West 2006 Journal

It was a clear, cold morning in Springdale, Utah just outside Zion National Park. The stars were out in all their brilliance. I got up early to catch the shuttle to the Zion Narrows trailhead which left at 6:30. The drive to the trailhead went through the park and up a side road to Chamberlain’s ranch. The last half hour was over rough gravel like the Green River Lakes road in Wyoming.

The creation was peaceful and still early in the morning. There was almost no wind at all and the only sounds were the faint sounds of the Virgin River winding through the meadow and the occasional call of a crow. The sky was a deep blue and the sunshine warmed my chilled bones. A few cows on the ranch wondered at the strange creature walking by.

Memories came flooding back from two years ago. It was great to be back in Zion again.

There is a cabin along the road to the trailhead, now in ruins, the last remnant of someone’s dream. The door is gone and the roof has collapsed and a few scattered farm implements dot the meadow surrounding the cabin.

The plant life here is mostly pines and scrub brush. In some places the smell of sage fills the air.

After reaching the trailhead, I stopped to eat some breakfast and pump some water, only to find out my water filter doesn’t work. Instead I used iodine pills and will drink sparingly because the water is downstream from the ranch and who knows what bacteria live in the water.

I have already crossed the river four times and I am less than a mile from the trailhead. My feet and boots are already wet. There is much more water than two years ago. The water in the river is cold. I tried for a while to keep track of the number of river crossings, but I have lost count after about twenty in the first hour or so. In some places the canyon walls come down right to the river on one side. If this happens to be the side I am on, I have to cross again.

The reflected sunlight off the walls of the canyon is bright enough in some places to cast shadows. This reflected light intensifies the varied colors in the canyon, giving everything a warm reddish glow.

I have actually been in up to mid-thigh once and many times mid-calf to knee, but for all that, it is glorious down here. Where else could I be cold and wet and sniffling and be having the time of my life?

I have had two equipment problems but nothing too serious. The waist belt of my pack lost a clip but still stays together. My water filter also does not work, but there are other hikers who can help with minimal amount of water I need. I will be living on granola bars for two days to make more room for camera equipment.

It is now Monday evening and I’m back in the Zion Campground. Today was quite an adventure. Near the end of my hike last night my boots started coming apart. First the soles peeled most of the way off. It worked for a while to hold them in place with tape and string but eventually they peeled completely off. I started this morning with the sub sole, but that did not last long either. By the end of the day I was walking on the bottom sole stuffed inside my socks. I had kept these in a rare moment of clear thinking the last two days. Many people noticed and asked about the boots and two even took pictures.

I was wet almost all day too. A couple of times I was in water up to my rib cage and the majority of the time the water was at least knee deep. As I was wet most of the day and the air was cool, I was a bit worried about hypothermia.

How good the sun feels when you actually feel it on the rare moments when the direct sunlight reaches the bottom of the canyon!

Other than the equipment failures, the hike went okay. The canyon is beautiful beyond description. There are many places where trees grow along the banks and the birds perch in them singing. Big Spring is one such pretty spot. A natural spring comes out of the canyon wall, attracting birds and turning everything around it green. The black rock, with the green fauna and white water, is quite beautiful.

About two to three miles from the end of the trail I started meeting hikers coming up for the day. Two of these gave me much needed water in exchange for granola bars.

The end of the trail never looked so good. I was tired, sore and wet, but had to walk another mile barefoot to the shuttle stop. I rode the shuttle back to the visitor center, enjoying the scenery along the way. The Court of the Patriarchs and the rest of the canyon were in bright sunshine. The scenery in Zion N.P. is really amazing.

After I got back to the campground I waited for Phil to return from his day hike. I was so thirsty, and had no access to the car, so I left my camera as collateral at the store for a quart of Gatorade and a quart of water.

After Phil came back from his day hike, we showered and went for dinner at the Bit & Spur restaurant in Springdale. Having eaten nothing but granola for two days, I demolished a steak in near record time.

