Friday, October 18 -- Fall Canyon Hike

Mike said he “saved the best for last” and that this was the closest we would come to being in church all week.  We again rode in the vans for the short drive to Lee’s Ferry where a small boat met us and shuttled us up the river for a short ways to a beach on the south side of the river at the base of the Echo Cliffs where we began our hike.  Of course we first had to negotiate our steep climb from the beach to the start of the canyon.  As the program description reads, “Prepare for scrambling up and down hillsides with uneven footing and loose rocks at times.”  Once again, we saw no people other than those of our own group as we explored the canyon.

The first part of the hike was relatively flat as we walked deeper into the canyon. Mike pointed out various plants and even fossilized dinosaur tracks. 

Mike slices us each a section
 of a tuber that he dug up.

 A Halloween mushroom 

Dinosaur Tracks

Soon the canyon narrowed and the boulders got bigger.  At the end of the canyon, we climbed over the rocks and into a spectacular red rock amphitheater.  The canyon walls towered above us as we enjoyed our lunch in this very special place.  Much too soon it was time to retrace our steps back to the river. 

Welcome!

 

We still had time for a couple of final explorations.  We hiked upstream for a short distance in order to explore “Hislop’s Cave,” a naturally occurring arch or alcove in the sandstone cliff above the river. 

For our final exploration for the day, Mike took us upstream to the next canyon, which even he had not yet explored.  Again the high canyon walls surrounded us until even Mike was stopped by a high pile of boulders. 

 
 
We made our way back to the beach where we could relax or cool our feet, until the boat arrived for our shuttle back to the vans. 

After an delicious dinner of barbequed ribs and chicken at the motel restaurant, we all gathered to discuss the week and share wonderful memories.  It is always sad for a program to end.  We will miss the guides, our fellow hikers, the scenery, and the hiking.  Many of us are already planning and trying to decide on our next Road Scholar adventure.

 

Thursday, October 17 -- Sand Hill Crack Trail

Today was clearly going to be our challenge hike of the week.  We drove about fifteen minutes past the motel and then turned onto a faint sandy dirt track toward the Vermillion cliffs.  We parked near the ruins of a deserted cabin, said to be one of the places that Zane Gray lived while writing his novels.  

Mike led us through this desert area to some gray and purple mounds, remains of ancient volcanic action.  From here the trail started steeply upward, mostly on very sandy slopes where two steps forward meant one step backward.  Our goal was a notch or crack at the top of the Vermillion cliffs. There really wasn’t a trail, just an occasional rock cairn, so we all just followed Mike as we climbed steadily toward the top.  This hike had about 1400 feet of elevation gain, our greatest for the week.  

As we climbed, the view back toward the vans became more and more dramatic.  .

We finally reached a large flat area – but this was only a resting place, not the cliff top.

The final climb to the "crack"

So we had one final rock scramble.  Those of us with hiking poles either put them into our packs or passed them up to someone ahead of us – we needed both hands to complete this last ascent.  The view from the top was breathtaking!

We each found a scenic, peaceful spot for enjoying our lunch, and then Mike took us “exploring” on the relatively flat cliff top.  We found evidence of the ancient people who frequented this area, including many pottery shards and even an arrowhead. 

Our descent was equal in excitement to our way down, as we climbed over and around the rocks and navigated the steep sandy slopes. 

Wednesday, October 16 -- Glen Canyon River Trip

Today was our "easy" day of sightseeing. Fortunately Arizona opened the Grand Canyon and also Glen Canyon Recreation areas, despite the continuing government shutdown.  So our raft trip was on!  After a more leisurely morning, we boarded the vans at about 10:15 for our short drive to Lee's Ferry.  We all boarded a large inflatable, motorized pontoon raft for the fifteen mile round trip upriver through beautiful Glen Canyon. The sunny blue skies and calm water gave us pictures of the reflected cliffs along the river.  Our raft guide's narration told us of the natural features and area history of the canyon. 

 

The raft landed at Petroglyph Beach where we had a short walk to a place where ancient petroglyphs are etched into the "desert varnish" on the stone wall.  The raft company provided us with sack lunches which we enjoyed on the beach or the boat before rafting back to the docks.  

Mike then took us on a short tour of the historic Lee's Ferry complex and the nearby Lonely Dell Ranch.  The location, the only place a wagon road could be built to connect Utah and northeastern Arizona, was settled by John Doyle Lee who was sent by the Mormon community to establish the first Colorado River crossing here.  The ferry operated from 1872 to 1928.  Today this area is the starting point and "Mile Zero" for multi-raft trips through the Grand Canyon.

Lonely Dell, at the mouth of the Paria River, was the home for the families who operated the ferry service.

  

We finished our relaxing day with dinner “out,” driving a few miles down the road to the Cliff Dwellers restaurant for dinner.

Tuesday, October 15, 2013 -- Jackass Canyon Hike

Soon after breakfast we departed in the vans for today’s hike.  Mike’s enthusiasm and obvious love of this landscape soon had all of us eagerly awaiting the day’s adventures.  Our hike began by following a dry wash, but we soon found ourselves between the towering rock walls of a narrow slot canyon.  We climbed and scrambled over rocks and ledges until arriving at the top of a 30 foot “dry fall.” The hikes on this program are not always about covering long distances but rather are about improving our hiking techniques as we maneuver and negotiate around obstacles, under Mike’s and Charles’ careful instruction.  

At the top of the dropoff, there was a rope anchored into the rocks.  Mike tied on two additional ropes and instructed us how to navigate down the rocks – finding foot holds, grasping onto rocks, and holding onto the rope.  As we individually descended to the floor below, Mike repeated – many, many times – “stand straight, lean back.”  It all sounded simple enough and Mike was very patient as we slowly made our way down.  We all felt a sense of victory as we gathered for the next part of the hike.

That's a long way down!

Some time to rest before turning around.

Unfortunately Mike soon realized that our way to the river was blocked by even larger boulders, as the landscape of the canyon had been altered by recent floods.  After having a few minutes of quiet time, we retraced our steps, which of course included climbing back up the 30 foot wall.  

Walking on a narrow ledge, trying not to
step into the mud.

What went down must come up!

The slot canyon seemed even more beautiful on our return hike than it had coming in.

Of course Mike felt that we hadn’t been able to experience the full hike that he had planned.  So we had one more adventure – scrambling up the crumbly rock of Cathedral Rock, on the road to Lee’s Ferry.  The views on the way up and from the top were amazing.