Leaving in the nick of time.
A cold front came in overnight. It rained and blew during the night and turned to snow in the morning.
We packed up and got the hell out.
Dreary, dying Walker Lake.
We lucked out with good weather throughout the trip, with the one bad day occurring when it didn’t matter.
A cold morning at Cedar Breaks National Monument.
Cathedral Gorge: the formations start small …
We left Bryce early to start heading back home. We thought about doing a ride in the Panguitch Lake area, but the trails had too much ice on them.
We drove through the highest national park or monument in the U.S.: Cedar Breaks National Monument, 10,400’. It was butt cold and we only stopped long enough to get a refrigerator magnet at the ranger station.
We drove on across west Utah to Cathedral Gorge State Park outside of Panaca, Nevada.
… and get bigger …
Cathedral Gorge is a funky little park with a lot of eroded formations, like a mini-badlands.
We rode our bikes around a four mile loop to explore the park’s weird formations.
… and bigger.
A mini Grand Canyon.
The trail climbs to Miller Point, where you get a view of a very small version of the Grand Canyon.
Looping back.
On the loop back, the trail passes the “caves” area.
Spelunking?
The “caves” are actually long channels eroded in the soft clay. You can walk as far as a couple hundred feet back into the eroded cracks and tunnels.
Exploring another crack.
I had never seen erosion like this, with narrow cracks extending far into the hill.
Cracking up.
There’s dozens of these eroded channels.
We kept finding new ones to explore, walking far back in the hidden passageways to see how far they extended into the hillside.
A pillar next to some structures built by the CCC.
There are also a few old structures that were built by the Civilian Conservation Corps during the Depression.
Enjoying mesquite-grilled steaks around the campfire.
The Nevada state parks—although few in number—are the best I’ve seen anywhere. They’re cheap, clean, and they all have showers.
A panorama of Natural Bridge.
At the end of the Bristlecone Loop Trail.
We decided to use the day to drive around the entire park and see the sections we had never been to.
We didn’t do much hiking, just the Bristlecone Loop Trail at Yovimpa Point, located at the southernmost part of the park.
In our tent at the North Campground.
This time of year you find more foreign visitors in the national parks than Americans.
Our campsite section was deserted except for a group of Middle Eastern students who spent the entire three days discoursing non-stop about … I don’t know … maybe who’s better, Michael Jackson or Prince?
A short ways down from Sunrise Point.
We spent the day hiking the more scenic sections of Bryce Canyon.
Hiking on the Queens Garden Trail.
We hiked the Queens Garden Trail to Peekaboo Loop, and then up Wall Street to the Rim Trail.
Don’t push too hard.
The Queens Garden Trail is distinguished by large individual features.
Descending.
It was great weather for hiking, clear skies and not too warm.
Still descending.
As you drop down the single hoodoos turn into ridges and curtains of hoodoos.
Nancy is down there somewhere.
After the Queens Garden Trail we continued onto the Peekaboo Loop trail.
The Wall of Windows.
The Peekaboo Loop trail gets its name from the number of openings in the ridges.
Nancy digging the view.
The Wall of Windows is one of the most spectacular sections of Bryce Canyon.
Peekaboo!
After hiking the loop, we headed back up to the rim on the Navajo Loop through Wall Street.
Hiking up Wall Street.
Wall Street was closed the last time we were here due to a flash flood, but they’ve repaired the erosion and re-opened the trail.
The entire hike was about six miles.
A panorama of Zion at Canyon Overlook.
Just leaving the ravines and entering the hoodoos.
We left Zion early in the morning, fleeing our ratty campsite—Zion has the worst campgrounds. On the way out, we hiked a half-mile trail on the eastern side of the tunnel of the Zion - Mount Carmel Highway to see the view at Canyon Overlook.
Next stop, Red Canyon and Thunder Mountain.
Near the top of Thunder Mountain.
We rode a spectacular trail called Thunder Mountain a couple of years ago. It’s located in Red Canyon, about ten miles west of Bryce Canyon National Park.
When we rode it before, we parked at the bottom and rode up the bike path next to the highway. Nancy hated that section, so this time we parked at the top, and I volunteered to ride back to get the truck. Result, happy girlfriend.
The first bit of downhill.
There’s a few miles of up-and-down—ten ravines in a row through the trees—until you get to Thunder Mountain, which is just a high point, not a real mountain.
Cruising the ridges.
After that, it’s a ripping downhill through Bryce-like hoodoos and red rock formations.
Buenas vistas.
The weather was perfect and the trail was in great shape, with hardly any loose rock.
Stopping next to some hoodoos.
The trail is pretty easy, with nothing you would call technical. The only hard part is riding at 8,000’ if you aren’t acclimated to the altitude.
Nancy works her way down a steeper section.
