More chokestones to crawl under and over in the Red Breaks Canyon.
After a record breaking snow fall during the ski season up at Silver Star Resort/Sovereign Lake Nordic Centre, time to head south for our annual "Melt the ice cubes on the brain," bike and hike trip to Red Rock Country(parts of Utah/Arizona). Had a great winter having lived for 5 months up the ski hill, getting out every day into the powder. Time now to saddle up the mule and hitch her up to the Creekside sled.
This is a photo from our front window up at Silver Star Mountain. Hard to believe that in 1 short week, all that we will see will be red rock and desert bush.
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| March 31, the mule and our accomodations for the next 2 months are hooked up. Always a long drive to southern Utah from BC, but worth it when we look back at the amazing geology that we get to hike and ride in. |
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| Stop in Kennewick, Washington at the Costco to stock up on refreshments that we know are hard to find in Utah. Looks like the shopping cart is pretty empty this year. Maybe the Canadian dollar is hitting rock bottom compared to the Yankee dollar. |
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| Spend a dry camping night somewhere near Pendleton, Oregon. Another 5 star meal on the road. Always seems we get burned out driving all day. Or maybe Pat has had a few too many cabsavs. |
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| After a long 3 day drive we park our rig above Hurricane and prepare for some mountain biking. |
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| What a difference in the landscape a few days of driving gives you. From snow and trees to red rock and cactus. |
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| First ride of the 2018 season. From our boondock site, up JEM, then climb up Deadringer to Cowbell. |
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| The only technical section of JEM. Hiker walking ahead of us. |
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| Pat riding down Goosebumps. Taking it easy today as it is the first ride and no one wants to spend time in the OR on the first day of your trip. |
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Stop at a rest stop on the back country bush party scene. Super Dave taking some chill time in the Utah sun trying to rid himself of that pasty, winter look. |
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| Started a hike after 3 pm at Red Cliffs SP. We have been here before but it was raining so thought we would give it a try in nice weather. At this junction, took the wrong canyon going up. Took the left one, should have been the right canyon. |
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| Getting close to the top of the canyon. |
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Scrambling up a short, steep red rock stair case.
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| Todays ride is from our camp, ride Cryptobionic down to the Virgin River overlook where this photo was taken. From here, bear right and follow the Hurricane Rim trail till it meets with JEM and turn right and then back to camp. |
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| Looking back at the Hurricane Rim trail that takes you above La Verkin. |
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| Friends from Vernon arrive at the camp spot. They were the ones that got us started MTB 7 years before telling us to come down to Moab. |
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Todays ride is up Goosebumps, then Deadringer until Cowbells. Hang a left to make the round trip around the mesa where this photo is taken. Our camp is somewhere down below on the flats. At the top, its straight down JEM to our camp.
 We stated hiking from the upper rock band in the top centre of the photo, hiked down the draw to the right, then traversed below the upper rock band to a steep switch back trail.
 This is where the water used to flow through. The bars are there to keep out tourists.
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Tom, riding over a slit in the rocks that goes down 500'. Lots of cajoney's.
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| Time to head for Sedona. Drive to Lone Rock SP which is on the way to Page and pull in for the night. |
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| Pat by the fire with a nice bbqed meal as the sun sets. |
We have stayed here before and what a nice camping experience as long as it isn't windy.
This is a photo looking out from the back of our camping spot.
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Pat bikin up the long slog on the Erie trail.
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| We bike past Couthouse Butte, onto Llama, left on Little Horse, bike under the road and then left on Easy Breezy until we get back to our vehicles. |
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Our ride today starts at the Mescal trailhead off Long Canyon road.
Just starting the traverse of the Mescal mesa. Hang right at Deadman's Pass, right again down to Long Canyon road .
Tom breaks his chain after starting up Chuckwagon on a steep section.
The girls are waiting for Tom to finish his repair at the top of this little climb.
Stopping for a photo op on the high point of Chuckwagon before descending into the valley and bikin up to the ridge on the other side.
Sandra flying down the hill on the last leg of this trip to our vehicle which is parked on the Long Canyon road. Have a very pleasant 3 hour round trip.
Today, we start off at Yavapai Vista trailhead and ride up Slim Shady, left on Templeton. Sandra gets a compression flat going full speed through a dip.
