Friday, June 26, 2020

Cedar Breaks, Utah


June 19 - 23, 2020:

My first stop is the Old Silver Reef Mining Ghost Town where silver ore was discovered in limestone rock formations which was never found before and thought to be impossible.  As usual it was a short lived by lucrative endeavor with a population of 2,000 in 1879.  They have no way to process the silver at this site, they shipped it first by wagon, then the railroad from the Wells Fargo Express Station.  All that is left today is the impressive old stone Wells Fargo Express Station converted now into a museum.  There is also a reconstruction of the old Cosmopolitan restaurant, a few house foundations and the original jail.  It originally had a mile long main street lined with all sorts of businesses.  It now sits in the center of a fairly new affluent looking housing development.  The museum was closed but there is a trail around the old town site with interpretive signs.


Wells Fargo Express Station

Old foundation

The original Jail

Next was a speedy trip on route 15 north (80 MPH speed limit) I’ve noticed that everyone here drives really fast. The route takes through Hamilton’s Fort (Indian reservation area) and into the Dixie National Forest to the Old Iron Town Ruins.  Mormon leader Brigham Young proclaimed that iron was needed and sent a group of dedicated followers to make it happen, he was the original "git it done" guy. Juniper wood (very plentiful) was to used for fuel to make charcoal for the iron making process.  The original charcoal oven has been restored and is the centerpiece of the exhibit.  There is a trail that takes you in view of the river where they obtained water for the forge via a wind driven pump and a canal that channeling water to the iron works building.  There are foundations of a house and basically the foundation of the Iron Works, nothing to exciting except for the Juniper trees.  I expect this area was denuded of Juniper back in the day, they used for everything, but they are back.



Charcoal oven

House ruins
  
I continue on to Cedar City, UT as my hoped for visit to Kolob Canyon north of Zion was scrubbed, it remains closed due to COVID-19.  Arriving at Cedar City, Utah in late afternoon, it’s laundry time again, something I truly hate.  I then scope out the Walmart reported to allow overnighters, looks very busy but will do fine.  

On Saturday, I need to unwind a bit, getting a little stressed so I find my way to the historic downtown where there are a few almost vintage        
building facades.  There were a couple of amazing Mormon settlers immortalized in statue on Main Street, who have incredible stories.  These people were true believers, on a mission and they achieved amazing things.  This is a university town and the big attraction is their Shakespeare performance. I then found the Saturday farmers market where an elderly man had to comment on the tee shirt I was wearing and then said ; “Want to see my gun”, as he reached for a water pistol in a holster on his waist, possibly a little eccentric ?  The egg woman then was interested in my camera.


The Cedar Theater

Farmers Market
  
Next was a stop to the Frontier Homestead State Park State Museum which had lots of farm equipment, wagons of all kind and an impressive old house.


Wells Fargo Stage

Homestead House with beautiful mural
  
Huge shovel that was used a nearby mine

The real reason I”m here is to visit the Cedar Breaks National Monument.  I find that there are two ways to get there, both involve very long steep roads.
The first trip up takes me through the Mormon pioneer town of Parawan, with everyone arriving for church dressed in their finest.  The road then continues steeply uphill to “Brian Head” which is a major winter ski location, lots of development. Brian Head is actually the highest mountain peak in Utah at 11,300 ft.  Its then a short distance to the north entrance to Cedar Breaks National Monument which borders the Dixie National Forest.  There are several roadside overlooks and I stop at most, The sight looking down into the Monument is quite spectacular, similar to Bryce National Park.  Eventually I make my way to the visitors center at the south end of the monument.  I take the 2 mile Sunset Trail, paved trail that ends at the Sunset Point overlook.  I then drive to the Chessman Ridge Overlook where I take the two mile Alpine Pond Trail.  This trail was way more interesting especially the beautiful pond area.  Snow is still piled in shaded spots along the upper section of the trail, we are talking over 10,000 ft elevation here, sub arctic temperate zone.


View on the Alpine Pond Trail

The Alpine Pond is a beauty

On the return trip to Cedar Break I take the alternate route, route route 14, which is equally steep and winding down through Cedar Canyon.  There are amazing views along the way, but few places to pull off and rather heavy traffic.  I’m back at Walmart for the night, not such a good view.

