I seem to be stuck in Utah with constant supply of distractions that all seem worth doing.
After the ride through Monument Valley, I went to Page (just over the boarder in Arizona) and got showered and shaved and did a load of washing. I also found out about the "lottery" system they are using for people wanting to visit "The Wave" (A particular rock formation in the North Coyote Butes area). So it seems that they only let 10 people per day go into the area on an unplanned daily basis (10 more if you apply 4 months in adavance), and they have a draw each morning at 9am to see who will go in the next day.
Of course I wanted to visit this natural wonder and of course I had not planned 4 months in advance. So, I was going to have to let the gods decide what day I would get to go in and then fill up the days in between with other activities. Fortunately, the area has plenty to do within a few hours radius.
So on the first attempt I was unlucky and did not get drawn (There were about 50 applicants that day) and I decided to hike into Buckskin Gulch to fill the day. The gulch is a slot canyon system that goes for many miles. I got to the trail head and started hiking at about 9:45am. I planned to hike into the top end off the slot canyon and then out a side stream about 5 miles down to give a 10-12 mile loop hike.
However after hiking in and enjoying it, I decided to press on and hike through to the Paria river and out to another trail head instead. I was not really equipped for a hike of this size that day since I estimated the hike was about 15 miles long and that would be OK. Turns out that with all the twisting and turning the hike is about 21 miles long and then there is extra hiking on the roads if you don't have a shuttle organized. In the end I hiked over 25 miles (about 40km) and got back to my camp quite pooped!
The gulch however was well worth the effort. It had rained in the area about two weeks earlier and the gulch had been flooded (flash flood like in the movies), so there was quite a lot of wading to be done to get through (up to my hips at a couple of places although mostly only knee deep). There was also a great deal of clay mud all through the hike. On the up side, hiking in a slot canyon is far cooler than out on the desert above. The first 3 miles of the gulch are just a dry creek bed that slowly gets narrower and steeper but after that (for about the next 10 miles) it becomes a real slot canyon with the walls towering between 20 and 100 feet above your head and only being 4 - 10 feet apart. Definitely worth checking out (Most people do it in a trip of two or three days - there are camp sites along the way).
OK, so after that I tried my luck in the lottery again... but failed again... and so I drove for a couple of hours over to Zion national park and hiked up "Angels Landing" which is in the valley and has wonderful panoramic views as well as some great exposure on the hike up. That took about 3 hours and then I headed back to camp near page.
The next day I tried again in the lottery and finally was "lucky", so that meant I could see the wave the next day - still got to do something with today!
I decided to go to Bryce Canyon which is about 3 hours drive away. I got there no problem and hiked down into the canyon which is filled with the most amazing hoodoos and colourful clay/sandstone formations. I had intended to stay till the sun set to get more colour in the pictures but thunder storms were rolling through the area and there were patches of heavy rain as well as cloud cover obscuring the sun, and to top it off, the area is at about 8000 feet (rather than 4000 at page) and it was colder there. I took the hints and headed home early, dodging my way fortuitously through the areas of heavy rain.
So next day was the big "Wave" trip.
The hike in is only about 4 - 5Km and takes you into an area of sculpted sandstone of the most amazing colours. I am not kidding when I say I have never seen rock colours like this and that the three days of waiting were well and truly worth it. The "wave" is one particular formation but the whole area is full of colour and shape and contrast - a photographers paradise. I certainly took hundreds of photos during the day (thank god for digital cameras). I stayed the whole day and wandered around all over the place.
There were only 19 other people in the area with me so that makes it very photograph friendly as well. There was an East Indian gentleman (Mr Dorga) who was taking pictures for his book ("DanceScapes"?) with a talented young ballerina named Adeline, who had just moved from the London Royal Dance Academy to the San Francisco Ballet company. It was interesting to watch her pose against the colours and formations of the area. They and I were the only ones to stay late in the day (again to get the warmer colours of sunset light). It turned out that they stayed a bit too long since Mr Dorga was very unfit and moved very slowly on the hike out. I took some of their load and walked with them to make sure that they got back OK, but it was well after sunset when we arrived at the cars (Mr Dorga was a typical slightly obsessive photographer who prioritized his pictures over his models safety/comfort- nice enough guy though).
I camped right there in the trail head car park.
Today I am having a rest day and have showered and had a latte for breakfast and am now checking emails etc. I may go see Antelope Canyon this afternoon, but it is a business venture for the local Navajo Indians and is expensive (although apparently very beautiful) and very touristy. Then Tomorrow I will head back to Zion to do some hiking south east of the tunnels (up on the plateau not down in the valley). The colours of the rock and the cliffs and the trees there looked very beautiful when I rode through there the other day, so I'll go back for another look.
Then, my intent is to head south through Arizona and see what I can see. There isn't much of interest indicated on the map I have so I'll just play it by ear.
