Stash
Active member
I had a few things happen in late 2013 that ended up with me moving from Freeport, Maine to Park City, Utah. One of the changes is that I went from living and working at sea level to living at 6,000' and working at close to 10,000' at one of the local ski areas. Can you say acclimate? Another change is that the hiking is a touch different than the White Mountains of New Hampshire; my playground for so many years. While I've yet to get out and hike something local to Park City in the north of Utah, I had a chance to head south for a few days to Kanab close to the Arizona border. Land of red rocks at "only" 5,000 feet. So I got in yesterday and wandered around a bit, reading up on the local trails and getting a few miles on the bike in a balmy 55 degrees.
This morning I went for a run while I waited for it to warm from 30 degrees and headed out to Squaw Trail on the edge of town at around 11:00. The trail head shares a parking lot with the ball fields in a local park. Off I want, with Nellie my dog, on a rather flat walk in. I held off on poles at first, thinking that we'd be walking on a well worn tourist path. I broke them out on the first switch-back. Though not overly steep the trail worked its way up the side of the hill with a bit of a drop off to the side and the poles give me that sense of security. I worked my up, past numbered trail markers and those amazing rock formations so common around here including stacked rocks and the start of a few of those famous sandstone arches, one of which adorns my new license plate. I was a little surprised to learn that the arches that remain are actually the softer sandstone that sat on top of more dense rock. The water passes through the sandstone and gets caught in the dense rock, causing that to crumble from the freeze/thaw cycle. The further up I went the more classic things I saw. Various types of cactus and thorny plants, rocks of red and a blue/green color and everything in between. For the most part the trail was packed red dust but as we approached the top the dust turned to soft sand with its energy sapping depth. While we only picked up 800 feet of elevation my newness to altitude still showed. I guess I need a few more months. The top of the hike is an open area with 360 degree views of open desert for most and the town of Kanab to the south.
I've done some mountain biking in Moab, to the east, and the similarities of trail and geography are obvious. But this was the first hike - where you can take your time and see the things that just pass by on a bike.
I've posted a few pictures on my Flikr page...
This morning I went for a run while I waited for it to warm from 30 degrees and headed out to Squaw Trail on the edge of town at around 11:00. The trail head shares a parking lot with the ball fields in a local park. Off I want, with Nellie my dog, on a rather flat walk in. I held off on poles at first, thinking that we'd be walking on a well worn tourist path. I broke them out on the first switch-back. Though not overly steep the trail worked its way up the side of the hill with a bit of a drop off to the side and the poles give me that sense of security. I worked my up, past numbered trail markers and those amazing rock formations so common around here including stacked rocks and the start of a few of those famous sandstone arches, one of which adorns my new license plate. I was a little surprised to learn that the arches that remain are actually the softer sandstone that sat on top of more dense rock. The water passes through the sandstone and gets caught in the dense rock, causing that to crumble from the freeze/thaw cycle. The further up I went the more classic things I saw. Various types of cactus and thorny plants, rocks of red and a blue/green color and everything in between. For the most part the trail was packed red dust but as we approached the top the dust turned to soft sand with its energy sapping depth. While we only picked up 800 feet of elevation my newness to altitude still showed. I guess I need a few more months. The top of the hike is an open area with 360 degree views of open desert for most and the town of Kanab to the south.
I've done some mountain biking in Moab, to the east, and the similarities of trail and geography are obvious. But this was the first hike - where you can take your time and see the things that just pass by on a bike.
I've posted a few pictures on my Flikr page...
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