Waterfall

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UT – Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, Hikes and Views along Hole-In-The-Rock Road (04/24)

This, was my third visit to GSE National Monument, and finally, the road and weather were inviting for an adventure. The road can be too sandy, too slick from recent rains, or rutted from being driven on after the rains.

The road had recently been graded making for miles of washboarded surfaces, quite a bumpity bumpity bumpity arm-jarring ride.

This road is a good old wagon train Mormon adventure story. They were indeed pioneers, risking everything, to chase a dream. 144 years ago 70 families in 83 wagons, plus 1200 horses and cattle, set off on a 6-week expedition, that got stretched to 6 months (link for more info).

Today it’s a protected area used for recreation. Many traverse the Escalante River in full or in sections, eventually connecting to Lake Powell and the famous Hole in the Rock (link for more info). Others focus on the many slot canyons. There is geology to explore, dinosaur prints, miles of ATV roads, and so much more. I expected to be wowed by roadside views but for that I found myself underwhelmed.

Hike #1 – Upper Dry Fork Trailhead

Most use the Upper and Lower Dry Fork trailheads to access Peek-a-Boo and Spooky slot canyons. I was hopeful but had low expectations of being able to explore those slots.

Time to go down, down, down and find first the narrows and then the gulches (aka slots).

I returned on the Rim Trail, which made for a nice loop hike.

Cairns marked the route across the slick rock sections.

The beginning of what’s called the Dry Fork Narrows.

Within a short distance, the canyon walls grew taller and taller, but there wasn’t any technical hiking.

Soon enough the walls were so tall I had to switch to portrait mode. I loved all the colors and textures.

It took me about 30 minutes to get through the narrows, taking my time and lots of photos. And then I arrived at Peek-A-Boo. As soon as I saw the entry I knew this was a big NO!

This sign was at the trailhead, a bit like measuring your height for rides in Disneyland. I FIT! But I also heard Spooky was more challenging than the Peek-A-Boo slot.

Rather than returning through the Dry Fork Narrows, I elected the loop which initially I thought would be easier and quicker but it was more elevation gain with lots of slickrock and sand hiking. This is looking down to the slot (aka gulch) canyons.

And then it was back to the rim trail.

There was interesting geology along the way.

Hike #2 – Red Well Trailhead

Most hikers use Red Well and Hurricane Wash trailheads to reach the Coyote Gulch section of the Escalante River.

I didn’t have any expectations and knew little about this section of the trail as the primary focus was on Coyote Canyon. You quickly enter Glen Canyon National Recreation Area.

The trail starts dropping fairly quickly, in some places the trail is quite steep.

The cottonwood trees were popping, with their bright green leaves. The mix of vegetation was interesting, although there was more sand walking than I prefer.

Water became the element of the day.

This waterfall marked my turnaround for the day.

As I returned, I was ready to be done with the sand slog.

I was sure this wasn’t my trail on the return trip. Was it really this steep? YES!

There were 3-4 steep sections.

Spectacle Pod (Dimorphocarpa Wislizeni)

Little Twistflower (Streptanthella longirostris)

Astragalus

Paintbrush

I retrieved three lost items, shoes, sunglasses and I believe a foot massager or soap. Somehow I lost the sunglasses too.

Devil’s Garden

I needed a break from the arm-jarring washboard drive, so this seemed like a perfect detour.

I found the seven dwarves and a peephole arch.

This gang looked like they were having a serious discussion, maybe about where to go next.

I believe this is called Metate Arch.

There were lots of places for kids to run around and explore.

Dance Hall Rock

This was my endpoint. I knew my vehicle couldn’t make it to the road’s terminus so I decided this would be a good place to turn around.

There were lots of big mound rocks that would have been worthwhile scampering around. But it was a hot afternoon and I’d already spent several hours hiking.

I wandered around a bit and thought about the pioneers stranded here for six months.

Looking toward Lake Powell where the pioneers spent a long winter building the road to lower the wagons and animals down to the Colorado River.

Dispersed Campsite Views

There was zero rain in the forecast but I have to say I was a little worried but mostly hopeful there would be a fantastic sunset.

