My Canoeing, Hiking & Camping Trip

[JohnRich 4]

Fall camping season is here again, with it's perfect weather for camping, consisting of days that aren't too hot, and nights that aren't too cold. I took advantage of this with a group of friends, to go on a whirlwind three-week tour through Utah, Arizona and west Texas.

I'll post some photos and commentary here of all the marvelous places I've visited, and endeavor to provide one location per day, until they're done, which should last several weeks. Or until everyone loses interest. I'll post just a fraction of all my pictures, but I'll try to pick out the best ones that represent what the place was like.

First up was an overnight stay at Lyman Lake State Park, in Arizona. I got there with enough daylight remaining to whip out an afternoon hike through the petroglyphs (chiseled images on rock). The lake is created by a man-made dam on the Little Colorado River. There is also a small pueblo ruins there, made by Anasazi Indians who used to populate the four-state region. They all mysteriously disappeared from the region in the 1400's, and no one is certain why.

Photos:

1) The petroglyphs are found on the black rocks along this hillside, which creates a peninsula that juts out into the lake. There are more across the lake, but I didn't have time to unload the canoe and paddle across. A good excuse to return some day with more time on my hands.

2) Sample petroglyphs. There seem to be some head-down flyers in there.

3) More petroglyphs, of a more modern style.

4) Rattlesnake pueblo ruins, so-named for the snaky length of high ground upon which it's located.

5) Slashes in rock. These are usually an indication of Indians sharpening bone tools to a sharp point.

[amstalder 0]

Really great pictures! thanks for sharing

[micduran 0]

Now that sounds like a great way to spend three weeks.

Be patient with the faults of others; they have to be patient with yours.

[Andy0689 0]

Sounds like an awesome trip! I would love to get out and see the southwestern US. Crossing my fingers for a June 2010 road trip.

I just looked up Petroglyph National Monument in New Mexico and was surprised to see that "Archaeologists have estimated there may be over 25,000 petroglyph images along the 17 miles of escarpment within the monument boundary." That's a lot of rock art.

Keep the pics coming. I'd like to see more!

Andy
I'll believe it when I see it on YouTube!

[JohnRich 4]

Quote

I just looked up Petroglyph National Monument in New Mexico and was surprised to see that "Archaeologists have estimated there may be over 25,000 petroglyph images along the 17 miles of escarpment within the monument boundary." That's a lot of rock art.

Yep, been there. Spent all day hiking amongst the boulders looking for art, with new surprises at every turn. And still only saw a fraction of what's there. A few years ago there were people who wanted to cut a highway through there to get to their suburbs, because the roads going around the park caused traffic jams. So far, I think, the petroglyphs have been preserved.

[JohnRich 4]

The purpose for going to Utah was a group canoe trip on Lake Powell. The plan was to spend a week paddling in the canyons, camping on the shoreline, and hiking in the remote wilderness.

Hite was the site of the boat ramp entry point into the northern end of Lake Powell. There's no town there; only a small ranger station, and a small store open only from 10:00 to 2:00. But they had ice, and beer - two camping essentials. Especially after spending three days on the road to get here from Houston, Texas.

Photos:
1) Fancy bridge over the upper end of the Lake. Ignore that big bug smashed on the windshield. Most of the bridges out here are of this arch type, supported only by the rock on both sides of the canyons.
2) Fancy road-cut down from the top of the mesa to the water. Why go around that rock outcropping, when you can cut right through it?
3) View of the upper end of Lake Powell from a mesa overlook.

The Glen Canyon dam (you'll see that later) on the Colorado River which creates this lake is 180 miles south - the water backs up behind the dam that far. The water collected here is 95% from winter snow melt. It's a gorgeous place, and very desolate. You feel like you're literally at the end of the earth out here. It's kind of strange having all this vast amount of clear blue water, in the middle of the desert.

We chose the north end of Lake Powell as a place where there would be less boat traffic to interfere with our puny little canoes. We joined up with a group of small-sailboat folks for this group venture.

[warpedskydiver 0]

Very beautiful John, you take nice pictures.

[JohnRich 4]

Quote

Very beautiful

Stick around, you ain't seen nothing yet. Coming soon will be "The Wave", Zion and Bryce.

[skyrider 0]

Nice shots, thanks for sharing...

[JohnRich 4]

Leprechaun Canyon is a slot canyon near Hite, Utah. We hiked this the day before putting our boats on the water for a Lake Powell paddling and camping trip. It's not in any park - just an unmarked dirt pull-off on the side of the road in the middle of nowhere. Someone in the group knew where it was, otherwise it would be difficult to locate.

Photos:
1) Into the canyon.
2) A small, narrow slot canyon. This slot got so thin after a while that I dropped my backpack to continue. Then it got even thinner, and I could squeeze through no further. We backed out to the opening of the slot, and climbed up over the top to continue through the canyon.
3) A new friend coming through the slot. I like the convoluted twisting folds in the rock, shaped by water.
4) View of the slot from the top-side. It looks like the toothy jaws of some giant beast.
5) Continuing past the first small slot canyon, you come upon a much larger slot canyon. That one also eventually narrowed down to where a human body could no longer squeeze through any further.

