New Years' Hog

Having spent most of December in Michigan with Jacqueline's family and most of the time after Christmas finding a place to live in Arvada, Jacqueline and I set out for Hite, UT on the north shore of Lake Powell. This was the place that my dad was finishing his last couple days of work before never having to work for the Park Service again. I was happy to drive out to Hite, especially so I could show Jacqueline all the beautiful scenery. We took most of the day on New Years' Eve to drive out to Hite and then spent an unexciting evening with my dad where we played cards until midnight, then went to bed. We awoke the next day to go for a short hike. I figured Hog Springs would be a good candidate since it was one I knew pretty well. We drove the twenty minute drive and parked at the rest area. Then we shuffled our way back into the canyon. It was pretty, but cold out. We got to the big pool and chilled there for a little bit. We continued on back and went just about as far as we wanted to go without attempting our scrambling skills. My dad made it out of Hog Springs at one point finding some old hand and toe holds put in by the Anasazi many years ago. We were not up for that kind of thing on this day, so we just turned around and headed down. All and all, the hike was about a four hour trip with lots of Navajo Sandstone to run around on. I don't know when I will get a chance to spend time at Hite again, but it has definitely offered me some prime backcountry to wander around in and definitely not see the signs of people.