Anasazi Ridge

Anasazi Ridge

I have been desirious to look at the petroglyphs located above the Santa Clara river for several months, but either due to weather, or lack of time I have not been able to go. Saturday I decided I would find them. As my wife and I drove towards St. George to run errands, I asked if she cared if we went on a little adventure. Luckily for me I am married to someone who understands me! She told me I had an hour, I would like to remind any reader she is over 6 months pregnant and hiking is not high on her list of things to do right now. As we hiked along there were several indicaters of rock art left by the Anasazi who lived in the area, and we found several panels on the top of the rocks. These petroglyphs are a little strange compared to the others I have seen. Traditionally they are carved on a verticle rock, most of these ones were carved on the top of horizontal rocks. After an hour my time was up and we decided it was time to turn around. As we began hiking back the same route, I heard voices coming below us. The voices were stationary so I assumed they must be looking at something. We hiked toward the voices and found the best panels of the entire hike. One shaman figure on one rock, and on another rock two very large goats with what appears to possibly be a mountain lion following them. Finally after my hour was well up, I thanked my beautiful wife for coming with me. I told her that finding these sites is like a pirate finding his treasure.

There is quite a bit of photographic potential here. On a clear day with the sun shining on the red cliffs behind it could be quite amazing.

The mountain goats are actually quite large the bodies are at least 1 ft x 2 ft. I dont know for sure but it looks like a mountain lion following them at the bottom right.

I wish we knew what this meant! A calendar? A map of some sort?
Amendment-Upon further research a similar pictograph I have seen was thought to be a blanket here is the link www.redrockadventure.com/rock_art/indian_blanket_pictograph.htm

Monument Valley Trip

ROAD TRIP

Over the summer I went on what basically amounted to a field trip for teachers. It was a memorable trip, but one with several missed opportunities. One of these opportunities was Monument Valley. We drove to within view of the monoliths but that was it. After the trip I decided to return someday. The ole wife, cory (bro-in-law) Jackson (nephew), Trevor(bro) and made the trip, this time to actually explore Monument Valley. The trip was a quick two dayer and we covered a lot of ground. We were up by sunrise and didnt put our heads down till well after sunset. Our first stop was the Betatakin ruins of Navajo National Monument. Unfortunately for us the rangers werent willing to hike with us down to the ruins and without the guides you are not allowed down to them. Fortunately for us they wouldnt go because it would have been a long cold, hike into the snow filled valley! In fact just hiking to the overlook young Jackson slipped on ice and threw a fit that could have awoken a hibernating grizzly. NNM is surely a place I will return to.
Monument Valley, while being a little commercialized, was an amazing location. The driving tour around the weathered landforms was well worth the time, and the two hikes that are allowed without a tour guide we found ourselves without any human company as we hiked around one of the "mittens." Day 2 of our trip we decided to head further south, and made our way to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. Being at over 7000 ft it was frigid but at the same time was exhilarating. The air was clean and crisp and visibility was amazing. In fact we were able to see the Arizona Strips Mount Trumball from the South Rim. I would recommend a trip to the South Rim for everyone living in the southwestern United States. It is only a 4-5 hour drive from Southern Utah. I know the North Rim is much closer but going to the South Rim is a completely different experience from that of the North Rim.

SUNRISE ON THE SOUTH RIM

The WAVE!!!!

THE WAVE

When an opportunity to hike to the North Coyote Buttes aka the Wave one should do everything in your power to ensure that opportunity is not lost! Last week I found myself in this predicament. Friday afternoon Evan Cambell came to my classroom asking what I had going on Saturday. I told him I had work and I can clearly recall him saying "you have to get it off, I have permits to the Wave." With thoughts of the one of the most amazing surreal locations on earth racing through my mind I immediately began trying to arrange someone to work for me. After numerous denials I had one hope left and fortunately for me I did not lose the opportunity to make a second journey to the wave.

Leaving Hurricane at 6AM we (Lindsey Witt, Evan Cambell, Janessa Cambell and myself) drove the roughly two hours to the trail head. The road to the trailhead, deemed impassible when wet, was frozen, but the thought of returning on the same road after it became unfrozen was spoken of, but once again its the wave and one does whatever it takes even risking the potential of being stuck in the mud.

