Utah Places: Revisiting Mt Nebo

Recollections of my last hike on Mt Nebo.  I followed the blue trail.

I started fairly late in the morning at the Bear Canyon trailhead.

 

The trip up the east shoulder of Nebo is full of delights, ranging from deciduous brush and assorted maples and cottonwoods to aspen groves, towering evergreens, and alpine meadows lush with wildflowers.

 The trail winds up the shoulder of Nebo, through the lower elevation thickets of deciduous brush, as it enters the designated Nebo Wilderness Area, with a sign marking the border...

On into higher ground, surrounded now by spruces and firs...

 

Just taking in the scenery looking to the east from high up on the side of Nebo...

 

 On the summit ridge looking south, you can tell that Nebo is more of a long, snaky ridge than a formal mountain summit.

Nebo does sport several more formal summits, but they don't rise far above the long ridge line.  I never made it to the actual tippy top of the mountain that day.

After long dallying all day in alpine meadows, enjoying fragrant wildflowers, I found myself on the summit ridge, the day spent and nearing sunset...

 

 It was about then that I started remembering, with some small degree of alarm, all the signs I had been seeing posted around the Bear Canyon Campground area, at the foot of the mountain.  Bear Canyon, it seems, is aptly named.  Bears do frequent the area.  I have never seen any, but apparently many other people have.

O, well.  The Forest Service has to post these warning signs to limit their own public liability.  Or so I told myself, as I prepared to venture down through the forbidding darkness.  The mountain of delights now did not seem quite so friendly.

Anyway, it seems like all of a sudden started to get amazingly dark.  I'm not sure why I was surprised - after all, it tends to get dark just about every night.  There was no moonlight.  The stars were twinkling coldly.  It also gets freezing cold as soon as the sun sets, just astoundingly fast,  at that high elevation.

 I had a small flashlight in my backpack, so I was prepared to make a dash for the trailhead in the dark.

As I was tromping down the mountainside in the dark, with my tiny, pitiful little LED flash trying to light my way over countless rocks and other hazards, I kept thinking about all the signs, warning about bears in the area.  I was certainly following the directions to make lots of noise.  My boots thundered down the trail, making noise that I'm sure could be heard from miles away.  No such thing as a surreptitious egress from the wilderness.  

The little circle of light I was casting ahead did not make much of an impression on that big, dark night.  I kept remembering all those damned signs, and thinking of how the bears would enjoy browsing on all those thickets of berry and sumac bushes I kept passing in the dark.

I would imagine around every turn that I heard something crashing through the brush, off in the distance.

Happily, the miles passed with no bears making their dread presence known.  I travelled the trail back to my car without incident, but heaving a final sigh of relief.

It was some substantial number of miles to travel back to Snail Hollow, so I was very late getting home that night.  When I finally arrived, I got several lectures about how worried they were that something might have happened to me.  I had taken only a light lunch, a little water, and very sparse gearage, so I was ill prepared to spend the night on the slopes of Nebo.  But I felt shameful about my cowardly headlong flight in the dark, down the precipitous mountainside.

I prudently restrained myself from telling anything about being frightened by bears in the night.

Utah Places: Deseret Peak

 This is Deseret Peak east face with a view of the TwinCouloirs

One rather spectacular place of unsurpassed beauty that I have neglected to mention,  but deserves pointing out,  is Deseret Peak in the Stansbury Range, way out in Tooele County. I have never made the summit trek, but it is reputed to be an easy hike, about 15 miles round trip. Lots of climbing, though.  The peak elevation is over 11,000, and the trails start climbing at about 6,000 feet.  What makes it so remarkable is the pristine alpine terrain, right in the middle of the most unlikely desert terrain. That and the fact that it is far enough off the beaten path that it is seldom visited.

 View of Deseret Peak from South Willow Lake

 Another perspective of Twin Couloirs on Deseret Peak

 Alpine meadows on the northeast of Deseret Peak

Viewed through an aspen grove

When we were phasing out my contracting work for the BLM and Forest Service, I surveyed the Mill Fork of South Willow Creek area for a weed spraying bid.  This area is like an oasis in the middle of a desert.  Difficult to imagine the towering spruces and firs, and the thick aspen groves, that cover the spreading slopes of this mountain peak.  Rushing streams flow through the narrow canyons, supporting a veritable carpet of wildflowers.

