Deer Lake

 Quite a bit had transpired in the last few weeks. We had finished as much packing as possible until the truck trailer arrived. Once it showed up. my dad and I busily began packing. We did an excellent job if I do say so myself putting in 12 hour days in the hot Utah sun. We barely had everything out of the house and the rooms all cleaned before we were off upon our way and the new owners were tearing out the basketball court to put in a pool. So long Southern Utah, we were heading north. We said goodbye to my dad, but it would not be long before we were back hanging out with him. The plan was to stay at his house in Port Angeles until the vacation rental was available near the school in Blue River. That meant that for nearly a month of our summer vacation, we would be spending it as house guests. We were very grateful to him for the invite as we tended to invade a space. The road trip up was good. We camped along the way and in only a couple of days, we were in the McKenzie area. The goal was to find a house. We went and visited the house that we had looked at before we left the last time and we decided that we wanted to put in an offer. It was a monstrous house that was going to be an expensive project to take care of, but it was really one of our only choices. They accepted our offer on the condition that we waited until after Labor Day. 

We were reluctant to do that because it meant moving during the school year, but the housing market was just so difficult. We decided to do that, so with that all settled, we headed up to Port Angeles. What a breath of fresh air it was being in Port Angeles. The high temperatures were in the 60s instead of in the 100s. We were all thrilled about that. I felt like I could run forever without getting tired. We took walks down to the beach and enjoyed the cool breezes coming off the Strait of Juan de Fuca. My dad and I hiked up to Halfway Rock which was his monthly hiking spot. We were loving the cool weather. We finally were able to get out for a family hike after a few days of hanging out. The trail we decided upon was the Deer Lake trail that left from the Sol Duc area.

Driving up to Sol Duc, you feel like you are the only car on the road. It is so quiet and then when we got to the trailhead, it was challenging just to find a parking spot. We were surprised right away by the fact that nearly every person on the trail was wearing a mask. That was so much different than when we were out in Utah where even inside a building, no one was wearing a mask. I guess we had to assume we were in the middle of a pandemic still, so it makes sense. But outside really seemed like overkill and I was reluctant to get on board. Jacqueline quickly realized that she needed to fit in with the local culture, so after this hike, she began wearing a mask even when we were outside. The trail was rather busy, but still. The reason it was so busy was that the majority of the people were hiking the one mile or so out to Sol Duc Falls. I could see why. Even being so close to the trailhead, Sol Duc Falls was pretty remarkable. There was a large bridge right in front of it also, which made it even more dramatic. There were lots of different photo spots and I really do believe it is one of my top ten favorite waterfalls which is quite an honor given how many waterfalls I had experienced. We continued up the trail which now our trail branched off. The crowds definitely dwindled after this as the trail became much steeper.

It would only be 8 miles roundtrip to the lake, but the threat of rain was all around us. At times it was even drizzly and some of us even wore long sleeves. We all enjoyed the greenery of the Pacific Northwest. There were big trees and big leaves. The plants did not seem like they were struggling to thrive, but competing with each other. There were flowers out and their petals dotted the hillside. Mostly, though, it was uphill hiking and we enjoyed the company. We soon were beside a stream that led to a lake. Most of the time in July, it is so exciting to get to a lake. I usually take the opportunity to take a dip and cool off after the hike. This day was not that day. On this day, I needed to stay warm as we huddled around each other to eat some lunch.

The low clouds hung around the lake obscuring the views of the hills and peaks beyond. The lake was very quiet as we only saw one other group at the lake. I guess it just wasn't the day that most people went to visit Deer Lake. We enjoyed it for what it was worth, but after lunch it was time to head back down. The trail moved along much faster with gravity on our side and soon we were back to Sol Duc Falls where it was impossible to pass without taking a picture. There were not many berries around, yet, but the kids found all of the ones that had ripened by this point. The novelty of eating the forest while we hiked was not going to wear off for a while. We made it back to the car after an enjoyable day. We were looking forward to all the hikes we were going to take in the next few months on the Olympic Peninsula. 

