Thursday, July 29, 2010

Overwhelmed by the logisitics involved, I backed out of the one-night camping adventure we'd planned:  spend Sunday night on the East Rim and hike into North Canyon early Monday morning.  Switching to Plan B worked out well because we had pleasant weather for the hike on Sunday and, by going to Kanab the following day, were able to avoid the heavy rain on Monday.

Normally, hiking in the canyon in July is a hot, dry, dusty undertaking.  However, the route Fred selected was a lovely exception--we were in shade for at least 60% of the way and a good portion of the trail paralleled running water (so rare out here), a creek fed by North Canyon Springs.  We were surprised and delighted by the abundance of wildflowers--geraniums, monks-hood, rattlesnake plantain, milkweed, violets, etc.  Well worth the 2800' of elevation change the hike required!

The state of our larder dictated a trip to the grocery store on Monday.  To make that familiar journey seem less like a chore, we treated ourselves to a pancake breakfast at Jacob Lake Inn and a side-trip to Pipe Spring National Monument, a Mormon fortified ranch of the late 1800s.

Since our visit in 2007, the visitor center exhibits have been up-graded and the gravel paths have been replaced with concrete walkways.  The outdoor demonstration venues--cooking, blacksmithing, gardening, arts and crafts--have also been spiffed up.  We enjoyed a presentation by Paiute woman   explaining how she makes pigments from the area's plants, soils and rocks and uses them to paint hand-built pottery.

As we sat by the spring-fed pond waiting for the house tour to begin, Fred started to react to something in the air.  Since we'd had the tour in 2007 with an excellent Native American guide, we decided to skip a repeat and go on to Kanab.

Along the way, we had a stunning photo op.  You'll see that Fred's pictures captured the towering cloud formations and the strikingly colored cliffs and buttes below them.  That was the view to the north; 180* from that spot the skies to the south were ominously dark and threatening.  Driving back to the Kaibab Plateau, we saw rain clouds all around us and evidence that it had rained heavily back at the store. 

Evidently, Monday's storms kicked off the 2010 monsoon season.  Dark storms clouds invade morning's sunny skies and build to produce impressive but scattered storms of thunder, lightning, driving downpours and plunging temperatures by late morning and frequently continue throughout the afternoon.

Up-dates:

--The buffalo are spending more time in the meadows bordering the road.  We saw a herd just outside the park on Tuesday.  They were very mellow; not even the approach of a family of tourists disturbed their grazing and relaxing.

--We caught another mouse (#6) over the weekend.  I think he was seeking warmth rather than food.

--We are 2 weeks away from our last day of work--10 workdays and 4 days off to go.  Although I will miss this beautiful and very special place, certain inducements of civilization (large, private bathrooms! a full-size refrigerator! a washer and dryer that don't require coins! a grocery store only 10 minutes away!) are exerting an irresistible lure of home.

Unexciting Week

Not much out of the ordinary has happened since the previous post.  We hiked a section of the Arizona Trail last Sunday.  I expected nothing more than a hot trek along a dusty path with no view or interesting waypoints.  It was hot and dusty but it did hold some surprises--new wildflowers, Billy's tank and an excavation site rife with fossils.  Just goes to prove, there is no 'bad' location on the Plateau.

On Monday, we went 'Kanab-ing' (i.e., drove 75 miles to Kanab for the usual routine of laundry, groceries and gas).  In addition to our chores, we spent a few hours exploring the town's history by visiting an historic house and the local museum.  The house, a charmingly ornate Victorian, was built in 1894 by a Mormon for one of his six wives; only she and eight or ten of his 44 children lived there.  The museum was like Granny's attic on steroids--everything any resident ever saved:  clothing, sheet music, band uniforms and instruments, toys, yearbooks, tea services, cooking utensils, farm implements, civic and family documents, Native American artifacts, etc. ad infinitum.

The monsoon season seems to have finally started.  Thunderstorms are possible, if not likely, after 11:00 AM.  So far there have been episodes of thunder and lightning but only minimal rainfall.  Right now, a large dark cloud hangs above the DeMott Meadow, our location, in the midst of a bright blue sky dotted with fluffly white clouds.

O, Give Me a Home...

Where the buffalo roam!