Pretty early in the spring, the Mill Fork road was closed to vehicles from the Lower Narrows area, so I hiked alongside the creek up to the end of the road.  Here, at the Loop Campground, there starts the trail that leads to the peak.   This is where I ended my journey and started back to the truck.

Perhaps I should add, I made this trek after I had already experienced my first stroke episode in 2009.  I was not yet so paralyzed that I could not roll along at a fair gait, with the assistance of my sturdy cane.  Since then, things have become so much worse for me, and I could never do this trek today.

I left my dad with the pickup parked back at the Lower Narrows where the road was blocked off.  He started to worry about me after I had been gone for more than two hours.  He asked some Forest Service employees that happened to be passing by if they would allow him past the barricades to start searching for me.  But just about the time he was preparing to set out, I returned to the truck, thoroughly weary from the fairly short and easy walk.

There is apparently an active rock climbing group that favors the climbing wall offering itself at the Narrows of Mill Fork.  When we visited there, I saw that the egress to climbing routes was accomplished using an old mattress, strategically placed in the middle of the stream.  Perhaps a top rope belay uses this spot to rest on while protecting ascending climbers.  Anyway, it was rather a curiosity.

Another remarkable thing that I remember was one of the signs posted alongside the county road leading into the area.   The sign proclaimed a county ordinance forbidding anyone from bringing glass containers into public lands.

County Code prohibits glass containers on lands open to the public:

Tooele County Code
Title 6 - Public Safety
Chapter 18

Miscellaneous Provisions

6-18-6. Possession or use of glass containers on lands open to public access prohibited.

I've never seen anything like this before.  Don't know what bothers folks in Tooele County about those pernicious glass containers.  I suspect some local political officer had a bad experience with a flat tire, or some such.

Anyway, to get to the Deseret Peak area, you can follow the Mormon Trail Road from Grantsville, until you reach signs directing you to South Willow Canyon.  Though a long drive from Salt Lake area, well worth the investment in travel miles.

Some nice links here and here...

Or peruse the Wiki entry.

Utah Places: Timpanogos Front End

I´m sure most all resident of Utah have witnessed the awesome transformation. Mount Timpnogos is colored with the fiery blaze of sunset as the orange ball disappears behind the Oquirrh Mountains in the west. The backdrop of dramatic scenery is nearly wasted on hoardes of hurrying Wasatch Front residents, packed onto I-15, jamming up the freeway during rush hour. Instead of enjoying the beauty, too many are cultivating their hypertension and considering another road-rage incident on the public highway.

Up close and personal, the south and west slopes of Timp are not nearly as well developed as the traditional Mutual Dell or Timpanooke or Aspen Grove on the east or north. As it happens, there are roads, but they are not for the timid. Best suited for 4wd or ATV. Many trails lead out from the Pleasant Grove and Orem high bench areas. The lower down regions tend to be clogged with houses, but after you get by them, you´re on your own. If you venture out, you will discover there are many false leads, as well. Lots if rugged individualists have left their mark here. As a result, there are trails through the thick chapparal that lead everywhere and nowhere. Pick your course with some judicious care, and be prepared to backtrack.

Not that the lowland parks are bad. They serve their purpose well, and get lots of use. But to those few to whom the freedom of the hills beckons..

In several canyons on the west face of Timp, I have picked up many fossil specimens. Some of the canyons that run down the west face are apparently eroded through the layers of geological time, exposing the fossilized wonders of the past that were witnessed before the slopes were raised high. I won´t tell exactly where -- that would be giving away too much. But for the ambitious, they can be found, in great variety and profusion.

There is a mountain road that affords access to higher ground, accesible through Timpoonokie Campground. It is a long drive that wind around the shoulder of the mountain, eventually ending up in meadows above Pleasant Grove. A very nice place for a picnic, or just look at the wild flowers and enjoy the view. The view is unparalleled.

Utah Places: Snow Canyon

If I didn´t know about Snow Canyon State Park, I would think there are people trying to keep it secret. It must be the most under publicized and unknown parks in Utah.

Sculptured sandstone beckons the intrepid climber to test the grip of his soles, and many wind-shaped bowls and pockets form a natural sandy playground for children. A good collection of live dunes graces the middle area of the park, with plenty of clean pink sand.

Several scenes from the film ¨Jeremiah Johnson" were staged in the Snow Canyon State Park area. Maybe you can re-enact the scene where Jeremiah and Caleb encounter Del Gue buried in the sand.