The other direction looked inviting.

Sunset views at another campsite.

Sunrise views.

Pondering Word Choice

I recently read a book about hiking the JMT (John Muir Trail). The author called their jaunt an expedition. The year was 2016. I always thought of expeditions more in line with the HITR/San Juan LDS pilgrimage where they were first explorers. Recently I watched a documentary about a group who took on a high mountain route never before done. They called it an expedition and that seemed fitting. Friends used the word odyssey to describe their multi-year trip exploring the Americas. That seemed an appropriate definition. I use adventure quite often.

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AB Canada – Kananaskis Country, Spray Valley Provincial Park, Buller Pass (06/23)

I’ll admit to being a little concerned about hiking this trail solo. It seemed like a low-use trail, and in fact, on this day there were only two of us, me and a trail maintainer.

It was a day to use my bear-alert voice. Many hikers say, “hey bear.” Another friend yells “whoop, whoop, whoop.” I’ve found A-O to be my preferred shout. I didn’t want any encounters of the grizzly kind.

A couple of days earlier I enjoyed seeing this black bear sow and cub in the Banff area.

Thankfully the trail opened up and it didn’t feel so intimidating.

The Mountain Avens continue to delight me and have become a predominant early June bloom.

White Globeflower (Trollius laxus ssp. albiflorus)

White Pasqueflower (Pulsatilla occidentalis)

They are super tall. Bino Bob is 1.25″ tall.

A juvenile.

Sitka Valerian (Valeriana sitchensis)

Silky Phacelia (Phacelia sericea)

This waterfall dropped into a seriously blue pool.

Views appeared as I began to gain treeline.

Look at those new needles on the larch trees.

Baby cones and some a bit more mature on the larch trees.

Buller Pass was finally visible.

Looking back to a lovely turnaround spot for those hikers not wanting to tackle the rock and screen ascent to the pass.

There were a few snowfields to cross and some nearby snowmelt creeks. Buller Pass is on the right side.

Buller Pass is in the distance.

This section was tedious with some sections eroded and of varying tread. Not my favorite but not horrible either. There were marmots and pika in these rock fields.

Juvenile marmot.

There’s my trail maintainer friend on the final ascent.

Woohoo, there’s the top, such a relief after first reaching a false summit.

Looking back at what I’d climbed.

That’s Mount Assiniboine in the distance. It’s the seventh tallest mountain in the Canadian Rockies.

Views over the other side of the pass include Lillian or Galatea Lakes. A trail drops down to these lakes and on down to Ribbon Creek Falls which I hiked to from the other side a few days later.

There’s a lot of rambling to be done on this pass.

This side might not be so much fun.

These high altitude flowers piqued my curiosity.

Using iNaturalist I learned these are Purple Saxifrage (Saxifraga oppositifolia).

American Smelowskia (Smelowskia americana)

Western Roseroot (Rhodiola integrifolia)

This was a 10-mile, 2,300′ elevation gain/loss roundtrip hike.

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AB Canada – Kananaskis Country, Bow Valley Valley Provincial Park, Grotto Canyon (05/23)

I’ve learned to never dismiss trails based on mileage or difficulty. This one offered so much I hadn’t seen or experienced elsewhere in Banff. Who knew I’d find a slot canyon, pictographs, a waterfall, ice, and blooms?

To find the goods you have to deal with some unpleasantries, like the extreme noise from Baymag Mineral Processing Plant that’s very close proximity to the trail. The racket lasts from the parking area until you dip into the canyon, where the tall walls provide a sound barrier.

Walking in a rocky creekbed is the price of admission. My timing was perfect for having minimal creek flow and avoiding getting my feet wet. Many hike this trail when the canyon is filled with snow and/or ice.

The canyon walls were scrubbed by glaciers and are extremely slick. My shoes are nearing the end of life and I was wishing for better traction a few times.

The walls were of varying textures and colors.

Thick ice remained in a portion of the canyon. I’d brought shoe traction but didn’t need to use.

This waterfall is the source of this icy creek. For better views, you need to walk up these very slippery rocks. It would be impossible when wet. It was super challenging to get down. I used the butt scoot technique.