Burger Peak

 I had the time for one last hurrah in Utah. We were leaving in less than a week. I had the chance to do a hike with my friend Tim one last time before we left. We chose to go up to Pine Valley. I had hiked the trail from Oak Grove quite a few times, so this time we went around to the backside and started from the Forsyth Canyon trail. This trail was almost a straight shot up toward Signal Peak. Having been to the summit of Signal Peak before, though, I was hoping to make it up another peak. This time we were going to the top of Burger Peak. The trail started pretty open, but eventually closed in a bit with forest all around us. There was even some water in places with a few creek crossings. It was mainly an uphill slog, but with beautiful views around us as we went. As we got closer to the top, there were some projecting bits of rock and the forest changed.

Soon we were hiking in aspens and pines. I was going to miss hiking with Tim. It was nice to have someone to go on these adventures with that enjoyed challenging hikes as much as I did. He was often in better hiking shape than me and always up for just about anything. We both did great on this day as there was significant elevation to gain. We climbed 3500 feet over 5 miles plus. As we neared the top, we had to do just a little bit of scrambling to make the summit. From there, we had views for miles seeing down into St. George and the areas around there. We enjoyed the summit and the fact that it was somewhat cool up there. These St. George summers were so oppressively hot. This was the first time that we had stayed for June and the beginning of July and it was just too much for me. 

On this day, though, we had the elevation to keep us cool and the trees on the way down. This was definitely a great hike for a couple of young guys in good shape. Utah really did have a lot to offer in the outdoors, but I was looking forward to the water and the mountains that Oregon had to offer. Still it was going to be quite a bit of time for us. We had a few days left of packing to do. My dad would come out to help us load the moving truck. Then we would drive to Oregon. We had to take one more look at one of the houses that we liked. We were hoping that maybe this one would be the house for us. It was expensive and needed some work, but we had to have a place to live before school started. It was going to be an interesting end to the summer for us no matter what. 

Arizona Trail Grandview Lookout Tower

There was a lot happening fast. Our house was selling for sure in a month. That meant that we were going to have to find a new house in Oregon where we could live. This was a challenging situation as the housing market was very competitive. With Covid, rural properties were becoming more popular. Jacqueline really wanted a house along the river, so we were looking at paying a premium price for a place to live. We decided to go see for ourselves, so we beelined it up to Oregon. It was really just a lot of driving. We stayed in Winnemucca along the way, camping in a RV park that was not the greatest place on Earth. We made it to the McKenzie area in just a few days. We stopped at Clear Lake along the way. To make a long story short, we did not find a place to live. We had difficulties with our real estate agent and caused some controversy when we had someone else show us a property. It got a little messy, but we did not find a house. 

We made it back to Utah and there was still life to be had there. Conrad was playing baseball and soccer as all the spring sports that had been delayed were now happening right now. We went swimming in the pool and the kids hung out with some friends by the creek in Springdale. We began packing our stuff and selling off furniture that we did not want to take. I had a little bit of time for a short trip out to Pine Valley, but most of our focus was on getting all of our stuff ready to be moved. Our plan B was to put everything into a moving truck while we looked for a place to live and stay with my dad in Port Angeles until we found it. 2020 was a weird year for everyone, but probably even weirder for us trying to move during a pandemic. 

We decided to take one more big trip which was a weekend drive out to the Grand Canyon. This was where I went to high school and my dad's wife Laura was working out there. We drove out to visit while my dad was out visiting. We figured this was one of our last chances to pay a visit. The drive was only about 5 hours from us. Here house was not really big enough to house us, but we made it work. We took a walk out on the rim trail and the kids got to see the Grand Canyon for the first time. I got to show off the trail that I worked on during high school. It was a beautiful place and I did miss the Grand Canyon. It felt like home coming back and I was able to show Jacqueline the house that I lived in during high school.

The next day we decided to take a hike. Having small children and a wife that is a little bit overprotective meant that hiking into the Grand Canyon was off the table. Instead, we choose to drive out into the National Forest area and hike the Arizona Trail. The Arizona Trail is a 700 mile trail that runs north to south in Arizona. Obviously, June would not be the ideal month to hike it as it was hot and dry, but we could at least put a few miles in while we were here. We drove out to the Grandview Trailhead which is different than the Grandview Trailhead that goes into the Grand Canyon. This one had a large lookout tower and was quite a ways away from the Grand Canyon. 