Day # 2 to Cedar Breaks takes me heading north up Rt 14 through Cedar Canyon route trying to find a couple of forest roads with potential camping sites for the night.  The forest roads don’t seem to have signs and are hard to locate.  I do spot a trailhead for the Bristlecone Pine Trail (1 mile) which is a nice short trail to a grove of ancient Bristlecone Pine Trees.  These are amazing trees that can live for thousands of years.  Back on the road, I eventually find a spot on forest road 277 close to Cedar Breaks that will do for the night.
Driving in on this route, Rt 14, brings you to the Cedar Breaks southern entrance and visitors center.  The goal today is to hike the 4 mile Ramparts / Spectra Point Trail which starts at the visitors center.  You have an option here to do only the Sprectra portion, 2 miles or the entire 4 mile loop.  I go for the gusto, the whole enchilada as we say in Tucson.  The trail is split equally between downhill and uphill, but it’s 10,000 ft altitude so it is a workout for the lungs, legs and eyes, the views are amazing !  The Bristlecone Pines at the upper areas are incredible !


Looking down into the ampitheater from the Ramparts Trail 

Another view, i'm not really that close to the edge

A giant Bristlecone Pine

These views all tend to look alike after a while, but you just can't stop taking them

The forest road 277 campsite was in a wide open meadow with no one within sight.  It will be chilly tonight, sleeping bag required.  There is a hollowed out area nearby, sink hole perhaps, that still has a pile of snow.  This meadow is beautiful, I’m treading lightly, lots of wildflowers are blooming, but the peak comes in July.  The most abundant bloom currently seems to be the Aspen Blue Bells, they are everywhere.  Oddly the common dandelion is growing wild all over this meadow. I’m still trying to get a handle on the trees, is that a fir, a spruce, a pine but they are all great, even the dead ones.  The bark beetle ravaged this area a decade or so ago and it’s sad to see so many dead, but even the dead ones are beautiful.  I wish I had Petey Mesquitey of (Growing Native on Tucson radio KXCI here to help with the botanical stuff.


A watery pond was near the campsite
I travelled  from Rt 148 to route 14 east to Duck Creek Village area where I found the Cascade Falls trailhead.  It was a bit crowded, whenever a water fall is in the trail description everyone wants to see it, although this one wasn’t that inspiring to see.  The way that this waterfall is created is the interesting part as it is just shooting out of a rock wall.  This area has had much volcanic activity and the creek sort of goes underground upstream then flows through open lave tubes and exits at the edge of the rock formation.


Cascade Falls coming out of a Lave Tube

  I then traveled upstream along Rt 14 to to Navajo Lake which is a large water recreational area.  The extensive lava flows in this area blocked the creek which created the current lake.  As you drive on Rt 14 through this area lava flows are evident on the sides of the road for miles and the road is actually built across them in several places.  I stopped at the Lake Rim Trail and did a short walk to view the lava flow area adjacent to the lake.


Navajo Lake is an oasis

The Lave flow and the contrasting green of the Aspens was beautiful

Lastly, I returned to Cedar Breaks on Rt 143 and travelled back to Brian Head where I went in search of the Twisted Forest Trail.  I had no clear directions, but using the road name and a fake street number my GPS lead the way.  It involved several dusty, steep back roads, almost wilderness areas.  I was about to give it up when a sign appeared for the trail.  Another rough two miles and I was at the Twisted Tree trailhead.  I was thinking, this better be good, I’m not sure how to find my back to the highway.  This turned out to be a great trail, although steeply uphill, 10,000 ft elevation, but this ancient forest of Bristlecone Pine trees on a barren alpine slope were a sight to see.  At trails end you come to a cliff edge and a wide panorama view of colorful Cedar Breaks landscape.


 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bristlecone_pine


An imposing sight at the start of the Twisted Forest Trail

This one looks is sturdy looking 

This ones looks a little tipsy

The twisted shapes are like works of art

The end of the trail is really the end

I am getting a motel room for the night, I need to get rid of some of this dust, then I'll be heading northwest towards Nevada.         