We usually turn in shortly after dinner as it gets dark early. This is a good time to write down some thoughts about each day.

Tuesday we got up fairly early because we had to go find some replacement gear. This has been the vacation of broken gear. In all my previous years backpacking and hiking I have had one water filter break. This trip I have had problems with my water filter, boots, Thermarest pad, backpack and tent. After an IHOP breakfast in Washington City, we got new boots and socks for me and some repair kits. Phil also got a new day pack.

The drive to Grand Canyon National Park after shopping was uneventful but very scenic. The reds of the Vermillion Cliffs, contrasting with the green of the sage and blue of the sky, make for some beautiful views. The cliffs jut up out of the desert floor like a giant castle wall. There are large talus slopes all along the formations, creating large slopes up to the cliff walls.

Highway 64 along the south rim of Grand Canyon offers many glimpses into this giant chasm. We did not stop along the way, as we had made the drive two years ago and have much to do before we hike down into the canyon tomorrow.

After setting up camp, we drove up to Yavapai Point to watch the sunset over the canyon, one of my favorite views in the entire West. Only sunset in the Alaska Range, with its long, drawn out dramatic color changes, rates higher. A chill, driving wind was blowing from the West.

Watching the shadows gather in the canyon is a fitting and glorious end to the day. Although the sunset was not very colorful as the skies have been cloudless, watching the unrivaled forms in the canyon change with the fading light is a remarkable sight. The warm light of the setting sun causes each formation to stand out from the others and the shadows give a great depth to the whole panorama. The colors in the canyon are much softer at sunset than during the midday hours when they are under the high sun. The canyon was somewhat hazy, causing the sun to cast long rays down to the shadows.

The weather has been extremely pleasant, around 75 during the day and much cooler at night.

And so I am in my tent again, after dinner in Tusayan, writing about the day. This writing helps me remember the trip so much better.

We also heard an enthusiastic, long- and grey-bearded ranger talk about the early history of the Canyon and the National Parks service. It is interesting how the canyon has turned from a great obstacle to early explorers, into a destination for millions. Teddy Roosevelt had much to do with the preservation of the canyon, wanting it left as it is. (Add more early history, Ives and steamboat)

Wednesday started out poorly and got worse. I woke with very sore knees, making it difficult to even walk the shortest distances.

The deer and elk are in rut right now and we saw several bucks this morning as we were packing up camp to begin the Hermit Trail walk. Two of the bucks were fighting and some others were rattling their antlers in the trees. A ranger told us that one man on his daily constitutional got attacked by a bull elk and ended up in the hospital in Flagstaff. This is not a good way to begin your day.

After a brief breakfast of reconstituted scrambled eggs at the Hermit's Rest trailhead and after loading up our packs, we began our hike down into the canyon. It soon became clear that this was not going to work because of my knees. Rather than risk having to be pulled out by rangers, we decided to change our plans. This was disappointing, but really the only realistic decision. The trails into the canyon are difficult enough in the best of health.

The dangers of hiking in the canyon are real and pervasive. Excessive heat the deeper into the canyon you go can quickly cause dehydration. Some people over-compensate by drinking too much water without eating enough salts and electrolytes, causing water intoxication, the symptoms of which resemble drunkenness. There is a story of a Boston Marathon runner who died in the canyon due to poor judgment and inadequate preparation posted in the back country office and other places.

After resetting up camp in Mather Campground, Phil went on a day hike along the rim and I went to the clinic to have my knees checked. It was nothing more than deep bruises and inflammation from Zion, as I suspected, but with seven or eight days of hiking left I felt it was better to be sure.

I hiked along the rim, slowly, for a couple of hours also, hoping to work some of the soreness out. Along the trail one of the rangers was giving a talk on canyon rim plant life to which I listened for 30 minutes or so. The ecosystem on the rim is diverse and interesting. The ranger introduced us to cliffrose, prickly pear, sage (also known as Artemisia,) Mormon tea, juniper, piñon pine and ponderosa pine.

