Lee Valley

Covid teaching was continuing online and I was continuing to take advantage of my free afternoons. I had to be on duty until noon and then it was freedom. I would count down until that time and be ready to get out the door. Today, I chose to drive a short distance to Zion National Park to explore an area I had not spent much time in. Lee Valley was a privately owned section inside of Zion National Park. There was a trail that went toward it called the Connector Trail, but on this day I just parked right by the side of the road and cut in to the pretty red rock part of it.

 I was careful to keep myself on park property because we were really close to private inholdings and I did not want to disturb someone else's land. There was a slight bit of guilt because the park service was recommending people to not take any big risks to make emergency personnel respond to a rescue. As long as I did not get hurt, I would be fine. So I headed off down a wash until I got to the red rock wall. On this day, I was planning to circumnavigate Pine Valley Peak. I was hoping that maybe I would run into some rock art that was unknown. I knew there was actually some out there, but I did not even find that let alone anything new. 

What I did find were some spectacular scenes with amazing views. I was not really an amateur photographer, but today I tried my best to use some filters on my camera.

 I got some of the best pictures I have ever taken. The route itself hung right next to the slickrock wall next to Pine Valley Peak. It was literally just exploring. I would climb up the wall a ways and then back down always searching for a new amazing view. I followed that wall for quite some time to a canyon that came up from the side of the peak. There were portions of climbing up sand, but there were also portions of climbing up slick rock that produced some amazing formations. The peak was snowy in places, but that was quickly melting and that melting water made for some amazing water formations. 

I picked my way up this semi slotty canyon to a slickrock shelf that was in itself amazing, but also produced some ultimately fantastic views. Views of the peak and views across to Cave Valley made this exploring afternoon hike well worth the time and energy. I took too many pictures and then eventually made my way around the east side of the peak. I still found my way to different canyons and different views as much as possible until I was able to pick my way up to the Connector Trail which I could follow back to the car. This turned out to be one of my favorite hikes I had in a very long time. 

The views were all remarkable and I was in a portion of a very busy National Park where not many souls had tread. I was definitely going to have to come back to this area and explore further. 

Playing Around in Red Cliffs

 

Our first week of online school had begun and it was weird. I created some math assignments, loaded them into Google Classroom, and then just let my kids do the work. Most of it was review thinking that we would be back to school soon. I spent most of my morning monitoring email and helping my own kids with their online school. It was challenging and confusing, but it left me with an incredible amount of free time in the afternoon. I was for certain going to take advantage of that. I could read books, play games with my family, but also get out on long runs and hikes. Not wanting to go very far, I just took advantage of Red Cliffs being right near our house. 

The first day I tried this out happened to be my birthday. After school and office hours, it was time to hit the trail. I took the route under the freeway getting into Grapevine Wash This time I continued all the way up the wash as far as it would go.

 I could move pretty quickly since I was still only 39 years old. Eventually the canyon got pretty nice and I was picking my way up washes and around obstacles until I came to a nice open area with a pass in between two peaks. This place was so awesome, but since there was no trail or route description, I felt like no one would have come here. In fact, there were not really any signs of people. This felt truly like being in the Pristine Zone. I had to negotiate some obstacles, but I made it up to the pass. The views from on top of the pass were remarkable with all of Red Cliffs stretched out in front of me. I followed it right through to the other side, which put me in Cottonwood Wash which I followed back to the house. 

A couple of days later, I brought the family back. This time we were going to go check out the Peregrine Falcon nest I had found a week earlier. We went the opposite way this time going under the freeway on the north side rather than the south side. This got us to the nest quicker. It did not disappoint. The Falcons were out and about and we spent a good amount of time watching them fly and perch on the rocks above. I felt like we were disturbing them a little bit, but getting to watch them so up close and personal was pretty fun. The weather was just about perfect this time of year as it was so much fun to be out in the spring time. 

We spent quite a bit of time hanging with the birds and then we continued on the prospector trail back to the other route under the freeway. The prospector trail was just as cool of an experience as it was a mix of red rock hiking and trail. We were really enjoying all of our extra free time. So much so, that we even went out together the next day. We went to Cottonwood Canyon to check out some rock features. Jacqueline was not a big fan of exploring with the kids but I convinced her and the kids had fun climbing up and over formations and checking out little nooks and crannies. Eventually we ran out of new area to check out though and the kids played in the sand instead for a while. There were always cool rocks to find and iron concretions. We could afford a day of play as there seemed to be no end in sight to this pandemic free time that had been forced upon us. Though it made for an unfulfilling end to the school year, it really wasn't all a bad thing for us as a family. A lot more time to spend together and a lot more time to get out and about. 

