Arizona Jones Outdoor

Return To Coyote Buttes, The South Section

2011-10-27T14:30:00.000-07:00

Earlier I posted on a great place to see some wonderful sandstone formations called Coyote Buttes, that has a place called The Wave. This area is a great place to take photos of unusual and colorful rock formations like the ones you see on my blog.

In fact several of the photos in the sidebars are from this area. The Wave has unique color and texture and consistency in the rock that makes it very photogenic. Along with the type of erosion that has left smooth curved shapes. This attracts photographers from all over the world.

The Wave is in the part of the Coyote Buttes that is designated as the North section, but there is also some interesting stuff to see in the south section as well. The South Section is a bit tougher to get to because the roads are sandy and require four wheel drive. In fact even with four wheel drive there were parts that had deep sand that made me wonder if I was going to get stuck. I highly advise you to go in a group with two four wheel drive vehicels if you can. I also recommend you have a tire pump so you can deflate your tires some in the sand and then re-inflate when you get back to the road. A shovel and winch are always nice as well. If you are not familure with off road travel and reading maps, this one is not for you.

When I went to this area it was many years ago and I backpacked in and stayed over night with my wife. Sad to say they no longer alow overnight camping in this area. Anyway we drove our car as far as a place called Paw Hole and then walked north in towards what is known as the Cottonwood Teepee area. We did not follow a trail or anything, I just used a topo map and headed toward the Cottonwood Teepee area
We decided to park at Paw hole because the road beyond that was pure sand, and even up to there there were areas where we crossed some very deep sand and I felt I had taken enough risks already. Many people continue on past Paw Hole and drive to a parking and access spot they call Cottonwood Cove. This would make the Cottonwood Teepees just a short walk to get to.

We first set out from Paw Hole here we were treated with seeing some beautiful rock formations with precice linear designs and textures in all sorts of strange shapes and sizes.

Most of these were tan, gold or redish brown in color, and some had unusual linear textures of darker colored rock running through them. This is just a short walk north of the Paw Hole Parking Area.

There were some very unusual Teepees with some real crazy texture way up the ridge north of here that we saw on our way back.

We traveled north from Paw Hole on a flat sandy area just east of the ridge on the way out and we traveled along the top of the ridge or as close as we could on the way back. Walking north we crossed a large area of more sand that with full packs was quite draining, after several miles we came to another area of exposed rock and more unusual formations.

This area was near what on the map was called Cottonwood Springs, and I latter found out it was called the Cottonwood Teepee area. Walking around in this area was amazing.

This area has some crazy behive and teepee shaped rocks in quite an asortment of colors, sizes, and shapes, along with some balanced rocks and some just plain bizare shaped rocks, that will spark your imagination.

Everywhere you look you see something unusual in the geology here. Strange twisted shapes in a variety of colors and patterns.

And along with that there is a peacefulness that comes with this remote and secluded area. This are for me was more interesting more deversified and just a larger area than the Paw Hole area, but of course it's a bit more difficult to get to. Just a longer drive in some deep sand.

As you can see there is some strange shapes and unusual color in the rocks at this place, we had it all to ourselves when I was there.

Being able to stay overnight out in this remote destination was quite a treat. At night there was no visible human made light sources and with the dry air the star viewing was amazing.

Here is a hiking map that might be of use if you are going to Go out there and explore. remember there really are no trails, so you just have to use a map and keep track of where you have gone and how to get back.

The Lone Tree is an undeveloped access point that provides entry to Coyote Buttes South. There is limited parking available. It is not signed. Please park in existing disturbed areas only.

From Page, AZ, drive west on Highway 89 for 34 miles (55 kilometers). Drive past the BLM Contact Station and the road to the White House trailhead. Turn left onto House Rock Valley Road. This road is compacted dirt. Drive 16.0 miles (25.75 kilometers) down this road. Turn left (east) on a narrow dirt track and drive 0.25 miles (0.4 kilometers) and park near a lone tree next to a small reservoir.
From Kanab, UT, drive east on Highway 89 for 38 miles (61 kilometers). Turn right onto House Rock Valley Road. This road is compacted dirt. Drive 16.0 miles (25.75 kilometers) down this road. Turn left (east) on a narrow dirt track and drive 0.25 miles (0.4 kilometers) and park near a lone tree next to a small reservoir.

For permits and more information here is the link to the BLM site that has all you need including how to obtain permits.
http://www.blm.gov/az/st/en/arolrsmain/paria/coyote_buttes.html

Here is the Link to the post on the Coyote Buttes North Section and The Wave. http://azjonesoutdoor.blogspot.com/2010/07/coyote-buttes-north-section.html

Cottonwood Wash Narrows, Grand Staircase Escalante-National Monument, Utah

2011-09-27T14:00:00.000-07:00

Grand Staircase Escalante-National Monument is a huge (1.9 million acres) and vast undeveloped and wild area in southern Utah and it has very few roads. In the western part of the national monument is a dirt road that runs north to south called Cottonwood Wash Road. It is a rugged dirt road that is impassable in wet conditions and it sees light traffic. This road runs along the "Cockscomb" also known as the East Kaibab Monocline. This is a fold in the rock layers tilting them up at 45 degree angles in spots and forming a long ridge of strange rock formations due to the differential erosion of these layers of rock.

Along Cottonwood Wash Road is a short but sweet canyon hike that passes through the narrows of Cottonwood Wash. It is a very strange narrow canyon where a wash cuts into and through a large Navajo Sandstone ridge instead of just running along it and it comes out on the same side it entered.

This canyon part of the hike is really only about a mile and a half, but it is an interesting mile and a half. There is a bridge on Cottonwood Wash Road at the starting point of the north end of the hike. From there you scramble down into the drainage west of the road and head downstream. Almost immediately you enter in between some large rocks and are in a narrow canyon between two large cliffs. Right at this point you will see a canyon coming in from your right or north called Butler Valley Draw.

You can go up Bultler Valley Draw and there are about 200 yards of narrow canyon to see, and then return back down the way you came back into Cottonwood Wash. From there head south and you will be walking along a wash bottom between some large cliffs for about a mile and a half as it winds it's was in a generally southward direction. Early on the canyon will get pretty narrow and tight with tall cliff closing in on both sides. The last time I was there there was an old log jambed in between the two cliffs at one spot.

For me this is the most interesting part of the hike due to the cliff walls and rocks that are polished and smoothed from years of flash floods being forced through this small narrow slot.

The narrows will open up a little way farther downstream and you will be walking on a sandy wash bottom between two very large cliffs that I estimate could be 200 feet high or more in places. Along this section there are a few interesting short side canyons with towering cliffs that dead end into the bottom of what appear to be dry waterfalls. Note the backpack I left on the ground to give some perspective as to the size of the cliffs.

At one point you will hit a place where a landslide has blocked the wash but it is easy to scramble over. There are some places where the canyon opens up and the walls are not as dramatic but even that stretch has som beauty because you can then see the unusual rock formations on the top of the Navajo Sandstone cliffs that have been sculptured over time.

After about only a mile and a half the canyon will take an abrupt left turn and emerge out from the narrows into a wide valley. The road will be right there and you just hike north about a mile along the road to get to your car. The walk along the road is scenic as well with some interesting geology to see. The whole hike can take less than 2 hours and some people do it in less. Overall it is pretty short and mostly easy and could be a good hike for a family with kids. And it is well worth the effort considering the beauty and the interesting geology.

To get there you take Cottonwood Wash Road about 25.5 miles north from Highway 89 or if coming down from the north it is about 12 miles south on Cottonwood Wash Road past Kodacrome Basin. Elevation is at 5600 feet. Note that Cottonwood Wash Road is impassable in wet weather, so get a good weather report so you don't get your car stuck in the mud in this remote area. Carry plenty of water and food in your car.

Here is a link to another adventure that can be found along Cottonwood Wash Road.
http://azjonesoutdoor.blogspot.com/2010/10/yellow-rock-and-hackberry-canyon-utah.html

Palatki and Honanki Ruins, near Sedona Arizona

2011-09-07T22:06:00.000-07:00

About twelve miles west of Sedona (as the crow flies) there are two Sinagua cliff dwellings or ruins called Palatki and Honanki. The Sinagua, are thought by the archaeologists who study this stuff to be ancestors of the Hopi, and lived at these sites from about AD 1100 to 1300. These sites not only have some impressive ruins to view but also have many examples of Native American rock art.

Palatki is the site closer to Sedona and it has a short 1/4 mile trail from the parking lot to the ruins. The ruins are up against the base of a large red rock cliff in a curved alcove with and overhang that gives the structures some natural protection from weather. At Palatki there are two main sections of the ruins, leading to speculation by the "smart guys" of there being two clans that lived side by side here.

But who really knows, and I would guess that no one ever will. The largest of the two main structures here is two stories tall with some rock art farther up on the cliff wall indicating it may have even been three stories at one time. But there are some other small partial structures as well, in between the two main areas.

There is also another short path that leads to some impressive rock art that is well worth seeing while you are there that has this round shield or circle design and many other animal type images.

After seeing this site you will want to see Honanki that is a bit farther west. Honanki was apparently the larger of the two dwellings when it was inhabited. Again it is situated along the base of a large red rock cliff. At a place called Loy Butte, right next to Loy Canyon.

Loy Butte and Loy Canyon is named after the Loy family that homesteaded the area back in the old days. I have met a man named Robert Loy who was born up in Oak creek Canyon more than 80 years ago. He told me his father was offered land in Sedona at a nickle and acre and did not buy it because he did not think it was good to graze cattle on. Little did he know how the prices would be today, and so it goes.

Anyway Honanki ruins is really one main alcove of structures with several more structures scattered along the bottom of a large cliff.

Along with that there is some very impressive rock art all around the surrounding area. One thing of note, is that in summer I have seen rattlesnakes in this area, more than once and heard of others seeing them too, so watch your step!

When you go to Honanki ruins it is just past a parking area for the Loy Canyon Trail. If you have time Loy Canyon is a beautiful and remote area with fantastic red rock scenery, and also has several undeveloped ruins and sites.

Some of my favorites that I have found are hidden in this canyon, and I will let them stay that way.

You will have to find them the same way I did through exploration. But I highly recommend you hike up this beautiful canyon. The trail is long and takes you all the way up the rim to the pine forest above, but I tend to just stay down in the canyon myself.

Currently managed by the U.S. Forest Service under the Red Rock Pass Program and there is a fee to park, in other words you must purchase a Red Rock Pass. I believe you can buy them at the parking areas. Remember these sites are protected by the Archaeological Resources Protection Act. These laws prohibit digging, removing artifacts, damage and defacement of archaeological resources on public lands, and provide felony and/or misdemeanor prosecution with imprisonment up to ten years and fines up to $100,000.

Access: From Sedona: You take Hwy. 89A south from West Sedona and continue past the last traffic light for five miles. Just past mile marker 365, turn right onto Forest Road 525. Go north for 5 miles and when F.R. 525 bears left, continue straight ahead onto Forest Road 795 for two miles. This road will lead directly into the Palatki parking lot.

An alternative way to access Palatki it to take Dry Creek Rd. out west from Sedona. There are signs at every intersection that will direct you towards Palatki. At the end of Dry Creek Rd, turn left onto Boynton Pass Road (FR 152C). At the next stop sign, turn left again. In a couple of miles, the pavement will end and you should continue on the rough gravel road for three miles until you reach another T intersection where you should turn right. It is 2 miles to Palatki from this intersection. These roads are generally passable to passenger cars when dry, but it is not regularly maintained by the County and has some rough and rocky stretches.

From Cottonwood: Take 89A north from Cottonwood. About 1/2 mile north of mile marker 364, turn left onto a dirt road (Forest Road 525 to Forest Road 795; passable for passenger cars when dry), and drive 7 miles to Palatki Heritage Site and the parking lot. To get to Honanki you just continue on FR 525 past the FR 795 turn off another 4.5 miles. This is all dirt roads and can be rough in some seasons. But it is some very beautiful country to drive through!

For more information http://www.fs.fed.us/r3/coconino/recreation/red_rock/palatki-ruins.shtml

Mountain Bike Gooseberry Mesa, Utah

2011-09-06T23:04:00.000-07:00

One of the great mountain bike destinations of sourthern Utah is a place called Gooseberry Mesa. Gooseberry mesa ia a table top mesa located southwest of Zion National Park. It has a well defined trail system that was invented by and for mountain bikers. Gooseberry mesa has a mix of slickrock and single track trails in a pinion and juniper forest enviroment.

The mesa has large patches of exposed sandstone, that is white, gray, and some pink in color. Some areas are large flat and smooth and some are more divided lumps that you have to go over and around to navigate the trail. The trails are pretty easy to stay on for the most part because someone has painted dots on the stone to keep you on the right path. One notable area is called "Gods Skateboard Park" where there is some large sections of flact rock and plenty of areas to freelance off the marked trails.

Here is a little video of my brother in law, my nephew, and myself to give you an idea of what it looks like.
Some of the trail has some technical sections. But in most cases I found it to be very rideable, but if you have problems just walk the tuff parts. The trail takes you out to the south edge of the mesa where you can see across a valley over to Little Creek Mesa another great mountain bike desination, that I covered already in this blog http://arizjones.blogspot.com/2010/07/mountain-bike-adventures-in-utah.html

Once you get to the rim the trail heads west along the rim and leads you out to a narrow exposed place called "The Point". At The Point you will have unblocked view in all directions.

Here is a picture of me riding along the rim near The Point. It's a long way down from here to be sure.

If you head back down the dirt road you can catch a trail thet then takes you northeast along the northwest rim of the mesa. This section has some great views as well.

This section might be my favorite due to the great views. It is just one amazing spot after another, over looking the Virgin River Valley, with the massive cliffs of the Zion region in the background.

Honestly photos just can't capture the way thsi looks because it is just so big and vast of a panorama.

As you can see in some places you are just right on the edge of this huge cliff that drops of what seems like thousands of feet. And the scenery is enough to distract you so be careful.

Here is a trail map that can be handy. I have always gone out on the South Rim Trail and then come back on the North Rim Trail (used to be called "That Dam Trail") and then go out on what used to be called Steves Rim Job. Since I have often camped I would also ride around on the Slick Rock 101 and the Bowls and Ledges and then link that with the Hidden trail for a second ride.

From Springdale - drive 4 miles west on UT-9 to the east end of Rockville turning left on Bridge Road. This can be easy to pass so keep your eyes open. Go 1.6 miles, crossing over the Virgin River, the turning left at a T-intersection onto the Smithsonian Butte Scenic Backway. Follow maintained dirt road 4.9 miles turning right on Gooseberry Mesa Road. Sections of this road can be very very rough. After 3.6 miles, turn left onto an unsigned double track and go 1 mile to the trailhead at a cattle gate.

From St. George, drive north about 7 miles on I-15 then go east on UT-9 to Hurricane, UT. In Hurricane, turn right on UT-59 heading west for 14.4 miles. Look for Smithsonian Butte Scenic Backway signs, you'll make a left onto a maintained dirt road. This is an unmarked road located between mile markers 8 and 9. Head north 2.9 miles then left at the fence signed Gooseberry Mesa Road. Drive 3.6 miles on dirt road taking a left onto an unsigned double track and go 1 mile to the trailhead at a cattle gate.

Here is a link to my Little Creek Mesa page. It is just across the valley south of Gooseberry Mesa.
http://azjonesoutdoor.blogspot.com/2010/07/mountain-bike-adventures-in-utah-little.html

Mountain Biking, Red Canyon, Utah

2011-09-05T06:36:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite mountain biking destinations that I have been to is Red Canyon, in southern Utah. This place has great scenery and nice trails. The scenery is a lot like Bryce Canyon but they let you ride a mountain bike through it.

Here is a little video of my brother in law, nephew, and me at some places along the Thunder Mountain trail.

It has around 34 miles of single track and there are some jeep trail opportunities near by that are not in the park. There is also a paved bike trail along the highway that makes for safe transit to trail heads.

The trails are very well maintained and go through a wonderland of red rock formations. The Thunder Mountain trail alone is worth the trip.

One of the best things about Red Canyon is the campgrounds with hot showers. It is pretty sweet to be able to ride right out of camp to fantastic trails and then end back at you camp and get a nice shower. This is a must do if you love mountain biking and are in southern Utah in the summer.

Here are the trails.
Losee Canyon Trail: This 2.9 mile moderate trail begins at the bottom of Losee Canyon off Castro Canyon Road. This trail heads east and connects with the middle section of the Cassidy trail.
Cassidy Trail: This 8.9 mile strenuous trail is named for the infamous Butch Cassidy, who used sections of the trail. This is an out and back. so if you go out and back it's almost 18 miles.
Thunder Mountain Trail: This is a 7.8 mile moderate to strenuous trail. The red rocks on the lower section of the trail are outstanding. This can be a strenuous out and back totaling 15.5 miles. Or you can do a loop by riding up the highway to the top of the mountain and then down Thunder Mountain Trail. This loop is around 15 to 16 miles but is much easier. And I think you gain at least 1000 ft elevation if not more. The decent on Thunder Mountain is real "Big" fun!
Casto Canyon Trail: This 5.5 mile trail offers spectacular scenery. And runs east from Castro Canyon Road and links up with the upper northern end of Cassidy trail
You could also do some epic loops by linking Cassidy and Castro Canyon or Losee Canyon.
There are also ATV trails off Tom Best Road and some others.

The elevations in this area are between 7000 and 8500. So this is a summer destination
Red Canyon Camping
The Red Canyon Campground is shaded by ponderosa pines, junipers and Douglas firs. The 35 site campground usually closes the first day of October and opens again May first. The charge for camping is $11 per day. There are tables, grills, group sites, flush toilets, showers and a few RV pull throughs.
Directions to Red CanyonFrom Salt Lake City travel south on Interstate 15 past Beaver to UT 20. Exit on UT 20. Turn south on UT 89 and travel past Panguitch. Follow UT 89 to UT 12. Travel along UT 12 to Red Canyon.
From Las Vegas: Travel Interstate 15 past St. George to Exit 16. Drive through Hurricane, Utah. Follow Hwy 9 through Hurricane and to the only stop light in LaVerkin. Turn right at the stop light. Continue on Hwy 9 to the south entrance of Zion Park. Drive through Zion to the junction of UT 9 and UT 89 at Mt. Carmel Jct. Turn north on UT 89, then exit on UT 12. Follow UT 12 to Red Canyon.
Red canyon is just a bit west of Bryce Canyon on UT 12.
Here is a link to a trail map Of Red Canyon
http://arizjones.blogspot.com/p/red-canyon-map.html

Dusy Basin Backpack, Eastern Sierra Nevada

2011-08-18T14:25:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite places to get outdoors in in the Eastern Sierra Nevada of California. It has amazing scenery, and the trail heads often start up at high altitude, making for short approaches to fantastic alpine areas. This trip is no exception to that.

Dusy Basin is a high alpine lake basin that is accessed by crossing over Bishop Pass, and can be reached in a good hard day of hiking on the Bishop Pass Trail. Dusy Basin is in the back country of Kings Canyon National Park and the Bishop Pass Trail is a great access point to the John Muir Trail and the upper tributaries of the Middle fork of the Kings River. The scenery in this area is amazing and you could spend a lifetime trying to see it all.

This trip starts at South Lake at 9750 ft. altitude. This means that your car has already done some of the work. But you will be going over Bishop Pass, a high alpine pass at around 12,000 ft. so there will be some effort needed still. The trail starts by heading south along the east side of South Lake and then continues to climb up into an upper basin of lakes. About 2 miles in you will come to a trail junction for the Chocolate Lakes, a nice side loop for people with some extra time that takes you past four nice lakes and then connects again with the Bishops Pass Trail. Our path however continues straight on the Bishops Pass Trail and soon climbs into the upper lake basin and you reach beautiful Long Lake at 10,750 ft. just 2 and 1/2 miles from the trail head.

At this point the scenery is already amazing and it will be great the rest of the hike. The trail follows the east shore of Long Lake and offers views of 13,092 foot Mount Goode reflecting off the waters of the lake. The lake is long as it's name implies so you get these views for quite a time as you head south.

Along this lake near the south end the loop trail from The Chocolate Lakes comes in from the east. Soon you come to several smaller lakes including the Timberline Tarns, Saddlerock Lake and Bishop Lake.

The lakes in this basin are full of trout in fact I saw several very large ones so if you like fishing bring a pole. These rocky lakes are at or above the tree line and Bishop Lake is at about 11,200 ft. elevation.

