I Like Trees

Because attendance is not required for Stake Conference, I dont think it is, is it? We (Renee, Niah, Cory Reese and Jackson Reese and I) decided to attend our own Sunday services. The Church of Beautiful Southern Utah! Worship services would be held at Cedar Breaks National Monument (CBNM). I have driven past Cedar Breaks numerous times, even stopped at some of the viewpoints, but have never really explored the monument. Luckily I decided to today. Cedar Breaks is a gem of the National Monument system. There is a strong movement to make it a National Park, but that would be unfortunate. Not because Cedar Breaks is not impressive, unique and worth the recognition but because with the added recognition it will quickly be run over by tourists and will lose some of its charm.

Cedar Breaks is a unique place. The combination of colors, unique formations and ancient trees make it unlike any other park, monument or any other place, and at over 10,000 ft above sea level the difference in temperature is dramatic. We arrived in shorts and tshirts, and quickly added several layers of clothing to our summer attire. After briefly stopping by the visitor center, which in itself is amazing sitting on the precipice of the colorful valley below, we decided to quickly hike to Spectra Point. The hike was only 2 miles roundtrip but was very impressive. This hike had everything from dramatic vistas to 1673 year old trees and all within 1 mile of the visitor center.

For me the best part of the hike was one of the oldest living things in the world, a bristle cone pine that has been dated to over 1,673 years old. I have seen other bristle cones and they are all cool but this one was amazing. Bristle cones are usually gnarled and look half dead, and this one was not any different, what was different about this ancient tree was its size! It was HUGE. I have realized lately that for some reason I like trees, and its not because I am a tree hugger. I just like trees. Anything that can survive in such a harsh terrain for nearly 2,000 years, for me, is hard to be surpassed.

Even though we were only in Cedar Breaks for a short period of time it was quite a trip. In Cedar Breaks, as the quote goes, you get a lot of bang for your buck!

Heavenly Hop Valley

A secondary title for this hike easily could be "One Heck Of A Long Hike". Initially I wanted to do a little backpacking trip and camp out near LaVerkin creek in the Kolob Finger canyons portion of Zion National Park. After my own lack of preparedness and Renee worrying about me hiking/camping alone I decided I would do what I planned to do in two days, in one long day hike. When I say long I mean 20 miles of ups, downs, jumps and ankle breaking tumbles . This was a challenge that few would face and even fewer could accomplish. Brandon, Rod and myself were up for the challenge and decided to determine what was more powerful, our sure to be wrecked bodies after 20 miles, or our minds pushing our bodies forward.

Knowing that we were in for a long day we began hiking prior to sunrise and in the cool morning air quickly descended from the Hop Valley trailhead into Hop Valley. Other than dodging cows, their feces and repeatedly having to hop over the stream , Hop Valley was one of the most unique valleys in Southern Utah. Lying in between two nearly vertical sandstone cliffs, the verdant valley would later be salvation for the three of us.

After passing through the valley we continued down the now dry wash (because the trail signs had somehow fallen down we actually no longer were on the trail at this point) quickly we realized that a horse could not travel where were were hiking and knew that somehow we had lost the trail, but we continued on. We knew eventually the dry stream bed would run into LaVerkin Creek. As we hiked down the canyon it was a man v wild moment for us. We had to find our way through around dry falls, old landslides, etc. At one point I jumped off a dry fall into the sand below. It turned out to be higher than anticipated fortunately I did not hurt myself but my backpack did not take the jostling well and would later rip apart. The worst part of our off trail adventure was my weathered shorts soon fell casualty and ripped, luckily for me, Brandon, Rod and every other hiker we saw I was wearing underwear!

After 6 1/2 miles we finally found LaVerkin creek and set out to see a waterfall in Beartrap Canyon. Every time we heard water cascading we thought surely we had finally arrived at our destination, but every time we "heard" a waterfall it turned out to just be the river. Eventually after traveling through through the Bear Canyon narrows we arrived at a zen like waterfall. It was pretty impressive and for us desert rats a rare beauty.

