04/15/02:
Did some chores in St. George and drove up to Bryce Canyon National Park today. High winds blowing as I set up in my old camp site a mile from the park entrance. A few minutes later I noticed another flat tire. Sh*t! Fortunately I was less than a mile from a tire place. They showed me where the tire had split... again! That was the end of cheap tires for me. That was the 3rd or 4th flat in the past couple of months... and I don't drive fast on dirt roads. I paid an exorbitant prices for 4 new All Terrain tires.
Storm clouds moved in, winds increased and got a tiny bit of snow and just a little more rain. Wind was blowing so hard rain sounded like hail when it hit the truck. I'd guess it was blowing 40-50mph at times. Hurricane force winds of 108 miles were reported in Salt Lake City 200 miles north. Up to 6 inches of snow was forecast for certain areas too. I'm at 7500 feet but we didn't get any more. The wind died down around midnight but so did the temperatures... pretty close to freezing.
04/16/02 Hiking Rim Trail (11 miles round trip):
It was cold this morning. With the little bit of rain and the high wind, the truck was covered with little specks of mud. The wind kicked up the dust which attached itself to the raindrops on the truck forming little mud balls. I wiped most of it off with a dry rag.
Got to Fairyland at 8:30am and started up the Rim Trail. Got 1/4 mile and gave up. Wind blowing in my face dropping the temperature, already in the 40's, way down. Not worth it too me. Decided to try my luck at Lake Powell but stopped off for a shower first. By the time I came back out it had warmed up 10 degrees and the wind had dropped some. So... back to the Rim Trailhead.
The Rim Trail runs along the Bryce Canyon rim (duh!) from Fairyland, before the park entrance, to Bryce Point, 5.5 miles away at the end of the roadway. This is a beautiful, beautiful hike with gorgeous views of the hoodoos and canyon below. The hike seemed to have more ups than I remembered from previous visits and the ups seemed uppier. Of course I haven't been at this altitude since last October. I got to the end of the trail in a couple of hours, turned around and came back. Wind continued blowing keeping the temperature in the 50's.
04/1/02 Hiking Queen's Garden Trail (1.8 miles round trip):
Big time winds all night but not as cold, just in the 40's. Forecast for today... 25-40mph wind. Same for tomorrow.
Queen's Garden Trail is a short, steep trail with lots of good views of hoodoos up close and personal. You don't even have to go all the way to the bottom. The best views are found on the top half of the trail.
Hiking Navajo Loop (1.3 miles round trip):
Since I was already at the bottom of the Queen's Garden Trail, I took the connector trail 1 mile to the Navajo Loop. This is another short, steep and spectacular trail that gets right down among the hoodoos.
I did this trail last year and descended a steep set of switchbacks. This time I headed for the switchbacks from the bottom. From this direction the trail leads up a sharp hill into a slot canyon. Two large ponderosa pines stand guard to the canyon. When I got to the switchbacks I turned around and followed the same direction as everyone else.
The upward part of the trail is more gradual than the descent. Going up you have to remember to keep turning around to take advantage views.
Hiking Bristlecone Trail (1 mile round trip):
I drove the 15 miles to Rainbow Point to do this little trail. It's simply a connecting trail between Rainbow Point and some other nice views at the other end of the trail. The wind was howling up there at 9100 feet. I was leaning into the wind with my head down when a big gust brought me to a halt... I couldn't move against it. Most of the cliff edges are unprotected and you can be sure I got nowhere near the edge with that wind blowing.
04/18/02 Hiking Peek-A-Boo Loop (5.5 miles round trip):
The wind died down for a while last night but picked up again this morning. It got colder last night too. Frost on the windows and the water jugs were kinda crunchy. The sun kept getting blotted out during the day keeping things colder too.
Peek-A-Boo Loop is at Bryce Point at 8300 feet. The connector trail descends 600 feet in one mile where it intersects with the loop trail. The trail passes through an arch and has great views of the hoodoos the entire way. Play peek-a-boo among the hoodoos.
About the time the trail merges with the loop Ponderosa pines and small Manzanita poked up among the hoodoos as it dropped another 300 feet. Some long ups and downs added to the total I had to climb. Lots of great scenery.
The trail seemed easier to me than last time I hiked it. I remember complaining to myself about all the ups and downs knowing I had more than a mile of continuous up at the end. This time it didn't seem so bad. 2 1/2 hours.
04/19/02 Hiking Fairyland Loop (8 miles round trip):
Less wind, more cold today. Water jugs frozen solid and heavy frost on all windows, including the cab. I did the Fairyland Loop from Fairyland to Sunrise Point and returned via the Rim Trail before. This time I went across the Rim Trail and turned down into the loop at Sunrise Point.
A 1.5 mile steady descent of 900 feet brought me to Tower Bridge, a nice little natural bridge with big spires on either end. This trail is more rolling hills of red sandstone and white limestone. Lots of hoodoos too but they sit back a ways for the most part. Lots of Ponderosa pines scattered all over these canyons.
A couple of lengthy ups and downs, 1/4-1/2 mile, brought me to the base of the climb at Fairyland. This climb is shorter but steeper than the Sunrise Point climb. Even so, I was surprised to reach the top so quickly. I did stop whenever the heart rate seemed too high. At least when I got to the top I was finished with the hike and didn't still have to trudge the 2.5 miles along the Rim Trail.
I bought the book 'Hiking Grand Staircase-Escalante and the Glen Canyon Region by Ron Adkison. I knew there's plenty of trails in the area but couldn't find cheap maps or trail descriptions.
After the hike I stopped off at Kodachrome Basin which is supposed to be great but they wanted $5 entrance fees. So I continued on to Escalante River, found a trailhead and then backtracked to find a camping spot for the night.