From here you start a short but steep and rocky climb up to Bishop Pass topping out at 12,000 feet around 7.2 miles from the trail head. As you climb up towards the pass you will have great views back down the lake basin from where you came.

You will also have imposing views of the rugged and jagged Inconsolable Range to your east and massive rounded Mount Agassiz. this photo was taken on the way back.

Soon, as you are crossing the pass you will see to the south dramatic views of Isosceles and larger Colombine Peaks and farther off Giraud Peak

Once over Bishop Pass you will start you decent and now be able to see down into Dusy Basin and it's several lakes. At first you will just see the upper lakes in the basin but there are really six or seven main lakes and several little ponds.

The trail takes you around the western edge of the basin and reaches the first lake about two miles from Bishop Pass at around 11,280 feet. When I went here we traveled on the Bishops Pass Trail past this upper lake about a mile until we reached some lower lakes in the basin. These lakes are long thin lakes in a depression or basin between Colombine Peak and a large ridge that is topped by Giraud Peak at 12,585 feet.

These lower lakes in the basin are at around 10,734 feet and are just low enough to have a few stunted pine trees scattered about the rocky shores. Looking up and across the lakes you get dramatic views of Giraud Peak reflected off the water.

We made our camp along the edge of one of these lakes and then were treated to an amazing sight. Looking east from here we could see the Sierra Crest dominated by Mount Agassiz, Mount Winchell, Thunderbolt Peak, and the North Palisade topping out at 14,242 feet. This photo was taken that evening as these impressive peaks were lit up in and orange glow by the sun.

Our next day we decided to make a short hike up to knapsack pass that was just east of our camp. Knapsack pass is about 900 feet above the lake we were at and there is no trail but it was easy to navigate and route find our way up to the pass. From the pass you can see down into Palisade Basin and the Barrett Lakes, another fine destination.

You also get fine views to the northeast of the massive North Palisade that rises dramatically up from the head of Palisade Basin. Taking time to explore this basin would be time well spent.

That night we decided to move our camp to one of the upper lakes in Dusy Basin hoping for another sunset display on the Sierra Crest, but from a closer vantage point. Along the way from the lower lakes to the upper ones we passed several small lakes that are in the shadow of pointy Isosceles Peak and larger and more rounded Colombine Peak.

This photo is of the triangular Isosceles Peak reflecting off one of these smalled lakes in Dusy Basin. When we got to the upper lake we found it to be void of any trees because it is at 11,393 feet. Camping up at this elevation was cold at night even in late August.

This upper lake is very dramatic with Mount Winchell, Thunderbolt Peak and The North Palisade towering above you.

And that evening we were treated to these peaks being lit up at sunset while the tops of the peaks were shrouded by clouds. It was a dramatic scene that photos just can't capture.

We decided to leave by rout finding from this lake straight back up to Bishop Pass and found it was quite easy. as we left Dusy Basin I took several pictures looking back across the basin.

This is a panorama of three of them pieced together. This next photo is of a small lake up in the pass just east of the trail at just below 12,000 foot elevation with the jagged Inconsolable Range in the background.

We just returned back down the Bishops Pass Trail, but if you have extra time I would suggest you take the Chocolate Lake loop on the way back to change up the scenery

If man were meant to fly. . . . .

2011-08-11T16:25:00.000-07:00

Well who ever said if man were meant to fly he would have wings probably could never even imagine this stuff. I thought it was cool so I posted it

wingsuit base jumping from Ali on Vimeo.

Like Rocky the flying squirrel. "DUUUUUUUDE! That was SICK!"

Return to West Clear Creek

2011-08-04T11:14:00.000-07:00

The post for West Clear Creek, AZ is one of the most viewed on my blog. So I thought I might return to the subject. Here is a short little video clip I took from right near my tent one of the several times I camped overnight in the canyon.

This time of year with all the monsoon rain there is significant danger of flash floods so wait until late September. Here is the same falls from another angle.

Both sides of the falls have nice flat benches to camp on. As you can see it's all rock so if you want to use a tent, you will need one that does not require tent stakes. My friend is fighting with one that does and I'm all set up and making the video.

As you head in you will have to swim in several locations in order to get very far. So all you stuff must be in water proof bags, and something to help float your pack is very helpful. If you don't use some type of floatation device your pack will soak up water and be even heavier.

To float my pack I use two cheap foam camp pads doubled over and strapped to my pack. Blow up stuff just gets popped by all the branches and stuff you have to fight through.

You will come to several places where the cliffs come right out of the water on both sides. So because of this you will need shoes that can get wet. Problem is you will also be hauling a pack in some very rugged conditions. I just swim in some light weight hiking boots. Water shoes and sandals will just get your feet beaten up, and you will be very sorry. Leather boots will shrink so synthetic materials are a good choice.

This canyon will wear you out even if you are in good shape, so be prepared. There is no cell service and it would be a difficult rescue, if you get hurt, or are unable to get out on your own.

But the beauty and solitude of this canyon is well worth the difficult conditions it takes to access. In fact that is what makes it fun and keeps it from being overrun by day hikers like Oak Creek Canyon is.

And once you get to a spot like this one you get to put you pack down and enjoy swimming in one of the best swimming holes in Arizona. And then you have a base camp to explore more of the canyon un-encumbered by the weight of a pack.

here is the link to my previous post about this canyon. That will give you more information about trail head locations, and other info you might need.
http://azjonesoutdoor.blogspot.com/2010/08/west-clear-creek-wilderness-az.html

http://azjonesoutdoor.blogspot.com/2010/07/west-clear-creek.html

The Verde Valley (I Live In A Cool Place Part Two)

2011-07-24T14:33:00.000-07:00

I live in a valley called the Verde Valley that is located right in the geographical center of Arizona. The Verde Valley has several nice small towns or cities that are spread out through the area including Cottonwood, Camp Verde, Cornville, Clarkdale, Jerome, and of course Sedona . The most known of these cities is called Sedona. Sedona is a well known tourist destination due to the beautiful and unique redrock landscapes.

Sedona is also known for being the access point for the Oak Creek Canyon recreational area, with famous Slide Rock State Park.
http://azjonesoutdoor.blogspot.com/2011/05/slide-rock-state-park-arizona.html

http://azjonesoutdoor.blogspot.com/2011/06/slide-rock-state-park-arizona-part-two.html

Along with Slide Rock there are countless other great places in the canyon for swimming and hiking. One of my favorites is called The West Fork of Oak Creek. http://azjonesoutdoor.blogspot.com/2010/07/west-fork-of-oak-creek-arizona.html

The Verde Valley is known for it's beautiful scenery. This next photo is a view of Cathedral Rock from Red Rock Crossing, one of the most photographed locations in all the southwest. It is found at the Red Rock Crossing/Crescent Moon Ranch Picnic Area of Red Rock Loop Road.

But the Verde Valley has so much more than just Sedona and the redrocks, being surrounded by several wilderness areas including Wet Beaver Creek Wilderness http://azjonesoutdoor.blogspot.com/2011/07/wet-beaver-creek-widerness-arizona.html , West Clear Creek Wilderness http://azjonesoutdoor.blogspot.com/2010/08/west-clear-creek-wilderness-az.html , Munds Mountain Wilderness, Red Rock-Secret Canyon Wilderness, Sycamore Canyon Wilderness, Fossil Spring Wilderness http://azjonesoutdoor.blogspot.com/2011/06/fossil-creek-arizona.html , http://azjonesoutdoor.blogspot.com/2011/06/fossil-creek-part-two.html Woodchute Wilderness, and the Cedar Bench Wilderness. The valley also has several National Monuments and state parks including Montezuma Castle National Monument including Montezuma Well and Montezuma's Castle, Tuzigoot National Monument, Slide Rock state Park, Dead Horse State Park, Red Rock State Park, Jerome State Historic Park and Fort Verde State Historical Park. These areas along with the vast areas of National Forest http://azjonesoutdoor.blogspot.com/2011/05/exploring-mogollon-rim-country-of.html offer countless hiking and mountain biking opportunities. Here are some links to some of the many mountain bike trails in the area.
http://azjonesoutdoor.blogspot.com/2010/11/mountain-biking-in-sedona-az.html
http://azjonesoutdoor.blogspot.com/2011/03/mountain-biking-at-dead-horse-state.html
http://azjonesoutdoor.blogspot.com/2011/06/mountain-biking-mount-elden-flagstaff.html

The Verde Valley also has several protected archeology sites that are run by the National Forest Service including Honanki, Palatki Heritage Site, and V-Bar-V Heritage site, where you can visit Indian ruins and petroglyphs. http://azjonesoutdoor.blogspot.com/2011/09/palatki-and-honanki-ruins-near-sedona.html

Along with that it has many undeveloped archaeological sites to discover as well. With rock art and ruins that can be found almost anywhere you go throughout the area. Here is some rock art found in the West clear Creek area. Another little known but great location to see some petroglyphs is Red Tank Draw http://azjonesoutdoor.blogspot.com/2011/07/red-tank-draw-petroglyph-site.html .

Here are some examples of the many Native American ruins that can be discovered that are undeveloped and not on the maps.

I have found so many of these types of sites that I have lost count of how many, and they are in every part of the valley.

The Verde Valley also has miles and miles of designated scenic drives. This is a winter time view along the beautiful but rugged Schnebly Hill Road.

And along with all the great outdoor beauty the Verde Valley has some real nice weather, with very mild winters. The valley bottom is a little above 3000 feet in elevation and on the north is the edge of the Colorado Plateau, also known as the rim, on the south side is Mingus Mountain, The Black Hills, and the Verde Rim, These higher mountain and rim areas reach heights of between 7000 and 8000 feet in elevation. This drastic elevation change means the temperature will be much cooler at the higher elevation. So when it is hot down in the valley you can drive to the high locations and cool down in less than an hour. In winter we don't get much snow in the valley and it melts the next day if we do. But if you want some snow you can be sledding in 40 minutes by driving up to the mountain or rim areas.

Another great thing about where I live is it is a short drive to the Grand Canyon, Lake Powell, Southern Utah and the Arizona Rim areas northeast of Payson, making it the ideal base camp for exploring some of the Southwests best areas.

I drew this map of my little valley to give others an idea of how the place is situated, and I think it could be a cool resource to those visiting the area. Anyway I hope you can come and see it for yourself, you won't be disappointed.

Not sold yet? Check out "I Live In A Cool Place" Part One. http://azjonesoutdoor.blogspot.com/2011/02/i-live-in-cool-place.html

If you come to visit and fall in love with this area like I have, and decide to move here, when you buy a house be sure to have it checked out by Canyon Country Home Inspection http://www.canyoncountryhomeinspection.com/ To help you feel confident about your new home purchase.

link directory

Red Tank Draw Petroglyph Site

2011-07-14T21:37:00.000-07:00

In the Verde Valley as in much of the southwest there are many archaeological sites from past Native American cultures. One of these spots that is not well known in the Verde Valley is a petroglyph site in a place called Red Tank Draw. The Verde Valley has an abundance of archaeological sites and some are well known and developed, like Montezuma's Castle National Monument but many are not and this is one of the best that is not well known. Red Tank Draw is a small canyon that has a small intermittent stream that only flows for part of the year.

Along the stream are some canyon walls made of Coconino Sandstone, that rise up to forty to fifty feet. Along these walls are some very fine examples of Native American rock art, called petroglyphs.

Petroglyphs are drawings that have been chipped or chiseled into the rock surface. These petroglyphs were made by the Southern Sinagua culture between A.D. 1150 and 1400 and is in the style that archaeologist call the Beaver Creek style. Here at this site are a wide range of drawings ranging from what appears to be people, elk, deer, antelope, lizards, to crosses, spirals, and other symbols

I really have no idea about the meaning or reason the the artists from this past culture had for these drawings. I'm sure some archaeologist has come up with a theory, or speculation but we can never be sure. This one of what appears to be an elk is just amazing.

Here is a panel with a whole heard of deer or elk, a hunters dream come true.

This one is of some deer or elk mating, something I have never seen at any other rock art sites, but I'm sure there could be.

Here are some pictures of what appear to be small lizards that have been carved into the rock.

In this one location of the canyon the display is really fantastic. I have also seen some more isolated examples in other locations along the draw.

Apparently there are some more on some boulders where the main road from the highway crosses Red Tank Draw as it heads toward Wet Beaver Creek.

So here is how to get there.
This route requires high clearance vehicle. A passenger car will simply not make it, so do not even try. Drive south from Flagstaff on I-17 about 45 miles to the AZ Highway 179 exit (exit # 289). Leave the freeway here and drive 1.3 miles east on Forest Road 618 until you see the first forest road turn off to the north or left(a four way stop). This road will take you around a large hill. Look for FR 645A on the right and take it down to the edge of the Draw. Right as you approach the edge the road will turn left and head down into a low spot where you can access the Draw or wash. If you park on the rim where the road turns you just walk south a short distance along the rim and there is a steep trail that takes you off the rim and down into the canyon or draw where the petroglyphs are. Some people drive down into the wash (very rocky) and then walk about 100 yards south down the wash to get to the same place.

All archaeological and historic sites on the Coconino National Forest are protected by the Archaeological Resources Protection Act. These laws prohibit digging, removing artifacts, damage and defacement of archaeological resources on public lands, and provide felony and/or misdemeanor prosecution with imprisonment up to ten years and fines up to $100,000.

Paria Rimrock Toadstools, Southern Utah

2011-07-10T23:02:00.000-07:00

The Paria Rimrock Toadstool rock formations are on the south edge of the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. This group of "hodoos" rock formations is just one of many that can be found in the exposed Entrada and Dakota layers of rock that runs from Lake Powell in the east to the Coxcomb Monocline.

The toadstools or balanced rocks have an Enrtrada sandstone block on top that prevents erosion below it. I guess the layer below (Dakota sandstone) is softer than the Entrada sandstone and it erodes away except the stuff that is protected under the harder Entrada boulder causing the pedestal with time. These are some crazy looking rock formations that just seen to defy logic, but here they are and there are more in other locations, this is just the easy to get to ones. Here is a photo of the most notable ones as you come up on them from the south.

And then this one is as you get closer.

This next one gives you an idea of what the surrounding area looks like.

Just a little way northeast there are some more of these toadstool rocks.

So if you are traveling on the 89 or are going to hike Paria River Canyon that is just across the highway, and you have a little time, I think this short hike is well worth it.

This hike to the Paria Rimrock Toadstools is just an easy 1.5 mile round trip hike leading north from the highway to the hoodoos and balanced rocks. Drive north on highway 89 from the Glen Canyon Dam. Turn into the dirt parking area on the right just past Utah mile marker 19. The site is about 30 miles west of Lake Powell and 40 miles east of Kanab, Utah. Look for a series of white cliffs with vivid chocolate brown striping on the north side of US-89.

There is a gate and a sign in register. The trail itself starts just inside the fence and is 0.8 mile each way, with mostly level and easy walking. It follows a sandy wash part of the way, then cairns (stone markers) lead you the rest of the way.

There is also a group of there "toadstool" rock formation closer to Lake Powell called the Wawheep Toadstools. This is a series of several alcoves of these formations. They are located at Wahweap Creek just outside of Big Water, Utah but the hike for these is much longer (9.2 miles roundtrip)

This is a post of a trip into the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument that is somewhat near this hike.

http://azjonesoutdoor.blogspot.com/2010/10/yellow-rock-and-hackberry-canyon-utah.html And here is a post on the Paria River Canyon hike that is close by to this hike (just across the highway).

http://azjonesoutdoor.blogspot.com/2010/11/paria-river-canyon.html

Wet Beaver Creek Widerness, Arizona

2011-07-08T18:32:00.000-07:00

I have written twice about a place called West Clear Creek and it has been one of the top ten most viewed posts in the last year. But there is another canyon that is West Clear Creek's little brother. It is called Wet Beaver Creek. Wet Beaver Creek runs from east to west and just like West Clear Creek it has many deep pools that you must swim to travel up or down the canyon. And just like West Clear Creek there is no trail in the middle part of the canyon and the going can be very difficult. But just like West Clear Creek the payoff is a remote wilderness experience of extreme beauty and solitude.

The total distance to do a through hike of this canyon from Waldroup Place up on the rim to the trail head parking lot at the mouth of the canyon is 15 miles. This would require a car shuttle. Many people start at the trail head parking lot and then do a loop hike by taking the Apache Maid Trail up to the rim and then drop down into the canyon at Waldroup Place and then travel down the canyon and back to the Bell Trail parking area.
The majority of the people that visit Wet Beaver Creek are day hikers that come up the Bell Trail and stop at a swimming hole known as The Crack.

The Crack is about four miles from the parking area on a maintained trail. The first two miles is a wide double track or jeep trail, and the rest is a foot trail along a ledge or bench above the creek until you get to The Crack. The trail is called the Bell Trail and it was used in the old days to move cattle from the lower areas up to the rim for the summer.

To do the loop trip you will take the Apache Maid Trail up and around. After about two miles you will come to a trail on the left called Apache Mail trail #15. This trail climbs steeply up to the north rim of the canyon gaining at least 1200 feet of elevation and then gets very vague as it travels on intermittent jeep tracks east to the access point called Waldroup place at the east or upper end of the canyon. This is a long trek with no water sources, that will gain and loose altitude as you go and if you are going to go down the canyon it means you will be doing this in the hot summer months. It is about 9 and 1/4 miles from the trail head to Waldrop Place. It is about 2 miles from Waldroup Place to get down into the main canyon. Then about 9 miles down the canyon till you pick up the Bell trail near the crack and about 4 more miles back down the Bell trail to the car for a total of around 24 miles for the loop. I once drove around to Waldroup place and just started from up there and just returned back the same way. This is a rugged access with seven dry falls you have to find a way around. When you get into the canyon it is dry at first but as you head west or downstream you will soon find several springs that are the source of Wet beaver Creek and then right away there will be a few big pools you must swim to go any farther down the canyon. The travel in the 9 mile trailess part of the canyon is very tough and strenuous with travel average at 3/4 miles per hour. To do the loop you could do it in two days but most would take three to make it enjoyable.
Anyway most people just come up from the Bell Trail to The Crack for a day hike and swim.

The Crack is two deep pools connected by a short slot, and it has a unique natural red rock diving board.

There are also taller cliffs on one side that brave or crazy people sometimes jump off into the water. The Crack can be very crowded on hot summer days, but this is where most of the people stop. But if you keep going up the canyon you will find it to be beautiful, wild, and best of all there will be few people.

Now the walk up the Bell Trail is a dry and hot four miles with very little shade. And much of it is up away from the creek with the sound of the water below teasing you as you go. In one spot along the Bell Trail there is a large basalt boulder with what appears to be Anasazi Petroglyphs.

This is not unusual in this area in fact just a quarter mile farther up the main road past the trail head is the V-Bar-V Heritage Site with one of the largest petroglyph panels in all of Arizona. This part of the canyon is wide open but then starts to close in after a few miles.

At about 2.7 miles there is a trail to the right that goes down to the creek called the Weir Trail, this is tempting but will not get you to The Crack and the best stuff. Keep on the upper trail and it will take you up on a bench high above the creek.

And at about the 4 mile mark you will see a trail (The Bell Trail) heading down to the right toward the creek and one going straight. Take the straight one that will take you upstream to The Crack. The bell Trail will take you to bell Crossing and cross the creek and then will climb the steep canyon walls to the rim above.
Once at The Crack to head up stream you will just be boulder hopping, wading, and fighting through willow thickets and brush.

You will be able to see some paths that others have taken that are the "least resistance" and that will help but this is primitive route finding. You will be doing extensive boulder hopping along the banks or in the creek. The creek is lined with willows that you will need to fight your way through as you cross from one side of the creek to the other. The creek bottom itself is very slippery with algae covered rock and it is best to avoid walking in the creek bottom as it will severely slow you down. After at least an hour and a half from The Crack you will encounter the first big pool or obstacle.

You must swim through this long pool to go any farther. And soon this will become the mode of travel so get used to it. In fact that is the fun part of this trip to swim in the cool deep shady pools while the rest of Arizona is baking in the hundred plus heat.

Another half hour or more upstream you will encounter more deep pools you must swim and soon there is a series of pools one after another that you will have to swim to go any farther.

In this section of the canyon the cliffs close in around you and get tall and majestic. This is a true wilderness experience, with few encounters with other people.