Tom and Sandra have not riddin up to Cathedral Rock which is in the background yet so the 4 of us start climbing up Templeton.
After riding up to Cathedral Rock, bike down to the bottom of Easy Breezy on some rough slick rock, hang right and motor all the way back up to Yavapei Vista trailhead. While Pat drives the truck back down to Oak Creek, Sandra, Tom and Dave bike down Slim Shady to the village. Great views on the descent.
Last meal in Sedona. Pat and Dave plan on heading to Flagstaff and climb Humphries Peak, while Tom and Sandra will take the slow route to Moab.
A nice fire that night as the coolness settles in at close to 4500' in the red rock desert.
Drive up to Flagstaff and take #180 before turning right onto the road that goes up to the Snow Bowl Ski Area. Turn right after 1km onto an FSR road and find a very tight boondock spot.
We drive up to the resort that afternoon and watch folks ski and slide on man made snow. The elevation is 9500' so they do have cold enough weather for snow making. One of the employees said that this winter was especially bad for natural snow because of the lack of moisture.
Go for a little walk up the trail to Humphries, the highest point in Arizona. It's the little bump the farthest away from us.
Next day, we drive back up and start the hike. There are 60 mph wind warnings on the weather channel. This is a relative moderate hike and we would bump into a few hikers coming down that day. One young guy tried three times to crawl to the summit before retreating. Nobody ahead of us made it to the peak that day. Wind will defeat our attemps to summit the peak today.
There was a fair bit of snow on the trails but not as much as we had expected. Before the trip, we bought some mini crampons for the hard packed, icey snow and they worked really well on those steep areas going up and down.
Taking a short break at a pass between two peaks. Wind is really howling as we look up the ridge to the peak.
Just around the corner will be the farthest we get. Pat did not want to go any further so I asked her if she wanted to wait behind some big rocks while I went to the peak. She said no so we turned back. We found out we were just 80' vertical shy of the summit when we turned back. Around the next corner, staying on your feet was difficult. It was the strongest winds I think I have ever seen.
View of the mountain above the ski hill. There are I think about 7 peaks that make up the San Franscisco Peaks, which are all that is left over from one big old volcano.
On our way back down. We said,"We'll be back".
Drive to the south rim of the Grand Canyon and got a spot to camp for a few days. Todays hike will be down Hermits Rest, up Boucher. Easy peasy. Pick up the bus at the Bright Angel trailhead at 6:00am. Fairly chilly with a strong wind blowing.
Get to the junction where Hermits is to the right, Boucher to the left. We did a day hike of this route 5 years ago but in reverse. Boucher was in the morning sun the whole way while climbing up Hermits was in the afternoon sun. Very hot experience.
Pat walking under the Red rock layer which is the predominate layer of the many in the Grand Canyon.
Walking down some steep switch backs still in the morning shade. Pat still has her tights on and a warm shirt so it hasn't warmed up yet. You can see the down trail far over to Pats right traversing the green Tonto layer. 5 years ago, Pat melted coming back up this section in the sun. She had to rest in the shade for awhile because of heat stroke. Later she recovered but it was a worry at the time.
This is the junction with the Tonto trail. We have been here 2 times previously, once coming up from Hermit Creek during the round trip from Boucher and the other time when we came down Hermits, turned right on the Tonto until Bright Angel, then back up to the truck, all day hikes.
Not much water in this area so Pat is stripping off the cloths at Hermits Creek camp ground and filling the water bottles. Temperatures could be more than +30F different between the rim and the river. The next section of the Tonto and Boucher is rough and not well travelled.
See a number of backpackers at Hermits CG but all are going back up the way we have just come down. In the next 7 hours, we will see only 4 girls who are on a 3 day backpack coming down Boucher. First glimps of the Colorado River. 5 years before, when we descended the Boucher trail, the only hikers we saw were 2 backpackers on a 5 day round trip.
Pretty amazing the contrast of the green waters and black volcanic schist.
The Tonto trail, which traverses the relatively flatest part of the canyon, follows the canyon rim almost all the way to where the Boucher trail starts heading up giving dramatic views of the river.
