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Tuesday: Up the West Rim Trail we went, bypassing Angel's Landing in favor of a hike west to Telephone Canyon. The switchbacks were similar to those on Observation Point, but I was a seasoned veteran now and had no trouble with the heights. Scads of people were swarming all over Scout Lookout and it was a relief to get out of the crowd. It just kept getting better, with changing scenery with each bend in the trail. Snow lingered in a few spots, and unfamiliar flowers demanded their pictures be taken.
A word about the flowers...I took one book with me (The Peterson Guide to Southwestern Flowers) and I had the hardest time identifying much of anything. Before we left I had gone on an Amazon book-buying spree and had procured about a dozen books on the subject (almost all were used - I paid an average of about $5 each with shipping). Now, at home, I'm glad to have all the books, because each one seems to have mostly different flowers in it. There are dozens of species in a genus and they all look nearly alike, mostly 4-petaled yellow flowers in the mustard family! Be sure when you take plant pictures out there, that you capture the leaves, stems, height, seedpods if possible, sepals, stamens, etc. I've resorted to the internet and am still having a tough time.
We turned around at a magnificent lookout and got back down in less than half the time.
Wednesday. It just kept getting better. Today it was Canaan Mountain, which is a huge nearly flat-topped mesa of orange slickrock, with just a few ways to get up there, as it's bordered almost all the way around by red cliffs. It was easy to find the trailhead to Water Canyon in Hildale, and there was a good herd path all the way through the Canyon. A few dicey narrow spots as we climbed to the canyon rim were forgetten as fantastic orange and white hoodoos came into view. On the rim, we just had to set our sights on a higher bump where the map showed a path to be, and we started strolling up and down a series of barely damp washes and dry ridges. The pictures really show the vast expanse well. Since the summit was still several miles away, we decided it would be a long enough day and followed the path and some ATV tracks down to Squirrel Canyon. ATV's were there illegally, and the area is under study for Wilderness designation. I just sent off a letter to the Bureau of Land Management expressing support for the idea, citing the liquor bottles, cans, and scrap metal we picked up, the oil stains on rock, and the wheel-crushed vegetation. It is unfortunate that the Broad Hollow Trail from the north is an easy way to get up there.
Squirrel Canyon stood out for 1) the dead horse we found; 2) the Beehive, an orange monolith on the west side of the canyon, and 3) the green grassy flats at the bottom along the creek. I half-expected to stroll into Lonesome Dove.
At home, we opened cold beers and nearly spat them out - don't buy Sweetgrass Pale Ale in Utah. It can't be so bad in Jackson Hole where it's brewed! Luckily we'd driven 20 miles on our first day to a gas station in Pipe Spring, AZ, and picked up some good Negra Modelo and Alaskan Amber. The end of the day was spent sitting on the porch, watching rabbits, lizards, cows, ravens, tumbleweeds, and the sunset. More tomorrow...
A word about the flowers...I took one book with me (The Peterson Guide to Southwestern Flowers) and I had the hardest time identifying much of anything. Before we left I had gone on an Amazon book-buying spree and had procured about a dozen books on the subject (almost all were used - I paid an average of about $5 each with shipping). Now, at home, I'm glad to have all the books, because each one seems to have mostly different flowers in it. There are dozens of species in a genus and they all look nearly alike, mostly 4-petaled yellow flowers in the mustard family! Be sure when you take plant pictures out there, that you capture the leaves, stems, height, seedpods if possible, sepals, stamens, etc. I've resorted to the internet and am still having a tough time.
We turned around at a magnificent lookout and got back down in less than half the time.
Wednesday. It just kept getting better. Today it was Canaan Mountain, which is a huge nearly flat-topped mesa of orange slickrock, with just a few ways to get up there, as it's bordered almost all the way around by red cliffs. It was easy to find the trailhead to Water Canyon in Hildale, and there was a good herd path all the way through the Canyon. A few dicey narrow spots as we climbed to the canyon rim were forgetten as fantastic orange and white hoodoos came into view. On the rim, we just had to set our sights on a higher bump where the map showed a path to be, and we started strolling up and down a series of barely damp washes and dry ridges. The pictures really show the vast expanse well. Since the summit was still several miles away, we decided it would be a long enough day and followed the path and some ATV tracks down to Squirrel Canyon. ATV's were there illegally, and the area is under study for Wilderness designation. I just sent off a letter to the Bureau of Land Management expressing support for the idea, citing the liquor bottles, cans, and scrap metal we picked up, the oil stains on rock, and the wheel-crushed vegetation. It is unfortunate that the Broad Hollow Trail from the north is an easy way to get up there.
Squirrel Canyon stood out for 1) the dead horse we found; 2) the Beehive, an orange monolith on the west side of the canyon, and 3) the green grassy flats at the bottom along the creek. I half-expected to stroll into Lonesome Dove.
At home, we opened cold beers and nearly spat them out - don't buy Sweetgrass Pale Ale in Utah. It can't be so bad in Jackson Hole where it's brewed! Luckily we'd driven 20 miles on our first day to a gas station in Pipe Spring, AZ, and picked up some good Negra Modelo and Alaskan Amber. The end of the day was spent sitting on the porch, watching rabbits, lizards, cows, ravens, tumbleweeds, and the sunset. More tomorrow...