In some places there are trees wedged in the slots many feet above the water surface. A good reminder to not do this trip in the monsoon season.

I have seen beavers living in this area and I'm sure there could be bear or mountain loins too, for it is a real wild place. There are very few camp spots once all the swimming starts because the canyon walls close in on the creek bed.

The best places are just before the first swim or just after the first big swim. Here is a great secluded area with great beauty to enjoy while you rest up for the return trip. You could try to get in to this inner section and back out in a day but that would be one really long hard day with little time to take to enjoy the place. Even breaking it up into two days by camping overnight makes for two very hard and strenuous days of hiking due to the extreme conditions (especially if you are an old guy like me).

Michael R. Kelsey's book Canyon Hiking Guide To The Colorado Plateau says there are 32 places where you must float a pack, and 23 of these you must swim because you can't touch bottom. He also ranks this as one of his top 20 hikes out of over 120 in his book that covers canyon hikes in parts of Arizona, Utah, Colorado, and New Mexico (He ranks West Clear Creek as #8).

Because there is no avoiding swimming in this canyon many people use flotation devices to ferry packs across the big deep pools. I use dry bags to keep my stuff dry and some cheap foam sleeping pads doubled up and folded in half strapped to the back of my pack to help float the pack. I find the blow up flotation devices just get popped by all the vegetation, but not using something to float the pack will cause your pack to weigh a lot more as it soaks up the water.

Some people install grommet type holes in the packs to help them drain. For shoes I just hike wade and swim in low cut hiking boots. Water shoes and sandals will just not cut it and your feet will take a pounding. Of course do not drink the water without purification. And never go in the middle part of this canyon in monsoon season due to flash flood potential (get a good weather report before your trip). Well I hope this helps any who want to take on the Wet Beaver Creek Wilderness Area.

Access: Drive 40 miles south from Flagstaff on Interstate 17. Leave the interstate at the AZ 179 interchange. Turn east under the highway and drive about 2.5 miles east to the old Beaver Creek Ranger Station turnoff. Turn north about a quarter mile to the parking lot and trail head.

Slide Rock State Park, Arizona, Part Two

2011-06-28T12:18:00.000-07:00

In the summer in Arizona we are always trying to find a way to cool off. And that often includes taking a swim in one of the many creeks that come down from the rim country. One of the most visited spots is Slide Rock State Park. I already did a post on this but with temperatures at 107 this week in Cottonwood and over 115 in Phoenix I decided to go back to cool off and here are some more photos of that special spot.

The thing that makes Slide rock special is not just the water but the many different ways to enjoy it. Of course there are the water slides.

And then even more water slides!

But along with that are the many deep pools where you can jump off rocks.

And if that is not enough and you want some some bigger thrills, you can jump off some pretty tall cliffs into some real deep pools that are under the highway bridge!

Here is one of the brave ones hucking his body off the ledge into the water below.

But for me I like taking a walk up stream away from the crowds to the more secluded spots. This next photo is looking back downstream as you leave the people behind.

Upstream you will find some beautiful locations, where it is more quiet, and has a more wild feel.

Here there are some nice pools and some places where the cliffs close in on the creek reminiscent of Clear Creek but much easier access.

This is why so many people flock to Slide Rock and Oak Creek Canyon every summer, and why they come back year after year.

Now Slide Rock State Park is $20 per car to enter, but you can park upstream and hike down. There is a "redrock" pass required to park anywhere in the canyon however. There are some other great spots in the canyon where you can enjoy the creek this is just the one with the most to offer.

Here is the link to Slide Rock State Park, Part One, in case you missed it.

http://azjonesoutdoor.blogspot.com/2011/05/slide-rock-state-park-arizona.html

Mountain Biking Mount Elden, Flagstaff AZ

2011-06-21T08:06:00.000-07:00

Well anyone that knows me, "Arizona Jones", knows that I like to mountain bike. In the summer it can get pretty hot in Cottonwood where I live. In fact temperatures of well over 100 degrees are nothing unusual. So when it gets hot I like to travel to higher elevation where it is cooler to ride. One of those spots is Mount Elden near Flagstaff Arizona. Mount Elden is part of a series of mountains north of Flagstaff called the San Francisco Peaks volcanic field.

Mount Elden is one of the peripheral mountains and it rises up above the already 7000 foot high plateau that Flagstaff is on. Mount Elden is one of the farthest south of these mountains and is also one of the smaller ones being about 9297 feet in elevation. Some of the other peaks reach as high as 12,000 feet.

Most of the other mountains are in a designated wilderness area but Mount Elden is not and so Mountain Bikes are allowed. On Mount Elden is a great trail system that gives you opportunity for many different loop or out and back options. With the bottom of the mountain being a full 2000 feet below the summit there are also great opportunities to get in some fun downhill runs as well as the tough climbs for those who want a serious workout. And serious climbs at this altitude will really test even the best mountain bike riders.

But for me it is about not just the workout but the enjoyment and the beauty. Mount Elden is covered with a beautiful forest with a variety of trees including Ponderosa Pine, Douglas Fir, and Aspens. The eastern slopes of Elden were badly burnt by the Schultz Fire in June of 2010 but much of the good stuff is still intact. So here are some trail descriptions, to help plan a ride or hike.

Oldham Trail #1

Mt. Elden's longest trail at 5.5 miles, it begins at the north end of Buffalo Park (elev. 7,000 feet) in Flagstaff and climbs gradually past boulder fields and cliffs on the west side of Mt. Elden. You cross Elden Lookout Road several times as the trail winds higher through forest and meadows to Oldham Park and on to Sunset Trail near the summit. The trail is moderate at the bottom but gets very difficult on the upper part if you are climbing and has an elevation gain of 2,000 feet.

Rocky Ridge Trail #153

Ponderosa pine, Gambel oak, alligator juniper, cliffrose, and yucca line this western approach to Mt. Elden. This trail begins from Schultz Creek Trailhead heads east and connects with the Oldham and Brookbank Trails. Distance is 2.2 or 3 miles depending on which fork you take. Schultz Creek Trailhead lies a short way off Schultz Pass Road 0.8 mile in from US 180. Elevation change is only about 100 feet but there are some rocky technical parts on this trail.

Brookbank Trail #2

This moderate to steep 2.5-mile trail climbs north through a forested drainage to the edge of Brookbank Meadow, owned by the Navajo Tribe, then curves east to eventually meet Sunset Trail at a low saddle. The part of the trail between Brookbank Meadow and the Sunset Trail goes through some very nice forests and meadows. Elevation gain is 1,000 feet. The trailhead (elev. 7,900 feet) can be reached by hiking or biking the Rocky Ridge or Oldham Trails or by driving a half mile in on Schultz Pass Road from US 180, then turning 2.5 miles up Elden Lookout Road.

When at Brookbank Meadows in the Dry Lake Hills area I often take an unnamed trail out southwest across the meadows to a view point that over looks parts of Flagstaff. There is a rock outcrop that I often take a break at and enjoy the view.

Schultz Creek Trail #152

This gentle 3.5-mile trail parallels an intermittent creek and also paralles Schultz Pass Road. The top is at Shultz Pass at the Sunset Trail Head (elev. 8,000 feet) and the bottom at Schultz Creek Trailhead (elev. 7,200 feet). Sunset Trailhead is at Schultz Pass, 5.6 miles up Schultz Pass Road from US 180, and Schultz Creek Trailhead is a short way off Schultz Pass Road 0.8 mile in from US 180. This is a very fun and fast downhill!

Sunset Trail #23

The alpine meadows and forests on the north side of Mount Elden offer some of the most pleasant hiking and bikling in Arizona. The four-mile Sunset Trail climbs gradually from Schultz Pass through pine, fir, and aspen to Sunset Park and on to the summit; elevation gain is 1,300 feet. as you climb away from Schultz Pass you have some nice views back towards the San Francisco Peaks. Latter as your head south you will traverse along the eastern edge of Mount Elden and will see below the visible scars left by the Radio Fire of 1977, and more recently the damage left from the Schultz Fire. from different points on the Sunset trail you can view the San Francisco Peaks, Sunset Crater, and Painted Desert.

Begin from the Sunset Trailhead (elev. 8,000 feet), just west of Schultz Tank at Schultz Pass. To reach the trailhead, follow US 180 northwest three miles from downtown Flagstaff to Schultz Pass Road, then turn right 5.6 miles.

Little Bear Trail #112

This trail is steep in places with some switchbacks is 3.5 miles long with a 1,000-foot elevation change between Little Elden Trail and Sunset Trail. This may be still closed due to the big Shultz Fire in June of 2010. This area being burned is a sad loss. It was a real fun and beautiful trail to ride.

Little Elden Trail #69

This trail descends down to the east side of Shultz Pass from Schultz Tank and links to trails that wind around the base of Mount Elden. From Schultz Tank to the bottom of Heart Trail in 4.7 miles. I have not tried this area since the Shultz Fire but I'm pretty sure this area has significant damaged.

Here is a trail map I came up with to help navigate. There are also many trails that are not named that are north of Schultz Pass Road that can be explored. As well as several on Elden itself.

My earlier post about the Shultz Fire http://azjonesoutdoor.blogspot.com/2010/07/fire-on-mountain.html

Here is the best map I have found for the Mt. Elden trails by Dale Wiggins. It has many on it I have not been on. Very detailed!
http://singletrack.us/gallery/displayimage.php?album=58&pos=0

Fossil Creek, Part Two

2011-06-16T11:45:00.000-07:00

I can't get enough of this place. Fossil Creek is just so beautiful and the water is so perfect that you just want to keep going back. So yesterday I had a day off so I took my child and her friend back for another great day in paradise.

Since I could not get enough I thought maybe you might not of had enough yet as well. So i took a few more pictures to share of this amazing place.

This one is at the falls that I posted the other day but from above. As you can see you can climb around to the top of the falls and many people jump into the deep pool from the cliff 30 or so feet above the water. The fall is at least 20 feet in height, so I'm guessing the cliff is at least 30 feet or more.

The stream has great waterfalls but also nice lazy and deep pools to relax in. There is also some "white water" or rapids type areas. I guess some people have gone down this river in kayaks, and even gone down the falls.

Anyway I feel pretty blessed to have this fantastic place within driving distance, so I can take a day trip over there and enjoy the water.

Oh The Water. . Ooohhh The Water. . And It Stoned Me To My Soul

Here is the link to the other Fossil Creek Post in case you missed it

http://azjonesoutdoor.blogspot.com/2011/06/fossil-creek-arizona.html
And here are a few maps that might be of value.

Anyway if you want to go here DON'T. . . . because I want it ALL to myself! Like that could ever happen. Anyway for more information contact:

Mogollon Rim Ranger District, 8738 Ranger Road, Happy Jack AZ 86024, (928) 477-2255 FAX 527-8282

Verde Ranger District, 928-567-4121 or

Red Rock Ranger District, P.O. Box 20249, Sedona AZ 86341, (928) 282-4119

Fossil Creek, Arizona

2011-06-12T01:40:00.000-07:00

When things start to heat up in Central Arizona there is a special place I like to visit to cool off. It is an amazing place just east of Camp Verde called Fossil Creek. Fossil Creek is a spring fed stream that runs southwest from its source for about fifteen miles and empties into the Verde River.

Fossil Creek is fed by a spring that produces close to a million gallons of crystal clear water an hour. This water comes out of the ground at a perfect 72 degrees and is full of minerals that give the creek an amazing aqua blue color. The surrounding area is a high desert environment in an entrenched canyon with mesquite, pinion pine and Juniper, along with some cactus and yucca. The canyon bottom is about 4300 feet in elevation while the canyon rim is above 6000 feet. While the canyon environment is typical of the high desert the environment along the creek is unique and special due to all the water. Along the creek is one of the most diverse riparian areas in Arizona, with over thirty species of trees and shrubs and over a hundred species of birds that have been observed in this unique habitat.
Visiting Fossil Creek is easy because a road runs parallel to it for a few miles and crosses it on a bridge in one location. The great swimming holes and easy access can make some of the spots very crowded. The places right below the bridge while nice are often very crowded.

Farther up the road from the bridge is a trail access that leads to a beautiful waterfall. The trail is only about a mile or so long and winds along the creek and on the way you pass several small falls and pools that are quite spectacular.

The falls at the end of this trail while often crowded are amazing and well worth the short mile hike. The falls are about 20 feet high with a deep pool of crystal clear water.

Many people come here to dive off the rocks and the falls into the deep water below. And it can be very crowded and busy on the week ends.

If you want more solitude there are several other spots you can stop between the bridge and the falls trails that all have great swimming opportunities that offer more peace and quiet.

If you want even more solitude there is a three mile long trail that leads to the spring at the source of the creek. This trail starts farther up the road toward strawberry and drops 1300 feet down to the spring. This will tend to have a little less traffic than the easy to reach spots that are close to the car. Hiking up stream past the falls or downstream from the springs will offer you more solitude as well, where you might find that perfect place to have all to yourself.

The Creek was not always this nice. For a long time much of the water flow was diverted by a dam and traveled by flume to a power plant. The work on the dam and power plant started in 1916 and in the 1920 and 30s this helped supply power to Phoenix. The power plant was decommissioned in 1999 and now the full flow of the creek has been restored, and the results are amazing.

To get to this desert oasis called Fossil Creek you take Interstate 17 north from Phoenix or south from Flagstaff. You exit on State Route 260 heading east and pass through Camp Verde. You then turn right on Forest Road 708 (sign says Fossil Creek) less than 10 miles from I-17. The forest road is very winding and also very bumpy but it's passable by standard vehicles if you take it slow. It is about 15 miles of dirt road to the Fossil Creek Bridge. You can also come down this same road from Strawberry. At Strawberry from Highway 87 you take Fossil Creek Road (Forest Road 708) for about 5 miles to get the Fossil Springs trail head. The first 2 miles or so is paved; the next 3 miles will be on a rough but maintained dirt road that any car can drive on. After about 5 miles on Fossil Creek Road you'll see a turnoff that leads to a parking lot on the right side. If you continue down the main road for a few more miles you will reach the Fossil Creek Bridge. Haven't had enough? Or need more informations? Here is another post for this fantastic Paradise in the desert!
http://azjonesoutdoor.blogspot.com/2011/06/fossil-creek-part-two.html

Slide Rock State Park, Arizona

2011-05-25T16:20:00.000-07:00

The weather is warming up here in Central Arizona. Warm weather in Central Arizona means time to go to to one of the many creeks for a swim to cool off. The most well known of these swimming destinations is Slide Rock State Park in Oak Creek Canyon.

Slide Rock State Park is located along beautiful Oak Creek in beautiful Oak Creek Canyon. Slide rock for me brings back great memories because my parents took me to this place several times when I was a kid, and now I take my child there. The most notable feature of Slide Rock is of course the natural water slides that are created by the creek as it flows over carved out and smooth flat sandstone.

There are a series of slides and pools with some deeper places with channels cut through the rock where people can jump off the small rock cliffs along the creek.

The rock when wet is very slippery and you will often see people take a fall as their feet go out from under them. Sometimes resulting in an unexpected trip down a water slide, in some cases with camera equipment along for the ride.

Downstream from the water slides and below the highway bridge are deep pools with large cliffs that the brave ones do some cliff diving into the creek below. Upstream from the water slides are some beautiful sections of the creek that that pass between some moderate cliffs, that can be more secluded and a nice break from the crowds found at the water slides below.

This place is like a natural water park all in an amazing setting below towering redrock canyon walls. Summer at slide rock can be very crowded an often the parking area gets full so getting there early is advised to be sure to get in.

The park opens at 8:00 AM and closes at 7:00 PM during the summer. The water can be pretty cold but in hot weather reaching 100 degrees it can be just what is needed.
Another feature of the park is the old homestead structures. The area that the park is in was homesteaded by Frank Pendley in 1907. His family owned the land until 1985 when it was sold to the Arizona State Parks. You can still see apple trees that were part of the orchard that Pendley planted in 1912, and small cottages that were built in the 30s and 40s. Along with this are some interesting equipment used to make the homestead work including a water wheel that was used to generate electricity before power lines were available in the canyon.

This is a great destination that has something for everyone to enjoy and is one of the most visited locations in Central Arizona. For me it brings back childhood memories because it has not changed much since I was a little kid when my parents would bring me here on summer adventures. Sure there is a parking lot now, and they make you pay, but the creek and the water slides are pretty much the same.
Here is more on this great place. http://azjonesoutdoor.blogspot.com/2011/06/slide-rock-state-park-arizona-part-two.html

Fare you well, fare you well, I love you more than words can tell

2011-05-21T23:05:00.000-07:00

My father was born in New York. He joined the Navy in World War Two as an electricians mate. He got a degree in electrical engineering and after the war moved to Arizona. He married my mother shortly after that. Dad's first job after the war was surveying for power lines for Arizona Public Service. He surveyed for the first power into Phantom Ranch in the Grand Canyon, and the first power in to Crown King as well as power coming off the rim into Sedona, and power lines across Mingus Mountain running from Prescott to Jerome. He saw every corner of this state, before much development happened. He was on the first planing and zoning commission for Scottsdale Arizona. During this time in Scottsdale my mom and him were blessed with three children. My father latter got a job with General Electric where he got in on the ground floor of the computer industry and after a while was involved with projects including computer systems for the French government, Saudi Arabian government, as well as the IRS. Latter on we moved to New York and then to California where he worked for Xerox. This was how a kid who was born in Arizona went to high school in California. Finally he cut ties with big cooperate work and bought a Delicatessen on the beach in Ventura California, and followed his passion for cooking and fine food and developed his business into two stores and a large catering business. Finally Dad sold the business and his house and bought a motor home and my mom and him traveled for several years. It was during this time he got involved in the tour guide business, working for Caravans De Mexico out of El Paso Texas, giving RV tours down to Mexico. He soon was also working for other tour companies doing western states National Park tours. during this time my mom was perfecting her skills doing fine art oil paintings. Eventually they decided to stop traveling and let my mother pursue her dream of being and artist. They picked Cottonwood Arizona as the place to settle. My mom and dad started an art supply store and studio and my mom sold paintings, did framing and matting, and taught painting, while my father ran the art supply store. During this time my father got a job with an over seas tour company and got paid to give tours to Australia, New Zealand, Tahiti and Fiji, he also gave 36 day tours to South America. About 16 years ago my father's earlier smoking habit caught up with him and he was diagnosed with emphysema. It was around this time I moved here to Cottonwood with my wife to help out my parents. From there on he had a slow decline until finally he was completely house bound and wheel chair bound about seven years ago. 20 months ago he was no longer even able to get out of bed, where he has been since. My mom has been lovenly caring for him this whole time. Finally at around 10:00 on May 21st 2011 dad passed away in his sleep at home. He was a great husband to my mom, and was a great father to me and my sisters giving us a jump start in life so we had great opportunities. He taught me a lot about many things, including cooking, working with my hands, but most of all how to love living. He love good food, drink, and music, but most of all he loved my mother.

Fare you well my honey
Fare you well my only true one
All the birds that were singing
Have flown except you alone

Goin to leave this Broke-down Palace
On my hands and my knees I will roll roll roll
Make myself a bed by the waterside
In my time - in my time - I will roll roll roll

In a bed, in a bed
by the waterside I will lay my head
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
to rock my soul

River gonna take me
Sing me sweet and sleepy
Sing me sweet and sleepy
all the way back back home
It's a far gone lullaby
sung many years ago
Mama, Mama, many worlds I've come
since I first left home

Goin home, goin home
by the waterside I will rest my bones
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
to rock my soul

Goin to plant a weeping willow
On the banks green edge it will grow grow grow
Sing a lullaby beside the water
Lovers come and go - the river roll roll roll

Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
to rock my soul

Brokedown Palace

Thanks to all those who have prayed and shown compasion. It means so much!

Exploring the Mogollon Rim Country of Arizona

2011-05-03T15:27:00.000-07:00

I just got back from three days in an area of Arizona called the Rim Country. This area is called that due to the predominant geological feature called the Mogollon Rim. This "rim"is a long cliff like uplift running east to west for close to 200 miles. It is essentially the southwest edge of the Colorado Plateau. The south edge of the rim rises to heights over 7000 feet in elevation with some points reaching as much as 8000. Below the rim are areas of around 5000 to 6000 foot elevation sloping away south gradually. This area, both above and below the rim, is part of a huge forest of pine trees that comprises the largest stand of Ponderosa pines in the world.

