An Eventful Day in the Right Fork

I always love hiking in the Right Fork. It always seems different than the last time that I was in there. Many other people already knew this, but I did not, that the lake was gone. But when I went up there, I was expecting to do an early April swim through the lake. I was pleasantly surprised to find it gone. It was rather interesting while it lasted, but you could tell that the rock slide that caused it had ceased its slide without injuring anyone and the creek had breached the dam through its own power rather than with a excavator clearing the way. Just like it was intended to.

Truth is, there are few places left where that is allowed to happen. Thank goodness for the Right Fork. As I continued further up canyon, I saw signs of beaver activity and very recent. The beaver had taken out cottonwood after cottonwood. I did not recall ever seeing beaver activity in this canyon before. Thank goodness for the Right Fork. Then I took a turn and went up a seldom seen off shoot of the normal drainage. I was determined to make it to the back of the canyon to see what was marked as falls on the map. If it is marked as falls, there must be a pretty dramatic fall. I had been up this canyon before but was thwarted by a slippery pour-off.

This time I got above this pour-off by carefully navigating up the right side of the wall. Jackpot! The rest of this canyon was fantastic with other side drainages still waiting to be explored. I had to scramble around some larger impassible pour-offs that required a fair bit of bushwhacking and effort. Eventually, though, I came out in a place where I could access these falls. It was a ton of effort toward the end, something that I would not choose to replicate. When I got there, the pay-off was not all that I was hoping that it would be, but it was still rewarding.
I would compare it to the Emerald Pools, but in a place that few if any had ever been to. There were no signs of human visitation up there. On the way back down, I was studying the rocks closely and they seemed very similar to the rocks where the dinosaur tracks in the Subway were. I looked really closely and sure enough, I discovered a dinosaur track.
 This is one of those discoveries as a kid you dream of. So now I know where a dino track is that no one else in the world has ever seen. I was so excited. As I went down, I admired the rocks and found a window in one of the formations. As I exited my secret canyon, the South Guardian Angel loomed over me. I followed the creek the rest of the way downstream, so excited to share my finds with other Park employees and my family. Some were excited, some didn't care, but truly the Right Fork has to be appreciated for how it has been allowed to remain wild!

Backpacking on the East Rim

Zion could not have been more popular. I was issuing permits nearly nonstop at the desk for all sorts of trips, but mainly backpacking. It was spring break and while the rest of the country remained cold and/or wet, we were experiencing comfortable weather and rather dry conditions. Everything was full and when I say everything, I mean everything. We have 5 popular backpacking areas and all of those hit their limits. So I had to go up for the night to see what all of the fuss was about. This was my second time backpacking on the East Rim and I knew I wanted to head out toward Deertrap.

 I left later in the afternoon on this trip intentionally hoping to run into a few more people in camp. I did run into some people exiting early, but not many in camp. I had to educate some college age guys about not camping right next to the trail. They were receptive. As I got farther on I found an amazing site overlooking the East side of the park. The views were fantastic as I approached dark. I put up my tent, made my dinner, and took a look over the edge. With the East Temple in clear view, I could see most of the area near the tunnel with the Pine Creek drainage right below me.

I wondered why people all wanted to be around the spring on the East Rim when their were so many better choices for campsites. I read a little before getting some early rest. In the morning, it was an AM hike out to the end of Deertrap, before packing up my stuff and heading down to Zion Canyon. It was a beautiful hike and camping spot that I always enjoyed having on a work day. 

Feeling Fairly Phallic

We awoke the next morning in the town of Escalante. There was nothing left to do but pack up our stuff, eat some breakfast, and head out on the road back home. We intended to hike on the way back home which can be a difficult task to do because sometimes you are just motivated to get home and have a day there.

But I was determined, so we stopped at Kodachrome Basin State Park. We paid the expensive entrance fee and then parked at a trailhead for the Panorama. Jacqueline took about ten steps with Conrad and decided that it was far too windy for him.

So I took off with Zyla and we decided to do the loop on our own. I would usually encourage Zyla to walk normally, but with the ticking clock of my wife sitting in the car with Conrad, I had to do this hike as fast as I could. The views were great and the rock formations were interesting. Kodachrome has a large collection of rocks that look strikingly like penises. They all had other names, though. I think I went the wrong direction by going clockwise, but my first stop was a viewpoint that I hauled us up to.
Zyla was such a cooperative hiker and at this point, old enough to hold a conversation with me as we moved along.

Then I kept going around the loop which seemed to run many different directions. I went to various different offshoots with names like the Hat Shop and Ballerina Spire. I think that being in Southern Utah, these needed specific names to get the other names dropped that would have come out. It was a fun hike and all in all it took us five miles roundtrip to complete the loop. Zyla was good the whole time and we made it back to tell Mommy about all the interesting things we had seen.