We hiked south through the woods. It was the pinon pine and ponderosa pine forest that was sparse. There were some views but mostly it was a time to talk to family and catch up on what was going on in all of our lives. It made me want to hike the Arizona Trail. While it would be rather repetitive and the water sources would be few and far between, it was obscure enough to be interesting to me. If everyone hiked it, I would probably be less interested. The fact that we saw no one out there and we were only a few miles from Grand Canyon National Park, made me more desirous of hiking it. It would have to be a retirement project, though as the best time to hike it was likely March and April. 

On this day, we barely made a dent in it hiking for a few miles one way before turning around. The trip was definitely worth it as we got a chance to spend some time with family and get the kids a chance to see the Grand Canyon. In the evening, Jacqueline and I were able to have some alone time and we took the opportunity to walk out to the rim on our own. It was definitely a special place. I would have to come back and hike the Arizona Trail in the future, but for now, it was time to head back to St. George to continue packing. 

Whipple Trail

Having lived near Pine Valley for all this time and having never hiked the Whipple Trail before was a little bit embarrassing. This was probably the most popular trail at Pine Valley and I was a slacker for never having hiked it before. I got an early start and was on the trial before 9 am. It was still a bit busy as it was a Friday and there are always a lot of people out and about in Southern Utah. The goal on the day was just to make it up the trail to Whipple Valley. These made me climb about 2700 feet over 6 miles. The trail was steep. There were a lot of switchbacks, but I was in pretty good shape by this time, so I made good time. The trail was mostly forested with some views along the way, but really it was just hiking through the forest for most of it. 

Whipple Valley was definitely worth the hike and I could see how this place would be good summer pasture for animals in the old days. Here was green grass with water flowing through the meadow. High elevation meadows in Utah were really very pretty. The hike back down was even busier passing many different groups of people heading up. Since I got an early start, I was able to enjoy a lot of it without having to deal with as many people, but coming down, the masses were heading up. It turned out to be a very enjoyable day though and a nice break from the packing and moving that was a big part of our life for the past few weeks. Pine Valley was definitely the place to go in the summer as the heat was in the triple digits each day in St. George. On this day, I was off the mountain by early afternoon, but it was still a little too warm even in the mountains. 

Pine Valley Canal Trail

By summer in Utah standards, we got a late start. It was noticeable when we arrived at the entrance gate to Pine Valley. There were a long line of vehicles and we had to wait for people to figure out there camping issues even though we could nearly see the trailhead that we were going to from the entrance gate. When we finally got in, we parked a short ways up the road. We started from a cemetery, so the trail we were taking was the Cemetery Trail that connected to the Canal Trail. The Canal Trail was one of the few flatter trails in Pine Valley as most of the trails went straight up into the hills. Having hiked most of those at some period in time, we were happy to find a new trail to hike. It was a warm day as could be expected, so we had full water bottles to begin our hike. The trail did a little bit of up and down, but for the most part we were in the forest and able to have even a little bit of shade some of the time. 

There were flowers around and some of the time big views of the mountains, but mostly we just enjoyed the slightly cooler temperatures as we made our way along the trail. The trail made a big sweeping curve around the edges of the developed part of Pine Valley. The original settlers must have used this as a way to supply water to the valley, but not much sign of it was left. It was an enjoyable hike with few other people and some signs that horses made their way through here. After around 3 miles, the trail connected with a series of trails that were to take us back to our car. Some of these trails went by campsites. Some were paved bike paths that took us right by what looked to be man made lakes. 

No matter what, it was incredibly pleasant. The trees were large. The trails were nice. The people were friendly. There was water around which in the desert is always welcome. The weather was in the 80s rather than 100 degrees plus. We really enjoyed our day just meandering our way through Pine Valley. When we made the nearly 8 mile round trip, it was almost disappointing to be back at our car so soon. The entire hike took us less than 3 hours, but it was a great way to spend a Sunday afternoon in June in Southern Utah. 