Bracken's Loop

 

Okay, so no NCAA Tournament. That stinks. No start of Major League Baseball. Also stinks. Spring Break, awesome! First day of spring, great! Going back to school online. Confusing, but still kind of awesome just because it is so different. I was going to be blessed with a lot of free time and nowhere to go. Luckily we could still go under the freeway. I invited the family to go with me on this day. Jacqueline was excited. The kids were reluctant enthusiasts. They were happy once we were out in about. It was up the paved hill behind the house and down by what we call the water tower, though it was only a water tank. The hill was somewhat steep but everyone was excited going under the freeway through the culvert.

 It was like emerging to a brand new world. Gone was suburbia and hello wild nature. I had just been here a couple of days before, so it wasn't too new to me, but the rest of the group was thrilled. Jacqueline took many pictures that she would never look at again. We wandered up the wash. Jacqueline was excited to see some flowers coming out and the tent caterpillars filling up the sage. The way was open at first and we stuck to the wash until we encountered Bracken's Loop. I had hiked Bracken's Loop once before only to find it one of the sandiest trails I have hiked. Today, was not so bad. If it rains in the desert, the trails can harden up a bit and that is what we found. 

Plus, if we get on there before the horses, we were okay. On this day, we would run into some horse ladies and the trail would get a bit more difficult, but for now we were able to just hike. To describe most of our hike was that Conrad and I would be in the lead. Jacqueline would be last taking pictures of absolutely everything that seemed somewhat interesting. Zyla would sometimes be up with Conrad having conversations about imaginary worlds and sometimes hiking on her own. Regardless we kept moving forward and heading toward the big blocky peak that made up our view. At almost exactly noon we stopped for a lunch break.

 Lunch on time was very important to the kids. After this is when the horse people passed, so we were stuck following the beaten trail. It was not much farther to get to what we were going to call the endpoint of Bracken's Loop. At this point the trail dropped steeply off below the blocky peak. There were some potholes of water and nice views, but a good place to turn around with the kids. The way back was slower because of the horses, but at least it was downhill. Everyone had an easy time with it as our kids never seemed to complain about distance. I enjoyed the place we got into Grapevine Wash. The lava rock capped the slickrock of an ancient lava flow. You gotta appreciate the contrasting colors. We made it back home a bit after 2 having 4-5 hours out and about. The kids and the wife did well on the exploring hike and were up for some further adventures exploring the area around Red Cliffs. 

Under the Freeway

 

So our paranoia and concern was off the charts with coronavirus. Not only were businesses shut down, some people did not even want to leave the house. We combated this situation with the the fortunate fact that we were living right across the freeway from the Red Cliffs Desert Reserve. The problem was getting under the freeway. I had lived here this long and not realized that it was possible. Walking up the hill on the paved bike path, I could cut off down the slope to a large culvert that ran under the freeway at Grapevine Wash. From here it opened up a world of possibilities. I decided to do my own thing and stay away from the trails. It turned out to be a great idea. 

The wash was a bit muddy still, but fun to explore. I followed it back quite a ways with only a few obstacles to get around until the terrain started to open up more. It did not end up being too bad of a situation for me and I was able to climb up pretty high. There was a peak that I had been looking at scrambling up from our house and it proved to be a fairly straightforward scramble. 

I considered that a success, so I kept going until I ended up on the other side. From here, I was able to pick my way down another drainage having to negotiate a few obstacles. I was really enjoying this hike as it was really just of my own choosing. Eventually I came upon this really incredible slick rock formation with an immense amount of perforations in the slick rock just perfect for raptor nesting.

 I looked around and sure enough, there were two large raptors which I took to be peregrines circling around a large nest. I stood there and watched them for some time admiring the wildness and majestic nature of their beauty just right across the interstate from suburban sprawl. From here, I had to check out if I could make it back under the freeway without having to go back to where I came from. Sure enough when I picked my way down to the natural drainage, I came across another culvert. This one was a little narrower and you could tell that the enthusiasm for people crossing this one was not quite as high as you had to go through a little island in the freeway to make it.

