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.