Another Sunday hike for Jacqueline and I. I was hoping to enjoy the warm weather that we soaked up the day before, playing tennis in the seventy-five degree heat. Instead, after getting battered by winds through the night, we awoke to a forty degree morning. Still, we put on our down jackets and were off to the Red Cliffs Reserve, a beautiful area only minutes from our house that Jacqueline and I just discovered. This weekend we were going to hike up Cottonwood Creek. We were all excited at first because there were trail signs and everything. Soon, those disappeared and we found ourselves following a cairned route.
We ran into a gentleman in the small side canyon that was also lost. He asked about a tunnel and I told him we saw it about a mile back. He pointed out that we were in the wrong canyon and we figured he was right. Still we continued upon our way believing that there was most likely something up this way.
We continued following a cairned route, which lead us over slickrock for a splendid side journey with amazing views. It ended with us running down a sandhill into a slickrock bowl. The trail disappeared from here and we spent quite a bit of time playing on the rocks and enjoying the Moqui marbles and crazy iron deposit rock formations everywhere. I suggested a sojourn down the next canyon over and it popped us out into Cottonwood Creek. I was glad we took our little sidetrip because the views were good, but not great within the creekbed. We went about as far as we felt like walking through the sand seeing just about the same thing throughout. Jacqueline was still fee
ling a bit sick, so we did not want to over due it. We made our way back down, finally popping out into the harsh, strong wind again to get back to the car. We were gone 5 hours and probably did around ten miles. We enjoyed spectacular views and we will be sure to return again to this new found area for exploration.
Another Sunday hike for Jacqueline and I. I was hoping to enjoy the warm weather that we soaked up the day before, playing tennis in the seventy-five degree heat. Instead, after getting battered by winds through the night, we awoke to a forty degree morning. Still, we put on our down jackets and were off to the Red Cliffs Reserve, a beautiful area only minutes from our house that Jacqueline and I just discovered. This weekend we were going to hike up Cottonwood Creek. We were all excited at first because there were trail signs and everything. Soon, those disappeared and we found ourselves following a cairned route. 
We ran into a gentleman in the small side canyon that was also lost. He asked about a tunnel and I told him we saw it about a mile back. He pointed out that we were in the wrong canyon and we figured he was right. Still we continued upon our way believing that there was most likely something up this way. 
We continued following a cairned route, which lead us over slickrock for a splendid side journey with amazing views. It ended with us running down a sandhill into a slickrock bowl. The trail disappeared from here and we spent quite a bit of time playing on the rocks and enjoying the Moqui marbles and crazy iron deposit rock formations everywhere. I suggested a sojourn down the next canyon over and it popped us out into Cottonwood Creek. I was glad we took our little sidetrip because the views were good, but not great within the creekbed. We went about as far as we felt like walking through the sand seeing just about the same thing throughout. Jacqueline was still fee
ling a bit sick, so we did not want to over due it. We made our way back down, finally popping out into the harsh, strong wind again to get back to the car. We were gone 5 hours and probably did around ten miles. We enjoyed spectacular views and we will be sure to return again to this new found area for exploration. 
1 comment:
Hey Pete, guess what - that valley is "Rose Valley"; named by my family because there are all these rocks there with raised ridges of swirls that make them look like rock roses. I've probably been there a dozen times. Cool that you visited. Is cottonwood creek a slot?
Brian
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