Yesterday several people told us they'd seen a large herd of buffalo just inside the Park.  We rode our bikes up there early this morning and spotted them close to the entrance.  The herd numbered 25 to 30 adults and 4 to 6 calves.  One large buff, munching grass at the edge of the road, was scared when a tractor-trailer whizzed by.  As he ran toward the meadow, it was amusing to see how clumsy and uncoordinated these huge animals appear even though they are capable of moving quickly.

Update

Morrises versus the Mice:
We've deplete their ranks by 5.  Survivors: Beware!!

Saffron Valley Fire:
Yesterday's bulletin stated the fire has burned almost 3,000 acres, entailing expenditures of more than a million dollars.  Experts have determined the fire is winding down and crews will be extracted starting on Friday.

Weather:
Yesterday's high was 79.5*; we may hit 80* soon.  Still chilly (50*s) during the night.

Living it Up in St. George, Utah!

This week's get-away destination is the area's largest city, St. George, Utah, about 120 miles and a little less than two and a half hours west of the Kaibab Plateau.



Since we couldn't check into our hotel until 3:00 (Utah time is an hour ahead of AZ time), we planned to do two hikes in beautiful Snow Canyon State Park.  (I thought the name derived from the grayish-white rock layer atop the red sandstone walls of the canyon.  Found out it honors Erastus Snow, a Mormon city father of the early days.)

The first hike was a trail that spiraled up the Cinder Cone, a 500' tall extinct volcano.  From the top, we had a stunning views in every direction as well as down into the caldron.  The views were earned by following a steep, narrow route devoid of shade and composed of pea- to marble-sized volcanic cinders which made it difficult to get a secure footing.

    View from the top of the Cinder Cone

We saw a table in the shade of a large tree in an empty picnic area, a perfect spot for lunch.  The park's main trail started there and we set out with the intention of doing a hot but scenic 4-mile loop.  About 30 minutes into the hike, we realized we'd lost a set of keys and turned around to retrace our steps.  Although we searched every inch of the way, we didn't find the keys.  Fortunately, we'd brought another set.  



Our options at this point were:  resume the hike or check into the hotel.  Showers! Air-conditioning! Comfortable beds! received the most votes so we headed to town.  After resting a bit and taking long showers using exorbitant amounts of water, we headed for Pancho's and Lefty's Mexican restaurant.  Our food was excellent, the waiter was efficient and the prices were reasonable--an all-around great place.  And it was next-door to The Key Store!  We made a mental note to come back on Monday and have duplicates made of the keys which had been lost.

The plan for today was to hike Oak Creek trail in the Pine Valley section of Dixie National Forest.  The trail is classified as difficult ("climb 3200' in 3 miles, bring plenty of water and watch out for the many rattlesnakes!") but worth the effort for the view at the end.  The description glossed over the road leading to the trailhead: 10 miles of narrow, washboarded gravel with steep drop-offs and blind curves.  About a mile in, fear and panic overwhelm-ed me; I could not go further.  We turned around and decided to investigate the state parks we'd passed on the way.

"Quail Creek," sounding like a more pleasant hiking venue than "Sand Hollow,"  became our first choice.  We discovered that Quail Creek is a reservoir that offers boating and swimming but no trails.  Off to second-choice, Sand Hollow!  This state park is a playground for ATVs and Jeeps; no trails.  

Having struck out on the hiking, we decided to tackle the chores on our to-do list:  First, the keys, then the tire and finally, the bank.  The Key Store copied our keys quickly and cheaply.  Next, we went to Goodyear Tire to have a big nail we'd picked up on the Point Sublime adventure last Sunday removed.  Bad news--the nail had punctured the side wall of the tire and it couldn't be patched; we'd have to buy a new tire.  More bad news--that particular style has been discontinued so we replaced the damaged tire with the spare and made the new tire the spare. 

After finishing our errand at the bank, located in downtown St. George, we strolled down the street enjoying the gardens, waterfalls, reflecting pools and sculptures.  It was beautiful but hot and the Free Tours! sign at a large red sandstone building (that looked air-conditioned) beckoned to us.  The building was the St. George Taberanacle,
built by Mormon pioneers in the 1860s at the behest of Brigham Young. 
     
              
The docent provided a very interesting and well-presented tour of the church and a passionate explanation of the main Mormon beliefs.  Due to her enthusiasm and our questions, the half-hour tour lasted about twice that long. 