 Luckily though, it worked, and I now had a loop hike that I could do from my house that allowed me to get out into nature really easily without having to even drive the car anywhere. I was going to definitely have to exhaust all possibilities in the immediate future as we were confined to our homes and families to ride out the corona wave.

Cathedral Wash and Spencer Trail

 

Still Spring Break and with the coronavirus sickness derailing everyone's plans, we were not looking to travel very far. Still, my dad was in Grand Canyon staying with his wife, Laura, who was working there. Since we were only 5 hours away from each other, I thought we could meet up for the day and do a hike together. He was probably hoping to see the kids also, but Jacqueline did not feel like making the trip. Instead, it was just me taking off early in the morning. We made a plan to meet at the Cathedral Wash Trailhead in Lee's Ferry. The drive was not too bad taking through Jacob Lake. 

It seemed pretty quiet. I got to the trailhead right on time, but it seemed as if they had been there for a while. The hike was down a wash to the Colorado River. The wash was interesting with a different kind of sandstone than was in Southern Utah. It would narrow up and have drop offs that we had to negotiate and mudholes to avoid. We would pick our way around the ledges and slowly maneuver our way downstream. Mostly it was good to just see my Dad and Laura. It was a good time for us to converse about the ongoing situation and decide how to deal with it. I know that they were taking it seriously since they were older. 

Me, being still in my late 30s, it was not as big of deal, but I knew I needed to keep other people safe around me. We were all adjusting to the newness of it. There would be a lot of changes in my life given that school was not quite the safest place during a pandemic. Laura worked at the Grand Canyon and a lot of major services were shutting down there also. The newness of the situation kept for some good conversation as we found ourselves picking our way down the wash. Eventually the wash popped out to a more open area and we continued on down until we came to the river. 

The river gave us a natural stopping point and there was nowhere really to go, but back up the wash. We met a few other people coming down, but it was probably still quieter than it likely would have been during a Spring Break in Arizona. After making it back up the wash, we still had a bit of time. My dad suggested that we go out to Lee's Ferry. They had hiked the Spencer Trail in the past and suggested that I do it. We decided that could work so we went there. They parked and walked the first bit with me through the ruins of Lee's Ferry. The trail went by the river for a short time and then started charging up the hill. 

Eventually they had their fill and we said our goodbyes. It was good to see them and I was happy I had a day at least to spend some time with family. The hike continued, though, and I was able to let loose. It was nice to just be burning some energy and finding my way to the top of the hill. Up and up it went with sweeping views of the river and surrounding country at all times. There was nowhere on this trail that I would have described as having big dropoffs, but still I am not sure if Jacqueline would have wanted the kids to be on it. Eventually after a lot of exertion, I found myself at the top of the cliff. From the other side, I could see the city of Page. It was definitely worth the effort to make the trek up there. I took some pictures and then it was time to go back down. After the hike back and the drive home, it was evening before I returned to settle in for the long haul at home with the family.

Up Misery Canyon on the East Side

 

I am not sure that much could change in a week as fast as it had changed this last week. At the beginning of the week, life was going on as normal. By Tuesday, they had cancelled the NCAA Tournament due to Covid-19. Having tracked every basketball game all year long with a new statistic that I came up with, I was really interested to see what would happen this tournament. Gonzaga was the #2 team in the country, only behind Kansas. Not having the NCAA Tournament in March felt sacrilegious and overall it was sort of depressing.

 Then on Friday morning we all met in the library packed in nicely as a big group to talk about what was going to happen with Covid-19. It seemed likely that the first week back from Spring Break was going to be a transition to online learning. This was unbelievable to me. I never thought that teaching would enter this world. Yes, we are educators, but we are also glorified babysitters. My thoughts were maybe this would last a week, but if they were taking this rash of a step, what was the exit strategy? I had been enjoying this school year. I was feeling very confident in the curriculum. I was all for it, though, as it would give me a new perspective. 

I didn't plan to work too hard on online teaching as a viewed it as a short term deal. Regardless, it was now Spring Break and you bet I was going to head out to one of my favorite hikes. I went somewhere quiet where I was confident that I wouldn't run into any other people. I was right as the East side of Zion never disappointed. It was just so different from anywhere else with so many canyons to explore. Feeling as if I had explored nearly every single one of those canyons, finding something new to explore was going to be difficult. So I picked a place I had already been to get to a place that I had not.