Mormon tea contains pseudoephedrin and was used by the Mormons and Native Americans to make a tea which worked as a decongestant. Sage was used by the Native Americans in some of their spiritual rituals, because the pleasing smell of burning sage was believed to cleanse the area around which the sage was burnt.

Prickly pear is an edible plant, after the spines are removed, that is a good source of Vitamin C. This plant reproduces itself by cloning, as the seeds in the flowers rarely produce new plants.

Juniper and piñon pine grow close to the edge of the canyon as their roots are in cracks in the rock and they get many of their nutrients from the abundant limestone. Ponderosa pines grow a bit further from the edge as they require dirt for nutrients and are less able to withstand the wind on the edge of the rim.

One of the highlights of the day was spotting two California condors, a nearly extinct bird of which there are only about 270 left. These are divided into three populations, one of which, numbering about 60 birds, is in the larger Grand Canyon area. The other two are in California and the Baja Peninsula. These birds are rare because the females only produce eggs every other year and because they suffer from lead poisoning, from eating elk and deer which have been shot with lead buckshot. Condors are agile flyers, using their tail and wing tip feathers to maneuver on the wind currents as they look for food.

Walking along the rim is a marvelous experience. Watching the shifting shadows sail across the canyon, changing the scene minute by minute, is an inspiring sight that requires periodic contemplation.

I met with Phil around 5 o’clock and we again went to Yavapai point to watch the sunset. There were a few clouds in the sky lending some interest to the many photographs we took. Once again we watched the canyon turn from gold to red in the fading light of the westering sun.

As a fitting end to our activities of the day, we heard a small group singing "How great Thou art” on the canyon rim. How appropriate! One is sorely tempted to join in.

The weather today was cool and very windy. At 5p.m. it was 53 degrees and a strong force 3-4 wind was blowing. By the time the sun had set, it was below 50 and getting very cold. I expect we may see frost in the morning.

We have also seen many types of birds here. Besides the Condors, we have identified nuthatches, crows (of course), mountain bluebirds and Stellar's Jays, named for Wilhelm Stellar, the naturalist who sailed with James Cook when he was looking for the NW Passage.

We are camped near Moab in the KOA campground south of town. This is one of the nicest KOAs I’ve ever been in. Instead of having segregated bathrooms, they have ten separate ones each with its own toilet, sink and shower.

The drive over was uneventful but very scenic. All the different rock formations and colors are beautiful. They change constantly, from brilliant reds and yellows of the stratified rocks of the Grand Canyon to the large rusty white boulders, to the drab, brown blocks of sandstone in the Moab area.

The weather today was a bit warmer once we left the Grand Canyon area, but the forecast is for 65 and cloudy. We shall see what happens.

Our plans for tomorrow are to do some easy day hikes in the Islands in the Sky region of Canyonlands NP to see how my knees hold up. They still cause significant discomfort.

Friday was a bit of a mixed bag. The weather started out poorly as rain came in overnight and into the early morning. It is still very cold. As it was still raining around 8 we drove into town for breakfast. During breakfast the weather cleared partially so we proceeded with our plans for the day. Although it was windy and cold for the most part, we had no rain more than a few spatters and one brief shower of hail.

The colors in Canyonlands tend more toward browns and whites as the formations are mostly sandstone. The higher plateaus are reminiscent of the formations and colors of eastern Zion.

Our first stop was at the Visitor Center where we got oriented and talked briefly with the rangers.

We took pictures from the viewpoint at the VC out over the canyons toward the La Sal Mountains. The mountains were shrouded in heavy clouds all day through, and when they cleared partially just before sunset we could see that new snow had fallen. From the VC we drove up the road towards Grandview Point, stopping at Buck Canyon and some of the other scenic turnouts along the way.

