I’ve actually gotten quite a bit of hiking in this summer. Several long –very long– day hikes and a backpack trip or two.

This particular hike was mostly a scramble down Pine canyon in the Santa Catalina mountains. We started off heading down the Palisades trail and then dropped into Pine canyon. Lots of cascades, falls, and pools of precious water made the hike extra special. After a slight detour we connected with the East Fork trail and made our way past Sycamore Reservoir and on out to Prison Camp (officially named Gordon Hirabayashi Recreation Site).

Another great adventure here in the southwest.

Birch Hollow

Echo Canyon

On day one we hiked and rappelled down Birch Hollow Canyon, then scrambled and bushwacked up a clay drainage. Birch Hollow required nine rappels for us, almost none of them were dry. We either rappelled down directly in the waterfall or dropped off next to it; regardless of which type, we got wet! I am glad of my climbing experience because rappelling is much like lowering off of top rope, except, to my complete satisfaction, I was in complete control of the dropping rate. Going over the edge and dangling in the air 80 feet above the ground was exhilaraing, amazingly I had almost no fear! Even better was watching water dropplets soar over the edge of the cliff, sunlight reflecting off of each one. This powerful yet simplistic beauty warmed my heart. Two of the rappels had this characteristic. Another, quite different rappel, required us to lower over a few boulders that funnelled the canyon’s calm stream into a narrow break between a boulder and the canyon wall, creating a gushing waterfall of about 10 feet. When this canyon is dry, I think people just scramble down; but seeing how it was wet and slick we rappelled. Everyone got a decent shower out of the 10 feet! A second rappel that I think everyone on the trip will remember fondly was probably our longest. It was at least 100 feet long down a smooth, vertical shute. It was a heart stopper lowering off of the edge and seeing just how far below the ground was! This drop was also a waterfall however we were able to rappel beside it rather than in it. This is one of the two with the water dropplets. The view up once you began rappelling was just as much of a heart stopper as the view below; the smooth rock with water cascading over the edge…

 As I said there were nine rappels but I don’t remember every single one. In the heart of the canyon we would not even walk ten steps before we would be at the next rappel. The temperature was cool in the canyon because much of it was in shade (due to the narrow walls). The water was also pretty cold so when you were wet (which was most of the time) it was a bit chilly. Since we were not sure what to expect in terms of water, we all rented wet suits.  To my dismay, I discovered that wet suits don’t exactly work when you are not continuously in water. I actually thought they kept you dry but quite the contrary. Wet suits are supposed to get wet and stay wet. My understanding of the idea behind them is that when they get wet they will hold a “layer” of water which your body heat will warm up. When in a body of water, the suit will not constantly exchanged the heated water with the cold water you are in. Instead it acts as an insulated layer of warm water between you and the cold water. Well, we never stayed in water we just got wet here and there. So I had “clothes” on that stayed wet, perfect for cooling the body in arid conditions. The evaporative cooling effect was working great — I was cold!

I was feeling pretty energized by the time we came out of the canyon. First rappeling experience, no major mishaps, not too tired, sunlight shining in the openness of Orderville Creek. I was looking forward to a second full day of rappelling, all we had left for today was get back to the car. Well, unbeknownst to me, our little clay drainage expunged any hint of energy I had, leaving me questioning my physical state for tomorrow. The clay drainage had enough clay to supply the entire pottery industry if you ask me! Before long, not only did we have clay, but we had water mixed with clay. Seeing how this was not a class in pottery but a desparate scramble to our car, we were not all that excited about the water-clay mix. We abandonded the drainage for the lesser of two evils and scrambled/bushwacked our way up hill, after hill, after hill. No trails on this trip, just scraping bushes, unforgiving, backlashing trees and plenty of scree underfoot to keep you on your toes. (I would think that the bushes and trees would make the ground a little more stable, but what do I know…). We arrived on the road as the sun was setting below the hills of Zion. Even after all our struggles to make it to the top, I had to stop and smile at the awesome yet peaceful beauty of our world.

Okay, I know I like to write a lot, I’ll keep the description of the second day a little shorter… Day two, we changed plans. It turns out that the scramble up the clay drainage wiped out more than me, we were all a bit tired and sore. We decided to try Echo canyon. This is another narrow slot canyon but one that did not require any rappels. This canyon turned out to be more narrow that Birch Hollow with swerving, smooth walls that closed in around you, shutting out sunlight. Although there were no rappels, there was a significant amount of wading and a swim. Sounds fun right? Well, not exactly. Water was not flowing through this canyon, it was just sitting, stagnant at the bottom of the cool, dark canyon. So you look at the water and ask yourself, “there are little water bugs on top, I hear frogs croaking, it smells horrible, what else lives in that dark, cold water that I am about to swim in?” Okay so maybe the fact that we swam in it is a better indicator of our stupidity, but I call it gaining experience. Oh and did I mention that the water was cold? Our swim only consisted of about five strokes, enough to have to float your bag and get completely drenched (minus the head). The water was so cold I began hyperventilating from the extreme, rapid change in temperature. Only five strokes so it didn’t last long but time is relative. The rest of the canyon required no more than waist high wading. It was a classic slot canyon, what I had longed to see. The darkness, closeness, and quiet of the canyon gave it a mysterious, erie quality. If given the opportunity, I’d do it again. And that was it, our trip to Zion.

The Watchtower — Zion N.P.

I must thank Charles and Allison for inviting us, planning it and bringing all the gear! I simply love new experiences and this was definitely a worthwhile, enjoyable, and interesting new experience.

Jenny and I recently took a trip to Flagstaff where we hiked to the highest point in all of Arizona.  Mt. Humphreys tops out at 12,633 feet and on a clear day provides views all the way to the Grand Canyon and beyond.  It was a beautiful day and though we weren’t setting any speed records for the 9 mile hike, my lungs and heart told me I need not go any faster.

This was the highest elavation hike we had ever done.  Someday we’d love to hike Mt. Whitney or Longs Peak.  Someday.  For now we’re happy exploring the peaks and canyons here in our own great state.  California and Colorado will wait.

Sutherland Trail

So on February 27th, Lance, Erin (friends of ours), Aaron and myself set off for Cargodera Canyon in the front range of the Catalina mountains just north of Catalina State Park. We hiked up the Sutherland trail a ways and then dropped down to the creekbed of the canyon and essentially boulder-hopped our way out of the canyon. As I mentioned the water was flowing down the entire canyon. If you do enough hiking in the desert you learn that water likes to play disappearing acts . It will be trickling along then all of a sudden it is gone and you are looking at sand. Then maybe another 100 feet or even a 1/2 mile later it shows up again gurgling along. So to say there was water flowing down the entire canyon is rather profound.

looking down Cargodera Canyon

Our hike was absolutely wonderful — I was ecstatic hopping from rock to rock over the water. Smelling it, hearing it, watching it tumble, swirl, and cascade over rocks just made me smile the whole way. The day was awesome, partly cloudy with big puffy dark clouds threatening the sky, adding an element of excitement to the hike. Everything was fresh and alive with all of the recent rains. Lance and Erin as always were such a pleasure to hike with, sharing all kinds of information about the landscape and history of the area. I wouldn’t have wanted to spend the day any other way.

water cascade in Cargodera Canyon