Next we set out to backtrack to where the Hop Valley trail intersects with the LaVerkin creek trail and then hike to the worlds second largest free standing arch, Kolob Arch. Also at this time Rod's knee began to bother him. Somehow Rodney, as my friend Dusty used to say, "cowboyed up" and continued to hike the remaining 2 miles to the arch and 6 1/2 miles back to the car. A lesser man would have crumbled but not Rod!
Kolob Arch after years of uncertainty was finally measured by avid arch hunters and after measurement declared to be the second largest free standing arch behind Landscape Arch in Arches National Park. Landscape Arch, in our lifetime will probably break which would leave Kolob Arch the largest in the world. Even though the arch is HUGE it is difficult to comprehend its true size because it is a thousand feet or more up the cliff face. Even so it is something that we could not pass on seeing even though Rod had a bum knee. It also wouldnt stop Rod from hugging the huge ponderosa near the arch viewpoint.

After the arch we began the trek back to the car. 6 1/2 miles after already hiking over 13. This homestretch is where the boys would be separated from the men! The hike back was truly torturous. Because we initially were lost and hiked down a canyon rather than remain on the trail, we were uncertain of the challenges that lay ahead of us. The climb out of LaVerkin creek to Hop Valley without a better word, SUCKED!! It was a vertical climb in the full sun. Rod later mentioned that the combination of his knee, and exhaustion was ready to pull out his weapon and fire it into the mountain repeatedly. Finally after what seemed an eternity Hop Valley finally was within sight, at this point I decided I would name this posting Heavenly Hop Valley because the sight of the valley also meant salvation for all of us.

Once inside the Valley we decided to take a break, sit on the bank and soak our feet in the water. Even though we all knew that upstream cattle feces was flowing down on our feet not one of us complained!

The remainder of the hike can be summed up by paraphrasing Bear Gryllis from Man V Wild. You have to stay focused, keep your spirits high and keep moving!

Dirt Roads

Today we, Renee, Niah, nephew Jackson, and myself, set out to hike the Willis Creek Narrows in the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument (GSENM). To get there we decided to take the road less traveled by AKA a long dirt road. I sometimes like to mix it up and take these roads even though they add time. This one may have been a mistake as it was somewhat anticlimatic, but after what turned into a three hour drive we arrived at the trailhead. To our dismay it began to rain and the hike being a slot canyon, was cancelled. Fortunately for we adventurers Utah is blessed with amazing outdoor places and after a quick glance at our map we decided Kodachrome Basin State Park would be a worthwhile alternative.

Kodachrome apparently was named by a group of photographers for National Geographic Magazine who named the region after their film. It is an amazing place and worth the visit, even worth making it a destination in itself. Really there is not anything comparable that I can think of. It has monoliths similar to those at Monument Valley, or the Valley of the Gods, but on a smaller scale in addition the park has hoodoo's, sandstone formations and even a photogenic arch. The hikes we did, weather was still a threat, were short and the informative trail guides made the hike interesting even for young Jackson. Renee thought it interesting as Juniper tree's grow for some unexplained reason they twist as they grow.

After Kodachrome we headed for home. As we drove and passed through parts of Bryce Canyon National Park we noticed a pullout parking lot with a trailhead for Mossy Cave. The hike was magnificent. The hoodoos reminicent those found Bryce Canyon. Renee said several times that they were so bright it actually hurt her eyes to look at them. Jackson enjoyed the hike as well, especially due to him playing in the river and throwing rocks into it. The hike ended with scenic waterfall and a cave that has icicles until early July (alas we were there too late).

Even though the day started rough (Jackson repeatedly said he knew he should have stayed home after it started to rain) it ended up being one of the most enjoyable days of the summer for
our little group!

I convinced poor Jackson to become a tree hugger














Notice the Arch




















Renee thought it looked as if someone melted all the faces in Mount Rushmore together (below).

MOUNTAIN GOATS

DELANO PEAK

After nearly a one month hiatus from the amazing outdoor scene of Southern Utah, I was finally able to return to the wilderness. I decided to repeat, well repeat the same concept, of last Julys camping trip but rather than Great Basin National Park we drove to the closer Beaver Canyon/Tushar Mountain Range. The camping was awesome we basically had a campground to ourselves. Nobody within sight, right next to a lake. I sat gazing at the lake while I read The Monkey-Wrench Gang. What a perfect moment!

The highlight of the trip though was to summit the 6th highest peak(I stand corrected it is not near the 6th highest in Utah whoops good thing I have such informed commentators!) in Utah, Delano Peak. I read a review that said it was an easy hike, one of the easiest peaks in the Tushar Range. With that thought I convinced Renee that we could haul up Niah, and Rachel and Cody could haul up Emma. I did not think they would make it up all the way and they didnt, thankfully as it was a much harder hike than I had anticipated. Niah and Renee made it to above 11,000 ft. After Renee turned around Cody and I slowly continued to the top.