We also took pictures of many of the plants native to the plateaus of the Canyonlands, such as Indian rice grass, winter fat, four-winged saltbush, sage and juniper. The saltbush was not salty, rice grass tastes like any other grass, winter fat was not fatty, and the Mormon tea did not decongest me.

At Grandview Point, about a two-mile (I don’t know how picky you are, but most numbers, at least 1-20 should be spelled out) walk, the highlight of the day, we could see over the Canyonlands in every direction except the one we came directly from. Although the colors and forms are much the same in all directions (the canyon walls to the north and east are redder), the stormy skies and occasional bursts of sunlight made for a delightful scene.

At White Rim Canyon Overlook, also about a 2 mile walk, the canyon rims are lined with a particular kind of white sandstone, sharply outlining the rims of the canyon, in contrast to the dark surroundings. This was a very quiet hike as we had the trail all to ourselves.

We also drove to Green River Overlook, the same Green River that has its headwaters in the Wind Rivers. Two or three large bends of the river are visible in the canyons, the green of the banks in vivid contrast to the desolation a few hundred feet above. John Wesley Powell started his 1869 journey through the Grand Canyon on the Green River. After leaving the Green River Overlook, we drove back to Moab because the weather was deteriorating again and we were both chilled from the wind and cold air.

Sunset on the La Sal Mountains was the final highlight of the day. The last rays of the setting sun were illuminating the lower, freshly snow-dusted slopes and were reflected onto the low hanging clouds above. There were still many dark storm clouds in the sky and the rain curtains were visible over the peaks.

The weather is supposed to clear tomorrow and the temperature is supposed to get to near 70 degrees. We have only had one or two days that have gotten over 70. We shall see what tomorrow brings.

Saturday was a much better day. Although we woke up to frost covering everything, the sun soon came out and started to dry things. I think it reached 70.

After a light breakfast in town we went to Arches National Park where we had spent some time two years ago. Two years ago almost everything was dry and brown. Because of rain the last two days the park was teeming with rejuvenated life. The desert floor was a riot of greens and yellows and there were small pools of water everywhere water could collect in the rocks and hard packed earth.

We began our hiking by walking Park Avenue, an area 2.5 miles from the park entrance. Park Avenue is between two walls of sandstone with three clearly defined layers. The walls are about 100 yards apart and the floor between them is littered with tumbled down boulders and juniper and piñon pine trees, and many smaller plants which scramble up the sloped floor and talus slopes taking root wherever they can find purchase. Although this was mostly in shade and there was a cool breeze blowing up from the lower part of the gap, we were warm enough. There were many pools of water from the recent rains reflecting the weird rock formations surrounding us and creating new scenes which we had not seen before in such arid lands.

The trail through Park Avenue is generally easy as it goes over much rock, the way marked with cairns. There are a few spots where steps have been cut to circumvent rough spots and keep people on a common trail.

The sky was a bright blue and spotted with occasional high cirrus clouds adding to the natural quiet beauty surrounding us.

My knees seem to be okay except for downhill. The extra shock makes walking still somewhat painful. They do recover much more quickly and do not seem to stiffen up as much when they are at rest.

We have seen very little wildlife in Arches, mostly crows, half tame, looking for handouts and small squirrels or chipmunks.

We stopped at a few of the other overlooks also, the nicest being those with the La Sal Mountains in the back ground. These were mostly cloudy still and looked as if they were getting more precipitation.

For our last hike of the day, we climbed up to Delicate Arch, some three miles one way and very steep in places. The trail is generally wide and easy as this is the most popular hike in the park. The plant life is much the same as the hike through Park Avenue although there are no walls and the formations are mostly Navajo sandstone, a lighter color than the Entrada sandstone in Park Avenue.