 

A Quick Trip to Great Basin

Well, it was really starting to come to an end. We had accepted jobs back at McKenzie in Oregon. Now we had accepted an offer for someone to buy our house. We made some money off of it and we lived in it for quite some time. It would be very sad to leave the house because it was so important to our family for so long. But there were new memories to be had. We were now done with teaching school at George Washington Academy, so it was really this weird summer break thing in the middle of Covid. We were packing boxes and selling furniture, but we needed to make one last trip out to Great Basin. So we packed up the camping equipment and headed across the Utah desert. We stopped in Milford for gas as usual and counted the few cars that went past as we went through one long basin and another long mountain range. After a few hours of driving, we were in a familiar place. We found an amazing campsite by the creek. It was quiet and cooler. So we set up, had some lunch, and then it was time to hit the trail. We decided to do the lake loop in the afternoon. This was like the most common hike to do and it seemed like we did it every time that we came out to Great Basin, but so what, we were going to do it again!

We drove up to the Wheeler Peak trailhead and started the hike from there. The Wheeler Peak campground was still closed and this trailhead seemed pretty vacant too. Because of Covid, a lot of summer plans had been canceled. Plus it was Monday and the weekend campers had left. That meant we got to feel like we had the place to ourselves. We hiked along the beautiful alpine trail that took us out to Stella Lake. The lake seemed rather low and it was probably due to the dry winter that we experienced. There was not much snow on the peak and the lake level was down. Still, there was enough water to throw some rocks and enjoy the beautiful mountain air. We continued on our way after spending a bit of time at the lake. 

Our goal for the day was to check out a brand new lake that we had not seen before. This was Brown Lake. So we hiked through the aspen and ponderosas until we found the trail to the glacier that we had spent much time on before. Along the way to the glacier, we took a side trip to Brown Lake. It was about as exciting as it sounds. There was water there and there were rocks, but not too much more. We enjoyed for a bit and continued our way up the glacier trail until we got some views of the glacier and got to see a few Bristlecone pines. I, as usual, wanted everyone to keep hiking, but I got my views and we spent the day out and about. 

It was okay if we went back and enjoyed the night camping. Along the way, we did make a stop at Teresa Lake. It had a little bit more snow on the edges and looked a little bit more alpine than the previous two lakes. Either way it was just nice to be out. We saw a few people and chatted with some folks who all seemed to be having a marvelous time, but really it was quiet. Even when we made it back to our campsite and got to spend the evening playing games and hanging out in the tent, it was still very quiet. Camping with kids is so much fun and we really enjoyed the night, but the next morning, it was time to go. We got everyone up and moving and we hit the trail by 9 am to avoid the heat.

The goal today was the Baker Meadows - Timber Creek Loop. I had not hiked this before and neither had the rest of the family. This was going to be an adventure. The trail started with a climb. Jacqueline and I had made the hike out to Baker Lake before and Tim and I had done the same when we went to the Magic Grove, but we had not been on this section of trail. It turned out to be really nice. Most of the trail was next to a creek with a well-maintained path and pleasantly climbing uphill. The kids were troopers as usual, with really no complaints as we made our way up. The highlight, though was the meadow. With 10 -13,000 foot peaks all around us, the views were amazing. 

We had Wheeler Peak and soon to be formerly Jefferson Davis Peak. Most importantly, there was Pyramid Peak, the place where I had proposed to Jacqueline. Great Basin really was a part of who we were as a family and here we were in the midst of all its beauty. Baker Meadows was fantastic. We continued on our way until we hit the junction. I convinced Jacqueline to let me hike the little piece of trail that connected this section to the Johnson Lake trail. I had to rush rush rush to hike that section while they sat and waited for me. It was the ugliest part of the trail and probably in the worst shape, but I did the mile and a half or so in record time and then made it back to the family.