A fun hike, in beautiful rock. Not for the claustrophobic!

Next up: canoeing on Lake Powell

[skyrider 0]

I'd love to see that canyon during a rain storm!

[JohnRich 4]

Quote

I'd love to see that canyon during a rain storm!

Not from inside, I don't think.
Yes, watching water rushing through there would be a special treat.

I've had the luck to be in the desert a few times during massive rain storms. All the dry rock pour-off's turned into beautiful waterfalls, and the dry-wash gully's turned into raging rivers, in just a matter of 15 minutes. Quite a spectacular sight, and it doesn't happen very often.

[skyrider 0]

Quote

Quote

I'd love to see that canyon during a rain storm!

Not from inside, I don't think.
Yes, watching water rushing through there would be a special treat.

I've had the luck to be in the desert a few times during massive rain storms. All the dry rock pour-off's turned into beautiful waterfalls, and the dry-wash gully's turned into raging rivers, in just a matter of 15 minutes. Quite a spectacular sight, and it doesn't happen very often.

Xactly....I'm a good wave swimmer, but floods with no way out....might not be so much fun!

[jdthomas 0]

I always enjoy reading and seeing the images of your adventiers John. Very cool stuff!

www.greenboxphotography.com

[JohnRich 4]

Lake Powell is 180 miles long, created by Glen Canyon dam on the Colorado River, and straddles the border between Utah and Arizona.

Our group of canoes and small sailboats planned on spending a week paddling and camping along Lake Powell. But three days in, the weather radio said there was freezing weather coming, with high winds. And the high winds would be from a bad direction, that would keep the sailboat guys from being able to get out of the canyon. Rather than be trapped in freezing weather, we decided on the third morning to break camp and run back to the boat ramp to escape the coming mess.

Photos:
1) Day 1: Me, with my boat packed and ready to go on the water for a week. The boat is an Old Town Discovery, 15'8". I've sure had a ton of outdoor fun in this old tub.
2) Me, on the azure water amidst spectacular scenery. Flat water paddling speed is 2 to 3 mph.
3) "Ripple rock", we dubbed it. It seems to be the shoreline wave ripples from an ancient sea, which receded and then hardened into sandstone rock. This stuff was quite plentiful.
4) My campsite on day 1, overlooking a pretty little cove. Most of the shoreline was just cliffs and steep loose-rock talus - actual sites suitable for camping were rare.
5) Day 2: A rock formation that looks just like a battleship moving to intercept me. I surrender!

[JohnRich 4]

Day 2, continued:

1) Joe & I take a shady rest break under a protruding rock. It can get hot on open water in the desert, so when you can find shade, you grab it for a while.
2) Point-of-view typical scenery from my boat. The big yellow bag is my kitchen and pantry. I usually don't like things sticking up above the sides of the boat like that, but that's for running whitewater with overhanging tree branches and such. I decided that on a flat water lake it didn't really matter. So I was a little more sloppy with my packing at first. Then I refine things each day as I go to make improvements.
3) Rattlesnake in wood debris washed-up at the high water line. Ack! Some folks slept out in the open, even after this rattler was found nearby. What kind is it? A prairie rattler?
4) A social group meal at the end of Day 2, with the sailboat folks. Different folks made group meals each night. The Texans banded together to cook-up beef and chicken fajitas for everyone.

Sailboats versus canoes: The canoe folks actually had the advantage on this trip. The wind always seemed to be either nonexistent, or working against the sailboats. So the paddlers actually made faster mileage than the sailboats. In fact, on day 1, sunset was arriving and there were still several sailboats missing, so one of the guys with a backup motor puttered out, rounded them up, and towed them into camp. Some of the sailboats were fitted with oarlocks so they could row if necessary, but that was slow going.

[Misternatural 0]

This is so awesome!!

A GF and I took a trip to the parks back in 86; Canyonlands Bryce and Zion included - you just brought me right back there...thanks J R -I've got to go back someday!!

Beware of the collateralizing and monetization of your desires.
D S #3.1415

[JohnRich 4]

Photos from my visit to Natural Bridges National Park, in Utah.

From their web site: "Natural Bridges preserves some of the finest examples of natural stone architecture in the southwest. On a tree-covered mesa next to deep sandstone canyons, three natural bridges formed when meandering streams slowly cut through the canyon walls."

Do you know the difference between a "bridge" and an "arch"? An arch called a "bridge" is one that has been created by erosion from water. An "arch" on the other hand, is an arch created by erosion from wind. They might look the same, but how they were formed determines their technically correct description. Got it?

Camped overnight the day before in the adjacent National Forest, and spent one day there in the park with a hike, and viewing the bridges from the overlooks.

Photos:
1) Me at the entrance sign.
2) First bridge: Sipapu, from the overlook.
3) Hiking down to the bottom of the arch involved a challenging trail down the cliff, with some
ladders like this.
4) The view of the bridge from the bottom, looking up. Now to hike back up out of this
deep canyon. Ugh...

To be continued...