This stand of pine forest covers tens of thousands of acres from west of Flagstaff in the west all the way into New Mexico in the east.
Most people when thinking of Arizona think of desert, but much of Arizona is covered with this vast pine forest. This high area, due to it's altitude has significant snow fall in winter and because of this is a source of many streams that run south and north away from the rim. This along with the cooler temperatures due to altitude make this a favorite area to escape the heat of the deserts in the summer months.
When I went there I stayed in a small town below the rim called Christopher Creek. Christopher Creek is at about 6000 foot elevation surrounded by dense forest with a year round stream running through the small town.

There are many hiking and mountain biking opportunities there in every direction with campgrounds as well as undeveloped camping opportunities. The stream called Christopher Creek starts at the base of the rim at a place called See Canyon where there is a nice trail that runs along the creek through the forest. Downstream from the small town the creek enters an entrenched canyon called The Box. .

The Box is hard to navigate and has small falls and pour offs with deep pools and requires getting wet and some climbing skills to navigate up and down the canyon.

The canyon rock is comprised of block shaped basalt rock.
Up on the rim north and east of Christopher Creek are five small lakes nestled among the pine forests, called the Rim Lakes.

The rim lakes are in depressions on the rim and collect snow melt during the winter. These lakes are stocked with trout and are packed with fishermen during the summer months.

Along the rim is a dirt and gravel road called the Rim Road or The General Cook Trail that follows the edge of the rim for close to 40 miles. Along this road are great views of the vast forested areas below the rim.

The rim area has many wonderful places to camp, both developed campsites and just dispersion camping with no facilities. The forest on the rim being higher is more lush and diversified having some spruce and aspen trees as well as the ponderosa pine. Elk, deer, and wild turkey are often seen in these forests. Below the rim as I said are a series of streams and creeks that flow south, Some big and some small.

We explored Haigler Creek, Christopher Creek, Tonto Creek and the East Fork of The Verde River. The East Fork of the Verde appeared to have the largest amount of water flow, and some great places but also appeared to have some of the most development. Yet even with this there were plenty of opportunities to get away from the crowds, this early in the year.

There are many hiking and mountain biking trails in this vast area with the most notable trail being the Highline Trail.

The Highline trail runs for more than 50 miles along the base of the rim through dense forest and rolls up and down as it descends and climbs out of the many stream drainages it crosses. In many places it can be mountain biked as well as hiked. I have ridden the east end and some of the connecting trails and found it to be some real nice riding.
This time, when we went, instead of camping we stayed at the Christopher Creek Lodge. This lodge, founded in 1950 is a group of small rustic cabins along the creek. http://christophercreeklodge.com/

I found it to be a great base camp for exploring and loved the creek side location and the feel of the place. No frills but all you need with wood stoves, and a kitchen and a great location with the sounds of the creek to put you to sleep at night.

Kartchner Caverns State Park, AZ

2011-04-10T00:23:00.000-07:00

Last weekend I traveled down to southern Arizona with my family to visit Kartchner Caverns State Park. My child was given a school assignment to do a report on the State Park so we thought first hand experience would be better than anything else for her. We found out they have a campground and made reservations. We also found that all tours of the caverns are guided and should be reserved in advance.

When we arrived at the campgrounds we found a dry desert landscape. Even though the elevation is close to 4600 feet it was not much different than what you would see at my house at 3000. I guess the winter storms tend to track north of there. Up in Central and Northern AZ at 4600 feet you would see some juniper and occasional pinion pine but not down south. It was all mesquite trees, prickley pear and barrel cactus, some yuccas, with some ocotillo thrown in for variety.

At the camp ground the scenery is dominated by views of the Whetstone Mountains a ridge of mountains that rises up to close to 8000 feet in elevation. There are two hiking trails that leave the campgrounds and go up into the hills and mountains. One is a loop trail that climbs the foot hills and returns, the other is an out and back that goes well up into the forest service land of the mountain range.

The main draw of Kartchner Caverns State Park is of course the caverns themselves. The caverns were discovered by two college students back in 1974 and they kept it a secret for 14 years until they could get it protected by the owners of the land and the State Park Service. The caverns are named after the owners of the land that the caves were found on.

The State Park Service has gone to great lengths to keep the cave as well preserved as possible. This includes keeping the moist environment stable and free of outside air and dirt. They control the amount of light and no cameras are allowed in the caverns. So all the photos of the interior of the cave I had to find online. You go through a series of sealed doors as you descend down tunnels to the cave entrance. Once inside you find an amazing display of formations that are still being formed.

The paths are controlled to keep dirt from contaminating the cave and more than 85 percent of the cave has never been walked on. When you compare the glistening wet formations of this cave to ones you see at other places that are all dried out, there is no comparison. Not only is it well preserved but it is world class. containing some rare and in some cases best formations (speleothems) of calcite in the world. They say it has the 2nd longest recorded example of a soda straw formation. Soda straws are very thin formations that hang down from the ceiling. Along with that it has one of the largest columns (Kubla Kahn) in North America. And amazing flowstones, shields (including parachute, welt, and turnip types), and draperies to go along with all the stalactites, and stalagmites (including totems and fried eggs), cave popcorn, helectites, and boxwork.

One of my favorite formations was called cave bacon. I guess it is formed when water comes through a crack in the cave ceiling and with time makes a thin sheet of minerals the length of the crack. It really does look like bacon.

There are two different tours of the caverns that you can take that take you to two different parts of the caves. Both of them are outstanding and I would advise you to do take both tours if you can.

The visitors center is called the Discovery Center because along with being the place you pick up your reserved tickets or purchase the "walk-up" tickets, and catch the tram up to the cave entrance, there are many informative displays and exhibits about the history, formation, and discovery of the caverns. The campgrounds have nice showers and bathrooms, and each site has water and electric. Most of the campers were in large recreational vehicles, basically houses on wheels. I'm more of the tent kind of guy myself.

Here is Holly our fierce guard dog on duty keeping watch over the camp making sure everything is in order.

And of course we were treated with a great Arizona sunset over the Whetstone Mountains to end our last night there. A fine grand finale to a nice little family adventure.

If you are planing a trip there I recommend reserving tour tickets in advance, because only five per tour are saved for walk-up purchase. For more information about prices and reservations here is the State Park website. http://azstateparks.com/Parks/KACA/index.html

Mountain biking at Dead Horse State Park, AZ

2011-03-17T23:53:00.000-07:00

Most of you know I live in a town called Cottonwood, AZ in the Verde Valley just south of Sedona. Cottonwood is overlooked by most visitors to the Verde Valley who come to see Sedona and the old mining town Jerome. But Cottonwood has some cool stuff too. In Cottonwood is a place called Dead Horse State Park that has a trail system to hike and mountain bike on. The park is located along the Verde River the only designated wild and scenic river in Arizona. Normally I park outside of the park to avoid the entrance fees and then just ride in on trails by turning right down a steep slope just after I cross the bridge or I go past the entrance station about 50 yards and enter on a trail to the right.

Once in the park there are tons of trails that wind all around connecting the different camp grounds and fishing lagoons. Some of the trails parallel the river among the large cottonwood and elm trees.

And some cruise and wind through the beautiful mesquite groves that are closer to the river and many travel through the desert areas farther away from the river.

Most of these trails are very smooth and easy with a few short steep climbs and in some cases a few small foot bridges to cross small washes
Now all these trails are nice but the real attraction for me is the trail system that leaves the park and climbs the mesas north and east of the park. There are two main trails that head up the mesas. One is called Lime Kiln Trail and it is heads east out of the park and the other one is called Raptor Hill at it generally heads north out of the park.

Both of these trails climb in stair step like increments of short steep climbs with flat smooth areas between climbs. The state park near the river is around 3280 feet in elevation and on Raptor Hill trail you will be at around 3900 when you get to the trail junction with the Thumper Trail after traveling 2.85 miles. Thumper Trail runs southeast from Raptor Hill Trail and connects with the Lime Kiln trail completing a loop. If you are traveling east on Lime Kiln Trail you will reach the Intersection with Thumper Trail after about 2.1 miles. It is 2.25 miles to get from one end of Thumper to the other making the entire loop about 7.2 miles of trail. Add in the time on the trails in the park and you will be doing at least 8 miles to do the loop. Thumper Trail gains and looses elevation several times as it goes in and out of a series of washes. At the Raptor Hill and Thumper intersection there is also a trail that heads off to your left or north this can take you to several longer options. The most noted is the Upper Raptor Hill Trail that was once called Indian Chimney but the name was changed by the State Park people. Upper Raptor can be easy to miss, it is on the right a few hundred yards north down a double track from the Raptor/Thumper junction. Upper Raptor starts by going up a small wash and then climbs up out of the wash to the right. Upper Raptor continues your climb to the top of the mesas and connects to a series of Forest Service roads. The top of the mesas reach an altitude of at least 4300 feet and maybe even more. The top of the Mesa has juniper and pinion pine. Along the steep northeast edge of the mesa are nice views of the Red Rock country. This trail system is great in winter, spring, and fall, but can get hot in the Summer. I often take a break here to enjoy the view and then return the way I came with a long downhill to end the day. By adding some of the forest service roads you can make loops as long as 20 or more miles. And for the very hardy you can take Lime Kiln Trail all the way to Sedona a long trek of at least 15 miles one way. There are two bike shops in Cottonwood If you need repairs or forgot something when you visit.
They are both located on main street not far from the park. One is called Sultana Cycles and is located at 470 S. Main, Suite B. Cottonwood, AZ. (928) 649-3822, Sultanacycles@gmal.com The other one is called Zoomers Bike and Gear and it is located at 743 N. Main Street, Cottonwood, AZ. (928) 202-4941, http://www.zoomersbike.com/ To get to Dead Horse State Park, from I-17 take (exit 287) Hwy 260 to Cottonwood. Hwy. 260 intersects with 89A/Main Street. Turn left on Main Street and proceed to North 10th Street. Turn right (north) on North 10th Street. Continue on North 10th across the Verde River Bridge to the park entrance. The Park also has camping, fishing, hiking, horseback rides, among other things.

The Grand Falls, Arizona

2011-03-01T09:32:00.000-08:00

The Grand Falls is a little known waterfall in Arizona east of Flagstaff. I have also heard people call it Chocolate Falls due to the brown muddy color of the water. Grand falls is in a peaceful and surreal location on the edge of the Painted Desert on the Navajo Indian Reservation. Almost every time I have been there I was the only one there. This water fall is 185 feet tall and very wide. There are times in spring when it has a heavy flow and times when it is just a trickle. The waterfall was formed when a lava flow blocked the path of the Little Colorado River and caused it to take a sharp right turn. The falls drop into a deep gorge that then continues on for miles and gets deeper and deeper at it makes it's way to the Grand Canyon. This is really in the middle of nowhere. There are no homes or structures seen for miles. The best time to be there is in early spring when there is snow melt from the White Mountains, and sunset is the best time of day. You could make a nice day of seeing Walnut Canyon National Monument and its ruins east of Flagstaff and then end the day with a trip out to Grand Falls. This is a picture of the falls in the dry time of the year. As you can see it is just a trickle of water compared to the massive flow during spring. But even then it is a beautiful spot and when it is dry we found we could walk right down to the base of the falls and walk across some ledges down at the bottom. The road out there is a rough dirt and cinder road. To get there you take I-40, 15 miles east from Flagstaff. Then take exit 211 at Winona. Drive 2.3 miles north to Leupp Rd. Turn right and drive 20.3 miles to unpaved and unsigned Indian Road 6910 (between mileposts 5 and 6). Turn left and drive along this rough road 9.4 miles to the turnoff on the left, which leads to the falls overlook (do not cross the Little Colorado River). If you try to cross the Little Colorado when it is flowing you could get stuck and there is not going to be anyone to help out there. Grand Falls can also be accessed from Indian Road 70 (instead of 6910). This road is located 15.0 miles along Leupp Rd (5.3 miles before Road 6910). Follow Road 70 8.4 miles to the same turnoff on the left before the Little Colorado River (Roads 6910 and 70 join together just before the turnoff) This panorama was made by splicing together two photos. It is so wide it is hard to get it all in one picture from the front perspective.

Wupatki National Monument and Sunset Crater

2011-02-25T12:33:00.000-08:00

Northeast of Flagstaff Arizona is a place that many people drive right by. They are on their way to The Grand Canyon or Lake Powell. But off the highway there is a loop drive that is packed with interesting things to see. This loop drive has two National Monuments, Sunset Crater and Wupatki National Monument. Sunset Crater is an area of volcanic activity including lava flows and cinder cones, with some as recent as 1000 years ago. If you are heading north on highway 89 the turn off is about 12 miles out of town on the right. This will take you to the visitors center for Sunset Crater. Along this road you will see some interesting lava flows and beautiful Sunset Crater. Sunset Crater is a great example of a cinder cone and is recent enough to still maintain it's shape. There are some nice short trails out into the lava flows that I feel are worth the short walk that have some interesting features and beautiful scenery. If you continue on through Sunset Crater the road will start dropping in elevation giving way to a less forested area and eventually high desert and you will enter Wupatki National Monument. Wuputki is around 2000 feet in elevation lower that the Sunset Crater area. Waputki National Monument is a large number of old pueblo ruins scattered over a large area. The park service says there are as many as 800 different identified ruins scattered over the large area that incorporates the park. Five of the largest ones are easy to visit and right off the road. The largest one is near the visitors center and is called Wupatki (Hopi for "Tall House"). This one is really two main structures and a round community room and a "ball court" all withing a short walk of the visitors center. The ball court is the northern most one of these that has been found and is usually something found in cultures from farther south. There is also a very interesting geological feature right near these ruins. There is this blowhole of vent that leads underground to some unknown passages and it will either blow air out or suck air in depending on temperature or pressure variables. It blows air out with astounding volume and pressure and is really quite fascinating. A second of the larger ruins in the park is called Wukoki Ruin ("Big House"). This one is east off the main road a bit but really is worth the short drive. Wukoki Ruin is built on a stone outcrop and has a tall tower like structure as it's main feature. It can be seen from a long distance away and is really quite beautiful in it's remote setting. As you head north out of the park and continue the loop there are several more sites to visit. My favorite of these is one of the last ones before you leave the park. It is called Lomaki or "Beautiful House". This one has about a half mile walk out to the main structure at the edge of a shallow canyon. There are several other small structures along the way as you walk out to the largest one. Sometimes I just go in the north entrance and stop at this ruin if I have limited time but still want to see some of it. Here is the National Monument web site for more info.
http://www.nps.gov/wupa/index.htm

I Live In A Cool Place!

2011-02-17T23:40:00.000-08:00

I took this picture on my way to work the other day. Thats Court House Butte and Bell Rock as you drive into the Village Of Oak Creek in Sedona, AZ. The next one is some of the locals checking me out. As seen over at Red Rock State Park, in Sedona. Nothing special just another day going to work. Oh yea, and our weather has been in the 60s in mid winter. Life is rough here in central AZ. This one is less than five minutes walk up a trail off a residential area on Soldiers Pass Road
We once had a problem here with graffiti about 800 to a 1000 years ago. This rock is just sitting on the side of Salt Mine Road in residential Camp Verde. This classic Kokopeli Pictograph I found near Sedona out towards Loy Butte and the Honanki Ruins. And then there are some run down abandoned structures here and there. But I'm not complaining. This one is called Palatki. Note the cool medicine wheel pictograph on the cliff above the ruin. Ruins like this are all over the valley here.
This next one is called Montezumas Castle. It pretty well known in fact its one of the National Monuments in my little valley. And once in a while it snows. But really it just makes it more beautiful and it melts by the next day. This shot was taken right from the road, on Schnebly Hill Road, Sedona. Oh and did I tell you that I can trout fish a five minute walk from my house? Yea, I live in a cool place!
Not sold yet? More on this great place to live.
http://azjonesoutdoor.blogspot.com/2011/07/verde-valley-i-live-in-cool-place-part.html

Black Canyon Trail, AZ, Hike and Mountain Bike

2011-01-26T15:50:00.000-08:00

I live in a beautiful valley in Central Arizona, called the Verde Valley. The Verde Valley has the Sedona area that people come to see from all over the world. But in my area there are many other things that often get over looked. I live in the town of Cottonwood it is south of Sedona and just south of me is a mountain ridge that reaches heights of over 8000 ft. elevation. On the side of this mountain ridge is a trail that climbs up a drainage called Black Canyon. This trail is designated by the Forest service as Black Canyon Trail #114. Most people just hike up and down the trail and many people descend the trail on mountain bikes, but few go off trail and see the hidden secret. Down hidden in the drainage of Black Canyon is a beautiful waterfall. Being in the desert southwest I think it usually only runs in the winter when there is snow on the top of the mountain. This waterfall is a bit difficult to get to so it keeps the masses away. It is pretty much an all day in and out hike, with some steep climbs and some off trail scrambling, but the hike has many rewards, like great views of the Verde Valley and seclusion from all the tourists that swarm the Sedona trails. This area is wild and has deer, elk, mountain lions, bear, and lots of javalinas.

You start the hike at a parking area at the end of Ogden Ranch Road. If there is any snow on the mountains then the waterfall will be flowing. The trailhead elevation is around 4200 feet. From there you take a ATV track west for about 50 yards and then look for a trail leading down into a drainage on your left. Take this trail and it will take you down into the drainage and across and then starts to climb the other side.

This trail will get somewhat steep and rocky at times as it navigates up and over or around a few ridge lines and drainages to take you southwest and into the Black Canyon drainage. Along here you will have some fine views of the Verde Valley.

Once you turn the corner into the Black Canyon drainage the trail will level out as it traverses the south side of a ridge. This is what the drainage looks like that you will be heading into as seen from the trail above.

Along this area of trail you look for a ridge below you that sticks out south into the drainage with a saddle on it with a fire ring made of rocks. At this point you go off trail down to the saddle and then drop down the steep ridge on the west side of the saddle to find your way down into the bottom of the drainage. You will see a small drainage coming in from the north to the major one. You need to cross this above the intersection of the two drainages. This is a photo of the side drainage that comes in from the north

You cannot cross below the intersection because the drainages drop off into a slot that cannot be crossed. Once past this side drainage you then follow the main drainage upstream. It is a bit of a scramble.

If there is water flowing then the waterfall will be flowing too. You have to find your way around several small cascades and some rock pinnacles along the way that I found to be interesting.

Finally the drainage will turn to the right around a corner and the water fall will come into view. It is a pretty tall waterfall but I'm not very good at guessing heights (maybe 70 feet tall?) Many people also mountain bike down this trail. If you are going to do that you would need a car shuttle. Many people start at the top of the mountain and decent Coleman Trail or Gaddes Canyon Trail and then hook up with Black Canyon Trail as it drops off of Allen Springs Road (FR 413) at 6400 ft. elevation. The top part of the Black Canyon trail is in pine forest and runs along a small stream for part of the way. It it is a total of 7 miles from the bottom at Ogden Ranch road up to the top at Allen Springs Road. The bottom part of the trail is high desert type vegetation and there is more than a 2000 foot elevation climb along this trail.
If you are going to try the downhill mountain bike ride I would suggest you take the Gaddes Canyon Trail over the Coleman Trail. The Coleman trail is for hard core technical riders only. All of this is for advanced riders but Coleman is really very rocky, steep, and overgrown. Gaddes Canyon Trail is around a 2.5 mile drop down to Allen Springs Road. If you combine that with Black Canyon you have close to a 10 mile downhill trip. The Gaddes canyon Trail starts at around 7700 ft elevation so you will descend close to 3500 feet on this downhill trip. When you go down Gaddes Canyon and reach the Allen Springs Road (FR 413) you head left or east on Allen Springs road and the Black Canyon Trail will be on the right after more than a mile. Beware that the brush is overgrown in many places on these trails and you will need protection to not end up all cut and scratched up.
To get to the trail heads: For the bottom trailhead of Black Canyon Trail #114, turn off Highway 260 between mileposts 209 – 210 (south) onto the dirt Ogdon Ranch Road (ok for passenger cars). Follow this road 4.3 miles to the parking lot at the end.
To get to the Gaddes Canyon Trail, from highway 89A you take Forest Service road 104 around 2 and 1/4 miles to road 104B. Turn right and the trail will be on your left just a tenth of a mile before you reach the lookout.