Passing a cairn that marks where the Tonto trail meets the Boucher trail. Straight ahead, takes you back to the rim and to the right, down to the river.
Traversing around another large gully. The trail eventually heads up to the point at the top left 1/3 of the photo.
Pat scrambling up a rock fall on one of the numerous steep sections of the trail. This is where we met the 4 girls who were doing a 3 day back pack of the route we were on. Pretty tough, experienced hikers.
Looking across the canyon on the Hermit trail that we hiked down maybe 6 hours before.
Traversing above the red rock layer close to where the Boucher meets the Hermit trail, maybe 3/4 hour before making trail head. Hustled onto the Hermits Rest bus, Dave with no shirt on as the final climb was hot and taxing after 11 hours of hiking. Bus driver said I needed to put on my shirt which I did. Our shirts were streaked with salt stains and legs were covered in red dust as were our faces. Most of the passengers, probably having only walked 10 minutes from the bus, looked at us like we were savages.
Next day we drive to a boondock spot just out of Escalante, Utah. Fairly chilly with fresh snow on the local hills and a strong wind blowing.
This was to be our home base for a little less than a week while we explored the area.
After spending time in this area at least 6 times and never seeing Lower Calf Creek Falls, thought it is time to hike to the falls.
The flat hike in takes less than an hour. Lots of people hiking. The falls are very pleasant to be around during the heat of the day and the pool at the bottom is nice to swim in.
The 38m high Lower Calf Creek falls are very photogenic.
Most of our hiking is done in dusty, dirty conditons where our socks, shirts and shorts get pretty grungy. To save water, we throw our cloths in the tub and use the used water from our 2 showers to rinse off the grimy stuff. Hang it up to dry and it is ready next morning for more rough adventures.
Always have time for happy hour(s). Today, out comes the tequila.
Someone looks like they have that crazy, far away look. Scary.
Drive down the Hole in the Rock road and park at the Trailhead for Zebra and Tunnel slots. Flat walk in. Fairly popular spot.
Pat standing near the start of Zebra slot. The pink, tan, orange, brown and red coloured rocks are why this slot is so famous and well photographed.
Everything is so dry at the moment but during thunderstorm activity, these narrow slots would be death for anyone hiking through if there was significant rainfall.
Bit of scrambling to get up to the dry fall which is just behind from where this photo was taken.
Pat waiting while Dave tries to climb out at the dry pourover. No such luck.
Heading back out.
Pretty amazing shapes and colours.
Thought we would hike up Harris Wash, then turn left up a dry wash that would eventually lead us to the road. From there, it was a 2 km walk back to the truck.
Today, we drive down the Hole in the Rock road and get to the trailhead for Red Breaks Canyon on Harris Wash. After a long sandy walk up the slot, the walls start to close in.
Pass through a series of small pour overs.
Finally, the canyon gets very narrow with a number of chokestones.
Still heading up the slot canyon.
Chokestone to scramble over.
This ones a little bigger and tougher to crawl over.
Wondering whats around the corner.
Come to a dry fall. No way to climb up and over. Time to head back.
We head back and hike up to the rim and travel along until we bypass the dry fall. Head back down and immediately, have to climb over another choke stone.
After getting to a place we could not get up over, we decide to retreat back to the trail head. Probably will come back another time with a rope and try to climb over these obstacles. Pretty impressive slot.
We get back to the trailer and guess what? It's Super Dave's birthday, Mr. Souxsante-neuf. What better way to toast in the future but with a bottle of French Pinot Noir.
Looks like steak, prawns, green beans and squash. Yummy.
Last night in Escalante huddled around a fire. Priceless. Tomorrow, we head to Capitol Reef.
The campground at Fruita, we know, is always full so we camp at a BLM spot just before the west entrance to Capital Reef National Park. This will be our home for a number of days.
Take an afternoon stroll up Grand Wash and try to follow Kelsey's hike up to Fern's nipple. It was a bit sketchy so headed back down.
Next day, we drive all the way past the Burr Trail on the Notom-Bullfrog road to the trail head for Lower Muley Twist. Start climbing up the multi coloured slick rock heading for the high point in the hills beyond.
Keep climbing leaving the valley behind. You can barely see our truck next to the square corral in the middle of the photo.