[JohnRich 4]

More photos:
1) Kachina bridge.
2) Owochomo bridge.
3) Pueblo cave ruins. This one is called "Horse collar ruins", because the doorways of the dwellings are shaped like horse collars, or downward facing horse shoes.

There were some Anasazi Indian pueblo ruins down in the canyons, but you couldn't get to
them easily, and the view from the overlooks was too far away to really see much.

Would love to go back here some day with more time, and hike the canyons down at the bottom. There are also pueblo ruins down there.

[guppie01 0]

Love the photos John!

g

"Let's do something romantic this Saturday... how bout we bust out the restraints?"
Raddest Ho this side of Jersey #1 - MISS YOU
OMG, is she okay?

[JohnRich 4]

Mule Canyon, Utah, had a small pueblo ruin right alongside the road, outside Natural Bridges National Monument, - so I just HAD to stop.

This pueblo was occupied by only about three family groups, from around 750 AD to 1150 AD.

1) The nice kiva, where gatherings and ceremonies would have been held.
2) The apartments, with living spaces and storage rooms.
3) Ancient pottery fragment.
4) Nearby was Mexican Hat rock. It looks just like someone wearing a big sombrero.
5) Also in the area was Monument Valley, with amazing highway scenery.

I've become pretty good at locating old pottery fragments at sites like this, so I stepped off the sidewalk and gave myself a 5-minute time limit to find some. It took about the full five minutes, but I did it. One little piece of "corrugated" pottery. You can still find this stuff, even though the sites have been picked over by collectors for centuries. Just look downhill. No, I didn't keep it.

[JohnRich 4]

Glen Canyon is in northern Arizona, and is the location of the famous Glen Canyon Dam. This is a narrow canyon through which the Colorado River flows. The dam was built at this choke point in 1957, creating behind it Lake Powell, which extends upstream 180 miles, making it the second largest man-made lake in the western hemisphere. 95% of the water in Lake Powell is from mountain snow melt. The dam is 710 feet high, only 15 feet shorter than Hoover Dam.

Photos:

1) The arch bridge over the canyon. Built in 1957 and still looking good today. The Colorado River is hidden behind the rock canyon walls, 700 feet below. This would make a tough BASE jump, as there is a tall fence across it, nowhere to land down below, and no easy way out of the canyon. Has anyone done it?

2) View of the bridge from the dam, looking downstream on the back side of the dam. Some water is being released through the dam all the time, to generate electricity through giant turbines. So there is water flow from the dam going downstream.

3) The dam, looking upstream onto Lake Powell. Gobs of beautiful blue water in the middle of the arid desert.

4) Another view of the dam.

Continued...

[JohnRich 4]

More photos:

1) One of the old turbines from inside the dam, of which there are 8. They are just now starting to replace the originals, installed nearly 50 years ago. Very large! Water flows through pipes at the bottom of the dam, through these turbines, making them spin, which uses magnets to create electricity, and the water is then jettisoned out the back side of the dam.

2) The tour then takes you down inside the dam, with a long elevator ride and a winding walk through gleaming clean tunnels. The dam is only 25 feet thick at the top, but 300 feet thick at the base. Not the place to be for claustrophobic.

3) And that gets you to the turbine room at the bottom, where the action takes place. It was surprisingly quiet in here. There is enough electricity produced here to supply 650,000 people.

18 men lost their lives in the construction of this dam.

[JohnRich 4]

The Paria area of Utah is known for an old Mormon village which was founded in 1865, and died out in 1930. They suffered Indian raids at first, and later gave it up due to repeated flooding from the adjacent river.

It was also the site of a western movie set, as the scenery is spectacular for old west movies. Something like 200 movies have had scenes filmed here, including Clint Eastwood movies like "The Outlaw Josey Wales", and "McKenna's Gold" with Burt Lancaster. It's also spelled Pahreah, and several other ways. I was really hoping to get a photo of myself strolling out through the swinging doors of the old west bar, but alas, vandals burned all the movie set buildings to the ground.

Photos:

1) Look at all those beautiful hues of color in the hills!

2) The Paria River. Not much to it at this point. You can wade across in places and not get your ankles wet. And the homestead ruins are on the other side, so wade you must.

3) I found these two feathers here, and no one has been able to tell me what kind of bird they came from. They're beautiful.

Continued...

[JohnRich 4]

Photos: Some of the home ruins I found between the river and the hills. All made out of the red sandstone which is everywhere, and easy to shape.

1) Chimney only remaining.

2) A big one!

3) In very good condition, and even had half the roof still in place. Ready to move in!

These last two had evidence of mining operations nearby. It seems they had some kind of steam engine which pumped water out of the creek, and pumped it up the hillside. They used that water to wash the dirt down through a sluice back to the river, where the heavier gold was extracted. They called this "flour gold", which I guess means it was a very fine powder.

4) "Big Red", the canoe, atop "Big Red", the truck, on a National Forest road through the wilderness. This road didn't really go anywhere - I just drove it for the four-wheel drive adventure. Great scenery. Didn't see another soul.

5) Home sweet home for the night, nestled up against some big sandstone hills.