On the morning of the 23rd we got up somewhat early to head down to Zion (although not as early as we hoped since we forgot that Utah was an hour ahead of the time we had been on in Nevada). The hike we decided to do that day was in the Narrows, where the Virgin River goes through a thin slot canyon. The trail goes north from the last stop on the shuttle and then goes into the river where you wade up the canyon. The water was chilly, but did not feel bad as the temperatures warmed throughout the day.
We hiked up approximately three miles up the Narrows to a spot where a really deep pool was situated below some large boulders. Here we ate lunch and jumped off the boulders into the water.
scarlet monkeyflower (Mimulus cardinalis) at our swimming hole:
At this point we started making our way back, checking out a side drainage (Orderville Canyon) along the way. This canyon was less enjoyable as it was very muddy and there was a loud group of kids yelling back and forth to each other along the trail. When we turned back into the Virgin River out of Orderville Canyon, we were met with the sight of 100+ people trudging up the canyon like an army of zombies. We made more brief stops to boulder jump on the way back towards the shuttle. By this point my one sandal had broken so I declined to jump at the last swimming hole we stopped at (the broken sandal made it a joy to wade back out on the rocky streambed!).
After we got back to the car, we took the east entrance out of the park to take in the scenery there and on the eastern edge of the Dixie National Forest.
The next day we went back to Zion, but did another hike: the Angel's Landing trail. It was definitely one of the more interesting trails I've ever been on in that the upper stretch of the trail goes up a thin ridge of a butte where there are thick chains bolted into the rock used for making the ascent. There are steep drop-offs on the sides of the trail and apparently there have been several deaths along this trail from people plummeting the hundreds of feet down (kind of darkly comedic in regards to the name "Angel's Landing"; one of us suggested they change the name to Angel Proving Grounds).
Here is a group shot of myself, Gui, Cato, and Sam up on Angel's Landing:
In the afternoon we went back to the Dixie National Forest and drove some roads looking for a spring a coworker had told us about. The one road went through part of Cedar Breaks National Monument where we took in some scenic views and wildflowers.
Rocky Mountain columbine (Aquilegia caerulea):
White-crowned Sparrow:
Unable to find the spring, we headed back to check out an interpretive trail through a patch of bristlecone pines off the highway going towards our campsite. There were several of these large trees and loads of wildflowers along the trail. The short trail ended at a viewing platform facing a vista to the south where we could see some of the formations of Zion way off in the distance.
fireweed (Epilobium angustifolium):
Utah swertia (Swertia utahensis) ?? (at least a species in the Gentianaceae family):
Geranium sp. (maybe a pink variety of Richardson's geranium??):
Afterwords we walked up the road from our campsite to look for Crystal Spring. We first went up a trail into the forest for a ways where we could see some of the colorful rock formations of Cedar Breaks in the distance. Unsuccessful in finding the spring along that trail, we went back out to the trailhead and found two small springs in the meadow that must have constituted Crystal Spring. We met a family there, that was camping near us, who were geocaching in the meadow (a hobby that involves locating hidden time capsule-like objects using a GPS device with coordinates downloaded from geocaching websites). We searched around the area for the box until it was found well-hidden in a spruce.
skyrocket (Ipomopsis aggregata):
The next morning we broke camp and headed east to check out Bryce. We first stopped at a short trail at Red Canyon before we got to the park and then searched for a camping spot in the forest west of the park. To our dismay, almost every spot on that road was occupied by RV's and ATV enthusiasts. The one spot we did find available had biting flies, so we went back up the road to eat lunch and swim at Tropic Reservoir. Later on we decided on a campsite off another forest road not wanting to waste any more time. By mid afternoon we were at Bryce Canyon National Park and did the shorter Navajo Loop hike. Besides the spectacular scenery, one of the cool features of the hike was a tall Douglas-fir growing straight up out of a slot canyon.
Violet-green Swallow nests with two young peeking out of the one on the right:
Pygmy Nuthatches:
A pronghorn north of the park entrance, North America's fastest land mammal:
After we ate at a pizza place in the nearby town of Tropic, we did a primitive version of horseshoes using pine cones to pass the time before we built a fire. The moon was full that night and lit up the whole forest all night long. Here is a shot of the moon rising beyond our campfire:
Our last day had us up early to hike the Fairyland Loop trail at Bryce. More scenery, flowers, wildlife, and bristlecone pines were encountered on the way:
Steller's Jay:
Lastly, on our drive back to southern Nevada we stopped to see Cascade Falls in the Dixie National Forest. The falls are interesting in that they are the outflow of Navajo Lake, a body of water formed naturally from ancient lava flows that dammed up snowmelt. The water travels through lava tubes from the lake to where it pours out of a cliff forming these falls.
Definitely was an awesome trip!
No comments:
Post a Comment