Lake Sabrina to Moonlight Lake Backpack Trip

2010-12-30T13:25:00.000-08:00

Here is another great Eastern Sierra backpack trip. This one starts at a large lake called Lake Sabrina at 9132 foot elevation. I like this trip because the starting point is so high that there is not very much climbing to get to the good stuff. This trip heads into a lake basin called The Sabrina Basin in the John Muir Wilderness of the Inyo National Forest in California.
When I did this trip it was years ago. So things may have changed a little. When I did this the trail head parking was near the end of Lake Sabrina Road at an intersection with a westbound road that leads to North Lake. You start the hike by walking south up the paved road for about a half mile where you will find a signed trailhead. The trail traverses along open exposed slopes on the east side of Lake Sabrina. Here is a picture of my three female companions and the view as you start out along this ridge. About 1.3 miles from the road there is a trail junction with an east bound trail that leads to George Lake up on Table Mountain. You continue right or south at this junction. You will soon pass the small outlet creek for George Lake and then the trail starts to climb some switch backs. After the switch backs you arrive at Blue Lake at around 10400 foot elevation. This lake is beautiful and if this were the only lake on the trip it would still be worth the short trip. There are great views south across the lake of some dramatic peaks along the Sierra Crest, with a prominent pointed bare spire in the foreground that is close to 12,500 feet tall and Thompson Ridge with Mount Thompson at over 13,400 foot height behind in the back ground. This lake is only a little over 2.5 miles from the road so many day hikers can make this their destination. The trail then crosses the outlet creek of Blue Lake and then heads along the west shore of the lake. After a short way you come to a trail junction. If you head straight it will take you to Donkey Lake and the Baboon Lakes, a worth while side trip if you have the time. I did this on the way back. This is what it looks like up there at one of the lakes. And there is a lot of great stuff to explore using these lakes as a base camp you could go up to Sunset Lake and get a view of the Thompsom Glacier. But our trip takes the right fork and heads west at this junction. After about a mile and a quarter from this trail junction you will get to the largest of the Emerald Lakes about four miles from the road. You pass this lake and continue southwest up over a small rise to Dingleberry Lake at about 10490 foot elevation. You pass this lake along it's east shore and continue up the drainage. Less than a half mile past Dingleberry Lake and about five miles from the road there is a trail junction. If you head south or take the right fork it will take you to beautiful and dramatic Midnight Lake. Midnight Lake is at close to 11,000 foot elevation and is in a bowl surrounded by steep rocky cliffs and ridges and dramatic peaks. I camped here and loved the beautiful play of light off the peaks. I believe that the tall peak reflected in this photo is Mount Darwin at 13,831 feet tall. If you take the left fork of the trail junction below Midnight Lake it takes you to Topsy Turvy Lake where there are some great campsites with fantastic views. If you continue on past Topsey Turvy Lake you will soon reach Hungry Packer Lake at 11,070 foot elevation about 6.3 miles from the road. This lake has a dramatic spire called Picture Peak rising up just south of it making for a beautiful scene. From here it is a short walk west over to Moonlight Lake were the views across the lake to the Jagged Sierra Crest are fantastic. These photos were taken at the outlet of Moonlight Lake and fit together as a panorama. The prominent Peak in the fore ground is Picture Peak with Mount Hackel in the right background and Mount Powell and the Clyde Spires to the Left. Here is a pieced together panorama of the view from this same location as is the one at the start of the post. From here you can continue up the valley to the source of the Middle Fork of Bishop Creek to Echo Lake. If you are really a veteran and experienced back country traveler you could cross the Sierra Crest via this trail less route over Echo Pass and end up in Kings Canyon National Park in the Evolution region. Me I just enjoyed the short walks between the fantastic lakes in this basin and then headed back the way I came. By the way all these lakes have abundant trout if that's your thing. Like all Eastern Sierra trips in wilderness areas permits are required, so plan in advance.

If you want a good map with picture interface this site is great and his photos are real fine http://doors.stanford.edu/~sr/sabrina-2006/map.html

Mountain Biking in Sedona, AZ

2010-11-24T01:00:00.000-08:00

I live 20 minutes from Sedona and I have mountain biked there many, many times. I have been riding there frequently since the late 90s. I went there just last weekend and the weather was a perfect 72 degrees. The trails in Sedona are very nice and the scenery is amazing, I'm talking truly amazing. So I decided to share some information about this great place to mountain bike. Sedona has trails all around it, in fact you can almost ride around the whole city on trails except for a few places that are wilderness and they don't allow bikes. The trails are well maintained and well marked in most cases. The trails have a wide variety of difficulty level. In some places it will be smooth and easy going but in many cases there are some difficult and technical sections. Most of the technical sections are short and if it is beyond your skill you can just walk that part and be back on your bike riding primo trails again in no time. The Sedona trail system has in my view four main parts. They are the south, north, central, and the west areas. There are some areas not included in these four main parts, but for ease of discussion I will exclude them. My favorite is the south area followed by the north area, but it is all good. In this post I will talk about the north and south parts and deal with the others at another time. I have pieced together a few maps to help out. They were partial areas and had some inaccurate info so I tried my best to improve them.

The south part is from Munds Mountain Wilderness on the east side to Oak Creek and from Morgan road and Broken Arrow trail head in the north south to the Village of Oak Creek. This area of trails divided in two by highway 179. There are two places where you can go under the highway bridges or in a tunnel that connect the areas. Running north and south through this area parallel to the highway is the Redrock Pathway, and many of the trails branch off from it. The Redrock Pathway is a wide foot and bike path that starts at the Courthouse Butte parking area and goes north terminating at the Little Horse Trail Head parking area. The Redrock Pathway is reasonably smooth (by Sedona standards) and is wide so people traveling in both directions can pass with ease. It is a good place for beginners to try mountain biking for a first time. No technical skill needed at all. The main trails that branch off the Redrock Pathway are the Llama Trail and the Little Horse Trail on the East side and the Templeton Trail and the HT trail on the west side.
The Templeton Trail branches off the pathway just north of what is called "Baby Bell" (a small rock butte just north of the much larger Bell Rock) and heads west and then goes under the highway and then takes you to Cathedral Rock. The trail skirts along the north flank of this ridge that contains Cathedral Rock and then leads you to Oak Creek then goes south along the creek and eventually to world famous Red Rock Crossing. I love this trail for it's scenery and I love a part that travels for a time on a nice rock ledge contouring to the terrain around the base of Cathedral Rock. It is very cool. Along the way you pass the Cathedral Rock Trail coming up from the Cathedral Rock trail head and heading up to the saddle of Cathedral Rock. Once at Red Rock Crossing you can cross the creek and head into the central part of the trail system that takes you to what is called West Sedona or you can complete a loop around Cathedral Rock by taking Verde Valley School Road back into the Village Of Oak Creek and Highway 179. Or you can go south into Redrock State Park and to more trails.
The HT trail branches west off the Redrock Pathway near the north end of the pathway. It too goes under the highway and then connects to the Templeton Trail and helps make loop rides happen that can include parts of Templeton Trail. There is also a trail that heads south from the intersection of HT trail and Templeton Trail that is somewhat new that goes all the way to The Village Of Oak Creek on the west side of the highway. This new trail is very cool and helps make for some new longer loop ride opportunities. This photo is taken from that trail west of the highway and Bell Rock, looking out to the northeast toward Elephant Rock and the Twin Buttes Branching off to the east side of the Redrock pathway is the Llama trail. This trail branches off to the east just north of Courthouse Butte. There is a major intersection on the pathway where a trail that circles Courthouse Butte heads east. You take this and after a short way the Llama Trail splits off to the left heading northeast. You cannot take a bike on the Courthouse Trail around the Butte because it is in a wilderness area so you must turn off at the Llama Trail before the Wilderness boundary. Llama Trail was started by a guy that did Llama tours years ago and then was found by mountain bikers. The Forest Service did not really maintain it or recognise it as an official trail for quite a long time. When I first started riding it 13 years ago it was little used and narrow. Now it is quite well traveled and wider like most Sedona trails. This photo is a typical view along the Llama trail looking east to what I guess would be Lee Mountain in the Munds Mountain Wilderness. The Llama trail skirts along the west border of the Munds Mountain Wilderness heading north and eventually intersects the Little Horse Trail .
The Little Horse trail branches east off of the Redrock Pathway near it's north end and heads up to a pass between some large mountains called Chicken Point. It travels just south of two large and impressive spires of rock called the Twin Buttes (also called two sisters). The trail leads you up to a pass between the mountains called Chicken Point. Chicken Point is a large area of flat slickrock at the north east base of the Twin Buttes with a steep drop off on the south side. This has great views off to the south and west and the jeep tours take people out here. This is what it looks like just east of Chicken point looking west at the east side of the Twin Buttes. This old dude on an old classic Ibis bike is me AZ Jones on the slick rock at Chicken Point. At this point there is a trail at the west end of the slick rock area that heads north along the base of the mountain called Elephant Rock. You just follow the rock stack markers. Don't take the jeep roads. This trail is called Broken Arrow Trail. Broken Arrow Trail has great views across an unpopulated valley to Munds Mountain and the Devils Dining Room. The Broken Arrow Trail takes you north to the Broken Arrow trail head at the end of Morgan Road. There is a short side trail that leads down into the valley to a large exposed rock area called Submarine Rock that is fun to freelance all over.

The north area of trails in Sedona is divided into two parts by Oak Creek. East of the creek are the Huckaby Trail that That goes from Schnebly Hill road parking area down to the creek under Migley Bridge and the majority of it is downhill. But once at the creek there is a steep climb up out of the canyon to get the the road and parking area at Migley Bridge. East of the Schnebly Hill parking area is the Munds Wagon Trail. This trail runs parallel to Schnebley Hill Road and ends up at an area called The Carousel. This is uphill most of the way with a few crossings of a wash and a few crossings of the road. You could have someone drop you off at the top and ride downhill and continue on Huckaby all the way to the Oak Creek. It would be a fun downhill run. Part way up the Munds Wagon Trail is a side trail to the north that leads out to some large flat areas of rock called the Cow Pies. This is a fun place to just goof around. like a giant skate board park for bikes but with world class views. At the north most of the Cow Pies there is a trail that heads west along a ledge in the rocks out to a saddle and then drops over the saddle and down to Oak Creek and comes out at Grasshopper Point in the canyon. This photo is taken from the Cow Pies looking at the saddle. This trail to the saddle and down the other side is called Hangover Trail. It can be difficult to follow and has some very difficult and technical sections that should be tried by advanced riders only. There is some serious exposure in some spots on this trail.
The other half of the North area of Sedona trails is west of Oak Creek. This part has a trail called the Thompson Trail that starts at Migley Bridge heads north and then southwest along the base of Steamboat Rock. Steamboat rock is a prominant rock formation at the base of the large mass of Wilson Mountain. This photo is of Wilson mountain as seen looking northeast from the Jordan Trail. The Thompson Trail follows an old wagon route that Jim Thompson an early homesteader used to take supplies up into Oak Creek Canyon. The Thompson trail goes from Migley Bridge at one end to the Brins Mesa Trail Head Just Northwest of the older or uptown part of Sedona. You cannot take the Brins Mesa Trail (that heads north) because it heads into wilderness areas where bikes are not allowed. Instead you continue from there west on The Jordan Trail into an area that the locals call the Secret Trails. The Jordan Trail will take you over the Soldiers Pass Trail Head and Coffee Pot Rock. This is a typical scene olong the Jordan Trail looking west toward Coffee Pot Rock. The Secret Trails area has several side trails and many wind up in the bottom of a wash and into a maze of bootleg trails that can be confusing. This is a photo looking north from the Secret Trails area. Once over at the Soldiers Pass Trail head there is another trail that heads west called the Tea Cup Trail that takes you out west at the base of Coffee Pot Rock and up to Sugarloaf and the Little Elf Trail Head. From here you can continue west out past Chimney Rock and Lizard Head Rock and out to the western area of trails that I will cover in another post.

Paria River Canyon

2010-11-12T14:26:00.000-08:00

Here are some photos from a recent trip to Paria River Canyon on the Arizona-Utah border. I already posted about this area but thought people might like some more. This time when I went down the canyon there had been some rain and it was real muddy and the water flow was much deeper than I have experienced. Even still I made it down to the confuence of the Paria River and Buckskin Gulch. From White House trailhead to the confulenec and back took me more than six hours and It was tough going. Slippery and muddy and wet. 14 plus miles total. This is a fantastic canyon that gets very tight and very tall. As you strart down stream from the trail head at first the rocks on eack side are far apart and not very tall This time there was much more water than I have experienced before. In the past the stream has been very low flow and the soil around it has just been dry sand. This time there was mud, and lots of it. As you go farther down stream you can see the cliffs start to get much bigger.
The hight of the cliffs at first will get large and then decrease and then get large again. And the distance between wil tighten and then widen intermitantly. But soon the cliffs get much closer together as you go and they stay that way. It is around 3 to 4 miles before the first real narrow sections. Pretty soon the cliffs are huge, towering hundreds of feet up and close together shutting out all but just reflected light.
In some places the cliff walls only 15 feet across with cliffs that are several hundred feet high on both sides. This time because of the water flow the water was wall to wall in many locations. Most of the time the water depth was about knee high. But being cloudy it was hard to tell where deeper holes were.
As you get to the confuence with Buckskin Gulch, it gets real tight and dark. This next one below is the slot canyon of Buckskin Gulch coming in from the side into the Paria River Canyon. I read that the cliffs are 400 to 500 feet tall in some locations and I don't doubt it. This next one is looking from inside Buckskin Gulch out to where Paria River Canyon meets it. This last one is looking from the confluence of the two canyons back into the Paria River slot that is the way back.
This is a fantastic canyon. I'm telling you that a camera just can't get the job done. Or at least if I'm in control of the camera. You just have to see it. The White House trail head has only five camp sites that are on a first come first serve basis. So you are lucky if you get to camp at the trailhead.

For mor information on the Paria River Canyon and it's tributary Buckskin Gulch and the surrounding area go to this other post http://azjonesoutdoor.blogspot.com/2010/09/exploring-buckskin-gulch-and-paria.html

Also see this post on nearby Coyote Butes and "The Wave" http://azjonesoutdoor.blogspot.com/2010/07/coyote-buttes-north-section.html

Arches National Park

2010-11-02T12:10:00.000-07:00

Arches National Park is a gem of a place. While it doesn't have the amazing vast views of the Grand Canyon, or the awe inspiring sheer cliffs of a Yosemite or Zion (though it does have a little of that), for me in it's own way it is just as special. Arches has the largest collection of natural rock arches found anywhere in the world. It is not a very big place as far as National Parks goes, but it packs a lot into a small space. This makes visiting it easy for all types of people of all ages and ability. I have been there several times and it never gets old for me. What I love about it is the scale of things is small enough that you can climb around in it and feel like a part of it yet there is also an amazing size in some cases as well. This really isn't a place to rock climb massive cliffs (though there are some big and awesome cliffs and spires in the Courthouse Towers area) but it is a place to climb around on rocks like a kid on playground equipment. While some of the arches are truly massive many are delicate and beautiful works of stone art. The arch formations are made up of a salmon pink shade of sandstone called Entrada Sandstone. The larger cliffs and spires in the park I believe are made of Navajo Sandstone. There are small junipers and pinion pine trees through out the park but for the most part this is a high desert environment. Arches can be divided up into five main parts: Courthouse Towers, The Windows, The Fiery Furnace, The Devils Garden, and Klondike Bluffs.

The first area called Courthouse Towers is all about very large redrock cliffs and tall spires. To best see this there is a short one mile trail that takes you through a gap in the rocks called Park Avenue. There are also several noted rock spires or monuments with whimsical names like the Three Gosips, Tower Of Babel, The Organ, and Sheep Rock. Most of these can be seen from the road. Here is a view of the Three Gosips taken from the road.
The next area The Windows area has short walks to some of the largest and beautiful arches that could be imagined. Double Arch is located here and is one large arch that splits and branches out into two.

It is grand in size with the larger opening measuring at over 148 feet across and 104 feet high. If you look very closely there are actually people sitting up in the opening in this photo to give some scale. Just southeast of this arch are three other large arches, Turret Arch, and the two Windows (two large arches in one long rock). The North and South Windows are also called the Spectacles because when viewed from east side they look like a giant pair of eyeglasses placed on the ground.

The larger of the two openings (South Window) is 115 feet across and 56 feet high. Right near these two amazing arches just to the west is turret arch.

Turret Arch is a strange rock formation with a large arch (65 feet high opening) and another smaller arch. And coming up out of the same rock as the arch is a spire or turret sticking up on one side. Here is a photo of Turret arch viewed from the west so you can see one of the windows through it in the background. All three of these are just a short easy walk from the road.

The third major area called the Fiery Furnace is known for it's assortment of red spires and fins and tight canyons as well as a few smaller but interesting arches. This area is a maze and now a permit is required to go here. Either with a ranger or not. They are trying to limit impact to the fragile environment. There are also some smaller arches in this area, but to me they are not as impressive as the ones in the Windows or the Devils Garden areas.

The Devils Garden part of the park has at least six or seven major arches. The longest one being Landscape Arch measuring 291 feet from base to base, and it's opening is 105 feet high in the middle. This is a very long and delicate arch that gets pretty thin in the middle for its long span. A photo just does not capture the scale of this amazing natural sculpture. Many of the arches in this area are smaller and more intimate in size but very beautiful. In some cases they are like picture frames to frame and view the beautiful landscape. In other cases they are like incredible large sculptures to admire and meditate on. The arches in The Devils Garden vary in size from the dramatic to the small, and some are accessible and some are high up in cliffs or rocks. I love this area with it's fin shaped rocks and great views of the La Salle Mountains. It would be a fun place to explore even without the amazing assortment of arches. This previous photo is from the back side of Landscape Arch looking out towards the La Salle Mountains to the southeast. The walk out to my favorite arch of this area, Double O Arch is around two miles one way. Double O Arch has two openings, a smaller one down low you can climb through and a much larger one that is up higher. As you take the walk out to Double O arch you will pass several of the others on the way. I have kept going out past this quite a ways into the fin canyons and camped overnight back in the 80s. It is a beautiful area but a maze of linear rocks that could get you lost if you don't pay close attention as you go.

The last of the five main areas is The Klondike Bluffs. The Klondike Bluffs part of the park is the most remote. There are only dirt roads to access it and this eliminates most of the visitors. I have visited this area by riding a mountain bike on a trail outside of the park up to the park boundary near this Klondike Bluffs and then walking in the rest of the way. In this area there are large rock formations, and again the linear fin type formations. One of the most notable features is a long line of spires called the Marching Men.

There is one more well known attraction that stands alone and is not in any of the five main areas of the park. It is called Delicate Arch. This arch sits out on a beautifully sculptured bare stone ridge top off the beaten path so to speak. It has a 1.5 mile (one way)trail starts at the Wolfe Ranch parking area that goes out to it, with a moderate climb. This arch is sitting on the rim of a slickrock bowl perched on the edge of a steep cliff. The arch is about 52 feet tall. This is one of the most photographed places in the park if not all of Utah. It is the most widely-recognized landmark in Arches National Park and is depicted on Utah license plates and on a postage stamp commemorating Utah's centennial anniversary of statehood in 1996. The Olympic torch relay for the 2002 Winter Olympics passed through the arch. This is the one photo I did not take because I didn't have one that could do it justice. To get a good photo you need to get there at sunset and hope there are not a million people climbing all over the place as is often the case. Here is a site that has some great photos of this amazing landmark to give you a perspective of how it fits into the fantastic stone environment that surrounds it. http://utahpictures.com/Delicate_Arch_Arches_National_Park.php If you are at the Wolfe Ranch parking area I have heard there are some good pictograph panels in the area that I have never seen myself that might be worth a visit if you have the time.

If you visit Arches there is a campground with 50 sites that are first come first serve basis. I camped here once and liked it as far as structured car camping type campgrounds go. The weather here can get very hot in the summer with highs above 100 degrees. The winters can get pretty cold too so the best time is fall or spring. Though the winter can offer up some interesting beauty when snow falls on this red rock environment. Finding Arches National Park is easy its just off the main highway north of Moab Utah.