We missed Delicate Arch two years ago, and were both sorry we had. The view from the arch area is spectacular, the highlight being the view of the snow-capped La Sal Mountains through and alongside the arch. There were around 50 people at any one time in the area, but not generally enough to make staying disquieting. We spent around 2 hours, sitting out of the wind and in the sunshine, alternately dozing and taking in the majestic scenery. All in all, a very relaxing time.

After the hour long drive back out of the park, and supper in Moab, we returned to our tents and are both recording memories of the day. It is very quiet in the campground and almost everyone is inside. Soon we will be turning in for some sleep after a tiring day.

We hope to drive up to the La Sal Mountains and take the scenic Colorado River Gorge route tomorrow, ending the day with sunset at Delicate Arch.

Sunday morning we drove from our campground in Moab down the Colorado River Gorge scenic highway. The road offered many views of the river, which is a muddy brown. The cliffs on either side of the river are the typical layered red rock of the Moab area. We drove almost as far as Fisher Towers but turned back because the road got too rough.

Part way back to Moab we took the turnoff for Castle City, which sits on the main road into the La Sal Mountains. The drive up was very scenic, providing many views of the higher tree covered La Sals in contrast with the desert below. The newly fallen snow was an added bonus.

At one point along the road, which had not yet been plowed and was more of a two track, the sunlight was shining through the many aspens, giving the light a soft golden color.

Just past the summit of the main road, about 7800 ft, we came to a gravel turnoff for the Warner Lake National Forest campground. We decided to drive up the road, which was just wet until the last couple of miles where it was a two track through the snow. At times we wondered whether we should turn around, but as there was little room, without leaving the two track, we proceeded all the way to Warner Lake. Warner Lake, at 9400 feet, is located beneath the peaks and in the high meadows of the La Sal Mountains. The sun here at the campground is warm and there is a gentle breeze stirring in the branches of aspen forest, just beginning to turn gold in the cool autumn air. Occasional drops of melting snow and aspen leaves are falling around us.

Before me, a few miles away I see the snow covered peak of Haystack Mountain, reaching into the sky to over 11,500 ft. Warner Lake, frozen over, peaceful and calm, is a few hundred yards away. Six inches of new snow muffle all the few sounds around us. The sun on the snow is so bright it hurts our eyes. We have the place to ourselves and a more peaceful beautiful one could not be imagined.

As I look across the muddy track at my feet, footsteps through the snow mark the trail to Warner Lake. One side of the trail is bounded by a wall of golden-green and white stately aspens with their silvery white trunks, the other by a meadow marked at its edge by a forest of aspens and conifers. An old wooden fence marches along the edge of the meadow until it disappears at the far end of the lake. The smell of the aspen permeates the air, adding to the wonder of the beauty surrounding us. The aspen forest on the left of the trail gives way to Warner Lake. Through the trees I can see glimpses of some of the other peaks. Above the aspens at the far end of the lake, the pine forests of the La Sals march upward to the snowline of the highest peaks. A few lonely clouds drift and dissipate over the range.

The signs in front of me draw me to such places as Oowah Lake, Burro Pass and Dry Fork.

On the far side of Warner Lake is an upslope covered with pine trees which yield to the snowy slopes of another peak whose name I do not know. Sunlight is filtering through the birch and aspen forest. After reading and writing for a couple of hours we decided it was time to go back to town.

The ride down was uneventful, although the views of the mountains were spectacular.

After cleaning up our mess in the car, we drove into Arches National Park again to watch the sunset at Delicate Arch.

Delicate Arch sits on the lower edge of an oval bowl of sandstone, whose side gradually drops in height until 3/4 of the way around it is almost level with the bottom of the bowl. At various points around the circumference of the bowl are more rock formations and the bottom of the bowl is filled with dirt, out of which a few scrub trees grow. On the far side of the arch is a canyon, whose walls are covered with scrub pine and juniper. The rock in the walls is composed mostly of Navaho sandstone, with its typical brighter whites and reds. At various points along the high side of the bowl, the La Sals can be seen-through the arch. This view is the one so common in many pictures and for good reason. This is view we chose for our own pictures.

