Fiery Furnace viewpoint.

We did a couple more short walks and viewpoints as the light started fading.

A view of the La Sal Mountains.

We wished we could have spent more time in the park, but we set a pretty ambitious itinerary, with mountain biking in Moab tomorrow.

SW Trip Day 11 - Arizona to Utah

Montezuma Castle National Monument.

11/04/06 Saturday

We got up early at Diane’s to drive back to Utah. Our first stop was at Montezuma Castle National Monument, south of Flagstaff. This is a pueblo ruin used by the Sinagua people for over 400 years.

There is a short little walk under the ruins, but unfortunately you can’t go inside.

Sunset Crater.

Our next stop was at Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument, just north of Flagstaff. This area is very similar to McKenzie Pass in Oregon, only smaller.

Typical tourists.

We drove through Monument Valley, but we didn’t get there until evening and didn’t have time to explore.

Iconic imagery.

Monument Valley is a Navajo tribal park, and to get the best views you need to go on a guided tour.

John Ford country.

Unfortunately, we only had time to take a few pictures from the highway.

The Valley of the Gods as seen from the top of the Moki Dugway.

Our stop for the night was Natural Bridges National Monument. On the way we went up a crazy road called the Moki Dugway. The Moki Dugway is a steep climb up a series of switchbacks in the Valley of the Gods. When you’re approaching it, you can’t see the road—it looks like you’re going to drive straight into the canyon wall.

The Valley of the Gods is like a miniature Monument Valley, but we didn’t have time to explore it, either.

SW Trip Days 7-10 - Arizona

A view of the rim from the west drive.

10/31/06 Tuesday

We slept in after our hike yesterday and took it easy on our sore legs, touring the west drive until noon. Viewing the Grand Canyon from the rim is pretty anti-climactic after hiking down to the bottom, so we just limped around, perusing the exhibits.

My calves hurt too much to do a mountain bike ride outside of Flagstaff, so we just drove south to Cave Creek, which is next to Scottsdale, which is where Nancy’s buddy Diane lives.

On the way down, we witnessed the slightly bizarre sight of trick-or-treaters coming out at sunset in the slightly bizarre town of Sedona. It symbolizes something, but I’m not sure what.

On the Pinnacle Peak Park trail.

11/02/06 Thursday

We spent several days in Cave Creek, visiting with Diane and her husband Mike and letting the lactic acid slowly seep out of our legs. There’s a short hike near their house in Pinnacle Peak Park.

Wow, a golf course in Scottsdale.

The trail is three miles out-and-back and gains about 300 feet. It’s also a nature trail, with exhibits pointing out the various cacti.

Saguaros are the Lord’s way of giving you the finger.

It was apparent on the trail that Arizonians have their thermostat set at a different temperature than us mountain folk. The temperature was in the upper 80s, so of course we were in shorts and T-shirts, but a surprising number of hikers on the trail were wearing full sweatsuits.

We kept saying, “Aren’t they hot?” but nobody was sweating except us.

SW Trip Day 6 - Grand Canyon

Bright-eyed and bushy-tailed at Yaki Point.

10/30/06 Monday

Somehow, I talked Nancy into hiking the Grand Canyon from top to bottom and back in one day. We chose the South Kaibab Trail because it’s the shortest route to the bottom and is more scenic than the Bright Angel Trail. The South Kaibab is 13 miles round-trip, with 4,800’ of vertical.

We got up early, hoping to be on the trail by 6:00, but due to the park’s screwy shuttle system we didn’t start hiking until 7:00.

Checking out the view at Ooh-Ahh Point.

The South Kaibab Trail is a ridge trail, so there are great views along most of it’s length. The first buena vista is Ooh-Ahh Point, which is about a half-mile down the trail.

It was very cold and windy and we had to hike fast to stay warm. I was glad it was so cold—no chance of dehydration.

Early morning on the South Kaibab, on Cedar Ridge with O’Neill Butte below.

There are outhouses (but no water) at a couple of points on the trail. The first relief area is at Cedar Ridge, which is 1.5 miles (1200’ vertical) below the rim.

Oh-oh, we’re starting to dress alike.

There are a zillion signs warning hikers not to hike the entire canyon in one day. The park rangers get tired of fishing dehydrated vacationers out of the canyon every summer, to the point that they provide no maps of the entire trail because they don’t want you hiking it.

Cedar Ridge is the limit they recommend hiking. It is STRONGLY RECOMMENDED that you DO NOT go any further, or (insert photo of dead tourist)THIS COULD BE YOU!

Nancy is a speck on the trail, 1200’ above the river.

After 4.5 miles and 3400’ of vertical is a section called “The Tipoff,” the final steep section before the bottom.

We hustled quickly down the trail, taking few breaks, conscious of how short the day was and how much time we would need to get back.