Here is the National Park web site. http://www.nps.gov/arch/index.htm

Yellow Rock and Hackberry Canyon, Utah

2010-10-19T13:50:00.000-07:00

In southern Utah there is a very large area that has been designated as the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. This national monument spans nearly 1.9 million acres, and has very few roads. In the western part of the national monument is a dirt road that runs north to south called Cottonwood Wash Road. It is a rugged dirt road that is impassable in wet conditions and it sees light traffic. This road runs along the "Cockscomb" also known as the East Kaibab Monocline. This is a fold in the rock layers tilting them up at 45 degree angles in spots and forming a long ridge of strange rock formations due to the differential erosion of these layers of rock. West of this road is a large road less area that has few visitors that I like to visit. It has canyons with small streams, rock formations, slot canyons, and solitude that is hard to match. Along the East Kaibab Monocline is a large dome of sandstone called Yellow Rock. Yellow Rock sits on a ridge that divides Hackberry Canyon from the Paria River Canyon. Yellow Rock is a large bald dome of swirling colorful stone, and when I say large, I mean really large (like the size of a really large dome stadium). When I first came here this was my reason and destination but I found I loved the area because of the solitude and the many other attractions including slot canyons and rock formations. My favorite trip I have taken started where Hackberry Canyon cuts through the Monocline and meets Cottonwood Wash. I then traveled south down Cottonwood Wash for about 0.2 miles to the next small drainage coming down from the west. I walked up this drainage and took a trail which heads up to the right or north side of this small canyon. This trail climbs very steeply to a ridge then bends left or west, and once on the top it takes you to the massive form of Yellow Rock. Once at Yellow Rock I explored and climbed all over this crazy example of colored, patterned, and textured stone. There is no trail but you can't really get lost and it is pretty easy to walk around on. I have done this several times and it never gets old because you see something different each time. So this time I walked up to the top to see the great unblocked views in all directions of the surrounding areas. When at the top you will find that the northeast side of Yellow Rock drops off sharply into a deep narrow slot cut through the uplifted Navajo Sandstone. Looking northeast past the slot is a wonderland of slickrock domes including the prominent landmark of Castle Rock. Then after I got my fill I descended down off the large rock to the south where there is a sandy trail that I took that leads west into and area I call the rock garden, that has some free standing rocks of different shapes and sizes.
After about a mile or more I came to a trail junction where the Paria Box trail intersects the Yellow Rock trail. You can make a day hike loop of this if you take this left turn left here. It will take you to the Paria Box and back to Cottonwood Wash south of the Hackberry Canyon trailhead. Instead I stayed on the Yellow Rock trail that becomes just cow trails as you head north out of the rock garden area. After a little exploration of the Rock Garden I found a nice camp site among the rocks on the edge of Hackberry Canyon with fine views in several directions. I have camped here on a few occasions now, and I love the views, the solitude.
The next day I took the old cattle trail north for several miles along the ridge between Hackberry and The Paria. As I traveled north along this ridge top there were fine views to the northeast down into Hackberry Canyon.
And out to the west you can see wide areas including a prominent land mark mountain called Molly's Nipple, and the white cliffs of No Man's Mesa. To the north are the pink cliffs that make up Bryce Canyon National Park. Along the route there are many large areas of exposed rock with colors of white gray and even some more yellow areas. All with some strange shapes of spires, beehives and teepees, as well as flat textured areas. I camped the second night at one of these exposed rock areas at the top of Hogeye Canyon (a side canyon of the Upper Paria River Gorge). Out in this region there are no human footprints, no noise, just solitude. The next day I dropped into a side canyon of Hackberry Canyon called Sam Pollock Canyon where I passed some more interesting rock spires and shapes at the top of the canyon. I heard in this canyon there was a good sized arch called Sam Pollock Arch. It turned out to be a pretty nice arch carved out of the canyon wall that you can't miss as you travel down this canyon. I continued down Sam Pollock Canyon to where it meets Hackberry Canyon and turning south I splashed down the middle of the sandy stream bottom. In Hackberry Canyon there was a good amount of running water. I'm not sure if it runs all year or not. Lower Hackberry Canyon near Sam Pollock Canyon has red cliffs that are made up of the Kayenta and Moenave formations. As I approached Cottonwood Wash the cliff walls became much larger and closed in forming a narrow section as I passed through the East Kaibab Monocline that forms the Cockscomb. Here the walls of the canyon are towering Navajo Sandstone.
As you go through this narrow slot you are passing directly under Yellow Rock on the south side of the canyon. The walking is easy and just in a shallow sandy stream bed. I guess many people come just to day hike the Hackberry Canyon Narrows. The Narrows are short but impressive and I soon popped out at Cottonwood Wash where my car was parked. I have also hiked up to Yellow Rock from The Paria Box trail which takes you through some nice areas of the rock garden that are fun to explore. This route is alot longer to get to Yellow Rock but is not as steep and difficult. There is also a side trail from the Paria Box Trail to a rock formation called Red Top. It is a red colored rock formation that stands out among an area of mostly tan, white, or yellow rocks. This whole area is remote and good map skills and route finding ability are essential if you are going off trail at all. Up on the ridges there is no water so you have to pack it in, and any water in the canyons you must filter because of cattle ranching up stream.
To find the trailhead from Highway 89 between Page, AZ and Kanab, UT drive to between mileposts 17-18 and turn north on Cottonwood Wash Road. Drive 14.4 miles to a short pull off on the left (west) which is the trailhead for Hackberry Canyon. To find the trail to Yellow Rock, follow the trail from the parking area to the west, down into Cottonwood Wash and cross to the west side. A well traveled obvious trail continues west, to the mouth of Hackberry Canyon Narrows, but instead walk downstream (south) in Cottonwood Wash for approximately 300-400 yards. Look for another wash entering from the steep terrain to the west. Then hike west up this short side canyon and look for a path or trail. After about 100 yards, the trail leading west up this side canyon will turn right and lead north up a very steep, rocky and loose talus slope. You take many short switchbacks for .25 mile, an soon get to a ridge top. Continue up the ridge for another 100 yards to a saddle that separates Hackberry Wash to the north and the small side canyon you came out of. From the saddle, now head up the ridge to the west, past a few rock formations and through some slickrock fields and sand-dunes. Soon unmistakable Yellow Rock will come into view. There are no trails on yellow rock and you just find your way up to the top.
Where you will find unblocked views in all directions. South of yellow rock there is a sandy trail that heads west and eventually meets up with the Paria Box trail coming from the south. If you are going to explore the Yellow Rock and Hackberry Canyon area I recommend you read "Hiking and Exploring The Paria River" by Michael R. Kelsey. His maps are helpful and it helps with distances and route finding. His time estimations for me are low, as it always takes me a third to a quarter more time than it does him to cover the same distance (he must walk very fast). This book will give you a lot to explore, including many slot canyons (Buckskin Gulch, Willis Creek, Bullrush Gorge, Cottonwood Canyon Narrows, and Round Vally Draw), as well as the Paria River Canyon south of the highway down to Lees Ferry, and the Upper Paria River Gorge,
Here is a post about the Cottonwood Canyon Narrows, just a bit north of here.
http://azjonesoutdoor.blogspot.com/2011/09/cottonwood-wash-narrows-grand-staircase.html

Exploring Buckskin Gulch and The Paria River

2010-09-30T21:17:00.000-07:00

Buckskin Gulch is a slot canyon that is located on the Arizona and Utah border between Page Arizona and Kanab Utah it is located south of Highway 89A. This canyon is considered to be one of the longest continual slot canyon in the world at a length of close to 14 miles. And in that fourteen miles there is really only one exit. Exploring the interior of the canyon is an amazing adventure but but it does not stop there because the surrounding area up on the canyons rim is also worth seeing.
Buckskin Gulch runs from west to east and is a tributary of the Paria River. There are three entrances to the canyon. You can enter from the west end at Wire Pass Trail Head, or you can enter from the east end by coming down the Paria River from the Whitehouse Trailhead, or you can access the canyon in the middle from the Middle Trail.
This slot canyon in some locations has cliffs as high as 500 feet high and and in places the walls are only around 10 feet apart.
Because you are in a tight narrow crack that drains a large are a flash flood could cause water to rise rapidly in just a few minutes it is very important to check weather reports before entering this canyon. There are some obstacles in the lower half of the canyon that may require a rope and some limited rock climbing ability. Sometimes there are pools of water you must swim or wade through to travel down this canyon so packing your gear in water proof bags is a good idea. Since flash floods can change the obstacles in the canyon you should check with the BLM for conditions before doing any hiking in this canyon.
I have entered this canyon from the Wire Pass trailhead, the Middle Trail, and from the Paria River, but have never traveled the entire length. To travel the entire length from Wire Pass to The Whitehouse trailhead is around 21 miles total and would require a car shuttle. Pretty much an overnighter for sure. From Wire Pass trailhead to the Buckskin Gulch is around 1.75 miles. From Wire Pass trailhead down Buckskin Gulch to the Middle Trail is around 8 miles. From Whitehouse trailhead to the Paria River and Buckskin Gulch confluence is around 7 miles.
There are three day hike possibilities as I see it. First is hiking from Whithouse trailhead down The Paria River canyon to the confluence of Buckskin Gulch and the Paria River. The second one is a day hike in through the tight slot of Wire Pass to Buckskin Gulch and down Buckskin Gulch a ways and then back. And the third day hike is rim walking and exploring at the Middle Trail with a trip to Cobra Arch and then going into Buckskin Gulch from the middle Trail and explore up or down a ways.
A day hike from Whitehouse down the Paria River Canyon to the confluence and back is an easy but long 14 mile hike on a flat and sandy wash bottom with a little splashing through ankle deep water that is sometimes required. It starts off in a sandy wash just west of the parking area.
As you travel downstream sandstone rocks start appearing on both sides of the wash. Some are pretty interesting beehive or tee pee shaped formations.

Soon the rocks get larger and larger and then start slowly closing in closer and closer. Eventually the cliffs reach epic heights of around 500 feet and the canyon is less that 20 feet across in some places. This alone would be well worth the visit with these red smooth massive cliffs but seeing Buckskin Gulch at the confluence with the same tall cliffs with walls even closer together is really impressive. If you can do the whole 14 mile round trip it is well worth it.
To do the of the second day hikes from the Wire Pass trailhead, you walk east from the parking lot, across the road, and follow the "trail" to the register. You then continue east, following the wash. After a short distance there is a sign directing hikers to the right toward the "Wave" another great destination, but ignore this and stay in the wash At around 1.3 miles, sandstone cliffs will rise up on both sides of the wash and enclose around it forming a narrow section.This Wire Pass slot is not very long but is very tight and deep. This is what the entrance looks like. The narrows will then open up again as you travel farther down to Buckskin Gulch. I have climbed up out of the wash at this location and there is some beautiful sandstone formations, but not near as nice as the Coyote Buttes and wave area. Here is what the begining of the Wire Pass slot looks like from up on the rim just as you enter the first narrow section. As you are heading down the wash the canyon walls soon close in again this time creating a very tight and dark narrow section. Here you can barely slip through with a pack to get through. After this the walls open up a little once again slightly and by now the cliffs on both sides are very tall and impressive and stay that way until you get to the intersection with Buckskin Gulch. When you reach this confluence with Buckskin Gulch (1.75 miles)look for the Wire Pass petroglyphs at the base of the large cliff on the right.Then head down Buckskin Gulch to explore the slot canyon.
The third day hike in the area is the Middle Trail area. To hike to the Cobra Arch from the Middle Trail is around 3.5 miles. Many people hike east along the rim from where you park and then descend down to the arch. I have just hiked down the trail to the Middle Trail entrance to Buckskin Gulch but instead just traveled east picking my way through all the amazing sandstone formations. And eventually I reached the arch (there appears to some paths this way as well). The surrounding area is full of tee pee or beehive shaped rocks and all sorts of fantastic sandstone shapes. And even without the arch it would be fun to expolre this area.

The arch is a strange shaped arch that is around 35 feet long and is around 30 feet tall. To enter Buckskin Gulch at the Middle Trail you have to scramble down some steep ledges and then climb down a steep section along a crack in the rock.

Here is what that exit point looks like from down in the canyon. The next photo is what the canyon looks like from. the rim at the Middle Trail. A little wider than in other locations but still impressive just the same.
This entry and exit can be a little much if you have a fear of heights. The cliff walls are only 100 feet or so at this location but get taller as you go in either direction.

Then once in the slot you can explore up or down the canyon.
I have heard that there are some pictographs or petroglyphs in this area of the canyon both up stream and downstream from the entrance but I have never seen them. Buckskin Gulch and the Paria Canyon is a popular, and potentially hazardous part of the Paria Canyon - Vermilion Cliffs Wilderness area and to hike in and around Buckskin Gulch requires a permit and there are some rules regarding access and travel, so here is some permit information. A fee is required for all visits (see https://www.blm.gov/) for details. Advance permits are required for overnight use. There is a limit on overnight use in the canyon to 20 persons per day. Paria Canyon day use permits are available via self-serve envelopes at each trailhead. There are no visitor use limits for day use for the Paria Canyon. Day use is $5, camping overnight is $10 (last time I checked).
Trailhead directions:
Middle Trail: Take Highway 89 4.3 miles east of House Rock Valley Road. Where just prior to crossing the Paria River you will see the Outpost Restaurant on the right side of the highway. Turn right at this dirt road soon you will see sign tha labels this road Kane County Road 6020 (BLM Road 750) which is the more heavily traveled dirt road you began on. There are some intersections, but ignore them. The main road runs up Long Canyon, to the southeast for a couple of miles and then climbs just south of it. The road will top out on a plateau and arrive at a fork 4.2 miles from Highway 89. Stay left, keeping on the main road, doing the same (stay left)at the next intersection at 4.4 miles. A third fork is at 4.6 miles and once again continue left on the main road. At 5.1 miles two roads appear, one to the right and one to the left, but continue straight. The path becomes sandy with small ups and downs. It passes one deep wash at 6.4 miles. At 7.8 miles the road passes a barbed wire fence and just past this is a large juniper tree and a pull-out where you will see a register box. I advise having a high clearance 4 wheel drive for this road, for the sand and washes and if wet weather the clay.
Whitehouse trailhead from Highway 89 1/2 mile east of where the highway crosses the Paria river, turn south, heading toward the BLM Paria River Contact Station. Follow this dirt road 2.25 miles to the Whitehouse Campground and parking area.
WirePass Trailhead take Highway 89 about 4 miles west of where the highway crosses the Paria River, to milepost 26 looking for the House Rock Valley Road turnoff. It is on the left at the end of a long guard rail. Turn south onto this dirt road and drive 8.5 miles to the Wire Pass Trailhead parking area.

For more information about the Coyote Buttes and the wave that are near Buckskin Gulch go to this post http://azjonesoutdoor.blogspot.com/2010/07/coyote-buttes-north-section.html

For mor information and photos of The Paria River Canyon and it's tributary Buckskin Gulch go to this post http://azjonesoutdoor.blogspot.com/2010/11/paria-river-canyon.html

Canyon De Chelly National Monument, Arizona

2010-09-14T23:26:00.000-07:00

Most people that come to Arizona go to the Grand Canyon and Sedona, and perhaps Lake Powell as the pass through or maybe even Monument Valley but up in the remote northeast corner of the state in an out of the way location is a gem of a spot called Canyon De Chelly National Monument. Canyon De Chelly is on the Navajo reservation and Navajos call themselves Diné (sometimes spelled in English as Dineh) which means "The People" in the Navajo language. In this canyon there are people living in traditional hogans with no running water and farming the land just as their ancestors did. And minding their sheep and crops as the tourist take pictures. The Diné are also not shy about trying to make a buck off the tourist by selling jewlery, rugs and tours.The canyon is very beautiful with smooth sandstone wall as high as 1000 feet in some places. And along with seeing the Diné people living in this beautiful place there are also some very well preserved cliff dwellings of the long past Anasazi culture. Canyon De Chelly National Monument is really made up of two twin canyons, Canyon Del Muerto and Canyon De Chelly, that come together at a junction. The canyons can be explored in three main ways. By looking down into the canyon from the rim from the many senic overlooks (this you do by driving your own car), by walking down into the canyon by trail to the White House Ruin (the only trail into the canyon open to the public), or buy truck with a Diné guide or escort to see the rest of the interior of the canyon and it's numerous ruins.There is a small stream or wash that runs through the bottom of the canyon called Chinle Wash. The stream forms from many tributaries flowing down out of the Chuska Mountains, passing through the twin canyons. Chinle Wash can be just a muddy trickle of water or a wide flowing river depending on the season (and if they are releasing water upstream at a dam). And the jeep or truck tours just drive right up the wash. When it is dry this is no big deal but when in flood stage the large army troop transport trucks can even have problems, as was the case on my trip there. When we were taking the tour we spent as much time watching them try to pull trucks out of the river as we did taking the tour. We also found a ruin that was off the beaten path from the main canyon called Three Turkey Ruin. This was seen from a overlook of a side canyon and was not in the main National Monument. There are actually many canyons here but the two main ones (and most accessible)are Canyon del Muerto and Canyon de Chelly. These many canyons and ravines branch out eastwards from Chinle into the Defiance Plateau.

Most of it may be reached only at rim level via rough, unpaved jeep tracks. Only the northernmost and southernmost edges are accessible from paved roads. The North Rim Drive (Indian Reservation 64) links Chinle with the north-south route IR 12 and passes several overlooks. The short hike down to the White House Ruin is well worth the effort. The trail is very well maintained and is only a few miles long. There is some effort due to you have to climb several hundred feet of elevation on the way back up and out of the canyon. The White House Ruin is very well preserved and in a spectacular location in an alcove at the base of a beautiful and dramatic cliff. Even if the ruin were not there the hike would be worth it to see the canyon bottom with it's trees and small stream and to look up at the majestic sandstone cliffs with desert varnish streaks.