This was a weeping wall and in the winter one of the highlights as it’s a large ice feature.

You can see the tiny bit of remaining ice.

This sign made me chuckle as the creekbed I’d been walking to this point didn’t seem to need any maintenance.

The “trail” continues on for another mile or two. I explored a bit further until the canyon opened up. I’d had enough rock walking and was happy to turn around and spend time elsewhere.

I had a good view of Grotto Mountain, not easily accessible via this trail.

Hardware adorns the canyon walls, evidence of climber activity. As my eyes roamed, I found other delights such as these Yellow Columbine (Aquilegia flavescens) blooms.

Lehmann’s Rockjasmine (?)

Hooker’s Mountain-Avens

I finally caught a butterfly! They’ve been out and about but were not interested in portrait sessions.

There isn’t much left of the pictograph panel.

I found these Small-flower Columbine (Aquilegia brevistyla) near the trailhead.

First of the season paintbrush. I believe this is Giant Red Indian Paintbrush (Castilleja miniata).

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AB Canada – Kananaskis Country, Peter Lougheed Provincial Park, Upper Kananaskis Lake (05/23)

The trail along the north side of the lake skirts Mount Indefatigable (what a name). “Mount Indefatigable was named in 1917 for HMS Indefatigable, a British battlecruiser that sank during the Battle of Jutland in World War I. The mountain’s name was officially adopted in 1922 by the Geographical Names Board of Canada.” I wonder if the grizzlies stay away from the lake and the lakeshore trail? Well I was carrying bear repellent and was happy to stay away from the peak trail.

Upper Lake was still mostly frozen. Mount Worthington was the most dominant peak on this hike. The trail hugged the shoreline but views were primarily filtered. The forest was a wonderful mix of vegetation.

The trail transitioned to this rocky zone. I’m sure there is a cool geologic explanation.

You can finally see Mount Indefatigable, with very distinctive geologic formations.

The trail crews get an A+ for creating a nice path through the rubble.

The rocky zone ended and I was back on a forested trail.

You can reserve campsites along the lake. There is no wild or dispersed camping permitted.

Remember this is a reservoir, so right now the level is low but when the lake is full these stumps will be covered.

It looks like the creeks have started thawing quite recently.

I had this waterfall marked for my turnaround spot. I met a guy who hiked around the lake in the opposite direction; he said it was quite snowy, mucky and had some challenging water crossings. It was more miles than I wanted to hike this day so I’d already decided against that option but super happy I chose the direction I did.

This is Upper Kananaskis River.

Look at those beautiful cliff walls.

While taking photos of the waterfall I stumbled across a few of these blooms. I believe they are a type of anemone.

Soon the ice will be gone and the boats will be back. The fishermen were already out on the shoreline, one wading chest deep.

This was a 6-mile, 500′ elevation gain/loss hike.

I LOVED this hike! It met my WOW per mile motto with views, geology, vegetation, blooms, waterfall, ice, snow, big mountains and so much more. The temperature was perfect and I even enjoyed the sun for a bit when I was done.

Both lakes can be seen from the Upper Lake Trailhead, although the Lower Lake isn’t accessible from that location.

A good explanation as to why there are so many reservoirs in this area of Canada.

This might be my first time on the Great Divide Trail (GDT). “The Great Divide Trail traverses the continental divide between Alberta and British Columbia, wandering through the vast wilderness of the Canadian Rocky Mountains for more than 1100 kilometres. It is one of the most spectacular and challenging long‐distance trails on the planet. The Great Divide Trail is not officially designated and not always even an actual trail, sometimes merely a wilderness route, inspiring modern-day adventurers to walk the same paths of the original Indigenous people and explorers to the area. A journey on the Great Divide Trail promises to be demanding but on the GDT you’ll discover a superlative wilderness experience in one of the most magnificent settings on Earth.” Source: The Great Divide Trail Association

This crew was on the move. According to several signs along the road, these are Rocky Mountain Sheep vs the Bighorn I’d been calling them; maybe one in the same, maybe not.

