Mount Carmel Highway (May 11, 12)

MOUNT CARMEL HIGHWAY

Lucky for me, construction on the Mt. Carmel Highway won't be starting for another week, so I got to drive this route on my trip north to Bryce Canyon National Park for over night. Unlucky for me, the weather was terrible and for views, well they were limited, in fact, there were none!

Lucky for me, because of the weather there was no traffic at all and I could drive slowly and safely along the narrow wet road with steep drop offs.

As I got closer to Bryce National Park, I noticed the temperature gage in the car drop. I was prepared with all my layers though so that wasn't an issue. The break from the Zion heat was welcome. I spent the night at Ruby's Inn in Bryce City and retuned the next day. Lucky for me, the weather changed and I had gorgeous views on the return trip. This is the Checkerboard Mesa.

This is a view of the road below, where I will be in a few minutes.

Here we go again, matchy matchy! I love the shades of color in Zion National Park.

The long tunnel was backed up as large vehicles were being escorted through from the other direction. The Mt Carmel Highway was very busy, very scenic and I am glad I got to see it and drive it.

Observation Point and Hidden Canyon (May 13)

OBSERVATION POINT

I tried to get an early start today but it was slow going once I got out of bed! It was closer to 9:30 when I hit the trailhead and not long after I was down to my short sleeve shirt. The climb started immediately with switchback after switchback after switchback. The trail got you high up pretty quick with amazing views. After a couple of miles, I reached Echo Canyon. It was gorgeous! The trail went right through it and opened up to more climbing and breath-taking scenery.

The coloring changed once out of the canyon. It had yellow golden shades.

Then not long after, it changed again to the Navajo sandstone.

It was an 8 km trek to Observation Point and it was worth every meter. Behind me in my summit shot is the Zion Canyon and down below me in the middle is Angels Landing. I thought I was high on Angels Landing.

I met some friendly folks on top who I sat and had lunch with. They were two ladies who worked doing trail maintenance at the Grand Canyon. We shared our hiking stories. I stayed for about an hour and then headed back down thinking I would like to try Hidden Canyon. I passed by Echo Canyon and played around on the sandstone formations.

I love this shot! See the pool down below?

I hiked along quickly on the way down after Echo Canyon to give myself enough time to explore in Hidden Canyon.

HIDDEN CANYON

When I reached the fork in the trail, there were a few folks just heading in so I caught up with them and followed for awhile just to make sure I wasn't alone when I got to the chain section. As it turned out, it was steep but not near as scary as the Angels Landing chain section. You can see the hikers following the edge on towards the chains.

I let them go, and then hiked the chain section on my own.

I explored in the canyon for about a kilometer and then came to a gigantic rock that I didn't know how to get up and over. The others did, but I didn't see how they did it. I checked out what was around me and admired the colors in the walls.

It was looking like this would be close to a 20 km hike so I was quite content to be turning around and heading on out.

Instead of taking the shuttle from this stop, I walked along the river to the next stop which was about a nice 30 minute walk. That was where I saw the wall climbers. If you look closely you can see them!

This was an amazing hike to end my trip. I took my time leaving the Park area yet was thinking about that last beer in the fridge! It was a very warm evening, I sat out for a lengthy period enjoying the scenery and being very thankful for all I was fortunate enough to experience this week.

Canyoneering (May 10)

When I was planning this trip, I checked out websites about canyoneering and thought that would be a fun thing to try but put it to the way side because I didn't have room in my schedule for it. I really wanted to hike The Narrows but when I dropped in to Zion Adventures to inquire about it, only to find out it was closed, I all of a sudden had free time on my hands to fill. I picked up their brochure, checked out canyoneering, asked lots of questions, then signed up. I was to show up at their store at 1:00pm today to join up with a guide and five others for an afternoon adventure. When I showed up they informed me I was suppose to go with the morning group but after sorting this out, they realized they made a mistake and typed in am instead of pm. They did what a great, successful company does! They offered me a private trip with one of the top guides at no extra charge. (A private event is more than double the cost of what I paid.) Twenty minutes later we are on the road heading outside the National Park to get elevated.

This the trailhead on public land. Guiding is not allowed on park land. It is a sandy trail through a maze of wonderful smelling sage bushes that leads of in behind these formations. It is hard to believe there are slot canyons in here.

We geared up! Dave carried all the equipment in and directed me on how all the equipment is suppose to fit. He went up ahead of me to secure ropes for my benefit while climbing up.

We would be doing four repels today, along with some other maneuvering. The first repel was wide open with a gentle gradual face to come down then reaches an overhang that I needed to go over for the balance of the repel.

The next repel was longer, straight down a narrow hole type opening.

He picked an even different experience for the third. I needed verbal direction on getting down this one. It changed direction part way down and I had to move sideways with gravity now and then. He knew the slopes and yelled out what I needed to do.

The final repel was rough and rugged and I had to try and make my own judgement on which route to follow, with some help from Dave, of course. He carried my camera and took photos the whole way.

In between each repel, we had to down climb to get to the next repel section.

After all the descending, we reached the bottom of the slot canyon but no where near the opening of it. These things are mazes! The last challenge was to squeeze our way through the canyon, over rocks, even under one, turning sideways at times to fit. It was dark at the start of this part and got lighter the closer we got to the opening.

This has got to be the highlight of my trip! I know that already, and I am only into day three of my vacation. They offer canyoneering for all levels of experience. Mine was a half day but if I ever have the opportunity to try this again, I would go for the full adventure. Canyoneering elevated me to a new level of high!

Short Run! Medium Ride! Big Reward!