From there we continued on our way, but we had a loop to come back on. The Timber Creek section which we thought would be the least exciting section, turned out to be rather nice. It was mostly flat, but slightly downhill. The forest was nice and the creek was wonderful. We really had a great day on this hike. We got 10 miles in and had a fantastic day with still lots of time to hang around the campsite with our friends the mice. Jacqueline was all paranoid because of the mice being around and they were pretty aggressive. We left some of our food out which was a mistake and they found it. So we had to do a better job. Still, despite the company, the site provided a great spot for games and family fun. We spent a very enjoyable night sleeping in the beautiful spot next to the creek. The next morning, I let everyone sleep in while I sat by the campsite and read a book. I had been reading this list of books and Diary of a Wimpy Kid was on it. Since this was my kids favorite series, I quickly sat down and read the entire book while they slept. Once everyone was up we packed up camp. We did a quick walk on the Osceola Ditch Trail, but then it was on the road. We made our way back home ready to make the best of our last month in Southern Utah. 

Yellow Knolls

 

Well our time in Southern Utah was coming to an abrupt end, though our house was still on the market. It was frustrating us a little bit considering how quickly things were selling. We decided to make the best of it, though, and just enjoy our time off. We were now able to hang out with friends again because the pandemic was getting tiring. It wasn't like it was over, it was just not really hitting Southern Utah very hard. Conrad was back playing soccer and the kids were doing tennis again. We invited our friends Amanda and Eric to do a hike. We decided to head out to the Yellow Knolls because the features were so cool and they had never been there before.

 It was a nice spot and we talked with them while we walked. The kids were with us and they were able to hang out while we conversed with our friends. We were lucky because the weather was unseasonably cool with some overcast conditions. It would still get up into the 80s during the day, but for now we had some cool weather especially since we got an early start which was rare with Jacqueline. The trail started downhill through open sandy meadows. Then went up a jumbled path through volcanic rocks. It then came out to the most unique looking formations of fractured sandstone. It was almost scale like looking like the scales of some giant dinosaur. The kids and I made sure to get our money's worth, climbing all over the scales of these hexagonal fractures. I think it is one of the more unique features in an area full of unique features. After playing around long enough, we headed up the trail more. We only made it to the junction and everyone seemed to think it was far enough. On the way back, we saw a leopard lizard which always made me happy. The leopard lizard is by far my favorite. Other than that, nothing too remarkable occurred. Very happy to spend some time with Amanda and Eric. They are very nice people and we would be leaving behind many nice people when leaving. But we were off to new adventures, as soon as the house sells.

Francois Matthes Point

 

Tim and I had a morning to hike something at the Grand Canyon. There were many trail options but having a down and up day the day before, meaning we went down into the canyon and came back up, we decided to hang out on the rim. I had always wanted to get my eyes on Cheyava Falls which is the tallest waterfall in the Grand Canyon. It is a bit elusive and only runs during the Spring. It was Spring now, but likely it would not still be flowing because you need a good bit of snow melt and we hadn't had that lately. I still wanted to give it a shot. 

We figured out that if we hiked out to Frances Matthes Point, we could peer down into Cheyava Falls. Frances Matthes was a photographer in the early days of photography and would popularize the Grand Canyon with some of his photographs. We figured if this point was named after him, it was probably pretty photogenic. We also found out that if we parked on an old abandoned logging road, there would be a path most of the way to the point for us to follow. So that is what we did. The walking was really pretty easy being mostly flat rim trail walking. We ran into a couple of interesting things including a survey marker and an old ladder.

 Mostly it was walking through open forest with not much to fight off in the way of vegetation on the forest carpet. When getting to the point, we had to sort of pick our best route to the edge, but when we did, we were rewarded almost immediately with amazing views of the canyon. This was an angle I had not seen it from before, so it was amazing. There is no good way to sum up the feeling that you get when you look off into the distance in the Grand Canyon. It is the feeling of eternity that this place had been here for millions of years looking very similar to how it looks now, but also the knowledge that it took millions of years for it to become what it is. 

The whole idea of millions of years is beyond our thought process, but it is on display in front of our very eyes. Cheyava was definitely not flowing, but we could easily see the spot where it would flow from the cliffs. If it was me and I lived at the Grand Canyon, I would come out to Frances Matthes Point every April to see the water flow. It would be much easier than to hike down to Phantom Ranch, over to Clear Creek, and then up the Clear Creek drainage. Sure, looking up at a waterfall is much more interesting than looking down, but you still get to see it. Tim and I enjoyed this point and took many pictures. Then it was back on the old logging road, back to the car, and off to home again to hope that our house sells. I was hoping I would see Tim before I left for the Northwest, but who knows if I would. Still, he would be a life long friend as Tim has the same sense for adventure that I do.