Also convenient to this location are several small volcanic ash cones that are a short, fun hike.

Utah Places: Zions Canyon

If you were creating some of the most spectacular and enjoyable scenery on earth, and you had unlimited time and resources, you would probably come up with something very much like Zions. It is so beautiful, just to describe it in words is a cliche.

One of the problems with Zions park is that it encompasses such a vast area. Touristy types generally stray not too far from the standard fare -- although this is like saying the menu is full with prime rib. The well publicized main features of the park are unique and spectacular attractions. But a short distance from the main track, there are other wonders to behold...



Take the hike upstream from the canyon, and as it , and you encounter the Narrows -- an amazing labyrinth of twists and turns as the upper reaches of the Virgin River climb higher onto the Kapirowits Plateau. As with all canyon hikes, be mindful of frigid water, keeper potholes, and flash flooding with no advance notice flushing through.

Other hikes of note -- and notorious -- include many nearly subterranean adventures through slot canyons, like the famous Subway, pictured here. The Subway is reached via the Wildcat Canyon Trailhead on the highway northeast of the town of Virgin.


Here is another photo of a Zions backcountry destination -- Orderville Canyon. It must be seen to be appreciated. Nothing less than eyes on can convey the scope and breadth of majestic sculpture in these massive canyons.

Utah Places: Lower Logan Canyon

Lower Logan Canyon has attractions that have awed generations since man first began visiting this locale. Just a few miles from the temple and the Utah State campus,-the scenery starts, and just never ends. The highway ends up circling Bear Lake at the north end, and passes by so many magnificent natural and man-made attractions in the next few miles, it makes them difficult to enumerate in a single post, so I'll take two. Since I'm on a leisure vacation myself, I'll take some time.

Just above the mouth of the canyon, don't stop under the box elders unless you' re a behavioural anthropologist into studying deviant sexuality. Higher up there are pleasant riverside picnic areas and camping areas, though they are packed with people on the weekends and throughout the summer.

Above the lowest part of the canyon looms a massif worthy of exploration and climbing for an alpinists lifetime. Hiking trails lead up the steep sides of the canyon in every direction.

First notable stop is the wind caves trail above the mouth of the canyon about five miles. Weird wind carved rock and arches are featured in a short but popular hike.

Next, bear sharp to the left and watch for the Jardine Juniper trail. This is a spectacular find, an ancient specimen of Juniperous utahensis, Utah juniper, many thousands of years old.
The hike is hot and dry in summer heat, so remember to bring water. There's plenty when you get back, but take a bit for drinks along the way.

Along the highway further, there are several branches off to the right. These are worth exploring, especially with a 4wd vehicle. One notable site is Ol' Ephraim's Grave, a monument to a grizzly bear that frequented these hills and terrorized sheep camps for generations. His grave is near here and is memorialized as legedarey.

To the left, near the top of the grade is the left hand fork to Tony Grove. This road is a don't miss, come back again, just to see it is an attraction in itself. I won't spoil the fun trying to describe it, but here is a picture of the Tony Grove basin that waits at the end of the road.

Are you tantalized?

Utah Places: Bennie Creek

Bennie Creek is not particularly noteworthy or grand. It does not stand out above all other places in any particular way except that it is very close, and nobody goes there. That makes it really spectacular, in my book. You can spend the day alone, and if you're lucky, only share the whole area with some local golden eagles.

The area starts off with access from U89 at the Birdseye LDS Chapel, and the access road is basically threaded through the front yards of local farms and ranches for the first few miles. This is why the trail is so well protected. When it looks like the road is ended, it really makes an abrubt turn to the left in some ranch front driveway, and there is a very unfriendly looking sign posted there that is worth reading once. Drive down a steep grade, where the road turns abruptly back to the west and continues up the mountain. It soon turns to dirt and gravel and then quickly to mostly dirt only. At the Forest Service boundary, it is a very narrow dirt trail. You can drive a short distance further to the trialhead, where oaks and scrub begin to give way aspens and Englemans. Along the way, on the north, you passed a notable junction of "Deer Canyon trail" or some such, that used to fork off to Forest Service treking toward the summit of Loafer Mountain, but it is overgrown and not officially mantained any longer. It is used heavily by the hunting crowd, and incidentally, by great herds of the critters they hunt, both deer and elk, but many great numbers of elk that winter in this area. Many times, I have snowshoed in this canyon, and could not even count the hundreds of head of elk that gather here.