Drop over the top and descend into a dry wash. The canyon walls are much steeper on this side of the canyon as compared to the other side where we have just ascended.
Tall canyon walls covered in desert varnish and huge alcoves on the corners of the dry wash. This one is called the Cowboy Camp. This is where the cowboys and their stock used to hide out from the harsh desert sun.
Almost 100 years ago, cowboys wrote their names and dates on the rock walls.
Not many artifacts left over after all these years but it looks like mostly things made out of tin, steel, wood, leather, wool, glass.
Pat rounding the last corner before exiting the canyon. From there, we headed left and it was 8km fairly easy walking to get back to the truck.
Next days hike started at the Chimney Rock trailhead. We hike up to a high point and then drop down into Spring Creek.
Very dramatic walls for most of the way. Had to traverse a sketchy narrows for a short bit but there was no exposure.
Contrasting colours of rock made the hike down the canyon pretty special.
2/3 of the way down were spires giving the canyon some interesting geological perspectives.
Pat crossing the Fremont river 5 km below the visitors centre. From here, we jumped on our mtn. bikes which had been cabled up to a tree and rode back to the visitors centre.
Left the bikes at the centre and started up Sulphur Creek.
Someone said there were 7 waterfalls to bypass this being the first. The wet rock was not as slippery as it is in BC or Pat would have slipped into the pool below.
Another one of the waterfalls. Because there is not much water in red rock country, it is always fun to travel through the flowing water.
Not sure if we waded through this mini canyon or traversed above the water.
Yet another waterfall. Climbed up a short wall on the left just before this water fall and traversed above the falls.
This is a view above the falls of the route we took on the right looking down river.
Time to move so we drove out to a boondock spot on the Temple Mtn. road. Was mid week and fairly quiet. By the weekend, because we were close to the gravel road, the dust would be thick on out trailer from all of the vehicles driving to and from their camping spots.
First hike of the day was to Wild Horse windows, an arch with holes in the roof. Actually, pretty cool.
Some Anastazis pictographs.
Interesting shapes and colours during the noon day sun.
Probably only a 1 hour hike from the trailhead off of Goblin Valley road. We left our mtn. bikes cabled at the Wild Horse Creek trailhead.
Hiked up Wild Horse creek and pick up the bikes for a ride down to our camp.
Dave rode past the camp and then down to the trailhead where the truck was parked.
Besides the dust, the campsite and the surrounding canyon walls made for perfect evening camping by the fire.
Next days hike was supposed to be a round trip, leave mtn. bikes at the Chute canyon TH, drive back to the Crack canyon TH and start hiking.
Pat in a narrow section of Crack canyon.
Don't remember if we climbed up this dry fall or bypassed it on a ledge above the canyon.
Nearing the end of Crack canyon.
Once out Crack canyon we went right and followed some cow trails thinking these would lead us eventually to the bottom of Chute canyon. But because we did not have a proper National Geographic map with elevations and co-ordinates, we spent 3 hours going up dead end washes thinking this must be Chute canyon. As the hours ticked by, we decided to go back to Crack and hike back up to the truck.
Next day we drive to the Moab area where Tom and Sandra were staying visiting friends. Last year we just about froze because of the wind boondocking at 5000' near Horse Thief CG, so we decided to camp at Gold Bar CG which is across from the TH of Corona Arch at only 4000' and right on the Colorado River. We even lucked out at our favorite spot.
Pretty special to be right on the river.
First ride in the Moab area was up at Dead Horse Point SP. We did the loop, Intrepid, Great Pyramid, Big Chief, Crossroads, Whiptail, Twisted Tree, Prickly Pair. This is somewhere on Prickly Pair I think.
Pat looking out over the canyon from Twisted Tree.
The Colorado River is down there somewhere. From Prickly Pair.
Next day, we park at the upper TH for Navajo Rocks off #313. Pat burning up a section of the Big Mesa trail. The whole loop is a fairly tough, 4 hour ride for us.
Pat motoring along the slick rock, Rocky Tops.
This must be Rocky Tops, under sheer cliff walls and steep slick rock under the wheels.