 The canyon between Checkerboard Mesa and Crazy Quilt is one of the quickest ways to access the slick rock plateau of the East side. It takes some hiking and some work to get up and out of the canyon but I had done it numerous times. Then it was continuing on past that to get to somewhere new. The goal was east today. Years ago, Jacqueline, Eric Lassance, and I had come out of the Barracks a little early. At one point, we were going to try to go up another canyon to get out. Rightly so, we decided that wasn't a good idea and made it out fine. Today I was going to go up one of those canyons to see what I could find above rather than down below. 

The rock wasn't in the greatest of shape as it had been raining a lot lately. Still it was nice out, though the vegetation was still a little bare being not quite spring yet. It just always felt so empowering to be on the east side, crossing slick rock wastes that many people never went to. I continued east for some time before I found my canyon. I believe it was the upper part of misery canyon. At first it followed a wash and I had to pick my way around obstacles. Eventually it opened up more and being back there I could really feel I was in a place that was not visited often if ever. What purpose would someone have to come back to this spot unless they were like me where they had visited so many places already. There was no reason for me to be here except curiosity. As I climbed further, I got a workout and saw features like potholes and slickrock bowls. Eventually I followed it far enough where the end was hitting the actual wall. There is a feeling when you are out in new territory that you don't get anywhere else. That is why I kept exploring is to feel this sense of first exploration. Once it is done, I can leave and go back on this journey through many miles of things that I had seen before and think more clearly. The impending decision on staying in Utah or going back to Oregon was still there made ever more complicated by Covid's introduction into our world. I could think clearly out here enjoying a day to myself exploring the east side of Zion. 

The Vortex

 

A route description this is not. I needed one because I saw a Facebook post from Josh Carlson with his kids at the Vortex and thought, I could bring my kids to the Vortex. After looking it up online, I found out it was in Dammeron Valley near Gunlock. This was about a 45 minute drive from our house even though it felt close by. I had not spent much time out in that area, so it was worth the time to just head out to a new spot. Following the route description worked well and eventually it got us to something that represented a trailhead. We had to continue to follow the route description from there. 

From what I knew, we crossed a wash and then went up a slickrock route to a giant hole they call the Vortex. There were some people out and about, but I couldn't really tell if they were headed to the same destination as us. Anyway, we figured, as long as the slickrock was easy walking, there was no reason to do anything different than follow the way that we thought that we were supposed to go. Besides, we had a lot to talk about. Much had happened in the last month and we were now debating whether to return to teach at McKenzie again. 

For the past 2.5 years, we had taught at George Washington Academy. This school was one of the best in the state of Utah and I felt lucky to be a teacher there. The colleagues, staff, and students were all amazing and it had made me grow as a teacher in ways that I could not imagine. Still, there was something missing and I was not sure I was going to find it there. I had come up with so many ideas of what I wanted to do as a teacher and I knew at McKenzie I could make those a reality. Still, why give up our security. Financially we were in a good place. Our kids were happy, though they did not have a ton of friends around. 

There were so many ins and outs to deciding if we wanted to make the move, that we could spend a ton of time talking about it and not come to a conclusion. Still, the opportunity was there with a math teacher opening and an elementary teacher opening. On top of that idea was the looming threat of coronavirus. I could not see how they could shut down school due to a virus, but the questions were still out there. So as we plodded up the slickrock, we discussed these topics. I was impressed with our kids as they did not seem to have any issues with the uphill. 

Conrad was turning into a pretty good hiker and Zyla never seemed to have too many complaints. Once they were out there, they always enjoyed it. We got to what we thought was the top of the slickrock expanse. There were a ton of cairns built in one spot. We continued a bit farther, but it seemed we had gone too far. I consulted my watch and route description, and eventually we came back to the Vortex. The Vortex was one of a series of slickrock depressions created by water. I wouldn't say it was anything out of the ordinary, just larger than most that you come across. This pothole would be a difficult scramble in and out of.

 There was one pothole filled with water, but another that was dry. Everyone enjoyed it and we took a bunch of pictures. What was more impressive was just being out on the slick rock. It doesn't matter how often that you go, there is just something about bare red rock that makes it worthwhile to explore. You are always searching for that one unique view. We had the whole thing to ourselves, which was great and after we were done, we headed back down. Now we were the ones with the advice for the people going up as most people were trying to find this feature the same way that we were. Definitely worth a trip there for the experience and a good trip for the whole family.