Anyway, the Bennie Creek canyon is fun because many springs feed the creek further up, and lush green carpets the floor of the canyon. In fact it is so lush and wet that the trail skirts off to the north side in many places to avoid wet seeps and pools. But these are beautiful areas to explore and splash around, if you don't mind getting your socks wet.

The trail ends at the top of a ridge joining with another trail that leads either south toward the highway to Payson lakes, or north to the summit trail complex to Santaquin Peak and Loafer Mountain. You can have a ride pick you up on the road, or turn around here and go back, or hike further to your heart's content.

(Important to note for area fishing enthusiasts: If you are rained out, snowed out, skunked out, run off by angry farmers, car broke down, run out of gas and groceries AND powerbait, try drowning some nightcrawlers around the confluence of Thistle and Bennie Creek. The trout are not large, but always hungry.

It has never failed.)

Utah Places: Mount Nebo

Nebo is seen from the freeway by travellers and is probably the most prominent landmark on the Wasatch Front that may get the least credit as a spectacular place to visit.

There are so many good things to list, I hardly know where to start.

One of the most interesting for boot-leather enthusiasts is that Nebo is a great place to hike. My favorite is starting from the Bear Canyon area, climbing up one of the many shoulder ridge trails to the summit ridge, and along to one of Nebo's summits. Nebo is actually a rather long, narrow north-south ridge with several "summits" of substantial height. They're all kind of crumbly talus decomposing sedimentary rock, loose and sliding, so the trails are pretty informally defined. If you actually find yourself so high, look west and find Nephi and Mona down below your feet, and Utah lake stretching out further to the west and north, with Payson/Santaquin just below to the right, Spanish Fork further, and Provo/Orem sprawling offinto the far distance on the north, Santaqin Peak and Loafer Mountain northeast, and west the other of side the Lake Mountains, out into parts of the West Desert, south to the mountains down the Wasatch chain in the Red Cliffs area and further, and east across to Baldy and the Skyline on the Wasatch Plateau. Nebo also has a good summit trail coming fairly straight up from the Nephi/Mona side, but I have never hiked it.

On the scenic menu, Mount Nebo shelters a Bryce-Canyon-like formation called Devil's Kitchen.


Okay, it's not Bryce Canyon, but it is beautiful, and worth the time to look.

Also on the regular drive across Nebo that is billed as the "Nebo Loop" is Payson Lakes, which is a marvellous place for a Sunday afternoon picnic or a short holiday drive in the mountains, or to come to see the autumn leaves, or whatever.


Payson Lakes is one area that has become popular enough to assume Disneyland proportions, so there is a blacktop track paved around the main lake for the benefit of joggers, bikers, walkers, stroller, what have you. Don't let it bother you, its overall a good thing.

If you just love camping with you family in campgrounds, there are some of the best around on or around the slopes of Nebo. I personally love Blackhawk. My preference. There is also Bear Canyon, if you love big cottonwoods and tall evergreens. It's on the south side, Blackhawk is northeast, so they give different perspectives at different times of year.

There are other campgrounds further off the beaten path that you can search out. I'm not going to name any here, because the people that use them think they own them. Maybe they do.

Personally, I would prefer to depart from the road by a wide margin and camp somewhere in the tall weeds. But I know this is not for everyone. I like hearing coyotes howl at the moon on the ridge after midnight, and owl hoots early in the morning before sunup. I want to find the snake trail across my path and the spider web in my boot. Ants in my granola are okay, I'm just more careful to keep the package closed next time.

Using a tree for bathroom needs has turned into a major problem for me. My last outing on our Milford Flats project, I had several accidents, and only an understanding and patient partner (with a not too sensitive nose) kept me from big-time breaking down out of just plain humiliation. Dealing with this kind of thing is a regular fact of life issue for families with babies and young children, and to a lesser degree, some adults are simply less comfortable or less adept. Using public facilities has always been emotionally uncomfortable for me, and now there is the hazard of unknown communicable germs ever present. It is a difficult problem, made worse by circumstances some of us cannot help. Under my present handicap, I found that under urgent need, I just could not physically get out of the tent, unencumbered from sleeping bag and other paraphernalia in time, and as a result, was unable to stop myself from peeing all over my person and my bedclothes. I do not know what exactly to recommend, and am hoping for some good suggestions. Other than carrying a shovel and a good supply of wet-wipes, I am a beginner.