The South Rim Drive is an out and back but offers more dramatic vistas then the north road, and ends at the most spectacular viewpoint, the overlook of Spider Rock. Spider rock is a free standing forked spire rising up 800 feet above the canyon floor. The rock is of special significance for the Diné and according to Diné legend, the Spider Woman lives on top and keeps the bones of her victims there.
If you plan on going I recommend you make reservations for the truck or jeep tour in advance. And if you want to stay in the lodge I'm sure it would be wise to plan in advance. To get there from I-40: Take exit 333 onto US 191 north. Follow US 191 north 60 miles to Chinle, then turn east (right) toward the Canyon de Chelly entrance. This drive takes about 1.5 hours. http://www.nationalparkreservations.com/canyondechelly.php

Lake Powell

2010-09-01T08:35:00.000-07:00

I have touched on Lake Powell before but just a brief post about a trip to Rainbow Bridge. But Lake Powell is so much more than that. Lake Powell is a very large man made lake in a fantastic canyon called Glen Canyon. The lake was formed when Glen Canyon Dam was built in 1963 backing up the Colorado River into Glen Canyon. The dam is 710 feet tall and a tour of the dam is available to visitors. The area of Lake Powell is made up of Glen Canyon and fantastic system of side canyons creating a wonderland of slots and narrow channels. You can easily get confused on this lake without good navigational skills and maps.
And sticking up out above the lake are amazing sandstone cliffs, buttes, and monoliths of all shapes and sizes and that alone is worth the visit. Because most can only be seen from the water the best way to see Lake Powell is of course by boat. Lake Powell has over 2,000 miles of shoreline which is more than the combined states on the Pacific Coast of the United States. This makes finding a secluded camp location and having a cove all to yourself pretty easy. The lake is 400 feet deep in some places and is 186 miles long and has a water storage capacity of 27,000,000 acre feet of water. This makes for plenty of room to water ski in the most surreal environment you can imagine. There are only a few areas where the lake can be accessed by road so a boat is needed to see most parts of the lake. Once on the lake you can enjoy swimming, water skiing, jet skiing, fishing, camping, and hiking including trips to spectacular Rainbow Bridge. Lake Powell is in the middle of a vast high desert area with very little population. The lake straddles the Arizona-Utah border approximately a five hour drive from both Phoenix and Las Vegas. Flagstaff Arizona is about 130 miles south on US 89. The largest city near Lake Powell is Page Arizona with a population of about 10,000 residents located just a few miles from the Southwest end of the lake. Page is where most visitors access the lake and it has the biggest marina (Wahweep Marina)and offers a variety of boat and jet ski rentals, houseboat rentals, guided tours and much more. Even just taking a swim in the lake near Page can be enjoyable if you are limited for time. Page is where I have gone to rent a boat because it's the shortest drive to get to, and have often stopped while on my way to other destinations as well. The city of Page has all the supplies you will need and has a variety of hotels to stay in as well as the Lodge at the waters edge in Wahweep Marina. There is also some fun slickrock mountain bike riding to do in the Page area. And near Page are some great slot canyons Antalope, and Waterholes Canyons)as well as some other geat hiking destinations such as the Coyote Buttes. For me though I have found camping out on the lake to be the best way to see it because of the huge size of the lake. Because the lake is so big it takes a very long time to get out to the best parts of the lake. And if you camp overnight you get to be out on the lake for the spectacular sunrises and sunsets. And calling these sunsets and sunrises spectacular is quite an understatement to say the least!
This also will give you some time to get off the water and hike and see some of the impressive side canyons and channels. Also camping on the lake lets you take time to view the stars and the night time sky on this lake is fantastic due to the remote areas with no man made light sources and the incredibly dry air. It's quite a treat to set up camp in a remote cove and swim in the crystal clear water and have it all to yourself. At the very northeast end of the lake is Hite Marina it is very small, remote and very isolated. Hite is known for floating driftwood that can damage a boat and put and end to the adventure, and offers very little services. There is no lodge, and no RV park, only primitive camping. There is a marina store at Hite. Hite is approximately 90 miles from Blanding, Utah (take Highway 95 straight to the marina). From Hanksville, take Highway 95 straight to Hite Marina. Hite is 148 miles by boat from the other end of the lake. In the middle of the Lake is Bullfrog and Halls Crossing Marinas. Bullfrog Marina is the second largest marina on Lake Powell, Bullfrog is located approximately 70 land miles from Hanksville, Utah and 95 lake miles from Glen Canyon Dam. It is also located across the lake from Hall's Crossing Marina. Both marinas are connected via the John Atlantic Burr Ferry, an extension of Highway 276. You can take your car, trailer or RV on the ferry, the cost is more per foot for trailers and RV's. The ferry operates on a first-come, first-served basis, so it is recommended you arrive 30 minutes before schedule departure (your vehicle will wait in line). If you MUST get across using the ferry, or if you are taking the last scheduled service across, be there earlier. The trip takes 20 to 30 minutes. When visiting Bullfrog, I recommend staying at Ticaboo Lodge, just 12 miles from the marina or at Defiance House Lodge at the marina. This area is remote, the nearest town is Hanksville, Utah, which offers few services and amenities so you better pack all that you need. Make plans well in advance because it is not unusual for all accommodations at both Bullfrog and Hall's to be completely sold out months in advance. Bullfrog Marina operates on Utah time. To reach Bullfrog from Hanksville, go south on I-95 to highway 276. This highway will take you into Bullfrog Marina. The roads are well posted. Please note that on highway 12 and highway 24 to Hanksville, you are likely to encounter livestock, deer, rabbits, coyotes, etc. Go slow! Although there are a number of graded dirt roads that SEEM to be a shortcut, these are not recommended if you are towing a boat, driving an RV or if there have been recent rains. Stick to the main highway. Generally, these dirt roads are not shortcuts as your speed will be greatly reduced. Always carry plenty of water and supplies as there are few services between small towns.
Half way between Bullfrog Marina and Page is Dangling Rope Marina it is located approximately 40 lake miles from Glen Canyon Dam and 55 lake miles from Hall's and Bullfrog Marinas. It is a stop along the way to Rainbow Bridge. There is no land access to Dangling Rope and you cannot rent houseboats, powerboats, etc. from this marina. There is no launch ramp. The marina is basically a fuel stop for boaters on their way up lake or down lake. In additional to fuel, there is a small marina store offering the best soft serve ice cream around (it's the only around), in addition to basic supplies. When boating on Lake Powell, never pass this marina without topping off your fuel tanks

Backpacking Big Pine Creek, Eastern High Sierra

2010-08-18T16:10:00.000-07:00

I know this blog is called Arizona Jones and much of the outdoor stuff is from Arizona. But Arizona Jones is me and not a place so I will give you outdoor adventures that impacted me. Such as the Lake Ediza backpack story. So here is another Eastern Sierra trip that I found to be amazing. It is to The North Fork of Big Pine Creek in the John Muir Wilderness.
This trip is to a valley nestled high in the Eastern Sierras at the base of some of the highest peaks in the entire Sierra Nevada range. These peaks are just shy of the height of Mt. Whitney. The basin contains at least eight lakes and some fantastic scenery and is also the site of the southern most glacier in the United States, the Palisade Glacier. This trip starts at a parking area just 1/2 mile east of Glacier Lodge (a good place to get a shower once you return). The trailhead that you start at is at 7,750 feet and you take the North Fork Trail from there. The trail at first heads west along a south facing ridge with sage brush, and bitter brush with just a few pines. There is heavy exposure to the sun and little shade so get an early start. The climb at first is moderate and the trail is well maintained. As you climb you have great views across the valley to the Middle Palisades (14,040) and the valley of the South Fork of Big Pine Creek. After only a mile the trail turns northwest and you come to a nice sized waterfall called First Falls. At 1.6 miles from the trailhead there is a trail intersection. The right or northeast direction takes you steeply up to Baker Creek, the left trail descends down to a picnic area at the end of the road, and the middle is the North Fork Trail and what you want. Soon after you will pass a second water fall called Second Falls.
The trail does a few switch backs and then parallels the North Fork and you start having more abundant tree cover. This is a welcome relief from the sun exposure. Soon you reach an more lushly vegetated area with some aspens called Cienega Mirth where you will see a stone cabin that was built by the movie star Lon Chaney three miles from the trailhead. You are now at 9,220 ft. elevation and have climbed 1420 feet in three miles. After this the trail climbs some more and First Lake comes into view along with towering and rugged looking Temple Crag. First Lake is around 4.5 miles from the trailhead and is at 9,900 ft elevation. Near here, there is a trail junction and a trail cuts off to the right and steeply climbs switchbacks up an exposed ridge to Black Lake at 10,625 foot elevation. I took this route and returned back down the North Fork Trail making a loop trip. As you climb up the Black Lake trail you have amazing views across the valley at First and Second lakes and the Palisade Crest.
We camped at Black Lake our first night and were pretty happy. We had this lake all to our selves and the view across the lake to the Palisade Crest is great. Trout are abundant in this lake and the water comes alive with jumping fish at twilight. We thought this lake was pretty nice and would have been happy if this was our destination. But the next day we found that this valley has so much more to offer. The next day we headed farther west and climbed over a ridge and after about a mile or so we came to beautiful Fourth Lake (10,750 ft). Fourth Lake has really great views of the very impressive Palisade Crest mountain group of Temple Crag (13,000), Mount Sill (14,162), North Palisade (14,242) Thunderbolt Peak (14,000), Mount Winchell(13,768), and Mount Agassiz (13,891), The lake is a centrally located lake and and there is a four way trail junction near it that leads north to Sixth Lake (11,090 ft.)and Seventh Lake (11,210 ft.) or West to Fifth Lake (10,750 ft.), south back down North Fork Trail to Third Lake (10,400 ft.), Second Lake (10,000 ft.), and First Lake or back east to Black Lake. We took the north pointing trail around the west side of Fourth Lake up to Sixth and Seventh Lakes and explored for the day. Sixth and Seventh Lakes are up high in a bowl at the end of the valley. And the trees are smaller and stunted as you are above 11,000 feet and almost above tree line. and just west of them are some impressive mountains. One is called Cloud Ripper and is 13,501 feet tall. After exploring these two lakes we ending up finding our way back down an unnamed trail to Fifth Lake were we camped for the night. This lake is magnificent with an amazing blue color. This photo below is as we were coming down to Fifth Lake from Sixth Lake
Fifth lake is 6.5 miles from the trailhead if you come directly up North Fork Trail. Seventh Lake is about 8 miles from the trailhead. That evening we saw this amazing spectacle as the sun went down some of the peaks were just glowing. I think the term for this phenomena is "alpenglow". I knew then why Ansel Adams called the Sierra Nevada the "Range of Light".
The next morning we woke early to explore some more and found that on the trail between Fourth Lake and Third Lake (about a half mile above Third Lake) is a trail that takes you south and up steep switchbacks to a meadow called Sam Mack Meadow (seen below). This was amazing place above the tree line where there was only short grass. Here the water was coming right out of snow pack and waterfalls were numerous forming a beautiful blue stream. This trail continues to climb even higher over a bare rock ridge up to the Palisade Glacier. This glacier photo is the only one that I did not take but I felt you should get a good glimpse of it so I tracked this photo down. The Palisade Glacier is at 12,400 feet and is around 9.0 miles from the trail head. I could have spent several more days exploring this valley and not ever tired of the spectacular scenery. On our return we went back by the route of the North Fork Trail and took our time stopping at Third Lake, then Second Lake, and finally First lake as we traveled back down the valley.
Whoever named these lakes was not very creative. These three lakes below the glacier have amazing colored water from the glacier melt and great vistas of rugged Temple Crag and the Palisade Crest. This lake basin is just a great place to explore yet it is relatively easy to get to and a short hike for Sierra Nevada standards with very big payoffs. And if you want more and are an experienced outdoors type there is a faint trail above Seventh Lake that climbs north above the lake to a gap and then drops you down into Thunder and Lightning Lake and you could return by the Baker Creek Trail making a close to 20 mile loop trip. If you like to fish, most of the lakes in this basin have trout and the upper ones are said to have Goldens.
To camp overnight you need to obtain permits that I you can obtain on line from the forest service. Entry to the North Fork of Big Pine Creek is limited to twenty five people per day. Wilderness permits may be reserved or obtained on a walk-in basis also. In most areas, 60% of the space may be reserved in advance; the remaining 40% of space is set aside for visitors who come to the area without reservations. When traveling overnight in the Sierras you should store all your food in bear canisters for safety. I never saw any bears however.
For More Information
White Mountain Ranger Station,
798 N. Main St. Bishop CA, 93514
(760) 873 2400
or go online to:
http://www.fs.fed.us/r5/inyo/recreation/wild/howto.shtml
Big Pine Creek is located near Big Pine, California. To get to the trail headtrailhead you turn off of HWY. 395, west on Crocker Street in Big Pine and continue about 11 miles up into the mountains to the trailhead parking lot on the right. If you get to Glacier Lodge you passed it by a half mile.

West Clear Creek Wilderness, AZ

2010-08-07T18:39:00.000-07:00

I started this blog with a small piece about a backpack trip into West Clear Creek Wilderness in Arizona. But that is just a small part of what there is to see in this remarkable place. West Clear Creek Wilderness Area is a deep entrenched canyon with a year round stream flowing through it. This canyon runs east to west from near Happy Jack up on the Mogollon Rim down to near Camp Verde. It is very remote and wild with deep pools of water and red sandstone cliffs. The traveling in this canyon is rugged and difficult with few trails and much of the time you are in the water wading or swimming and the rest of the time boulder hopping. Travel in this canyon should be done with care because there is no easy way to get help. The monsoon season should be avoided due to flash flood danger and the winter it is too cold to swim. The Canyon is more than thirty miles long and some sources say as much as forty.
The canyon has four parts divided by upper, bottom half of the upper, middle and lower.
Upper: The upper part of West Clear Creek is a wide canyon, and very beautiful. There are not the significant narrow parts, but the upper part has large Coconino Sandstone cliffs with a nice forest of large trees.

The pools are often large but not as deep as in the middle section and you can navigate with just getting your feet wet in most cases. Expect to do a little wading in this part of the canyon, but no real swimming is required. There are several access points to the upper section.

You can access from the north side of the canyon at both Maxwell Trail and Tramway Trail that are the ends of FR 81E that forks near the end. These trails switch back down into the canyon from the rim and are steep but are well maintained Forest Service trails. You can also enter from the south at FR 142E which is a little steeper and more rugged trail. There are some pictographs on the north side of the canyon just downstream from the Maxwell trail that are interesting to visit.

This upper part of the canyon is a great day hike destination to get a feel for what this place is like. The travel in this upper section is much easier than the the middle section of the canyon

The bottom half of the upper canyon: This part is accessed by two trails from the south side of the canyon. One is the Calloway Trail at the end of FR 142B and the other is an unnamed trail at the end of FR 142A. the Calloway Trail is a steep switch back decent from the rim down into the canyon but the trail is maintained and well built. The trail at the end of FR 142A is more of a scramble in places and pretty steep. This bottom half of the upper canyon is more difficult to travel. In the canyon between these two entrances are some places you will have to swim to get past. In one place there are two large deep pools right under some power lines that cross over the canyon. These pools have steep white cliffs on both sides.

This is a great place to go for a day hike and swim on a hot day to get a feel for what West Clear Creek is all about.

If you go farther down stream toward FR 142 A there is a place that was hard to get past with another large pool where I just jumped into the water instead of trying to climb around it. Some people make a long loop by going down Calloway trail at FR 142B and then go down the canyon and come out at FR 142A. this could be an overnight trip or a very very long day.

The middle: this part of the canyon is from FR 142A down to where trail #17 comes down off the rim. To my knowledge there are no access point in this whole section (unless you rock climb). For me this is what West Clear Creek is all about. Remote solitude, with deep still pools reflecting canyon walls. This part of the canyon the travel is rugged and difficult and will test even the most fit outdoor enthusiast.

To travel into this part of the canyon it is pretty much an overnight affair. It took me three long days to get from FR 142A down to Bull Pen Ranch. And in this middle section you are going to get wet. There are many places where you have to swim to get past the large pools where sandstone cliffs come directly out of the water on both sides.

So to do this you must have all your stuff in dry bags and float your pack. From the trail at FR 142A you head down stream and right away you encounter a deep slot with large white cliffs on both sides with the water going from cliff to cliff. This is called The White Box. You must swim this to get further and its a good swim of 40 yards or more. When I did it there were large tree trunks stuck between the cliffs 15 to 20 feet above the water. This tells you of the danger of flash floods in this canyon.

After you negotiate the White Box the canyon opens up again and travel is boulder hopping along the creek. The next major landmark in the middle section is a hanging spring. This is one of the most beautiful spots in the canyon. A spring coming out of the south wall of the canyon drops water like a shower right into the middle of the stream. Often this spring is covered with yellow columbine flowers to add to the effect. There are some good camping sites that can be found near this spring.

Farther down stream the canyon narrows again and this time the cliffs are red and there is a series of tight slots with big pools of water you must swim. This is called the Red Box.

The Red box has more pools than the White Box and is a longer section but none of it's pools are as big or as long as the one big one in the White Box.

This red Box section has beautiful red cliffs and pool after pool of still water. There are pretty much no safe camp sites in this area where you can get up above the creek in case of floods

So camp before this section if you get to it late in the day or you will have to rush through one of the best parts of the canyon in order to set up a safe camp while there is still day light. After the Red Box again the canyon opens up and you are back to boulder hopping and fighting through brush. By now you will be a pro at this type of travel. Then again the canyon closes back in for some more swimming. You will find hopping from boulder to boulder with wet feet and a water logged pack (heavy) will wear you out. and you will sleep well each night from sheer exhaustion.

The next major feature or landmark is the water fall. This is my favorite spot in the whole canyon. It has a big pool at the base of the falls to swim in and it is a great place to stay the night. We camped here on our second night coming down the canyon from FR 142A.

To get past this obstacle (waterfall) you need to climb up and around on the south side. This place has some flat rock benches or ledges up above the creek that are good campsites. I have come in from the rim on trail #17 and stayed here overnight several times now. Often staying two nights just to enjoy this spot and explore and swim for the day without the weight of a pack. Oh and did I tell you this creek is full of trout and many of the pools in the middle section are rarely fished. After a day of fun and rest at the falls I then head back out. Once you are at the falls you can get out in one day. Down stream from the falls there are at least two or three more swims and then the canyon opens back up the rest of the way down to Bull Pen Ranch.

The Lower: This part of the canyon is a wide canyon with a well traveled trail (Trail #17) coming up from Bull Pen Ranch. This is the most visited part of the canyon and also the hottest and most uninteresting in my view. In many cases the trail takes you away from the creek and it only crosses four or five times in five miles.
Items that I feel are essential for completing a backpack of the middle section:
Walking stick - for keeping balance during the frequent stream crossings over slippery rocks
Air mattress or pool float toy - for ferrying your pack through the many deep pools that require swimming. Dry bags - to keep your sleeping bag and other things dry. Very sturdy shoes - don't think some water sandals will cut it. If you bring a tent a free standing type is a must because often you will camp on flat rock.
Some use a wet suit because the water is cool. I never have. I usually go when it's hot so the cold water feels good. Oh yea, you need to be able to swim. And bring some endurance and a high tolerance for pain.
Camp sites are just here and there through this backpack trip, in some places there just aren't any. The two areas with very few spots to pitch a tent are: directly below the entrance point at FR 142A and the section below the first stretch of red sandstone narrows. don't start looking for a camp sight as it gets dark, give yourself time. Oh, and try to camp up away from the creek. A flash flood in this canyon can raise the water level 15 to 20 feet.
To find trail heads I recommend the National Forest Service map of the Coconino National Forest. This map has has served me well.
Here is some more on this great canyon if this was not enough for you.
http://azjonesoutdoor.blogspot.com/2011/08/return-to-west-clear-creek.html

Mountain Bike the Rainbow Rim Trail

2010-08-03T08:16:00.000-07:00

A great place to mountain bike in Arizona is the Rainbow Rim Trail. This trail is located along the edge of the north rim of the Grand Canyon. Unlike the south rim the north rim has areas along the rim that are not in the National Park. And unlike the south rim the north rim is not very crowded with tour buses and tourists. There are areas on the south rim where you can park right at the rim and throw out a tent and set up camp.
Anyway back to the mountain bike trail. This trail is eighteen miles of fine single track running along the rim of the Grand Canyon. Along this eighteen miles are five points that stick out into the canyon. The trail follows the rim and then goes in away from the rim to negotiate around drainages or washes to eliminate large elevation changes and then returns to the rim and then out to the next point or (view point).

I have heard that the trail was made with mountain biking in mind, and as you ride it it feels that way. The climbs are not too difficult and the path is smooth and not too technical. And of course the views are world class. Don't get to involved in looking at the views while riding because if you go off the edge it's a long way down.

The trail runs between Timp Point in the south to Parissawampitts Point in the north. And the trail can be accessed from roads at any of the other three points along the way (North Timp Point, Locust Point, and Fence Point). The terrain is a most beautiful forest filled with an assortment of pines and aspen trees. This is high elevation country and the the trail is between 7500 ft. and 8000 ft. in elevation. In summer the temperatures are nice. But this area is closed in the winter due to deep snow. So the area opens May 15th and closes around October 15th.
Camping at any of the points is free. There are no facilities and it is about 43 miles back to Jacob Lake so bring plenty of food and water. You should bring rain gear because there is often rain during summer monsoon season. Here is a trail map I found at Epicenter's Singletrack.us.

AZ67 is an asphalt road but the rest are all dirt but not bad and in many cases good with gravel. Most can be driven with a regular 2 wheel drive car. To get there from Jacob Lake at the intersection of Highway 89A and AZ67 you take AZ67 south about 26.5 miles from the Kaibab Plateau Visitor
Center. About 0.7 miles past the entrance to the DeMotte Campground entrance you turn right or west on Forest Road (FR) 422. You takes this about 2 miles and then turn south or left on FR270. After about a mile you turn west or right on FR222 and take this for 5 miles to FR206 where you go only a quarter mile and then take FR271. You follow FR271 for 8 miles to Timp Point. While you are on the north rim be sure to go to the Lodge at the National Park, because it's not too crowded and real nice! There is also some great single track riding along the Arizona Trail running north from the National Park toward Jacob Lake. If you go to the Kaibab Plateau Visitor Center they can give you more information.
While you are on the North Rim there is also a great section of the Arizon Trail that you can ride. I had my wife drop me off and I rode a section and she picked me up latter in the day at a pre-determined location farther south on the trail. Here is a good map (again from singletrack.us) for a nice part of that trail.

Coyote Buttes, North Section

2010-07-28T20:25:00.000-07:00

One of the most fantastic places to see sandstone formations is called Coyote Buttes. This area is located along the Arizona Utah border between Page Arizona and Kanab Utah. The first time I saw it was by accident. I was intending to backpack through a long slot canyon called Buckskin Gulch. However the weather forecast had a chance of rain (dangerous for slot canyons).

So I just started off out into the desert to camp away from the slot. What I found was a fantasy land of rock of all colors and shapes. Latter I found out that it is a permit only and day use only area.
But what a treat I found as I walked farther and farther into a dream world of colorful swirling rocks. With patterns and shapes I could never have dreamed of.
Nothing could prepare me for what I found as I went farther and farther into this crazy fantasy land of stone.
Giant beehive or tee pee shaped buttes with stripes of all colors, Swirls and patterns and stripes in rock like I had never seen. Words can't describe this place. Hopefully the photos can show you just a hint of how amazing this is. But really they of course will fall short of showing you the context and feeling of this epic stone landscape.