Monday, June 22, 2020

Grand Canyon and Zion

June 11 - 18 , 2020:

After a second relaxing nights sleep at Walmart, I depart Page heading north on route 89A back into Navajo country.  This is a beautiful scenic drive, I have to give the Navajo credit, don’t know how they managed it, but they ended up with some of the most beautiful country.  I made a stop at the Navajo Bridge which is now a double span, the original truss bridge, now a pedestrian bridge and the  newer bridge that was built to accommodate higher weights but compliments the design of the old bridge.  There is a visitor center there, but unfortunately now closed due to the COVID-19 situation.





  

I then continued to the entrance for the Vermillion Cliffs National Momument which has great rock formations and leads you to a fishing and beach area on the Colorado River.  It felt real good to take my shoes of and walk in the cold water.  The river flow fast here with small rapids, nice to see running water agin, not much of that in Tucson.  There is interesting history here, as it is the site the Lee's Ferry crossing of the Colorado River and an old mining endeavor.  The remains of the old fort, a mining building and assorted mining ruins remain.  It was a short and unsuccessful mining operation. 








A ancestral Pueblo ruin was shown on my road map which was right next to the highway and really interesting and quite unbelievable to me that it remains.  I would have thought everything would have been carted away for souvenirs long ago.  The ancient ones had build rock walls around huge boulders that had fallen from the surrounding canyon walls to make into dwellings, pretty creative.





At the town of Jacob Creek, I go south on route 67 to the north rim of the Grand Canyon.  The north rim is much different than the south rim, way more forested, at a higher elevation, cooler and wetter (mainly more winter snow).  It is also more relaxed with less tourist crowds.  The majority of the north rim attractions are in forested areas and to get to the remote areas you must drive winding forest roads.  I kind of liked the more rustic natural feel to it although the views aren’t quite as spectacular as at the south rim.  I did a short hike on the Bright Angel Point Trail near the main village area to a great overlook and then drove about 15 miles away on Cape Royal road to Point Imperial with many more great views.

Portions of the forest along the road have burned in the past decade or so and Aspen trees have moved in.

As I had driven into the National Park there was a forest fire burning  in the distance on the Kaibab Plateau that looked potentially serious.  On leaving the park latter in the day to look for a camping site, the fire was looking considerably larger with a smoke plume going high into the atmosphere.  I was able to find an easy camping spot along a nearby National Forest road and overnight the temperature dropped to the high 30’s.
      


  

In the morning, the fire was still going strong as I went into the Park and took the Cape Royal Road to the for the Cape Final trailhead.  The 4-5 mile hike to Cape Final Point trail was excellent with many side diversions.  I had managed to see about every roadside view point along the long winding road Cape Royal Road by 1PM, at which time I thought it might be wise to leave the park and head towards Kanab, Utah.  Driving south on route 67 it looked like I was heading right into the fire, but traffic was flowing fine and the route ended up just skirting around the fire zone.   At Jacob Creek, I head west on route 89 to Kanab, Utah where I find a spot in town to stealth camp for the night.








June 13 - I take route 89 south to just beyond exit 31 and turn left on to a dirt road with a monument to to the old town of Pahreah and information about the western movie set that was once located down the road.  It’s a beautiful drive and a decent dirt road but not well marked.  You eventually arrive at a parking lot with a faded information sign on the movie set which no longer exists.  Vandals burnt it down several years ago.  Continuing down the road, very confused as there are several roads, all unsigned.  I eventually come to the old fenced in cemetery, now I know I am going in the right direction.  The road seems to be leading me to green trees which must be along the Paria River and the old town site.  The road dead ends at the river and there are several cars parked and people out walking down the river.  I see no signs of a town, not sure why these people are walking down this trickle of water.  Returning down the road I come upon several young women with a large pickup truck pulling what looks like a 40 foot long horse trailer.  They wisely stopped at a large open area and waved me down to ask about the road ahead.  I told them to leave the trailer rig right there, where they could turn around, no place to turn it around down the road.




   

Then back to Kanab where I reserved a room for the night to get cleaned up.  I was not impressed with Day’s Inn, bad choice, take them off the list.

The BLM is holding the lottery drawing on Monday morning in Kanab for the (10) lucky people to be given permits to hike in the famous “Wave” formation.  I attend and put in an application, there about 120 + people in the lottery, the odds are poor and I was not lucky.     

