04/20/02 Hiking Boulder Mail Trail to Death Hollow (10 miles round trip):
40's last night and not much wind this morning. Looks to be a great day... Wrong! That was as good as it got all day. Got to the trailhead at 6800 feet at 9am. Wind now blowing 15-20 miles under overcast skies.
Followed trail 1.1 miles down a dirt road thru junipers and pinyons. Here a sandy trail leads downward to some slickrock marked by cairns. More sandy trail followed and then a big stretch of slickrock marked by more cairns. Just started down here when I got hit by a snow squall. With the heavy winds the snow was coming down fast and furious. I hung around the top of the slickrock a few minutes and things cleared up somewhat so I continued to the bottom at 6300 feet.
Followed Sandy Creek a little ways before the trail turned upwards away from the creek. The sandy trail turned into slickrock again as I climbed back up to 6600 feet. Great views the entire way of steep, sloping slickrock rising several hundred feet.
At 6600 feet I was back to slogging along a sandy trail through a juniper covered mesa. 2 1/2 hours into the hike I came to a small group of runty Ponderosa pines. The trail branched off to the right where I could see a pretty canyon below. I turned left across more slickrock to view another impressive looking canyon, presumably Death Hollow. Winds were up to 25mph coming out of the canyons.
This was the end of the trail for me. The trail is supposed to drop 750 feet from there to Death Hollow. From here, backpackers set up a base camp and go exploring for a few days. I no sooner started back then the wind picked up and the snow started again. I had been planning on lunch but put that on hold as the adrenalin kicked in and I picked up the pace.
By the time I got back to the slickrock wet sand was sticking to my sneakers and the slickrock was wet. Halfway down the snow stopped but picked up a couple more times on the way back. Of course by the time I got back to the trailhead, the sun was out.
I may have learned something on this hike. The slot canyons I've hiked twist and turn and have all kinds of alcoves and other cavities. Near Sandy Creek I had noticed what could only be described as a baby slot canyon with the same characteristics. When I passed them on the way back I noticed each indentation, several feet deep, had a boulder at the bottom. My guess is boulders fall down or are carried down by flood waters and land on soft sandstone. As they just sit there over time, wind and water swirl around the hard boulder and eat away the softer sandstone forming unique holes.
04/21/02 Lower Calf Creek Falls Trail (6.2 miles round trip):
Nice pleasant walk along Calf Creek to the falls and large pool through deep canyon under walls rising hundreds of feet. Surprisingly high for this part of the country 75-100 feet high. Pictographs and cliff dwellings on the way too. I made the hike with a guy I met and we yakked most of the way so I didn't take any notes for a better report.
Upper Calf Creek Falls Trail (2 miles round trip):
Yeah, it was only one mile one way but much of that was straight down over slickrock. 610 feet. Great vistas of slickrock sloping steeply down to Calf Creek. Another pretty waterfall 50 feet or so high, dropping straight into a pool. Lots of moss and what looked like watercress growing. The lower and upper falls are both fed by springs.
I had my friend with me and we chatted our way back up the steep trail and I found myself at the top before I knew it. Unfortunately I left my walking stick of 30 years back at the pool and did not return for it.