Oak Creek Exploring

I was hankering for a little bit of exploring. I had spent a lot of my furlough inside taking care of the kids and the day to day things. It was time to get out. It was easy to get restless when the days all run together and you need something fresh. I always wanted to try to get up Oak Creek behind the maintenance yard to see what was up there.

In the past, I had explored up there but it was so hot, I just ran into the Altar of Sacrifice and was forced to turn around due to being tired of dealing with the heat. This time it \was February, Groundhog Day to be exact. So I would not have to worry about the heat at all. I drove up to the maintenance yard where I parked and started my hike. The beginning part was on a dirt road and the funniest thing is I actually saw another person up there. That was strange because this is not a place people usually go. I never saw them turn around, though. I hit the watercourse which had a small flow of water in it and followed that up. I was met with a few obstacles that were easily surmounted. I had been all the way up to the Altar of Sacrifice before, so this was nothing new, just some uphill hiking and some bushwhacking.

This time I went farther up the canyon. I had to get up on to the plateau to get by some obstacles. This was intense bushwhacking and eventually I got back into the canyon. I was met with obstacle after obstacle that I was forced to get around. Eventually I made it up to a point where the obstacle was too difficult for me to get up. I contemplated ways to get around, but figured I would just run into another one around the corner. The canyon looked interesting behind it, but still it wasn't worth it. Instead, I picked a new goal. I found a big rock leaning against the cliffs and noticed an opening behind it.

I maneuvered my way up to this rock having to do a bit of difficult climbing in order to make it up the rock. It was really neat behind it. There was like this entire room that I had to myself. I wondered if this could be a place to find Indian ruins, though I attempted to think things could be that, I don't think that in the end it would have been. In fact, I may have been the first person to set my foot in this area. I stayed there for a bit of time, peaking around the corner to see if there was anything else to explore. Eventually I left and went back the way I came to my vehicle. I was glad that I found something unique, but was disappointed in the exploring that produced nothing entirely unique. Still it was worth seeing once and good for my well being to get out for a bit. 

Parowan Gap Petroglyphs

We had driven by the turnoff for the Parowan Gap Petroglyphs many times on our way to and back from Great Basin National Park. Every time on the way there, we say we are going to stop on the way back, and then by the time that we came back, we would be too much in the mood to go home to stop. So we decided to make a day of it and drove up for that specific purpose. The road went right through the gap and the petroglyphs were on both sides of the road.
 It was a chilly day, but we got the kids out to go see all of them. They were quite impressive and in good shape considering they were right next to the road. They had a large fence around them so you could not just walk up and see them without going over the fence. That is one way to keep them protected. We walked the whole length of the fence to see all of them. We stayed for as long as it takes to just look at things then went down to Cedar to have lunch and grocery shop.

 

City Hiking

Jacqueline, Zyla, Conrad and I took a two week long vacation down to Arizona. The main goal of this trip was to see family and friends, so getting outdoors was going to come second to all of this. We drove from Springdale to the Sedona area and Jacqueline's Aunt Kris'. It took us all day and the kids did very well. The next day we went down to Scottsdale. We were staying with Jacqueline's Uncle Bob and Aunt Bobbie.
Out to visit were Jacqueline's other Uncle Jim and Aunt Connie, her cousin Stu, and his girlfriend Amber.  Kris came out to visit also down there. So we had a full house. They set us up in the casita as Bob and Bobbie had a large enough residence to accommodate all of these people and more. Most of the time was spent hanging out and enjoying the company of others, but we did happen to cram in a few hikes. Their community had its own set of hiking trails. Bob took us out there. Jacqueline carried Conrad, I carried Zyla while Jim and Bobbie joined us for the walk.
 It was the perfect expression of the
desert scenery and it was nice to be out and about without a sweater on. The trails were impeccably maintained and they even had some elevation. Everyone we met talked to us and since the trails were exclusive to the community that they lived in, they were very quiet and enjoyable for everyone. It ended up being a nice walk and we were happy to get out with the kids. We spent the afternoon going to a little amusement park where Zyla had a blast.
The next day we got inspired to continue our city hiking. Connie and Jim had gone to do a hike around Pinnacle Peak. We decided that this sounded like an excellent hike for us with the kids. It was a short half hour drive from where they lived. When we got to the trailhead, it was packed with cars. We knew this was going to be a different experience.
 The trail was just full of people and while the scenery was still nice, it made it less enjoyable to have so many people there. The trail was still in good shape and we enjoyed the hike, but it just takes something away when we are constantly surrounded by people. On this one, we let Zyla get out and hike for a bit, but we do not go anywhere very fast with a 2.5 year old hiking. So it didn't last long. We hiked out to the end of the trail to where it goes down to the other trailhead and then just had to turn around. While we were hiking, the weather seemed to turn and it got much colder. Jacqueline was concerned about the kids, but they were both happy. We were concerned that one of our kids would not be good hikers, but they were content with riding, looking, and mostly sleeping. When we made it back to the car, it was time to find a place to have some food and then get prepared to head up to Jacqueline's Aunt Kris' house up near Sedona.