Back then I didn't have digital cameras and it was so fantastic I ran out of film. But it was some of the best rolls of film I ever shot.

And I was glad that I had to change my plans due to the weather. This place is very photogenic and is a destination for photographers from around the world. And photos of this area are often found in magazines like Arizona Highways.

Anyway here is how you get there the right way. To get to the trail head you take Highway 89. The turn-off is located on the south (right side coming from Kanab) side of the road. Its between mile markers 25 and 26, at a curve in the road, at the end of a guard rail. Turn at the unmarked dirt road. This is House Rock Road. You take this dirt road south for about 8.3 miles to the Wirepass trailhead. This is also the trail head for the Wirepass entrance to Buckskin Gulch.

The trail is in a wash for the first .6 miles and then there is a marked right turn out of the wash. At the top of the first hill is the Coyote Buttes trail register, then the path follows an old sandy jeep track over a plateau and down to another dry wash. Beyond here it is less sand and more rock and the trail is harder to see. generally you head south. The route is across the wash and up the far side to the top of a small ridge, where you keep left left. Over the ridge, the land opens out to reveal a large area of sand and slickrock, with a long, large ridge to the right (the north part of Coyote Buttes), with an area of rock domes (beehives and tee pees) below. About 2 miles in front of you is the real destination at the base of a large white cliff with a vertical crack in the middle.

Right below this crack is where the best formations are (the wave). While all the rest is beautiful and impressive the wave has unique color and the consistent texture and conformity to the layers makes it special and photogenic.

It takes between one and two hours, and the hike is relatively easy, without much elevation change.

But the whole area is worth looking at and there are some arches and dinosaur tracks and just south of the Wave area is a place many call the Wave Two so spend the whole day exploring the area.
Here is a map of the hike that I made up to help get you there.

Permits: Entry to North or South Coyote Buttes costs $7 or $5 per person respectively, with a limit of 20 people for each region and no more than 6 in a single group. Half these are bookable up to 4 months in advance, by writing to the BLM in Kanab or applying via their website (https://www.blm.gov/az/paria/index.cfm, sometimes inaccessible), while the other half are available by applying in person to the BLM office at the Paria River (located south of Highway 89 between mile post 21 and 22, between Kanab and Page, Arizona), before 9 am on the day prior to the intended visit (the office opens at 8.30 am). At 9 am, if more than ten people are waiting, a lottery system is used to select the chosen few. All successful applicants receive a copy of the access regulations and, for North Coyote Buttes, a topographic map to help identify the route to the Wave, which is not well marked on the ground. There is high demand for the advance permits and all may be taken many months before the date of travel. A permit is also required for dogs - another $5. No overnight camping is permitted anywhere in the area.
Coyote Buttes Special Permit Offices
Arizona Strip Field Office: 345 East Riverside Drive St. George, Utah 84790 435.688.3200
Kanab Office: 318 N 100 E Kanab, Utah 84741 435.644.4600.
There is also a south section of Coyote Buttes and I will deal with that on a latter post.
http://azjonesoutdoor.blogspot.com/2011/09/return-to-coyote-buttes-south-section.html

To see more information on Buckskin Gulch, The Paria River Canyon that are in this area see these posts
http://azjonesoutdoor.blogspot.com/2010/09/exploring-buckskin-gulch-and-paria.html
And this one too http://azjonesoutdoor.blogspot.com/2010/11/paria-river-canyon.html

West Fork of Oak Creek, Arizona

2010-07-16T13:25:00.000-07:00

I live near Sedona Arizona a place that millions of people visit on vactions. They come to see the Red rock cliffs and rock formations. And some come to swim in oak creek at Slide Rock State Park. In the heat of summer there is one place that I like to go and that is called The West Fork Of Oak Creek. The west fork of Oak Creek is a side canyon to the main Oak Creek Canyon. It has a small stream that flows year round and towering cliffs that close in around you. From the carpark, a path crosses Oak Creek and follows it downstream for a short distance, passing through the site of a ruined lodge called Mayhew Lodge. Just past this the trail heads away from Oak Creek and into the side canyon of the West Fork. The first three miles the trail is easy and flat crossing the small stream several times. Then at the 3 mile mark the trail end and you just walk up the stream. From here you are just boulder hopping and just walking in the creek, and in some places wading through some shallow pools.
In many places the water is just a few inches deep spread out across flat smooth stone, creating incredible reflections of the trees and canyon walls and makes for easy going. Then the canyon narows and this creates deeper pools you must wade through to get any farther. The total length of the canyon is around 14 miles, and you can access it from the top or the bottom. The top part is much more rugged and less visited. In the top part there are pool you have to swim to go down stream because the cliffs come right out of the water on both sides. This canyon reminds me of the narrows of Zion on a smaller scale yet beautiful. Traveling the full length of the canyon in a day would be very difficult and requires a car shuttle. Most people explore from the bottom up and return the way they came in. Some people do the canyon from top to bottom with an overnight stay in the middle. If attempting this be aware: you are not supposed to camp in the lower 6 miles of the canyon (it's a wilderness study area). To do the entire canyon you should plan on 9-13 hours to hike the full length. This can only be done in summer due to cold water crossings. The bottom (and Busy) part of the canyon is easy and sutable for kids. If doing the bottom part to avoid crowds get there very early before the crowds and hike up canyon ahead of the people. To get to the lower entrance to the canyon from Phoenix, take I-17 north to Sedona (exit for 179). Turn left on 179 and follow it through the town of Oak Creek to Sedona. At the 'T' intersection turn right onto Highway 89A and follow it up Oak Creek Canyon just past mile marker 385 to the Oak Creek Trailhead which is on the left (west). Parking is currently $8 per car, be aware that a Red Rock pass is not valid towards this fee. Also note that the gate to the parking area is locked at 8pm. To get to the upper entrance to the canyon from Phoenix, take I-17 north to Flagstaff. Head west on I-40 to the first exit (Flagstaff Ranch Road, exit 192). Turn left at the bottom of the exit ramp, drive a short distance to a 'T' intersection and turn left. After a couple miles you'll come to a stop sign, turn right onto Woody Mountain Road (Forest Road #231) which becomes a well graded dirt road shortly thereafter. Drive for 18.1 miles to where the road crosses the Left Fork of Oak Creek.

Fire On The Mountain

2010-07-12T17:53:00.000-07:00

A title of Fire On The Mountain in a music blog would normally be something about a song called Fire On The Mountain by The Grateful Dead. But this is not a normal music blog. This is Mount Eldon and the Kachina Peaks Wilderness, just north of Flagstaff AZ. Well this is where some of my favorite summer time mountain bike riding is. Good bye Little Bear Trail.

The Schultz Fire started at approximately 11:09 am on Sunday, June 20th and is located west of north Highway 89, east of Flagstaff, and north of Mount Elden. The fire is currently more than 15,075 acres

The Schultz fire was caused by a campfire that was abandoned without being properly extinguished in the area of Schultz Tank, Little Elden Trail, and Forest Road 420.
If you have ever been to Flagstaff AZ. Then you know by these pictures what was lost by one careless act. Some of the most beautiful forested areas in our state. At least they saved the inner basin. And some of the Eldon trails are still intact.

Backpacking to Lake Ediza In The High Sierra

2010-07-09T05:38:00.000-07:00

Sierra Nevada Backpack (Shadow Lake Trail to Minaret Creek Trail)
Around the first week of September of 2007 I went to the Mammoth Lakes area of the Easter Sierra Nevada Mountains of California. We stayed for more than a week with my wife's brother Todd. During that time the "boys" Todd, Colin (Todds nephew) and I decided to go on a backpack trip into the back country. I had planned it in advance and obtained all the permits. In describing this trip for you the elevations and distances will be indicated like this (8100 – 1.3). The elevation first with distance from trail head in miles second. Latter in the trip from Cecile Lake on (the half way point) the distance will be the distance to the ending trail head as we return, or a countdown. Some of these descriptions are from Starr’s Guide to High Sierra and Hiker’s Guide to California. This trip was in the heart of the pristine back country of the Ansel Adams Wilderness and ranged from dense forest to above tree line. We passed several lakes and some waterfalls. It was up to us to decide where we would camp. It was a loop tip and we entered at one location and exited at another. Trail heads are accessed by a shuttle bus system. This trip I tailored from different longer trip descriptions to be a short and easier trip with the biggest scenic payoff possible.
We started off at Agnew Meadows, (8300 -0.0) and headed north descending into the canyon of the Middle Fork of the San Joaquin River. We soon came to a junction with the San Joaquin River Trail at (8100 – 1.3). At this point we were in a nice dense forest.
We followed that trail heading north until we reached the junction with the Shadow Creek Trail (8100 – 2.6).
We followed this trail heading north until we reached the junction with the Shadow Creek Trail (8100 – 2.6). We then took the Shadow Creek Trail which fords the infant San Joaquin River and climbs to the immediate right of Shadow Creek Falls. This was a nice site but the trail was steep along the falls. The trail passes to the right of the falls

After passing a narrow rocky gap we reached the lower end of Shadow Lake (8750 – 3.3). This spot has beautiful views up the lake to Ritter and Banner Peaks.

The trail skirts the north shore of this lake to the upper end of Shadow Lake (8750 – 4). We continued up Shadow Creek Trail passing several meadows with fine views of the Minarets and climbed up some short switch backs until we reached Lake Ediza (9300 – 6.2). Lake Ediza is located in a spectacular location at the headwaters of Shadow Creek set in the crown of Ritter and Banner Peaks and the Minarets.

Lake Ediza is described in the Starr's Guide as one of the brightest gems in the Sierra with views of Ritter and Banner the highest peaks north of Mount Abbot and one of the most noble mountain groups in the entire Sierra range. And we couldn't believe how beautiful it was. I felt that it surpassed any descriptions.

One of the guide books said because of the great scenery a stay overnight in this lake basin would be a memorable one. So this is where we camped. We got there with time to spare. So we set up camp and then took a side trip up to the base of Banner and Ritter peaks and still had time to get back to camp before sunset.

The next morning we left Lake Ediza and travel south along the east side of Iceberg Lakes outlet stream on an un-maintained trail to Iceberg Lakes (10,100 – 7.7) a wild setting at the very foot of the Minarets. This was pretty fantastic. It's a small lake in the shadows of the surrounding mountains. We then traveled south on the east side of this lake.
Our path then traveled steeply up and gained 400 feet of elevation to meet the creek draining Cecile Lake and then a last scramble up a steep pitch to reach Cecile Lake (10,300 – 8.2). This part was across boulder fields and there really is no trail.

This last distance measurement is a guess because no guide book has the distance listed because its not really a listed trail, but I can see on the maps it is a short distance from Iceberg Lake and is probably less than I guessed. Cecile Lake is described as the highest body of water on the east slopes of the Ritter range, wedged between the dark wall of the Minarets and the black ramparts of Volcanic Ridge, this could easily be a scene from another planet. The other guide book describes this as boulder littered shores with no campsites. This area again was just rock hopping across boulder fields with no real trail.

At this point from now on we were heading back down the Minaret Creek drainage and from here on all distances will in my description be a count down to the final destination. We boulder hopped around the east shore of Cecile Lake to the southern end and climbed a low, glacially smooth hill. At this point it was tough to find the rout down. Some were too step. From here we descend a talus covered slope with lots of loose rock with a creek draining into Minaret Lake. We followed the creek down to Minaret Lake (10,000 – 7.0). This lake with the impressive spire of Clyde Minaret to the west is an excellent choice for an overnight stay. I would highly suggest this option. So you can spent some time at this fantastic lake. But we just kept going.

From Minaret Lake the trail skirts the north shore of this lake and soon drops through sparce forest along meadow lined Minaret creek. 1.5 miles below the lake we reached a northbound trail junction that leads to and abandoned mine. The trail from here follows an abandoned access road for the mine and soon passes a series of cascades along Minaret Creek. This is a pretty cool spot but my camera batteries died so I have no photo
After this we reached a trail junction with the John Muir Trail just north of Johnston Meadow and Johnston Lake (8150 – 3). We bore right at that junction and soon crossed over to Minaret Creek’s south bank and soon came to another trail junction of the westbound trail to Beck and Holcomb lakes where we stayed left. Within another mile we reached another trail junction where we took the middle fork. After another .25 miles at another junction we bore left and came to a foot bridge that crosses the Middle Fork of the San Joaquin River (7500 – 1). Once we crossed the bridge we reached a southbound trail that leads to Devils Post Pile. We instead turn left and head north to the Devils Post Pile Camp Ground (7600 – 0.0) and our final destination where we could catch a shuttle back. But instead my wife and child met us here and we played along the river and had a picnic.
The total distance of this tip was only around 16 miles. The forest service people said it should be no problem to do the link between Lake Ediza to Minaret Lake even though it was on un-maintained trail. And they were right. There was just some minor route finding and scrambling but it is above tree line with no real way to get lost. It is described in the Hiker’s Guide to California as part of a 23 mile loop. With the high altitude at night it can get very cold. In fact I have encountered snow in the Sierras at the end of August before. This longer trip in The Hiker's Guide sounds good to me (it’s over 100 here in AZ as I write this).
The photos I have seen of Minaret Lake on the Web site for Devils Post Pile National Monument are beautiful. But it even better in person. Other photos I have seen of Banner and Ritter Peaks and the Minarets are impressive. But photos can't give you the scale. I believe this was one of the most impressive scenic trips I have or will ever take. Even though it was a short trip it was a great one.
To get a reservation for the permit for this trip you tell the Forest Service you are going to start from Agnew Meadows (Shadow Creek Trail) and come back Minaret Trail to Devils Post Pile. You can do two to three days. But it's short enough if your time is limited to do just a one night stay.
We were able to pick up our permit at the Mammoth Lakes ranger station one to two days before our trip, because we made reservations well in advance. We were required to have bear canisters for our food. We rented these. They are hard plastic canisters that are bear resistant. We did not see ant bears, but did see deer.

Mountain Bike Adventures in Utah, Little Creek Mesa

2010-07-07T10:23:00.000-07:00

Last summer I went up to Utah to get in on some of their great mountain bike trails. The first place I went was Little Creek Mesa. It is right near the more famous Gooseberry Mesa. I had been to Gooseberry Mesa on a few occasions but had never been to Little Creek Mesa. So before I left I did some research and found maps and trail descriptions. The hardest part was off the highway finding the right road because there are several ones that could be it. I found it in the middle of the night or at least I thought I had and set up camp. When I woke up I was right at the trail head. Here is a picture of me at the trail head if it helps to see what it looks like. This place has some fantastic trails. It consists of one large loop that is best taken clockwise from the trail head. This loop is single track through pinon and juniper forest with large sections of bare and flat slick rock. The trails are marked with rock piles or carins. Some people say that it is hard to follow but I had no problems. Maybe cause I was riding slow, I don't know. But I have read some reports of people getting lost out here. So if you are not good at route finding make sure you have a GPS or a guide from a local bike shop. The trail is constructed using these bare slickrock sections and some single track to take you out to the edge of the mesa. You travel along the edge of the mesa for quite a while with fantastic views of the Virgin River Valley. Taking the trail from the parking area you turn left at the first trail junction or intersection to do the main loop. This will take you out to the mesa edge west of the trail head. It is around 4.2 miles out to the edge of the mesa. Then the trail takes you north along the mesa edge for quite a while, where as I said are some great views. The trail eventually turns in away from the edge of the mesa and heads east about 6 miles from the trailhead. After about about 2 miles after leaving the mesa edge you come to an intersection. I went right and this takes you on what is called the "magic carpet ride" back to the parking area. This loop is around 10.5 miles. The next day I went right at the first intersection after leaving the parking area and did a second loop but this time counter clockwise. Again I ended up at the same intersection that is east of the rim edge this time turning left and home again along the magic carpet ride. The trails here are less technical than Gooseberry Mesa and that's good for an old guy like me not to mention my old classic Ibis bike. I don't have some big freeride or downhill rig. Don't get me wrong, because I wouldn't trade my classic Ibis for anything.
Not in this picture that you can see "The Point" of Gooseberry Mesa in the background. Little Creek Mesa has some fantastic large flat areas of rock to ride on that were lots of fun. So there is lot of of room to just improvise. I felt the views were just as good Gooseberry and it seems to have more trees than Gooseberry Mesa. And there was no one there because it is more unknown. I had a great time riding all the loops for two days and stayed overnight. I set up my camp on a big flat area of rock. Great star viewing! When I used up all those trails I drove 45 minutes over to Goosberry Mesa and rode that too. So both spots are pretty close together. What a fantastic trip. I'm looking forward to doing it again.
Finding the trail head can be difficult. The hardest part was finding the right road off the main highway. Taking UT 59 East from Hurricane the turn off is 13.5 miles from the UT 59 and UT 9 intersection. Look for Little Creek Mesa Road. It is about 2 miles past the Apple Valley Gas Station (texaco). Turn right if coming from Hurricane. The road turns left in 0.25 miles from the highway. Turn right at the 3-way junction about 1.1 mile from the highway and stay right at the Y-junction 1.9 miles from the highway. Heading north then west, bear left at a Y-junction 2.9 miles from highway. Left fork at 3.5 miles from highway. Continue straight across cattleguard 5.3 miles from highway. Turn right at a four way junction 6.3 miles from the highway (you should see a coral on the left. Turn left at a T-junction about 7 miles from the highway you will pass a cattle guard 7.8 miles from the highway continue driving straight at about 8.5 miles from the highway The road will get very rough and you will find a large patch slickrock at the left of the road park here. The trailhead is just west of the slickrock on the other side of the road.
Little Creek mesa is at around 5600 feet in elevation and can be hot in the summer and it can snow in the winter so spring and fall are probably the best time to visit.

Here is my post for Gooseberry Mesa that is just north of here and well worth a visit as well
http://azjonesoutdoor.blogspot.com/2011/09/mountain-bike-gooseberry-mesa-utah.html
Other sites that were helpful to me for this adventure are. . .
http://www.mountainbikebill.com/UT-LittleCreekMesa.htm
http://www.utahmountainbiking.com/trails/lit-crk-save.htm

Trip To Rainbow Bridge

2010-07-06T23:14:00.000-07:00

My Wife and I took a trip to Rainbow Bridge out at Lake Powell. Its a two hour boat ride one way. Its a fantastic lake with great scenery. I heard that the total length of this lakes shore line is equal to the California, Oregon and Washington shore lines combined. It's a darn big lake! with lots of little fingers and narow canyons going out in every direction. So their are many hiking oportunities. It can get pretty hot in the summer so bring lots of water. In Late July and August there are often thunder storms in the afternoon that can kick up waves. We found that in the good weather months a reservation for the trip should be made well in advance. The Trip starts and ends at the Wahweep Marina. For reservations contact Lake Powell Resorts And Marinas. http://www.lakepowell.com/tours.aspx 888-896-3829. Another time I went we rented a ski boat and water skied and camped out over nignt out on the shore of the lake.

West Clear Creek

2010-07-06T20:19:00.000-07:00

I just took a three day two night trip into Clear Creek Wilderness in Arizona, with my friend Cliff. It is one of my favorite spots. Its a deep remote canyon with a nice stream. And very few people willing to do the hard work it takes to get to the best parts.

The going is difficult because there is no trail. In places you must swim to go up the canyon because there are cliffs coming right out of the water. That is what makes it so special and what eliminates the crowds.
I have been in the canyon many times but it never gets old. My favorite spot to camp is at a water fall. Its about a 20 foot fall with a nice pool at the bottom. I feel its the best swimming hole in Arizona. We entered from a trail head found off forest service road 214. This trail is trail # 17 and it drops down into the canyon descending over 1700 ft. in only around two steep and rocky miles. You could take trail # 17 up from Bull Pen Ranch and avoid the steep rocky stuff but that's 5 to 6 miles. As you get near the bottom there is a trail leading east that is easy to miss. This takes you upstream to the narrow part of the canyon. Getting wet is mandatory for getting to the falls because one place the swim is a good 30 yards. And there are several other shorter swims. So you have to pack your stuff in "dry bags" and find a way to float your pack as you swim. Because of the narrow parts of the canyon this should be avoided in the monsoon season due to flash flood danger. Up to the left on this site where it says pages you will find a link to a map.