We have hiked up to the Corona Arch which is right across from our camping spot and it is extremely popular, but never to Jeep Arch so today, we cross the road and head for the culvert which is under the train tracks.
After a few hours of hiking, Jeep Arch comes into prominence.
Pat scrambling up the steep trail to the arch.
Looking through Jeep Arch from the way we came.
Looking out at fresh snow on the La Sals.
Looking down at our campsite close to the sandy area surrounded by green down on the Colorado River. It is hard to tell looking at the sky but we just barely reached our trailer and one of the most violent thunderstorms ever hit us and soon, the whole CG is is full of deep puddles.
Next day we drive to the TH off Dubinsky Weels road and get ready to ride up Chisholm trail. Struck up a conversation with some young girls who had stopped for a break and one of the girls called out my name. They were from our old home town of Smithers in northern BC and were staying in Moab for a 1 week break from their families. They all had kids, their parents were our age and they were the same age as our kids. Caught up on some of the local gossip and then started riding with them up Chisholm to the Horse Thief CG where their camp was. Small world. Very nice group. One of the girls was turning 40 that day. Sure made us feel old. Pat is the 64 year old granny in the middle.
Back at the river where we closed out the evening with a big fire. That day, after ridin up Chisholm, we biked around a new trail called "Rodeo". After riding the 15+km around Rodeo, we bike all the way back down to the truck.
Next days ride had us start driving down to Arth's corner, dropping off the truck and biking up Getaway.
Stopped for lunch at the TH for Bull Run and then headed back down to the truck.
Traversing the canyon rim above Bull canyon maybe 1/2 hour from Arth's Corner.
Good views of the La Sals a few km's from where we started. Usually, we bike this route in reverse, dropping down Bull Run first and then when a bit tired, slogging all the way back up Getaway to the truck at the junction of #313. This seemed much easier.
We leave our mountain biking in Moab and drive to the Hite marina. Our plan is to explore the Black Canyon. The temps are in the low 90's which is the warmest we have had camping. Very few campers around in this quiet part of Utah.
Drive a long way out to the Sundance TH. We meet backpackers going down to the creek for a few days. Today we are only going for a day hike. This is a view from of Dark Canyon from the trail. The only relatively safe way into the canyon is down the scree area in the left side of the photo.
There is a 10 km hike just to get you to the scree area to down climb into the canyon. Pat is just dropping down a couple of short sections on the upper rim trail.
Looking down into Dark canyon from the rim.
Part way down the "scree" slope. The boulders are big and difficult to hike around. You can just make out the faint trail running down to the main canyon.
Yea, we have dropped almost 2000' and it starts to get pretty warm in the main canyon. Super Dave cooling off his head and taking a drink in the perenially flowing creek.
There are many flat, ledgy sections above the creek which make for easy hiking up river.
Lots of opportunity to swim in the pools below the numerous waterfalls.
Hiked half way up river between Lost and Young's canyons before returning the same way.
Super Dave found the hike up the scree slope in the middle of the photo tough. It is rough hiking but maybe the hot temps had something to do with his fatigue. Or maybe too many martinis the night before.
Anyways, back at the CG with the sun setting on the red rock mesa behind us. Dark Canyon has some potential for backpacking in the future.
Pack up and drive to a boondock spot just off #95 and #261. Thought we would explore the Moonhouse ruins off Snow Flat road. It is a long drive on a rough road but worth the effort. This is looking down into the canyon from the rim.
Pat sliding down a steep slick rock section near the trail to the ruins.
First views of the ruins.
Very extensive construction with an outside wall which we had never seen before.
View of the perimeter wall from the outside.
Further along are the main living areas and a few granaries.
More ruins from a different perspective. A really huge alcove.
At our camping spot, we meet others campers from Colorado who are also following Kelseys book and exploring the many Anasazi ruins in the Grand Gulch area.
Decide to drive up the road into the Bears Ears area in the Matni La Sal NF.
It is a long, steep drive up to the plateau which is over 8000' and quite green. Gone are the cedars replaced with aspens and fir trees. Dave takes a 2/12 hour hike return down the Peavine Canyon. Pat does not join the hike due to a sore knee.
Drive to the Woodenshoe canyon TH. There is a 46 mile packpack hike starting from here and ending at Peavine TH. Also, a 5 day backpack from this TH to the Sundance TH. Maybe someday.