After the ride through Monument Valley, I went to Page (just over the boarder in Arizona) and got showered and shaved and did a load of washing. I also found out about the "lottery" system they are using for people wanting to visit "The Wave" (A particular rock formation in the North Coyote Butes area). So it seems that they only let 10 people per day go into the area on an unplanned daily basis (10 more if you apply 4 months in adavance), and they have a draw each morning at 9am to see who will go in the next day.
Of course I wanted to visit this natural wonder and of course I had not planned 4 months in advance. So, I was going to have to let the gods decide what day I would get to go in and then fill up the days in between with other activities. Fortunately, the area has plenty to do within a few hours radius.
So on the first attempt I was unlucky and did not get drawn (There were about 50 applicants that day) and I decided to hike into Buckskin Gulch to fill the day. The gulch is a slot canyon system that goes for many miles. I got to the trail head and started hiking at about 9:45am. I planned to hike into the top end off the slot canyon and then out a side stream about 5 miles down to give a 10-12 mile loop hike.
However after hiking in and enjoying it, I decided to press on and hike through to the Paria river and out to another trail head instead. I was not really equipped for a hike of this size that day since I estimated the hike was about 15 miles long and that would be OK. Turns out that with all the twisting and turning the hike is about 21 miles long and then there is extra hiking on the roads if you don't have a shuttle organized. In the end I hiked over 25 miles (about 40km) and got back to my camp quite pooped!
The gulch however was well worth the effort. It had rained in the area about two weeks earlier and the gulch had been flooded (flash flood like in the movies), so there was quite a lot of wading to be done to get through (up to my hips at a couple of places although mostly only knee deep). There was also a great deal of clay mud all through the hike. On the up side, hiking in a slot canyon is far cooler than out on the desert above. The first 3 miles of the gulch are just a dry creek bed that slowly gets narrower and steeper but after that (for about the next 10 miles) it becomes a real slot canyon with the walls towering between 20 and 100 feet above your head and only being 4 - 10 feet apart. Definitely worth checking out (Most people do it in a trip of two or three days - there are camp sites along the way).
OK, so after that I tried my luck in the lottery again... but failed again... and so I drove for a couple of hours over to Zion national park and hiked up "Angels Landing" which is in the valley and has wonderful panoramic views as well as some great exposure on the hike up. That took about 3 hours and then I headed back to camp near page.
The next day I tried again in the lottery and finally was "lucky", so that meant I could see the wave the next day - still got to do something with today!
I decided to go to Bryce Canyon which is about 3 hours drive away. I got there no problem and hiked down into the canyon which is filled with the most amazing hoodoos and colourful clay/sandstone formations. I had intended to stay till the sun set to get more colour in the pictures but thunder storms were rolling through the area and there were patches of heavy rain as well as cloud cover obscuring the sun, and to top it off, the area is at about 8000 feet (rather than 4000 at page) and it was colder there. I took the hints and headed home early, dodging my way fortuitously through the areas of heavy rain.
So next day was the big "Wave" trip.
The hike in is only about 4 - 5Km and takes you into an area of sculpted sandstone of the most amazing colours. I am not kidding when I say I have never seen rock colours like this and that the three days of waiting were well and truly worth it. The "wave" is one particular formation but the whole area is full of colour and shape and contrast - a photographers paradise. I certainly took hundreds of photos during the day (thank god for digital cameras). I stayed the whole day and wandered around all over the place.
There were only 19 other people in the area with me so that makes it very photograph friendly as well. There was an East Indian gentleman (Mr Dorga) who was taking pictures for his book ("DanceScapes"?) with a talented young ballerina named Adeline, who had just moved from the London Royal Dance Academy to the San Francisco Ballet company. It was interesting to watch her pose against the colours and formations of the area. They and I were the only ones to stay late in the day (again to get the warmer colours of sunset light). It turned out that they stayed a bit too long since Mr Dorga was very unfit and moved very slowly on the hike out. I took some of their load and walked with them to make sure that they got back OK, but it was well after sunset when we arrived at the cars (Mr Dorga was a typical slightly obsessive photographer who prioritized his pictures over his models safety/comfort- nice enough guy though).
I camped right there in the trail head car park.
Today I am having a rest day and have showered and had a latte for breakfast and am now checking emails etc. I may go see Antelope Canyon this afternoon, but it is a business venture for the local Navajo Indians and is expensive (although apparently very beautiful) and very touristy. Then Tomorrow I will head back to Zion to do some hiking south east of the tunnels (up on the plateau not down in the valley). The colours of the rock and the cliffs and the trees there looked very beautiful when I rode through there the other day, so I'll go back for another look.
Then, my intent is to head south through Arizona and see what I can see. There isn't much of interest indicated on the map I have so I'll just play it by ear.