A view of the white bridge, which connects to the Bright Angel Trail.

At 3600’ down (or 1200’ above the river), you get glimpses of the Colorado and the bridges below. We were almost entirely in shade the rest of the way to the river, switchbacking on red rock similar to the red cinder used on highways in central Oregon.

Rawhide!

As we approached the Black Bridge and the Colorado River, we had to wait for a mule train to pass. Their ability to negotiate the rocks and steps is remarkable.

Enjoying the flat part of the trail.

After three hours of endless, loose, rough stairsteps, we made the bottom. I don’t like down-hiking (that’s what skis are for), and my legs were shaking from the thousands of log steps on the trail.

Nancy with a cold can of Coke, and her feet in the cold Colorado.

Nancy’s goal was to dip her pink toenails in the Colorado River—she kept saying that she couldn’t believe she did it. It was hot at the bottom—in the mid-80s. We were so glad we didn’t hike it in summer.

The days are short in late October and we didn’t want to finish the hike in the dark, so we limited ourselves to a half-hour at the river before heading back up.

Still smiling after climbing 1000’.

The first thousand feet up was easy. Nancy was motoring—I could barely keep up with her.

About 1200’ above the river, with the Zoroaster Temple in the background.

The next mile was fine; still in the shade.

Hiking above the Tonto Trail junction, about 1600’ above the river.

You tend to think of the Grand Canyon as one continuous cliff, but there is a broad bench about 3000’ below the rim called the Tonto Platform.

This section—from the Tonto Trail junction to the halfway point of the trail—takes the most out of you because there’s no relief from the sun.

Near the halfway point. Hiking up…

It never got hot enough to sweat much, but we felt the sun just the same. This part would be brutal in the summer.

...and up…

Our pace began slowing at this point, and we took a long break at the halfway point to fuel up and watch a chipmunk battle two crows for our crumbs.

...and up…

The section below Skeleton Point is cut into the cliff, with some dramatic dropoffs.

...and up...                        ...and up...                        …and up.

Trudging up from Ooh-Ahh Point—only 500’ of climbing to go!

We took another long break at Cedar Ridge, with 1200’ of climbing still ahead of us. We left a large safety cushion of time to get back, so we were able to take our time at this point.

We only saw three other hikers doing the entire trail in one day, but near the top we ran into many more tourists who had come down to Ooh-Ahh Point and Cedar Ridge to take pictures.

200 more feet!

The final section is a series of switchbacks cut into the Kaibab Limestone formation.

THIS COULD BE YOU!

Nancy never thought she would hike the Grand Canyon. I didn’t think about it either. I just figured, since we’re here, let’s do something besides stand on the rim and take pictures.

I think it took us about five and a half hours to hike back up. It was well worth the effort. The scenery is stunning and I recommend it to anyone in reasonably good shape. Just don’t do it in the summer.

SW Trip Day 5 - Bryce Canyon

Sunrise at… well, Sunrise Point.

Gettin’ the worm.

10/29/06 Sunday

Unfortunately, we didn’t have enough time to spend an entire day at Bryce, so we decided to take a quick hike in the morning and hit the road south.

I got up early and walked from the campground over to Sunrise Point to watch the sunrise. Actually, every point at Bryce is a sunrise point, because they all face east.

Nancy on the Navajo Loop with The Sentinel in the background.

We took a short hike on Navajo Loop at Sunset Point. Part of it was closed due to washouts, so we couldn’t complete the loop or see Wall Street.

Thor’s Hammer and the Three Something-or-Others.

The Navajo Loop is the most popular hike at Bryce. It takes you past some of the most delicate features of the park.

More wiggles.

I remember this trail from when I was six years old. I don’t remember how far we hiked, but it was so hot that my mom took a knife and converted her long pants into cutoffs on the trail.

So long, Bryce!

Once again, I wish we had more time to stay in one spot and do more exploring. However, we wanted to reach Grand Canyon before dark. Fortunately, I found a shortcut.

Hello, road from hell! The start of the road through Escalante National Monument.

The map showed a road heading south from Bryce through the Escalante National Monument down toward Grand Canyon. I didn’t realize it was a dirt road prone to washouts, and that it had washed out only a few days previous.

No one could tell us if it was passable, or where it had washed out. Turning around meant a long, half-day drive going back almost to Zion, so we decided to go for it.

Descending into Cottonwood Canyon.

The road was so rough that it took us three hours to drive 44 miles. Occasionally we passed gullies that had washed out recently and been filled back in by a grader. I think it would’ve been just as fast to go the long way around.

It was startling to be in an area where roads rendered unusable not by snow, but by rain.

Almost to the highway.

The sign at the southern end of the road said “Impassable When Wet.” No kidding!

We hustled down the road and made it to the Grand Canyon just before dark. Long drive, and a long day tomorrow…