If you wanted a really tough uphill, you could ride the singletrack back up. Maybe next time. Maybe not.
Navigating more hoodoos.
It’s almost all downhill from the high point of Thunder Mountain, culminating in a fast last mile ripping through the Jeffrey pines back to the highway.
Nice rolling singletrack.
Nancy waited at the tourist center while I chugged seven miles uphill to get the truck.
Thanks, sweetie.
The view from Observation Point. You can see trails cut into the cliffs in the lower left.
Hiking up the Observation Point trail in the morning.
For our second day in Zion we decided to hike up to Observation Point. It’s another trail with some dramatic exposure—the upper has been hacked out of a cliff.
Entering the coolness of Echo Canyon.
The trail starts the same as Hidden Canyon, but then branches off into Echo Canyon. This section is relatively flat and surrounded by walls of rock.
Beginning to switchback.
After Echo Canyon, the trail switchbacks up a steep ridge, winding through sharp ravines and small trees.
Beginning a section of cliff area.
Eventually, the trail comes around a sheer cliff face. At this point, the trail has been cut out of the cliff. There are no chains to hang onto—the trail is wide enough to not need them.
It’s a thousand foot drop at this point in the trail.
There’s a big ooh-ahh factor here—all of Zion Canyon opens up to you.
Zion Canyon, with Angels Landing straight ahead.
After winding through trees on the plateau at the top, you come out to Observation Point itself.
From here, I could see a lot of packs and bags caught in the bushes near the top of Angels Landing. It was apparent that many tourists’ packs had been blown off the top. Somebody with a rope and a harness could rappel down and make quite a score.
Descending down the trail.
After a long lunch at the top, we wound our way back down.
Hiking out of Echo Canyon.
The Observation Point trail is not as exposed as Angels Landing or Hidden Canyon, but it’s still way up there.
I think it would be best to hike very early in the morning, maybe before sunrise, so the sun is behind you when you reach the top.
Afterwards, we hiked the Kayenta Trail to the Emerald Pools as the sun was going down. This was by far the lamest hike in Zion. At dusk the Emerald Pools look more like wastewater treatment ponds. I didn't bother taking any pictures.
A panorama from the “The Point” of Gooseberry Mesa.
The Grafton Cemetery, dating to 1860-1910.
We planned to ride our bikes at Gooseberry Mesa, a trail south of Zion that is becoming well-known as an alternative to Moab. Unfortunately, we couldn’t find the right 4x4 road out of Rockville that goes to Gooseberry.
We got lost a couple of times, one time winding up at the Grafton Cemetery, an old pioneer cemetery next to the Virgin River, a relic of the ghost town of Grafton.
Finally at the trailhead, the start of the Windmill Loop.
We finally found the right road to Gooseberry, but we were discouraged from going that way due to the extremely slick mud from yesterday’s rain. There’s a nasty hill climb that’s treacherous after a rain.
We detoured all the way around through La Verkin, coming in from the south off of Highway 59. The dirt roads were fairly flat, but were still beat up with very slippery mud.
Near the beginning of the trail, with the mountains of Zion in the background.
Gooseberry Mesa is a seriously funky trail. It’s kind of similar to the Slickrock Trail at Moab, but with shorter drops, more dirt between rock sections, and the rock isn’t quite as smooth.
Nancy following the white dots that mark the trail.
The views are stunning. While on the trail, you can see the mountains surrounding Zion in the distance.
You can barely see the Red Bull Rampage in the left center of the picture.
The trails border cliffs on either side of the mesa, so you have cliff views as well.
Coincidentally, a big air bike contest called the Red Bull Rampage was going on far below us, just outside of Rockville. We could hear helicopters buzzing around, filming the competitors.
Bret drops into a rock gully.
Due to the piñon trees and twisty trail, you can never see very far ahead, so it’s one surprise after another.
Nancy buzzing through some beehives.
There’s a lot of technical rock sections. Even the hard ones aren’t that scary because the drops aren’t very big.
The western point of the ride. The mesa in the background is separated by a chasm.
We rode the North Rim Trail, following it west to “The Point,” where the mesa breaks off and has cliffs on every side.
We sat and had lunch, glad for the sunshine and perfect temperatures. Other riders came and went—we saw about twenty riders throughout the day.
Nancy dropping …
We followed the same trail back, and then cut through the “Practice Loop” trail. This part had more wide-open slickrock, and was a lot of fun.
… into a rock bowl.
Working our way back to the trailhead.
The whole trail is a lot of fun, especially if you like twisty, technical solid-rock sections with crazy views.
Now we just have a bouncy ride back to the highway.
This is a great trail to ride if you’re in that area, especially in combination with hiking at Zion. Just watch out on those dirt roads if it’s been raining.