Pack up the trailer and motor on over to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. Drive a little ways past the junction of Jacob Lake and turn right onto FSR#136 and find a boondock spot which will be our home for close to a week.
Todays trip is to bike parts of the Arizona trail. This section we start just off 89A, 10km? east of Jacob Lake. The trail is not technical but is rough in spots and not maintained so there are numerous trees down across for you to hump your bike over. We see no one a very little sign of tire tracks.
Nice and cool at 8200'. Mostly Ponderosa pine at this level which is similar to the trees on the south facing areas in the Okanagan Valley where we live but the elevation is only 1000'. We eventually end up on the main #67 road to the North Rim, turn right 15km back to Jacob Lake, then hang right 10km back to the TH.
We have ridden the Rainbow Rim before but since we are waiting for the May 15th opening of the North Rim, we have a few days to explore the area.
Drove to a TH at one end of the Rainbow Rim trail and rode to the other end. One of the massive Ponderosa pines blown over in the wind. Many of the trees have been killed by the pine bark beatle leaving the trees susceptable to winds.
Stop for lunch before heading on. At the end, we cycle down a forestry road before getting on another gravel road that took us all the way back to our truck. A long day but very pleasant.
Read about the Bill Hall trail that takes you down to the Colorado River. Could not talk Pat into backpacking the route so we planned to spend a day hiking as far as we could before turning back.This is a view from fairly near the start of the hike.
Pat traversing a short, steep section near the top rock bands. We were surprised at all of the vehicles in the parking area. Found out later talking to all of the hikers, they had come from all over the states.
At the junction of the Indian Hollow trail down on the plateau.
A view from the slick rock plateau just before we drop down to the next bench where you can just make out the faint lines of trails. Colorado river can be viewed far down the canyon.
Trail traversing through the major red rock layer. Very rough trail if you are backpacking.
Somewhere near those green trees is a huge spring which pours out of the solid red rock layer.
Massive red rock layer that dominates much of the Grand Canyon.
There is the spring. We decide not to hike down to the water fall as it had taken us longer than we thought to get to the TH and so we had started hiking later than when we had planned.
Nice view looking up the Tapeats Canyon.
Pat tapeing up a blister from a great viewing point.
We met a lot of backpackers, no day hikers. Some were not used to the rigors of carrying a pack down steep, rough trails even though they were quite young. It is a challenge for sure.
Make it back to the TH and start the long drive back to our campsite. Definitely, it would be nice to backpack the whole loop some day.
Back to a nice fire and good food. Probably hiked close to 30km and 4000' vertical. Easy when not carrying a backpack.
We have wanted to hike on the North Rim of the Grand Canyon NP for a number of years but because it does not open until May 15th, it usually conflicts with our other plans. On the 15th, we leave early taking a back route out of Jacob Lake bypassing the closed gate. I knew there was going to be people ahead of us but even at 7:00am, we were the 25th vehicle. The gate was supposed to open at 8:30 but because it had rusted, it took the Parks service 3/4 hour to get it open and let people through. The line started entering the park at 9:15am. The line behind us stretched for a long way.
Our plan today was to hike down to the Phatom Ranch and back. What we were going to find out is that there were alot of backpackers starting from the south rim and were coming up the North Kaibab trail because it was openning day. Also, many strong day hikers were getting dropped off at the north rim TH and doing the rim to rim and ending up back at the south rim TH. This is a photo of the upper part of the North Kaibab trail. You can just barely make out the bridge across the creek if you follow the trail.
These are a pair of girls from Austria who were backpacking the rim to rim.
We have hiked all of the regular south rim trails from the Little Colorado to Boucher rapids, sometimes multiple times, non of the North Rim until today. I would have to say that the upper parts of the North Kaibab trail are the most intersting of them all. From where pat is hiking on down, the trail is sometimes only 3' wide and dropping off for 100's of feet.
Hiking along the lower end of the Kaibab trail where you must pass under over hangs were large boulders that had broken loose frequently. You never know as you hike along, if this is going to be your last day on earth, squashed by a 1000' rock.