Utah Places: Wasatch Mountain State Park

You can make a free and beautiful traverse between Salt Lake Valley, Heber, the ski resorts, and Park City. All summer long. Not many use this road, and its a good thing. It summits over Guardsman’s pass, and there are trails connecting in every direction, including connections from American Fork Canyon, Heber Valley, Cascade Springs, and other locations along the Wasatch. The roads are only good enough for light traffic, but ideally suited for vehicles like the 4runner. A more spectacular vista of the skyline all around cannot be found anywhere. Be sure to wear cold weather gear -- its always cold and windy up here.

Good place for a Sunday afternoon drive to look at wildflowers. All the side canyons along the way compete for the best.

More info here.

Utah Places: Alpine Loop

There isn't a photo that does any part of it justice. The entire loop is a tour of magnificence, either direction you approach from, the Alpine side, or the Sundance side.

 A Profusion of Wildflowers

 Wyethia

Timapnogos is the crowning centerpiece throughout the drive. Around every corner there are sights and scenes of wonder to behold.

 Epilobium

Every season the tableau changes. From spring to summer through fall, there is never a day that the scene is the same. The road closes sometime early in the winter, whenever county snow plows can no longer push their way safely through the deepening drifts. Then they abandon the road until next spring to the ski touring and snow machines.

The mountain itself is so loved and so popular, there are hundreds of attractions on the sides and within the near vicinity. I will only list a few of the less visited and rarely known. The others, you can find yourself as you wind around the foot of Timp, working your way over that venerable old shoulder.

Utah Places: Cascade Springs

Cannot find any photos that really do a bit of justice to the magnificence of this natural beauty. It has been loved by so many visitor through the decades, and enhanced by the addition of the walkway surrounding the quiet flowing springs and pools that spring right up from the rock.

Lush vegetation and abundant flowers through an extended growing season are th exceptional attraction, as well as many water-borne species not seen in such collections anywhere else.

If there was ever a natural setting for an afternoon walk more at peace with nature, more conducive for reflective thought, better for having the kids race each other around in circles to exhaustion, and fine fried chicken picnics, I cannot think of a place.

Links are plentiful, try here.

Utah Places: High Uintas

There are a thousand scenes like this along the Highline Trail of the High Uintas Wilderness, so many as to make this one almost unremarkable, except you should know this particular one is Jean Lake. I have spent time on various locations along the Highline Trail through the years, and if you love wilderness, hiking, and fishing in the splendor of unparalleled high mountain outdoor environment, this is the place. Get away from the WalMart crowds, head for the clean air and clear waters. You'll not regret a minute of it.

My favorite ingress for the High Uinta Wilderness is through the Grandaddy Lakes Basin. It is the deepest penetration and the highest trailhead on the south side of the mountains. Access to all kinds of opportunities from there, including unlimited beauty and the freedom of the hills.

Utah Places: Arches

Again, not slighting easily accessed locations, Arches makes a spot near the top of the list as one of the world's geological wonders. A collection of rare self-supporting sandstone arches unrivalled anywhere on earth, as well as many other impressive and mighty sandstone formations make Arches a must-visit venue. Nearby Moab offers lots of other high-tech and new-age yuppie enticements, but for the true boot-leather on the ground enthusiast, best stay away from there except perhaps for food or gas. Inside the park boundaries is everything you need to keep you busy for days on end, looking, learning, gawking, and hiking. If arches make you tired, try columns. Tired of columns? Try natural windows. Through with those? How about climbing sand dunes? Next, try mesas for a change of pace. Then, when you get tuckered out on climbing to the top of mesas, look for different geological strata represented in the sandstone layers. See how many eras you can find represented within different formations. Then ask about creatures and fauna that lived during those periods, and see if you can guess where you might locate fossils within the area.

Utah Places: Calf Creek

I said I'm not excluding good places just because they're easy. Grand Staircase has attracted lots of new tourists looking for places to go, and this is one of them. They flock to the spectacular Lower Calf Creek Falls, which is only a short walk from the camp. Forget about ever camping there, BTW. Foreign tourists have it booked 100 years in advance. There are much better places nearby anyway. But for a bit longer hike, go to even better Upper Calf Creek Falls. Be sure to bring shorts you can wear for swimming, take a cruise around the pool and dip your head under the falls when you get there. Worth the trip.