This little one was having a hard time keeping up. I think it was saying I’m tired, please stop. I fear it’ll become food for a predator.

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AB Canada – Banff National Park, Around Town, Bow River (05/23)

The Bow River runs through the town of Banff. There are paved and dirt trails along both sides of the river, accessible from many locations, with bridges at reasonable intervals. Cascade Mountain takes center stage on this crossing.

This is a view from the north side near Bow Falls.

I continued east on the Tunnel Mountain Hoodos Trail. It diverts away from the main channel of Bow River for a bit before rejoining near this location.

I found a few patches of pasqueflowers.

I then walked the south side of the trail going east from the footbridge toward the Bow Falls viewpoint.

This side of the trail is wide and busier with many benches along the way. There was more lingering snow although it was a warm day and many were sunbathing on the other side with a few taking a dip.

There are several sets of stairs as you near the falls.

With all the pointy rocks I can’t imagine this would ever be a floatable river, at least not this section which would dump you over the falls.

So it seems the front-facing camera on my phone isn’t so good at capturing distant objects, or maybe it’s the screen protector causing focus issues; it seems they neglected to leave an opening. I should have asked someone to take my photo. Oh well . . .

Views after Bow Falls as the river bends and continues east.

I made a new friend, the only wildlife sighting this day, except for the always annoying and plentiful magpies.

It seems the section of the Bow River after Bow Falls is a calm place for personal watercraft. I took this photo a few days later when I explored trails along the Spray River. This is where the Spray meets the Bow.

Hoodoos

After hiking a bit of the lower Tunnel Mountain Hoodos Trail on a previous day, I drove to the main Hoodoos parking area and hiked a loop starting with the Toe Hoodoo Trail and then taking some random mostly unnamed trails.

Sadly the views were less than stellar due to smoke from the large wildfires in northern Alberta. The hoodoos are on the bottom left of the photo, along the bank of the Bow River with Mount Rundle in the background.

On a clear day, this would be a great place to see Rundle (on the left), Tunnel (on the right), and Sulphur (in the distance) Mountains, with the Bow River running down the middle.

You can also see the Banff Hot Springs Hotel (aka The Fairmont) tucked in the valley.

My goal on this day was to saunter in the forest, and see what I might find. My first discovery was this vetch, according to Seek it is Boreal Sweet-vetch (Hedysarum boreale).

Hookedspur Violet (Viola adunca).

Prairie Smoke/Three-Flowered Avens/Old Man’s Whiskers (Geum triflorum).

I was delighted to find my first-of-the-season Fairy-Slipper orchids (Calypso bulbosa). According to iNaturalist, these are Eastern Fairy-Slippers (Calypso bulbosa var. americana). They are much smaller than other varieties I’ve seen, ranging in height from 2-4 inches.

Virginia Strawberry (Fragaria virginiana).

Lewis Flax (Linum lewisii).

It was time to say goodbye to the pasqueflowers (aka prairie crocus) and hello to Dr. Seuss mopheads.

I found one late blooming pasqueflower, to keep alive my near-daily sightings through the month of May.

There were lots of green shoots promising future flowers, plants I can’t identify until they bloom. I couldn’t help but wonder, wonder, wonder what this one would be? According to Seek pink anemone.

This coyote had very dog-like behavior. It was standing next to the trail in front of me. When it saw me, instead of turning and heading into the woods, it trodded down the trail next to me. This is the second daytime coyote sighting while visiting Banff.

Rundle Riverside Trail

This is the most primitive trail I hiked along the Bow River.

Cascade Mountain is visible frequently.

There are a few views of Mount Rundle.

Yellow Anemone (Anemonastrum richardsonii). This plant didn’t show on iNaturalist in this location so I contributed to citizen science by posting and asking for identification.

Bino Bob at 1.25″ tall says they are BIG!

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AZ – Arizona Trail Passage 15 SOBO YoYo, Florence-Kelvin Trailhead to Freeman Road Trailhead (03/23)

I said goodbye to my friends and I was off for a multi-night, 50+ mile challenge.