Old BA

 

I don't know why I did not do this more often. I guess the pre-planning and committing to the long trip had kept me away. My friend Tim lived on the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. It is only like a 2 hour drive. I decided that I would go travel out to his neck of the woods to do a hike with him. Tim was always visiting and using our guest room when coming down to St. George for groceries. I guess it took a worldwide pandemic for me to get off the couch and join him. The drive was not too bad. Tim let me know how to get in to the gate since technically the park was closed. 

We met at the trailhead and were ready to go on the trail. This was a route that I had heard of but never done. The trail about 100 years ago used to stay in the Bright Angel Creek area instead of going up and away from it at Roaring Springs. We were going to descend down it. This was the right way to go as it was easier to route find when descending into the Grand Canyon rather than climbing out. We hung on the rim trail for a little bit and then the trail quickly descended. There were some signs of trail construction and at times a faint path, but for most of the early descent at least we had to keep our eyes peeled. Using my GPS watched helped considerably because it kept us on the path. Tim was the perfect person to do this trip with because he was in shape and up for anything. He is a law enforcement ranger on the North Rim, so this is something that he can make work even on a workday since he can easily check  out the trails and such on the hike out if need be. I think this was a day off for him, though, as there was no real need for us to be out there. The beginning was definitely the steepest section with lots of bushwhacking and amazing views of the canyon. 

Eventually it flattened out with us hugging the cliffside with views of a waterfall. There were times where we questioned whether we were on the right trail and times where we were definitely off of it for short periods, but all in all, the route was not all that difficult to find. It was not long before we were seeing Roaring Springs come into view and we were finding ourselves back on the North Kaibab Trail. Now just another 7 miles of uphill hiking to go. With no one else on the trail, it was a really enjoyable uphill hike. It had been a while since I was on the North Kaibab, so it felt exciting to relive some of my past adventures in this area. We hiked out and still had plenty of time to chill. I was staying at Tim's place and would sleep out on his patio. In the evening, we got to hang out with some other park people at the lodge. Since no other visitors were there, it was really nice to just sit on the lodge patio and chat it up. It had been a while since I worked for the NPS, so it was interesting hearing all the conversations from the park employees. Same old conversation with a new group. We had a chance to choose a new hike the following day, so we did not stay out too late and spent some of the evening hanging out at Tim's place with his girlfriend Kate. Definitely a fun day and looking forward to the next one.

Just missed them

 

You win some, you lose some. On this one, we went out searching for some petroglyphs and we missed them. Instead we found a pleasant late spring hike in Red Cliffs/Snow Canyon. Parking near the off of SR-18, we were able to locate the route. It went along a bike path at first before we were able to hit the Gila Trail and then at some point we would leave the trail and head to some rolling slickrock mounds. The going was mostly pretty easy, though the day was hot and sunny. The route was easy enough for the kids to manage and for the wife to be okay with. There was definitely a route and we were not just finding our way as there were tracks to follow. 

Eventually it took us over slickrock to a bunch of slot canyons. The goal was to find the right one with the petroglyphs. We never did. Instead we found a bunch of really neat slot canyons and a nice place to have some lunch. I probably would have kept searching, but everyone seemed okay with it the way that it was and the hike was pretty regardless. So we headed on back. We had plenty to discuss with the house on the market and Zyla's 10th birthday coming up. The house had not sold after some initial interest. It was making us a little nervous, but it had only been a couple of weeks. We had been hard at work clearing out all the stuff that we did not need. We had sold many pieces of furniture on Facebook, Craigslist, and at consignment stores. We had given many boxes of things away to the thrift store also. The house was very comfortable at the point where it was time to leave soon. We were happy to spend much more time in Southern Utah enjoying the heat until that point. 