SHORT RUN

My vacation officially starts tomorrow but I took today off so I could get stuff accomplished! I started my morning with a short run. It was my first run since completing the Police Half Marathon on April 25th. I have been lazy with regards to running and lacking interest. I needed to put some personal issues to rest and the only sure fire way I know of doing that is to run! Run! I did! Put the issues to rest! I did!

MEDIUM RIDE

After my run and a little relaxing, I tackled a few big white elephants at home. Once those were dealt with, I packed a lunch, geared up in my biking gear and hit the trail. I didn't venture too far from home but did manage to cover 19.5 km exploring the Nose Creek Pathway System between my place and Hidden Valley. My bike is a hybrid (path/road) but I spent most of the time on trails, going slow and at times walking my bike around mud or carrying it over creeks.

BIG REWARD

I have to wait until tomorrow for the big reward but I packed this afternoon and I am ready! I'm off to Zion National Park and Bryce Canyon National Park in Utah for a week. This is a solo hiking trip! I have travelled on my own before but this is the first time for anything along these lines. I am now questioning my sanity! What have I gotten myself into! I'm nervous! I'm anxious! I have no idea what to expect! The unknown scares me!

On the other hand, I am so excited! I have looked forward to this for a long time!

One more sleep!

Then!

Goodbye Alberta!

Hello Utah!

The Third Time is a Charm!

Today was the third time in less than six months that I hiked up Prairie Mountain! The two times previous, I got caught in a blizzard which meant no views. I knew there were views up there, friends told me so! The opportunity came today to go for a 3rd time. I was reluctant to go again so soon but with the promise of blue sky and sunshine, I jumped at the chance.

This is a very steep hike over a short distance, with the majority of the time spent in the trees. Once we got above tree line, there it was! The view that everyone talks about! This is a panorama shot looking towards the west.

I was so happy I just had to jump for joy and was so thankful I jumped at the chance to tag along today.

We carried on along the edge of Prairie Mountain as we pushed to the summit, all the while looking down into Canyon Creek to our right.

We had blue sky and sunshine, yet the wind was howling when we reached the open. The snow started to blow but was no where remotely near a blizzard whiteout. I can handle this type of blowing which made for a great photo opportunity.

We had a short visit at the summit cairn long enough to take individual and group summit shots. I discovered a new feature on my camera, "sequential shooing". Agent X and I had fun with that at the summit! For comparison purposes, these are my three summit shots from the three times I hiked Prairie Mountain.

We found a sheltered spot a few minutes down the mountain in amongst some trees for our lunch break. For the first time ever hiking, I ate all the food I brought with me and could hardly wait to get home to raid the cupboard and fridge. Not sure what that was all about!

It was perfect snow for snowballs and snowmen! I made both but the snowman seemed more popular then the snowballs.

I am so glad I got to experience this mountain on a bright sunny day where you could see forever. I am now cured of my need to see what others saw up there, so won't be feeling the need to return anytime soon. Well, unless someone wants to see the sun set from up there or watch the shooting star show in August. I could be tempted!

Partly This! Partly That!

For a couple of days we had a plan for today, even though we were not exactly sure what the plan was! You could say we partly had a plan! There was a lot of "partly" going on today! Like these partly there glasses!

We knew we wanted to play in the mountains! We brought hiking boots, icers/microspikes and snowshoes. We mulled over a few ideas and as we were leaving the city, finally settled on attacking Old Baldy Ridge. We knew there was a possibility of risk so planned to inspect and monitor conditions as we went along. We didn't want to put these guys to work today.

Our route started at the Evan Thomas Day Use Area along Highway 40. The road in was partly clear of snow from a previous vehicle already having been down the road to the parking lot. Signs of Thursday's blizzard were obvious. Right here our challenge began! We were slow to get started due partly to equipment malfunctions, partly due to having to shed a layer really quick, and partly due to not knowing what direction we should be going!

After following the partly plowed Evan Thomas Trail for a click and a bit, we reached the four way junction and still couldn't find the trail we were suppose to veer off onto. With a little advice and knowledge about the area from a fellow who appeared on a quad, we picked a direction that we felt partly comfortable with and headed off. After lots of bushwhacking, the trail led us to areas that were wide open and sunny with loads of snow. This was true snowshoeing! Along here were areas too that we monitored conditions, took safe routes and practiced our "space between" technique.

We saw The Wedge in the distance, along with The Fortress and Mount Chester. The red dot marks the spot I reached last summer. The next time I am in that area, I want to instead of making it only partly to The Fortress, I want to summit it!

We saw where we wanted to go off in the distance!

We saw colorful valley views!

When we play in the Rockies, we can always count on seeing gorgeous mountain views. You never know what else you might stumble upon. The sign told us there was "clear and present danger" ahead. We never did feel in danger!

Mother Nature showed us, even though it is May 1st and the sun feels like summer sun, it is still spring and it will be awhile yet before the snow and ice is gone. The rock fields were still partly covered yet randomly revealing eye catching geology.

Our plan was to reach Old Baldy Ridge, follow the Ridge, then head down off the Ridge by Boundary Ranch and work our way back to the trail head. We partly completed a portion of our plan! We followed the McDougall Creek until 2:30 and decided this would be our lunch spot and summit spot for today. At this point we had not yet reached the tarn, no where near the ridge but in a nice open area with a view. We decided today's snowshoe should be called either "Old Baldy Ridge Attempt", or "McDougall Creek Summit" or "Evan Thomas Trail". I'll go with Old Baldy Ridge Attempt.

This is what heading home looked like today!

It is not always about reaching a significant summit or completing enormous elevation.  It can be about playing in the great outdoors, getting exercise and fresh air with fun friends and be just as rewarding. That was what today was for me! I felt like I was "on top of the world" even though I was only partly there!