We spotted a park next to the church and went to explore.  What a delightful place!  There were manicured lawns, tables and chairs under sunshades, clean restrooms and great water features for the  kids--a 'river,' fountains and waterfalls.  We went across the street for lunch in a building that was a general mercantile store in the late 1800s/early 1900s and is now a cafe and sweet shop. 

Our guide at the Tabernacle suggested that we visit Jacob Hamblin's home in Santa Clara, a few miles west of St. George, and that's where we headed next.  Once again, we had a personable and knowledgeable missionary give us an interesting tour and talk.  As we left the Hamblin house, she offered us a peach from Jacob's orchard, picked this morning from trees planted over a century ago.  Delicious!

She suggested that we visit Brigham Young's home in downtown St. George but we felt history-ed out (particularly, Mormon history-ed out) for the day and returned to the hotel instead.  Now we're just chillin', savoring a little down time before getting up early, grocery shopping, driving 'up the mountain' and starting another week of work.

Update

#1  The Saffron Fire has grown from 400 acres (Sunday) to 570 acres (Tuesday).  Plans for containment have been made, fire crews are moving into the area and several roads are closed.  We met the AZ Fire Information Officer yesterday and she promised to pass on information as she obtains it.

#2  We talked with a tow truck driver who retrieved a white Mercedes SUV from Point Sublime road on Sunday.  It belonged to two surgeons from Nevada who had shifted 'down' instead of into 4WD and locked up their transmission.  The towing charge was $300 more than AAA paid.   Thanks, Karma!

Monday, July 5, 2010

This weekend hasn't been as exciting as last.  The plan was to drive through the Kaibab National Forest to Point Sublime for a 'spectacular and unique' view of the canyon yesterday and to hike a six-mile loop today into North Canyon.

Driving to Point Sublime took over two hours on dirt roads that became progressively worse.  When we reached the picnic area, we were surprised to find all three picnic tables occupied, two by picnickers and one by a guy taking a nap (??), and campers with their tents at the very end of the point about 1 mile further on the trail.  Considering that we had seen no other vehicles except for a few ATVs on our way there, we did not expect to find so many people in such an isolated and difficult to reach location.

From Point Sublime, we spotted smoke from the Saffron fire, ignited by a lightning strike a week ago Saturday,  which has burned about 400 acres so far.  It's not a large fire; fire teams are monitoring it rather than fighting it because it's consuming fuel which needs to be removed from the forest.  The smoke has moved into DeMott Meadows, where we are located, making the sky hazy and giving the air a pungent odor.

We decided to make the return trip via a slightly shorter but more difficult route.  What a mistake!  This road was a million quantum leaps more terrible than those on the way out.  Rocks, ruts, roots, steep hills, drastic drop-offs--every hazard imaginable confronted us.  About 4.5 miles from the paved road we came upon an abandoned Mercedes SUV blocking the road--smack in the middle of a narrow bridge.   A note on the dash claimed the vehicle was 'stuck' (of which there was no evidence) and the occupants were walking to the ranger station.  No inducement on earth could convince us to backtrack over the 12 miles we'd just managed to survive, so Fred went off-road through the woods, across a dry stream bed and over a 3' high berm to get around that obstacle. Thank heavens for the 4WD Jeep!

I was so incensed by the SUV people's lack of consideration that I vowed to report them to the ranger as soon as we got to the park.  We saw no walkers along the road so they must have gotten a ride before we encountered their vehicle.  They would have had adequate time to reach the ranger station well before I arrived.  However, my report was the first the ranger had received.  Very suspicious. 


It took more than five hours to travel a mere 45 miles in the back country. Although the view from Point Sublime is lovely, it is no better and not very different from that offered by viewpoints that are quicker and easier to reach.  I'd advise visitors to skip Point Sublime and travel instead to Toroweap for views that are truly spectacular and unique.  And the chance of encountering annoying people is far less. 

Last night was so extraordinarily cold that we had trouble sleeping.  The stress of yesterday's road trip and last night's sleeplessness caught up with us this morning and made hiking seem more chore than pleasure.  We decided to go to Kanab to do laundry and buy groceries.  Phone calls to our kids and lunch at Nedra's made the trip fun.