Desert Tortoise

 School's out. It is only May 17th and we are nearing the end of our days in St. George area. Still, we had never seen an adult desert tortoise in the wild until today. Years ago, I had found one the size of a sand dollar, probably just born out in the Babylon area of Red Cliffs. It would be much more exciting to see an adult tortoise. My friend Matt Swartz told me that he saw a desert tortoise on the Chuckwalla Trail. I had never been, but it was a popular trailhead right outside of Snow Canyon. It was becoming summer in the Southwest as mid-May meant a hot sun, so an early start was necessary. We made it to the trailhead before the clock struck 10. 

The trail started near a climbing area and there were climbers out and about. We walked right on past them and into the early morning heat. The trail descended initially until it found its way to Halfway Wash. From here it split and there were a series of small loops that you could do. We were going to head up to Beck's Hill, but were quickly distracted by a large desert tortoise. Here it was right where he said he had seen one. We watched him for as long as he would let us and while he did not do much except eat some green vegetation and walk around, it was still a sight to behold. The kids were really excited, but probably not as excited as Jacqueline and I. 

When you live long enough, you realize that sometimes you have to accept the many hikes where nothing extraordinary is seen. On this one, we got to spend some time with the turtle, so the hike was already worthwhile. The rest of the hike was still nice. The trail took us past the red rocks and into some open country. The desert flowers were still abundant and the kids hiked well. We climbed up rather moderate slopes until we were able to make it to the junction with the Scout Cave trail. This was our spot to make a loop out of it and we continued back on the Turtle Wall trail hoping to see another tortoise along the way.

 Instead, we just saw red rocks and got a decent hike in before the sun turned on its full heat lamp. The turtles were absent as we passed by the same spot we had viewed them before, but we were pleased with the lucky find on the short jaunt on this beautiful spring day in Southern Utah. 

Zion to Ourselves

 

How do you get Zion to yourself? Well, you go to a trail that is off the beaten path during a weekday. A lot had changed for us. School was let out early because of covid, so it was now summer break! We had already accepted jobs at McKenzie, so the whole staff knew that we were going to be gone soon. We had a farewell at the school to the students at school and for us it was a farewell to our teacher friends that we had met. Our house was already on the market. Jacqueline had spent a ridiculous amount of time cleaning it out.

 We had some boxes packed and we were starting to sell furniture and throw things out we were not going to need. Our time in Southern Utah was ticking away. So each hike could be our last. When the house was sold, we were out the door and heading back to the Northwest. Today we were off to one of my favorite trails, the Connector Trail. The Connector trail connects the Hop Valley Trail to the Wildcat Canyon Trail. It has a really boring name but it passes through many beautiful areas. You start by looking down into Hop Valley.

 Then the trail takes us across the feet of Spendlove Knoll to an amazing view down Lee Valley. It crosses the plains with flowers and views to the cliffs of Kolob in the north. Jacqueline took many, many pictures of anything she found charming and pretty. That means we got a lot of pictures. The kids were doing great. They were finally at this great age where we could take them anywhere at any distance and they seemed to be able to handle it. My favorite part of the whole trail was when we got to climb up the slickrock near Pine Valley Peak.

 Picking our way up the route using the cairns up the slickrock, it gave us a little off trail feel on an established trail. I convinced Jacqueline to let me drag her and the kids to an archeological site that I knew about near the Wildcat Canyon Trail. They were not too excited when they got there to realize that it was just a couple of logs from an old cabin used when they were logging the Wildcat Canyon area many years ago. This was our turnaround point, but I did convince them to go to a nice slickrock spot with a view to stop for lunch. We really were having a great day and the kids were so easy. Once we were out there, they loved to hike and just be out with us. I felt pretty lucky to have the family that I have. Heading back to the trailhead, we knew that we were going to have some interesting adventures in our future, but for today, we really had a good day having Zion to ourselves. We spent a huge chunk of the day out there and we really did not see anyone else. You really cannot beat that. 

Back to Back Starvation Point Hikes

 

Jacqueline, the kids, and I love hiking to Starvation Point. It is just an ATV road right across the Arizona border in the Virgin River Gorge. We do it every year to see the wildflowers and the wildlife. This is where I saw my only in the wild Gila Monster and there are always numerous lizards. We even have a scoring system for wildlife. There are different point totals for different lizards. My favorite is the leopard lizard, but you can also see lots of horned lizards which is fun. The cactus flowers are in full bloom and it is perfect the last weekend in April. 

