Hiking in Utah [Archive]

Prediction? Pain.

10-10-2018, 03:54 PM

Spent 10 days in Utah a month ago with the family. The impetus for the trip was a family wedding in Park City, but I wasn't about to go to Utah without hitting up some of the best wilderness on the planet. So we trekked around southern Utah for four days on the front end. Doing so with a 4-year-old and 2-year-old was less than ideal, but I'm glad we did it. People, you need to experience that place. Even if you're not much of a hiker, it's well, well worth your time. The scenery is unreal. And if you are in fact up for some hikes . . . well, dude, the world is your oyster.

Alright, so I'm going to break this up into a few posts. The first two are going to be pics from sunrise hikes I did by myself in Zion and Capitol Reef. Since I couldn't just leave my wife to watch the crazies in a hotel all day, I was relegated to short hikes at dawn while my family slept. I'm actually glad it worked out that way. Hiking at sunrise in these desert dreamscapes made things that much more awe-inspiring and surreal. (Plus, at least in Zion, they kept you out of the 95-degree sun. 95 and dry felt way better than 95 and humid -- though the dry air wreaked havoc on our respiratory systems and skin -- but damn, you'd get sunburned in the blink of an eye.) Then I'll do pics from the Uinta National Forest, which is roughly 30 minutes due east of Park City. I did that one during the day with a buddy of mine that lives out there (in Park City, I was lucky enough to have extended family watch the kids for us). Totally different vibe than the south, but also very, very cool.

Ok. Here's the Watchman Trail in Zion at dawn:

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Absolutely incredible. And that's just the tip of the iceberg. I mean, the damn front lawn of our lodge in the park looked like this:

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Prediction? Pain.

10-10-2018, 04:26 PM

Ok, on to the Grand Wash trail at Capitol Reef. Even though this one was at dawn just like the hike at Zion, the vibe was is totally different. The "trail" is actually a creek bed that's dry except during torrential rains. It winds through the bottom of a gorge whose walls reach as high as 500 feet overhead. And at times, the gorge gets really narrow. The solitude and silence was much more palpable on this hike than the open-air trek at Zion. Other than a small murder of crows hanging out in a little gap in the rocks, I was the only thing moving. No other people, no breeze, no flowing water, no nothing. Just my echoing footsteps. It was astonishing.

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And like Zion, that's just a sample. Capitol Reef has an awesome scenic drive with photo ops and hiking trails galore. You can pick fruit in the park for $1/lb in 150-year-old orchards established by Mormon settlers (peaches were in season while we were there, and they were freaking amazing; they've got apple and pear orchards, too). And the view from our hotel balcony right on the park's border wasn't too shabby, either:

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Prediction? Pain.

10-10-2018, 04:50 PM

And then there was the hike in the Uinta Mountains. Started the hike at around 10,000' and topped out at about 11,115'. Way, way more elevation than I'd ever experienced on a hike. I get plenty of elevation change on my hikes in southern mountains, but most of that occurs between 1500' and 2000'. Even on the rare occasions I'm able to get out in the biggest of the Blue Ridge mountains, those hikes take me in the 5,000' to 6,000' range. I could tell as soon as we were 100 yards from the car that my lungs were working harder. Still, I was pretty proud of the fact that I didn't ever just keel over gasping for my breath. We took it easy and it was pleasant all the way around.

The lakes you see are apparently all loaded with Cutthroat and Tiger trout, by the way. My friend's a big fly fisherman and had hiked the area before for the sole purpose of fishing. We even saw a few 2' trout hanging out close to the shore of the lake we stopped at for lunch.

Oh, and about all those dead trees -- pine beetles. They're native, but apparently a combination of factors (land-use changes, temperature shifts, etc.) has led to a devastating epidemic that will at some point in our lifetimes eradicate much of the forests there. Massive bummer. (You can read more about it here (http://archive.sltrib.com/article.php?id=52405086&itype=CMSID) if you're interested.)

On the the goodness:

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https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/JZp2uwOQRwu0ofbeOkTNY8ZNkb615T_gscHRvw1LNFSe-lXV0YTqdV4fDOHOHngG7w0ASNIK5ELpX4QtMNik6b8-LLoCge71c-sCSfcqr486avsSQd9WVyLuY1V2LFHMTf30n9JWBJTBvfuCeBVf OpY3GdvF5ZmPtJDfDjj3HGz9s2z8MAxxp4SzWDNc9843W6XXfP zOfItpjNuwbT6N9qLSiSGs5dylDMX01vWaNL-O8580_DZIRIbeOx8p6xBCgb76KxWkaN56xETkhO39LAuNX6EH9 NLOUhnbp416Akg2WiTVN6J0DadpPoDeSwBStkxIIoq6dC0TiRU 90oqlDnpE2u8rgNa_d6Ff0h2rJai_FyOqav_9WZr1C44vYIn_8 0Htjm7eNHRrB21lFr2yTe5WsBBtDjCiHWFhopmH0GD9V-Agzpl52EXnILhdVL3TqawLyz0h_2GCjg6pz8N1ddVtjQH5aVz--3YH8JKmNMjsDF75CtsKhpMuJ9NIqC9oHE5jYnH0309KUVOaKFz W32fN0OkRg0ftplrRyukUpL4Wq9Cplcz5_QdqSr_FfU_oSEtip wOnXHvbrwOznwnhRQ963732flvMhvi9YAS8e4fgsir-DcGz-kAzVhfvqRI-pSGwMbzTnyhjFPYI-t4Jj5GQKLZZwPAxrK9Fanr3HRaHdcow5zCPALD3Hw=w1921-h583-no

We probably should've picked a less, uh, precarious route to get back to the trail from our off-trail summit scramble:

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/IJIEnK7h5wXP-Jr-N3fCAE1WVsGUjvR88k4IkpJfC7LMvx6B5bdanSVlq_l3mt7IjI EURzC2jbaGAxXJgKOgqYXxx5LqjFNMGdBw3nPb5y9aGFNDPgSv u6lbi79L18vp7kh6uUD8sfr8T273HpXQS4LgDr2MQdwx57geWO i8yas7YEhcAzHlCRZdeDR-SWpnWSp3nLro2SeI-HyEafGJVCH_CuDWN-qsT0a7FdmihS9OIOSXXMOmLYvyChJTmgMCXiEh91QqPjZ54A62 z5qjqO03V26nPPuL11TgdfAoIzzrey-R6q2FXr639vaeum49uVK5d4VMFhlJL0WAA55rm7IRzo8iaS9oB JFlTYyd7gYpgM0Cm1RxG_Ge5lURjyY233Oo8JIq1HPkNuyU0UA MoHR8OuCLpjQwH_nDcUsRFa-qLj1pJh8r1K1mdd6xTMp1cfRgqbjfe5V6P_czVXvbTyYpSomNs k207SFUNw-jMM4f6QafrrPiUqcY3mOt5jXAKxIVfkPtNz-yCvIQbGrTnt0LuXCJJBTquU9RnK2_WMx7zZO4S_BW6SD2hJKdf gch6i2M3pUnC_gsyj8c-inxrN7E1y8VS99pCp2MxIVfdtn9jm_VSNn5JonC3fQTi-RmkdYMKf3K4iCjsnVLAuLnXkN42ie6-ICATH6JfhBqJpyEYgYjPeG3VWpPtw=w1251-h938-no

But, hey, we saw a mountain goat!

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/5rrKhZpNSW_rfp3SWmSxNn-5wVGpIKonSgUQmSV62aQkEuDRztVEz82Utqg7-UjusOz5w9JcXqwRaXCtVoHjdpwrZRIfbfCjoX6Kc3slW6Y4uPB j-chU6gumd0fq3-31878LhlL6saHEcrJHtMny-wRTR9QqZJEbZCE4PRXfGVnizxWd6eowUOLVv3X0lq30CkrLn4z S_5_g4ZEfzktMkEiMn5pz3N1td2FWzse4KsV3DciS55nlA-yDQMaHPArAdfPCwAjE5N2PwHfOUvRH1zhuXmy3qdutEzS3S9vY pyFw61brBKAEYOF6kw5gSExw1jL9cgtdF8MDh8aJJHWg0C-cfkUierpkxPAeo9T3QMz33GLvr5xMy-DtAZWvP85Jzfdvoo-QxVIkBhWUmFdXherVmr3nx3JUjs6Z-UC9jvprgDS47EcaLOCj1hvzd1b0O2LsWj1KnDx5OdjYU3oDyW0 MRFgYqbu6rtiW6hozBZoLReE7B2RKB_sOSkDFOO1fyOSqqN_Wz ezmg1BDIFRnvnKJOln8f8mWX9uqDank7j2BXw7qpJF6jc6xnxU 8e9y6n8rslmKFMLF6FY0RiE1NlPBVLuhZxBjVfZNlFZ9zB4xMm UwLvqVAM3kNQ-3NHtkr=w1004-h938-no

Uncivilengineer

10-12-2018, 11:05 PM

That is incredible.

BrunswickDawg

10-13-2018, 08:23 AM

SpaceWranglerDawg

10-15-2018, 02:30 PM

Thanks for sharing this. Lived in Salt Lake for about 3.5 years and really enjoyed being out there. You hit some fun stuff.

Prediction? Pain.

10-16-2018, 09:04 AM

Pain, I'm super jealous. