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.