I summitted first, (summit sounds much cooler than saying it was a long up hill hike), signed the log book, and took some pictures. Then I sat for a couple minutes and just took it all in. Summitting peaks is an amazing experience. Its hard to breath, your legs are burning and your body tells you to stop, and give up, but upon summit everything is worthwhile and one of the greatest feelings of satisfaction I have experienced. Truly it is a mind over body moment!

Cody, a couple minutes later, also made it to the top, but at this point with a slight sprinkle and strong wind gusts we did not have much time to enjoy the peak. Instead we descended several hundred feet. At the peak Cody saw the herd of mountain goats that live on the mountain and we decided to try to get a closer view. This was after Cody decided to be possibly the first person to make a snow angel at over 12,000 feet. We snuck to within about 30 yards of the mountain goats before the discovered us and began to move away.

Once I read an article about survival tips and it mentioned that hikers who summit are more likely to die on the descent rather than the summit. Often people set a goal to make it to the peak so when after the have achieved the goal the let their guard down. Even with this knowledge, Cody and I had a difficult time getting off the mountain! We were mentally tired, and physically exhausted and because of this fell times, fortunately like I said this was not a technical climb just a steep hike and so we made it back with minor bruises, blisters and cuts!

Niah and myself just before her and Renee turned around













Flora and Fauna

NIAH

Normally every posting on my blog is dedicated to an inspiring place in or around Southern Utah. This posting will be the exception to my rule. For the very limited amount of people who glance at this blog know, I was soon to be a daddy and on May 27th, this happened and my daughter Niah M Anderson (yes the letter M and it doesnt stand for anything) was born. I will admit I was a little bit nervous as to how her birth would change my life. Maybe I was a bit selfish but I had a good life. Renee and I traveled around the Western Hemisphere, we slept in when we wanted, went to sleep when we wanted, etc, but it was worth giving up parts of my former life to experience the joys of raising the most beautiful girl in the world!!!

Red Reef Trail

RED REEF TRAIL

The wife and her sisters planned on taking their mother to lunch and movie for mothers day today. As I heard their plans my mind instantly began to think how the mouse could play (you know when the cats away the mice will play) Originally I planned on a fishing trip somewhere but when that fell through I quickly came up with alternate plans. I called Cory Darwin and asked if he wanted to go on a hike and of course he said yes. We set out in the late afternoon and drove to the red reef trailhead/cottonwood wash trailhead.

Quickly we dropped into the wash which led to a fantasy world of unique redrock erosion. Many hikes I enjoy but would never rehike due to the vast amount of other unhiked hikes. I can honestly say I would return to this place. The formations we saw were indescribable, the solitude magnificent and both of these are in largely due to cottonwood canyon wilderness area designation.

I am so thankful for wilderness areas. Having such a designation keeps out many who would treat such a fragile area like it was their off road playground. Not having to hear the sounds, nor eat the dust of atv's, rhinos, etc makes the experience even better. The area we explored was pristine and much of that is due to not allowing mechanized vehicles in the area. I compare wilderness to the fishing regulations at Kolob Reservior. There are many places bait fisherman can fish in Southern Utah, in fact most are open to such fisherman. Kolob on the other hand is one of the few places where a fly fisherman can get away from the masses of stationary fisherman and practice his sport. Also due to such regulations Kolob also lacks the all night partiers because they oddly enough are also bait fisherman. Not all bait fisherman are partiers but for some reason drunkards are all bait fisherman :} Like Kolob, there needs to be some places where seekers of solitude can find such. Where people can leave civilization behind and not have to worry about stumbling across environmental destruction, and sound pollution from the same partiers who would be at Kolob if there were not any regulations. For me these areas are often called wilderness and things worth while one must work to find. I do feel sorry for those off road enthusiasts who follow the rules they truly are the losers in the whole wilderness debate.

Sorry about my little rant but back to the trail. The icing on the cake was when we saw, actually almost stepped on, a huge king snake and then finally found an elusive and famous Red Cliffs Desert Reserve Tortoise. We did an saw all of this in 2 hours hiking and 15 minutes driving from Hurricane!

Also thank you Cory for the photos! I arrived minus memory card thus didnt take any pics. Also check out the Cory Reese (my bro's say he looks like Steve-O so check it out for yourself) blog at coryreese.blogspot.com