Hot Valley
Hot Valley, better known as Hop Valley, was our assignment on the schedule for this beautiful 110 degree day in July. Jonathan, our volunteer for the season, and I had no choice but to head into what we knew was not going to be a very enjoyable day. The nice part about going for work is that we get an early start and we got to drive the government rig. We hit the Hop Valley TH at a little past nine. It was already near one hundred. I came extra prepared on this day, bringing with me five liters of water. We headed across the sandy plain. The trail was in great condition, nearly 100 percent sand. The other time I had done Hop Valley was in the early spring when it was muddy. I could not tell which was worse. The flat sandy, sage brush filled plain seemed to go on for hours, but it was probably only an hour until we dropped into what actually was Hop Valley. After looking at the terrain and putting my geology experience to work, I realized that Hop Valley must have at one time been a lake. I confirmed this later and the largest tell tale sign was how incredibly flat the valley was. There was a small very slow moving stream which we would have to cross. I was glad that I brought all the water that I did, which I was drinking rather swiftly, though, because there was no way that I was going to drink the water coming out of the stream. This was because of the only reason why Ray would send us into Hop Valley in the middle of summer anyway: the cows. 
I was getting all fired up because I thought that the cows we were running into were on Park land. I took a ton of pics, but it turned out that they were on their legal private inholdings where they were strongly destroying the resource. I was a bit worried about these guys, too, because there were a couple of bulls mixed in with the cows. They did not seem too happy to see the two of us, so Jonathan and I carried with us a big stick to use in case one started to charge. When we got to the actual Park Service gate, we realized that the cows were legally on their side, though. Later we learned that Rich from Kolob chased the cows back just a day before. Jonathan was all pumped to go out to Kolob Arch. I was not about to let him down. So we headed up through the only trees and shade that we would have all day and then dropped into La Verkin Creek. I was stoked to see the creek flowing very strongly. It had been some time since I saw La Verkin Creek, so this was a pleasant surprise. We were 
able to make it up to the arch after another mile, for a halfway total of seven miles. After the arch, we went to the creek to refill our water bottles that were now near empty. It made a big difference as both of us were still feeling good because we were well hydrated. We knew we were going to have to haul to make it back by the time we got off work, so we just put our heads down and moved. Since we checked the campsites on the hike up, which were empty as we assumed, we could just go. The cows left us alone and the water kept being drained as this day was so incredibly hot it was hard to believe. We walked the long, sandy seven miles back to the government rig and both of us were very happy to see it. We each drank two gallons of water in one day, but speaking for myself, I only used a friendly bush once on the whole hike. It just reminds us that carrying a couple extra pounds of water weight can only provide for a more enjoyable hike rather than vice versa.
I was getting all fired up because I thought that the cows we were running into were on Park land. I took a ton of pics, but it turned out that they were on their legal private inholdings where they were strongly destroying the resource. I was a bit worried about these guys, too, because there were a couple of bulls mixed in with the cows. They did not seem too happy to see the two of us, so Jonathan and I carried with us a big stick to use in case one started to charge. When we got to the actual Park Service gate, we realized that the cows were legally on their side, though. Later we learned that Rich from Kolob chased the cows back just a day before. Jonathan was all pumped to go out to Kolob Arch. I was not about to let him down. So we headed up through the only trees and shade that we would have all day and then dropped into La Verkin Creek. I was stoked to see the creek flowing very strongly. It had been some time since I saw La Verkin Creek, so this was a pleasant surprise. We were 
able to make it up to the arch after another mile, for a halfway total of seven miles. After the arch, we went to the creek to refill our water bottles that were now near empty. It made a big difference as both of us were still feeling good because we were well hydrated. We knew we were going to have to haul to make it back by the time we got off work, so we just put our heads down and moved. Since we checked the campsites on the hike up, which were empty as we assumed, we could just go. The cows left us alone and the water kept being drained as this day was so incredibly hot it was hard to believe. We walked the long, sandy seven miles back to the government rig and both of us were very happy to see it. We each drank two gallons of water in one day, but speaking for myself, I only used a friendly bush once on the whole hike. It just reminds us that carrying a couple extra pounds of water weight can only provide for a more enjoyable hike rather than vice versa.
No comments:
Post a Comment