Instead I head about 9 miles east of Kanab to Johnson Canyon Road which is another scenic ride through irrigated farm land surrounded by huge colorful rock formations.  I return the following day to continue onto Skutumpah Road #500 which is dirt and rough in areas, for 15 miles to the Lick Wash Slot Canyon trailhead.  I did about a 5 mile round trip, you can go much further, but I had stopped often for the views and time was limited.  It was a great hike !  Almost made the hard ass dirt road trip worthwhile.










My rant rant for the blog:
I am a little upset about the BLM management, they have all their regional information centers closed, the Peek-A-Boo OHV area north of Kanab has a faded old sign up saying no overnight camping is allowed due to the Covid-19 situation.  I know this is meant to do the right thing, but it is a total failure, practically no one is following social distancing protocol or even wearing face masks. The majority of private campgrounds are now open, the BLM needs to face reality and just open up fully and stop pretending to protect people from harm, the tourists just don’t care.  The same with Zion National Park, they are not running the park shuttles, so they have limited the number of cars traveling into the most popular park areas, pissing everyone off, especially the majority who are not following distancing practices or wearing a face mask at all.  Also it seems only half the trails are open for one reason or another.  Of course the reservable only campground, the Grand Lodge and the park store are fully open.  The park is also losing a ton of money since there is no entrance fee with the partial opening.   

I leave Kanab and travel to Mt Carmel Junction about 12 miles from the east entrance of Zion NP and stay at a BLM campsite adjacent to the the ominous "Belly of the Dragon" which is actually just a water tunnel carved through rock.
I then that myself to a diner at the cool Thunderbird restaurant. 

The Thunderbird Restaurant





Arriving at the east entrance of Zion National Park and getting in in the early morning was no problem. I then traveled across the east side of the park without incident.  I then came to the problem; closed entrance gates to the Zion Canyon Scenic Drive.  This indicates that all parking areas along the road are filled and they will not open the gates until the crowds dissipate.  As a result, I couldn't get onto the Scenic road all day where the major Zion attractions are located.

So, I explored the east side extensively and found it great. It is mostly slick rock and there are many road side pullouts where you just bush wack back into these canyons and up hillsides and once you get used to walking on the slick rock it’s relatively easy.  In fact, I ended up liking the east side about as well as the more popular area.







 I spend the night at a BLM area about 12 miles away from the south entrance of Zion.  It is the Kolob Creekside with scenic views next to the North Creek, a tributary of the Virgin River.  A truly beautiful secluded campsite.  

On Thursday my plan after talking to the park Information center attendant is to get to the park about 5-5:30 AM when I am told you should be able to get on the Zion Canyon Scenic Drive.  Of course the big sign at the park entrance says the road doesn’t open to 6 AM, but I go anyhow and drive right in.  I traveled down the road a mile and then see solid brake lights ahead.  Everything comes to a stop and I sit there for about 20 minutes, some sort of problem ahead which I never learned about ?  I then follow 20-30 cars/trucks to the Lodge, where the road is closed again, where everyone tries to park at once and there aren’t enough spaces, fortunately there is a another small lot across the road where I grab a parking space.  All the tourists (unlike me, HA), race around getting their hiking gear together and dash off onto this adjacent trail.  I decide to go solo, stay away from these people, and roam along the Virgin River and walk on the road (open to walkers, cyclists and tour concessioners only) from the Lodge towards to Temple of Sinawava termination.  There doesn’t seem to be any private cars on this road and most of the pullouts are empty, why isn’t the Park letting people drive in ?  Walkers and bicyclist have the road to them selves, as would probably be best. Then suddenly at about 1 PM I start to see private cars and as I get back to the Lodge find that the road has opened ?  So after 20,000 walking steps, I get in the van and travel to the roads end, The Temple of Sinawava, the only place where the parking lot is full because everyone wants to walk into the “Narrows” there, it’s the cool thing to do.






On my walking adventure I finally use my tripod, I have had this for years, I own three of them actually, but have rarely used them, if truth must be known I actually hate them. Every photographer, pro or otherwise will tell you it is essential to use tripods, so I have refused to for a long time, (the non-conformist in me) but I’m thinking I’m not as steady as I once was, maybe I should give it a try? 

A spend a second night at the Kolob Creekside campsite and I’m looking for something different today possibly some history, I need a break from fantastic scenery. 

Next stop is Cedar City, Utah