The canyon flocks with wildlife, especially in the early morning and evenings just after sundown. Better when not so many people, my personal preference. I can see lots of people at Walmart.

Utah Places: Deer Creek on Boulder Mountain

If you decide to try Deer Creek, start on a warm day. Take sturdy shoes that can get wet, and plan to plunge right into every hole you meet. You might think you are going to freeze, the water is so bone chilling cold. If it gets too cold. you can always stretch out in the sun on a flat rock like a lizard and soak up some rays. Have someone meet you at the bottom with dry stuff. More fun than anything I can imagine.

Some of the spillways are pretty rough and tumble. Look them over beforehand and skirt them if they look too wild for your swimming class. Use a float if you need it. Plan on being held under waterfalls or gravitys several places on the way down. If that thought doesn't thrill you, this isn't your ride!

Have fun getting wet!!

Utah Places: Happy Canyon, near Escalante

I hiked through Happy Canyon many years ago with a group from BYU. We were supposedly learning wilderness survival skills. I learned something different that day.

In the wilderness, we can learn that Heavenly Father's "natural" creations are magnificent and beautiful, to a degree that is beyond the attainment or grasp of mankind's most sublime creations. Nothing we can do is even close.

Within the walls of Happy Canyon, Walt Disney engineers would weep with envy at the lighting effects alone. But the sheer scale of the canyon, this tiny scratch on a topo map, is simply staggering to experience in the body, as you slither ans bound through the sand from boulder to boulder. As you descend from the top, the canyon walls close off all view of the sky, and reflected light glows pink or red or yellow or orange, depending on how it is being filtered down.

As you descend lower, the walls grow narrow, in places close enough to touch both sides at once. Amazing. Some trick of water and gradual erosion patiently wore the sandstone away, leave this unique slot canyon. Who needs an explanation? It is a miracle of the Creator -- one of so many things that testify of Him.

Utah Places: Eardly Canyon

This place is close to the I15, but hard to find, if tat makes sense. Eardly is a long canyon that parallels the freeway, but hard to find the right little dirt roads that get you right to the canyon.

Anyway, Eardly is fun mostly for some big "keeper" potholes. For those who don't know, potholes are deep pools that hold water even when the desert around has been dry and hot, even sometimes for years. The fun is plunging into that cold water from a hot dusty dry hike. It is refreshing and exhilarating. An added thrill is that some of the deeper pools won't let loose of you too ease. They are the "keepers". Sometimes it takes a rope to scale up the other side.

When I hiked Eardly Canyon, of course I went solo, so I skirted around all the deeper features and just admired the water from afar. I was not brave or fool enough to try any "keepers" by myself, though I am sure it could be done easily. (Ruth, this may be one you might want to take a short hike for a picnic up to the first rope-down. Follow the GPS directions carefully if you decide to try and find it.)

("Keepers" are safe if you have a good plan for getting out BEFORE you jump in. Word of caution to the wise. Let the fools learn by their own mistake. May not get two cances.)

Utah Places: Muddy Creek

An inelegant name for such a spectacular place. Maybe that's why people stay away in droves. Its easy to get into, and starts out good. The canyon just gets better. Its a one way hike so take water, and go half way, then turn around when you are ready to go home. Be sure you can make it back before dark. Wear shoes that are okay for wading. Be prepared to get wet.  Slipping over rocks is pretty common too. Take a picnic for a side canyon excursion. Flowers can be found at the right time and place.

BLM has some advice for would-be hikers.

 viewed from the air

really lives up to its name

Utah Places: Buckskin Gulch, Paria River

You cannot imagine a human feeling smaller under the face of the earth than in place in the bottom of Buckskin Gulch. The walls simply tower so high above at times that human size are like ants by comparison. It is awe-inspiring and awesome. I know nothing to describe or compare. Pictures are just inadequate. Dont do justice to the grand scale of things.

It was all frozen when I was walking. Many of the hikers are repeatedly wet during warmer months. It can be impossible to turn around because deep pools of water prevent you from going upstream once you have slid over boulders to enter the pool beneath them.

It can be a hike that plays for keeps. But the beauty is beyond description.

I did most access cross country hiking. Not supposed to do that. I didn't ask permission, only the rooks were watching. It was my solitary experience.

I also visited a mountain mesa called the White House nearby. Camped out on Paria River area for three days. Never saw another person the whole time. It was very special to me. I have never told about it before.