We quickly hiked the 2 1/2 miles to the wave and were the first ones there. All of us sat there stunned at the colors and uniqueness of such a god given location. What an amazing experience to be able to sit and meditiate without any distractions from the outside world. Because of our early departure we were able to enjoy the wave without any other hikers being in the proximity. Also because of our early hour we also had to experience the cold morning air prior to the sun rising over the cliffs above.

Hoping to get our blood pumping and warm up we decided to hike to two arches, a window and magnificent alcove above the wave. Thanks to the directions from Tonya and Bo's website "http://www.zionnational-park.com/coyote-buttes-paria.htm" we scrambled to the top of the slickrock mountain and found top rock arch, melody arch and window, and the alcove. Even though they are not extremely difficult to find it is still exhilarating when after hiking around semi turned around we found such places. The feeling must be somewhat comparible to finding a buried treasure!

After our "discoveries" we made it back down to the wave to find other hikers arriving. Fortunately all who made it to the wave this day all were respectful, and very friendly.

Eventually it was time to return to our car but on the way back we stopped at the mini-wave which can be found east of the wave and then began looking for the dinosaur tracks. We couldnt find the ones from Bo's directions and after giving up began our hike back. After hiking for about ten minutes I stepped on an odd impression in the sandstone and realized that I found the dinosaur tracks, probably different ones than the ones we were looking for. The reason I say this is the GPS coordinates were considerably different than the ones we had. What an amazing day! One to be remembered for years to come!

PS thanks to our fearless driver, Evan, we were able to return safely passing the impassible when wet road!

The Wave from above. The actual wave can be seen in the center-right of the photo.

What an amazing place! Only some higher power could have made something so impressive.

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.

Snow Canyon State Park

Snow Canyon State Park-White Rock Trail Scramble

On the way home from celebrating Thanksgiving in Northern Utah, Renee's sister called and said that she and her boys wanted to do some hiking on Sunday and of course I was to be their tour guide. Now I was thrilled at the opportunity to skip church and enjoy the great outdoors, but I also realized that more than likely I would be stuck on the same lame trails I have often hiked where I have to fight my way through the crowds, you know the trendy hikes! As I contemplated whether or not I could find some solitude on such a hike I dreamt up the idea to find a more unique hike in the early morn with a small group and then later meet up with the rest of them for the usual. Due to not wanting to drive four cars into Zion National Park, we decided to go to a cheaper to enter but just as impressive Snow Canyon State Park. Cory, Trevor, Micah and myself would leave early and hike to the White Rock Amphitheater and the girls and children would come a couple hours later. The short hike to the Amphitheater was rather unimpressive but the almost U-shaped white valley of slick rock was inspiring. The reflection from pools was amazing, and my pictures do not nearly do it justice. Everyone in the group was impressed. Cory began finding changing leaves in order to frame a picture against the white sand. Trevor went off on his own, and nearly fell to his death, well at least a couple broken bones. Micah and myself though found one of the most beautiful off trail views within recent memory. Snow Canyon is a place I will surely return to!

Micah standing high atop the whiterock scramble looking down on Snow Canyon. While this was a semi-dangerous scramble to get to the top, it was well worth the risk.

Cory Darwin Reese climbing atop the whiterock.

Trevor nearly fell from the cliffs directly behind me!

Eventually we met up with the rest of the crew. Me, being an anxious being, quickly gathered up the youngsters and headed to the sand dunes. When I was a child I spent many an hour playing in these same dunes, and even as a semi-adult I still had a blast running as fast as I could in the shifting sand and jumping off the edge. After an hour or so of this we headed towards our last hike of the day, which happened to be a place I had driven by dozens of times, but never left the car to explore. Any visitor at Snow Canyon must stop at the petrified dunes and hike to the top of them. At several places the dunes form a type of stairway. It is pretty amazing. Perhaps the best part of the hike though, was discovered once we arrived at the top of the dunes. Countless moki marbles appeared as we arrived at the top it was a sight not soon to be forgotten.

Younger sister Kylee helping her older sister Danica down the dunes.

Renee and Mel on top of the once upon a time sand dunes.

Can anyone say Moki Marbles?