Although there were quite a few people around, most had the sense to stay out of the arch area itself, for the sake of the photographers.

Sunset itself is quite beautiful as the changing shadows and fading sunlight change the color of the arch. As the sun ends its daily circuit the stone of the arch gradually takes on a redder appearance until the last few moments before sunset when it turns a very deep red. These colors, in contrast with the pinkish light illuminating the La Sals in the distance are a marvelous sight. After the sun sets the arches own colors return, now muted in the twilight.

The walk down in the gathering darkness is soon over and another day in the glorious creation ends.

Monday morning, after breakfast of freeze dried scrambled eggs at the Visitors Center in the Needles district of Canyonlands National Park, we drove to the end of the road to reach the trailhead to Confluence Overlook, the place where the Green River flows into the Colorado. It was interesting that the Green River was brown and the Colorado was green. The hike to this overlook was "strenuous" to use the word from the guide book, because many ridges had to be climbed which involved a lot of boulders scrambling and crab-walking. There were many places along the trail where we could see the La Sal Mountains over the rocky desert scenery around us. The trail guided us through a lot of cryptobiotic crust (define) interspersed with other desert plant life, such as sage, winterfat and juniper trees. John Wesley Powell climbed out of the river gorge near here.

The following is a description of cryptobiotic crust taken from the Central Washington Native Plants home page at www.cwnp.org.

“Although at first glance the land in this region might seem barren and too harsh to support life, there are many communities of organisms that survive and thrive in such an environment. Soils in arid regions are full microscopic life which contribute to the formation of soils and the ecosystem's health. Microbial communities play a pioneering role in soils, forming a surface layer - called biological soil crust or cryptobiotic crust, helps to stabilize the soil and support other populations of life. The organisms which contribute to the formation of biological soil crusts include cyanobacteria, lichens, mosses, liverworts, green algae, microfungi, and bacteria.

If the soil remains undisturbed in arid regions, the cryptobiotic crust can cover much of the spaces between vascular plants. This crust can help to retain moisture the upper layer of soil, help prevent erosion, and provide nutrients for plants. Soil crusts are also thought to inhibit seed germination of a number of weedy species including cheatgrass.”

The trail back was a retracing of our steps so the scenery was much the same.

We decided during the return hike Monday to drive Tuesday to Antelope Canyon, a site famous for its sandstone formations. We were woefully unprepared to do this, as we needed tripods for photos and did not realize the number of people around. As Mark Twain once said of golf, it was “a good walk spoiled”.

We decided to take the long way back to Moab, the Route 89 and I-70 route. This is marked as a “scenic route” in the atlas but we were a bit disappointed. We did see a rather awful accident along I-70; a rolled over car in the ditch with a bloody guy lying on the shoulder. Something neither of us wanted to see.

On Wednesday we drove again to the Needles District, had freeze dried scrambled eggs for breakfast at the Visitor Center and hiked from the Squaw-Flat Campground.

Our trail this time led to the junction for Peekaboo Spring, and Squaw Canyon. We took the right fork for Squaw Canyon which led through much the same terrain at first as the Confluence Overlook trail. We soon, however, dropped down into Squaw Canyon, a delightful place filled with scrub oak, cottonwoods, aspen and juniper trees. The canyon was still damp in places from last week’s rain. These damp places attracted birds and other creatures. At times the trail was difficult to find because of all the underbrush.

After about 2 miles we climbed out of Squaw Canyon onto a ridge separating Squaw Canyon from Lost Canyon, the objective of the hike. Lost Canyon was also great, much the same as Squaw Canyon.

The hike climbed a few ridges, but was generally easier than the Confluence Overlook hike.

Tomorrow we begin the long journey home. It was a good trip as spending time in this glorious creation always is.