Tag: Canyons

Bryce Canyon National Park – September 2022 – Below the Rim

Nature

This posting is one in a series for a visit to Bryce Canyon National Park. When we visited in 2015 we stopped by for only a few hours, checking out the overlooks before moving on down the road.

This time we were fortunate enough to secure a cabin in the park for the night, so we had plenty of time for hiking, as well as well as experiencing a sunset and sunrise.

This posting highlights the views of the hike down into the canyon to the Queens Garden. This hike allows you get get up close to the famed hoodoos.

The hoodoos have been formed over millions of years by the deposit of rocks, uplift of the land and finally the erosion of the soft stone to create the interesting formations.

The variation in shapes are due to the slight variations in the amount of calcium carbonate each one has, and how it interacts with the rain.

Our hike took place in the northern section of the park where the hoodoos are the youngest, therefore most impressive having not been eroded away as much.

The path down was well worn, and while you see a number of people going in both directions, it is far less crowded than along the rim.

The hike up, while strenuous was ‘do-able’. In addition there were so many great places to stop and take photos the hike up went by fast.

As always the ‘windows’ are impressive features of the erosion process.

Part 2 of our visit in the next posting tomorrow is the sunset experience.

Kane County, Utah – September 2022 – Willis Creek Slot Canyon

Nature, Water Features

Southern Utah has numerous very famous natural attractions such as Bryce National Park. In addition to those you can find some amazing places that aren’t as crowded.

One of those is Willis Creek Slot Canyon. One potential reason is the road to the trailhead is a fantastically bumpy, at times steep, dirt road. We travelled 5-6 miles down this road, and found the parking lot empty at 8 AM, although next door was a group of about 10 horses and riders who had just finished their adventure.

After chatting with their leader and getting guidance on the hike, we set off.

We quickly dropped down into the canyon and it’s eponymously named creek. Fortunately despite some recent rains Willis Creek was quite small on this day so we were able to hop back and forth across it.

It didn’t take long for the canyon walls to narrow and rise to a height of about 10-20′.

The young lady who had lead the horse riding group had advised us that we would go through 4 separate slot canyons on our hike. This first one remain with walls up to about 20′ high.

As we continued downstream we would pop in and out of slot canyons.

Eventually the creek ran dry and the hiking became easier. Most slot canyons require some level of scrambling over boulders, but not here – just a casual hike down the canyon.

Eventually the walls rose to a height of up to 100′.

After about a mile and a half we ran out of slot canyons and made the decision to turn back there. The return trip was just as interesting as the morning sun changed the look seemingly every minute.

On our return trip we passed about 6 other groups of hikers, reaffirming my belief that if you want solitude in nature get going at the crack of dawn.

Willis Slot Canyon is a great hike for anyone, with a fun drive to get there.

Southern Utah – September 2022 – Long Canyon to Escalante

Nature, Transportation

The final section of the Burr Trail took us through Long Canyon.

By far the easiest slot canyon to hike into is Singing Canyon. It is about 100′ off the road, and a nice open path for a short distance until the canyon ends.

A few more scenic views before the Burr Trail ends at the town of Boulder, Utah.

For a short distance along another scenic road, Utah Highway 12, you pass by farms.

A short distance later and the scenery changes dramatically again as you go across the Hogback.

Once we dropped into the valley that the town of Escalante is, the farms return. Escalante was the end of this fabulous day.

Western New Mexico – September 2022 – Catwalks National Recreation Trail

Architecture, History, Nature

The small mining town of Graham, New Mexico was founded in 1893 to mine silver and gold ore. To obtain the water required a pipeline was built up the narrow canyon, with a wooden walkway built on top for workers to be able to traverse the path.

Known as the Catwalk, this was in place for the 10-15 years that the town and mine was in existence. In the 1930s the WPA effort known as the Civilian Conservation Corp (CCC) rebuilt the catwalk for recreational purposes.

In 2012 this catwalk was destroyed in a large flood, leading to the rebuilding of the current Catwalk. It is a great engineering feat as well as a nice, shady hike up the canyon hovering above the creek.

The creek below is a favorite spot for people to cool off from the hot New Mexico summer.

As you proceed up the canyon you begin to run out of catwalks and have a small creek crossing.

Eventually you go as far as the trail will allow, as the rest of the trail has been damaged by storms, so it was time to turn back.

The entire area is very beautiful, and the Catwalks is a required stop.

Grand Canyon, Arizona – June 2022 – The North Rim

Nature

While we have been to the Grand Canyon a few times we had never been to the hard to get North Rim. There is a saying, go to the South Rim first, because when you go to the North Rim you will never go back to the South Rim!

That saying is true – similar fantastic views with (literally) 10% of the people. Nice and quiet.