We had been looking forward to this. While the views are not spectacular most of the hike, we usually have it to ourselves with an occasional ATV driving by to ask if we are hurt or lost. They can never believe that someone would actually want to hike out there. We started off with a great hike. There were many lizards being spotted and Conrad even saw a young rattlesnake. The hike was going well until about 2 miles in, we saw some people off in the distance. When we made it to where they were, we talked to them for a little bit. It seemed that they were out there doing long distance shooting. This seemed like a great way to spoil a beautiful area. We kept hiking for a bit longer until the nervousness of having people out there shooting overtook Jacqueline. She decided that this was too much. We were going to have to turn around. I assured her that where they were shooting was far away from the direction that we were hiking, but she just couldn't take it. We had no choice but to turn around. I was frustrated because this had taken a great little Saturday hike and turned it into a short walk. We took our points and our tails and headed home with me expressing my displeasure for quite some time on the way back. 

This made us determined to return because we were not going to let some random people ruin our favorite hike. When we came back the next weekend, the random people were gone and the lizards were still there. The kids were troopers and we were able to get a full 10 miles in with many flowers and many lizards. We made it all the way out to the Virgin River Gorge view where we could see down to the Virgin River. My kids were amazing and we really had a fun day to make up for the lost hike from the shooting people. We had a lot to talk about on this hike because we had just accepted positions back at McKenzie. 

There was going to be less hiking and a little more packing to do as we had to sell our house, buy a new one, and get all of our stuff moved a 1000 miles away. We had just made the pandemic more interesting for ourselves by trying to do a big move in the middle of it. At first, we were just focused on getting our house shown and sold. So Jacqueline was cleaning up the place and making it look just right. The unfortunate thing about that is as soon as you do that, the place will be not yours anymore. For now though, it was just going to be a lot of work making this project happen. So it was nice to be out with the kids enjoying a beautiful spring day hiking there and back to Starvation Point.

Wandering Around Red Cliffs

 I had been getting rather adventurous with my afternoon hikes. The freedom to just go anywhere in Red Cliffs was too alluring and truly there was nothing else to do but check statistics on the covid infection rates and play games with the kids. We had started some afternoon basketball practice at our hoop that was now getting a lot more use. On days that I wasn't hiking, I was often running or going for walks around the neighborhood with Jacqueline. There were many books being read and we were also preparing for our interviews. We were strongly considering moving back to McKenzie. There were two open positions and they would soon interview us.  

We still didn't really know, but in a way we did know. If we had let things get this far, we were seriously considering it. We loved the desert and we were really happy with our house. Our jobs were good and we were paid well. We had great coworkers and our kids were happy, but it would only be this way for so long. In the end, our kids would end up at a different school from us and there were a lot of things that in our lives and at work were out of our control. The other thing it came down to was friends. We had met friends in Southern Utah, but not close friends that we had in Oregon. There were just many more positives for the future in Oregon.

 In Utah, we were kind of stuck in a life that did not quite fit us. It made us happy, but it was not quite what we were looking for. Still, things could go wrong somewhere else, whereas here in Utah, things were easy. Do you trade good and easy for something more risky? These were the questions I could think about while once again hiking up the hill and down it again, then under the freeway through the culvert, and off on whatever direction I felt like going. This time I found a canyon. It was not a very large canyon and it was not a well traveled canyon, but it was one that I had found to follow. Follow it, I did. It was on the border of a higher peak and it snaked its way around it. I decided to follow it for however far it would take me. It eventually led to a tall peak and seemed to emanate from its middle. It wasn't very long before I found another canyon and some more slick rock. The complete freedom of wandering without purpose or direction was something that I really enjoyed about the Red Cliffs area. There were so many different places to explore and unnamed features to find. This was really about exercise and discovery. I wouldn't repeat the hike again or recommend it to others, but when I found myself back at home, I knew I had a great day wandering around Red Cliffs.