I hiked the first 5 miles of this passage a couple of weeks earlier (link) and was looking forward to seeing the color change.

There were significantly more blooms and a lot more variety, although it was still a little early in the morning for many to open. They are solar powered!

There were some nice patches of Owl’s Clover.

Lots of buds on the cacti.

There was a lot more lupine this trip.

Chicory and Scorpion Weed (Phacelia) were also more prevalent.

There were a few bright red penstemons along the trail.

The Arizona Trail Association created this wonderful switchback section of the trail. I call this Jan grade!

The blooms decreased as I hiked south.

Goodbye poppies for now.

There is rarely a flat section on the Arizona Trail. I heard one group singing the Up and Down song as they passed by. This section is one of the flatter but it was plenty challenging for me.

In fact, this is the full trail elevation profile.

It’s too bad the cows don’t like to eat cholla. On a positive note, the spines catch the light and add so much texture to the view.

Arizona has an open-grazing policy and there are many gates along the trail that keep cows separated and out of some sections. Blooms seem to be much less intensive in cow areas. I found a few that they must not like.

I forgot about wash walking.

Finding a waterfall in the desert feels a bit of a miracle, but after a wet spring, this wasn’t a mirage.

The unusually wet spring also made for a very green desert. Such a treat!

I applaud the Arizona Trail Association for making water more accessible. This is a spring-fed tank.

I know about cutting trees, but can’t even imagine having to cut up a saguaro. That’s some spiny business!

Soon the yucca will be blooming.

Speaking of cows . . . I selected this campsite due to the wind. There weren’t any cows around and no fresh cowpies were evident. Around sunset, this young male appeared, thankfully we had a sturdy fence separating us.

However, he must have been lonely. He stared at me for a long while.

I tried everything to encourage him to move along.

Then this female showed up on my side of the fence. He switched his infatuation to her. For hours and hours, they shared many vocal sounds including moans, loud eating, peeing and defecating near my tent. She wasn’t interested in moving along either. The male decided to bed down nearby. Even with earplugs, it was a restless night.

I was happy when morning finally arrived and I could get back on trail.

This next section included a LOT of ATV track. There were so many miles of steep up and down.

The cactus didn’t mind these electrical giants.

But if not for the cattle, we might not have these water sources.

There was a small stretch of trail decorated by very porous large boulders.

The leaves on this bush were prickly like holly. I later saw yellow flowers in place of the buds. It was too windy to get a decent photo of the blooms.

I believe these are a type of onion.

My turnaround point was the Freeman Road Trailhead. I couldn’t believe it when I heard shouts of “is that Jaunting Jan?” Yes indeed it was my friends, the Wander Women. I was beyond excited to spend more time with these women I consider trail sisters.

I was protected from more animal encounters by a fortress of cacti.

We shared a nice sunset.

Annette and Kristy weren’t feeling their best and were nursing injuries and ailments, but they were still in good spirits and continued to impress with their Bad Ass Feral Female attitudes and performance. This is the first time, in all their thousands of miles, that they’ve had to deal with illness on trail. It’s not easy but they proved they had dogged determination.

I shared my pre-filter which minimizes clogged filters.

I’d been wanting to camp under a saguaro.

I love walking in the early morning when the light is magical.

This was a happy moment when the steep ATV road transitioned to single-track trail.

We shared some smiles at the waterfall.

Brittlebrush is about to explode and add intense color along the trail.

I’ve seen a lot of bunnies and jackrabbits but this was the first one who wanted to be photographed. I was thrilled!

Getting it done!

Soon we were back in the flower zone.

Registers are provided at many trailheads.

This marked the end of my yoyo of this section, and the completion of 266 miles for the Wander Women as they continue their northerly trek from Mexico. Be sure to follow their adventures on their YouTube channel. You’ll find me on this episode (link).

Crossing the Kelvin Bridge is a significant milestone. For me, it brings back memories of when the restaurant in Kearney brought me and Joan pizza, ice cream, water, and beverages to this location. It was the beginning of a tradition.

I was thrilled to complete this 50+ mile, 4-day jaunt. It was challenging, but I DID IT!

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