There are minimal amenities, but that is ok, there is a place to eat and sleep (if you are lucky – which we were).

There are more views of the side canyons and they connect to the main canyon, adding interesting views.

The view from Point Imperial.

Cape Royal views.

The views of Angel’s Window.

More Cape Royal views.

Sunset from the North Rim Lodge and Bright Angel Point.

Western Colorado – May 2022 – Telluride and the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park

Nature

Day 3 found us in the western end of Colorado, leaving the town of Cortez in the early morning light. Our primary destination was the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park, but our route there took us past Telluride.

Colorado Highway 145 took us out of Cortez, and past the town of Dolores, along the Dolores River as it made it’s way up the canyon. The green hills and fields was a dramatic change from the deserts of Monument Valley, just a hundred miles or so behind us.

As we neared the summit of Lizard Head’s Pass, we went through the small town of Rico

The mountains become more dramatic the nearer we got to Telluride.

As we made the turn to go up the valley to Telluride we passed a field of deer.

Telluride is a very exclusive ski community (don’t even ask how much real estate costs in town). They have far less development than other famous ski towns in the west (Aspen, Vail, Jackson Hole), and they like it that way.

After a brief visit we continued on our way, passing more scenic valleys.

After another hour or so we reached the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park, near Montrose, Colorado. It is so named because of the steep walls of the canyon prevent sunlight all but 33 minutes of the day in the steepest part.

The Painted Wall is over 2200′ of sheer cliff, the highest in Colorado. The Black Canyon of the Gunnison, while not a large park, is impressive.

Canyon de Chelly National Monument, Arizona – May 2022 – Thousands of Years of History in an Amazing Setting

History, Nature

According to the National Park Service documents the Canyon de Chelly contains over 2500 archeological sites dating from 1500 BC to 1350 AD.

Among these are numerous cliff dwellings dating from 1100, built by the Anasazi.

Today the canyon is located in the Navajo Nation. While you can tour the area from the rim, the best way to see and appreciate the area is to take a guided tour with one of the local Navajo guides, which is what we did.

Our tour guide Sylvia took us on a 3 hour jeep tour of much of the canyon. Having grown up in the canyon, she was a fantastic guide, pointing out not only the historic features of the cliff dwellings and the petroglyphs, she added insight into life in the canyon from a first person perspective (even showing us her cows!)

The White House ruins is one of the more famous, and most complete. While the walls of the canyon rise as high as 1000′ the deeper you go in, the walls here are around 500′ high.

After completing our tour of the canyon floor, we drove around both the north and south rim.

The most noteworthy view is Spider Rock, rising 800′ above the canyon floor. Named for the mythical lair of Spider Woman, it is a sacred Navajo place.

From above the views of the canyon floor is impressive.

Eastern Arizona – May 2022 – Leaving Town

Architecture, History, Nature, Transportation

At long last it is time for a long road trip. This trip will take 16 days, and go as far north as Montana, always taking the scenic route, providing interesting views for a series of blog postings.

We started out by leaving Tucson on a sunny Friday morning.

Our route took us up Arizona Highway 77 north towards Globe. The route follows the Gila River for a few miles.

Anywhere there is water there is vegetation in the desert, with this view showing an interesting mix of the desert landscape of the saguaros next to the riparian landscape of the riverbank.

As we made our way through Pinal Pass, just south of Globe, we came across a burn area. Nature however is resilient, and the spring flowers are in bloom next to the burnt trees.

At Globe, Arizona 77 merges and runs along with U.S. 60 towards Show Low. About 40 miles northeast of Globe you descend down 2000′ vertical feet into the Salt River Canyon. The drive, and views, are spectacular.

Once the river is reached there are two bridges – the original bridge is an Art Deco masterpiece built in 1934, built as part of the New Deal initiative. It is built in a design known as steel two hinged girder ribbed deck arch.

Today it is a pedestrian only bridge.

The newer bridge, built in 1993 carries the traffic. While not nearly as interesting, they at least added some native symbolism incorporated into it.

Two more views on the north side of the canyon show the dramatic walls, and the river below.

North of Holbrook you go through areas of the Painted Desert. While not as colorful as the areas near the Petrified Forest National Park, it still added interesting views to the drive that lead us to the next posting stop – Canyon De Chelly National Monument.

Madera Canyon, Arizona – December 2021 – Nature At It’s Finest

Nature

Madera Canyon is less than an hour south of Tucson, but a world away from an ecological perspective. While the base of the canyon is around 3500′ elevation, you can easily and quickly drive to over 5000′, and if you are energetic (I was not), you can hike to the top of 9456′ high Mt Wrightson.

We chose to hike around the lower areas of the canyon, which were beautiful, offer views from desert to fall tree colors.