Red Cliffs Desert Reserve

As I have mentioned several times, on of my favorite close places to hike in is the Purgatory portion of the Red Cliffs Desert Reserve, more specifically Arch Trail.

There is a never ending supply of places to explore and new things to see.  Every time I come here I find new formations, ravines and arches.

Valley of Fire

VALLEY OF FIRE STATE PARK

Disclaimer: Sorry about the photo quality, I was messing with my settings on my camera a couple weeks ago and never reset them!

When I was a young buck my scout troop went camping at a place called Valley of Fire State Park (VOFSP) in Nevada. This was one of my favorite camping trips of all time. We played night games and during the day played the best game of steal the flag in history. While I had an enjoyable time as a teen, I did not enjoy the park for the same reasons as I do as an adult. VOFSP is an oddity. As you drive in the middle of the Mojave Desert one must wonder what amazing geological thing can exist out here, but quickly the rather bland desert turns into a whimsical red/white/yellow slickrock playground. Often the colors change dramatically from red to white, or sometimes the change is more gradual with a mixture of colors. Perhaps the most unique thing about VOFSP is not the colors, but rather the shapes of the rocks. The weathering of the sandstone is amazing leaving holes, caves, arches, and eery looking faces in perhaps a greater concentration than any other place I have ever visited. Anyone with an imagination will enjoy spotting rocks that "look like..."

Danica, Kylee, and Rachel making a funny face under arch rock.

Danica was the most timid of the Reeses children when it came to exploring and climbing the slickrock. So I was shocked when she wanted to go exploring with me. The picture below was an odd thing found. It was a small cavern with lots of openings and natural bridges or... something

Marie holding Emma (above)

Cory taking a typical Cory shot! At least this time he wasnt lying down in the middle of the road. Fortunetely he has not yet been struck by a speeding car.

One of the most impressive vistas was the Fire Canyon Overlook. It was amazing how the red and white color change was so abrupt.

Marjory Kay really wanted to go on a hike so we hike the White Dome loop. This was a fun/easy trail that had a little bit of fun for everyone. There was scrambling, slot canyons and arches to explore and photograph all in a 1 1/2 mile hike.

One of my favorite parts of VOFSP is rock art record left by ancient inhabitants. Even in such a desolate, out of the way place, ancient civilizations found the place to be sacred as proven by the record of petroglyphs. The first picture is of the famous atlatl rock. I have a better pic of the atlatl that I will find later, but if you look at the very top you can barely see the atlatl.

Perhaps the most fun hike that the Reese children did was the hike to Mouses Tank. Mouse was a renegade Paiute who plagued the early settlers. He would hide in this canyon when the early white settlers searched for him. The reason the kids liked the canyon so much was the amount of lizards they found and unsuccessfully attempted to catch. I think Jackson counted over 20. I enjoyed the hike because in half a mile hundreds of rock art was easily found. My favorite one was a panel that included a desert tortoise.

Even pregnant, Renee is still HOT!!

A petroglyph of a desert tortoise (below, middle of picture)

More Red Cliffs Desert Reserve

More Red Cliffs Desert Reserve

Ive decided that the Red Cliffs Desert Reserve (RCDR) is truly underrated! My latest trip there was one of my hiking highlights of 2008 and this time I was able to share the experience with Trevor. Without any source of information whatsoever(is this a word?), I plotted our journey up the north face of Sandstone Mountain, and then down the south side of the mountain (we are not mountain climbers, we merely found a possible way up and down without any type of technical skills other than scrambling) Once on top we were able to see LaVerkin, with an stunning view of West Temple in the background, the city of Hurricane, Leeds, Pinevalley, and as far south as Sand Hollow. After spending some time contemplating on top of the mountain we began to pick, or slide down the backside of the mountain. The best part of our trip was found tumbling down the mountain! Amazing colors, rock formations, even windows in the rocks dazzled our eyes and minds. I was nearly as impressed with the sights and colors we saw, as when I first saw the Wave in the Paria Wilderness Area. After nearly rolling our ankles on several occasion because we couldnt keep our eyes on the trail due to the beauty of the area, we were able to cross the backside of the mountain and reach the arch that I wrote about it an earlier posting. This time I had time to actually sit and enjoy the little arch.



Today was a day not soon to be forgotten for either me or Trevor! Here are some pictures.



1/2 way up the north face of Sandstone Mtn.

I have no idea how I took this picture, but it looks like Trevor is traveling through some time warp.

Overlooking LaVerkin and West Temple (ZNP)

We saw some CRAZY weathering of rocks!

Even the moss was more artistic in the RCDR

Some of the differences in color of the sandstone was similar to the Wave.

Just the icing on the cake of a perfect day

Red Cliffs Desert Reserve- Arch Trail

Due to the crazy amounts of snow the upper elevations of Southern Utah have received over the last two weeks I was left scrambling to find a new place to hike during the cold, snowy winter months and boy did I find it. In practically my back yard one can find peace, beauty and even natural free standing arches. During my research (thank you SCC for paying me to browse the internet) I found mention of a free standing arch. Basically all I found was one brief trail description and a couple pictures, but I decided that I would find this arch during my xmas break (thank you state of Utah and Washington County for giving me a two week xmas break this year!) Trevor and I made a quasi-attempt earlier this week but due to a snow/rain storm our excursion was cancelled. Luckily for me I did not give up hope but rather set out by myself on a cold December morning. Because of the lack of information of how to find this arch I found myself accidentally parking about 1-2 miles away from the trailhead, being lost for most of the time, finding myself somewhat stuck with the only option of sliding down a ten foot slab of slickrock, and scraping my knuckles up!!! But with a little determination I eventually found the needle in the haystack. While the arch isnt very large, it is still impressive, especially for southwestern Utah. It is somewhat reminiscent of delicate arch although on a much smaller scale. Once I found the arch, I also found the trail out, which was much easier and faster than my scramble down the mountain trail.