Catch up to a couple of women from BC who were day hiking rim to rim. We had lunch together in the shade at the Phantom Ranch. It is pretty warm at mid day on the river. The difference in elevation from rim to river is around 5800'. After seeing very few hikers the last few hours on the way to the river, the atmosphere is almost carnival like around the ranch due to all of the rafting and possibly mule tourists. You could tell right away that these folks had not walked down to the ranch from either the BrightAngel, South Kaibab TH or the North Kaibab TH by their energy, chatter and body types. Also by the fact that the rafting guides were directing these river runners.
This is the sign maybe 3/4 of a mile from the ranch. The round trip is 28 miles(45km) and well over 6000' vertical if you include some of the up and downs along the way. But after being on a lot of rough trails in the south rim, this is one of the better ones, well maintained.
Interesting rock near the bottom. Dark Vishnu Schist.
Waterfall at Roaring Springs.
The trail traverses the Redwall layer. After seeing almost no one on my way back, started to see some backpackers who had started down later than we had. They were going to be staying in the Cottonwood CG and some of the stronger ones were heading to the river.
This is the Supai Tunnel. I start to pass many backpackers who have begun their hike this morning at the Cottonwood CG who are struggling with the climb to the rim. Having hiked all of the south rim to river to rim trails, sometimes many times, the North Kaibab is definately the longest, both in length and elevation gained of the Grand Canyon hikes that we have done. Some of the backpackers had planned to hike rim to rim to rim but after struggling up to the North rim, they were going to catch the shuttle back to the south rim. Felt tired but glad we hiked the trail. Jumped in the truck for the 1 hour drive back to Jacob Lake for a big feast.
Headed out next day , destination Bend, Oregon. We stayed there last year on our way back from Utah and had a good time. Stopped off at a State Park in Nevada for the night. Cool wind blowing and almost no one around. Quite the difference from the opening day mad house of the North Rim.
Get into Bend late. Drive through the Tumalo SP but place is jammed. Move onto Sisters where we stayed last year. Got a tight spot at the Creekside Municipal CG. Dry camping which is fine for us. It is a little ways from Bend but shuttling between biking venues is not a problem. First day is a ride up Pederson Ridge which we did last year. Pleasant ride but not a lot of challenge. Good views from the top of the trail.
Next day sees us driving into Bend and to Phil's TH. Bike up Ben's till we get to Phils. Head down Storm King, Grand Slam and eventually bear right on to Phil's and back to TH.
Don't see too many riders at this point but it isn't the weekend yet.
Heard about the MacKenzie River Trail from folks at the bike shop so next day we drive to the bottom TH and started cycling up.
Everything was so much more green and lush than around Bend. There was a descent sized river running through the valley. Saw a few bikers coming down from the top but mostly, except for a few hikers, we were alone.
Pat walking her bike over one of the many bridges that spanned the creeks along the trail.
Crisp, cold and clear is the MacKenzie river which runs beside the trail for most of the time.
Yet another bridge to walk over.
Lunch time near the hot springs.
Looks scungy but it is actually quite warm. The whole area around Bend is made up of volcanos so you would think hot springs would be quite common.
Nice, lush greenery around the hot pools.
We decide to finish our up bike trip at the Trailbridge reservoir. Next time we are in the area, we will start from the the upper TH and bike down to where we started.
Pat riding over the dam to the #126 highway. We hang a right and it is 16km down hill ride back to the TH.
Last ride in Bend starts at Cascade Lakes Welcome Station then onto COD uphill until crossing #46, continueing onto Funner until you get to the Steve Larsen TH where this shot is take. From here, it is a long slog up to the high point of Tiddleywinks before heading back down on a fun twisting down hill run back to COD, across the highway and then back the way we came.
Have to get back home for a few business meetings, so it is pedal to the metal all the way until we cross the border at Osoyoos. We have never stayed at Hayes Point PP so thought wde would give it a try. They were just getting over some high water on the lake but not as bad as last year.
Chillin out over a nice fire. We have had a great time, warmer weather than last year down south.
June was going to be a wet month but no flooding from the high snow melt. What most of us could not predict at this time was the summer was going to be dry and by August, ther were going to be over 600 fires burning in BC making it the worst year ever for smoke even though last year had more area burned.
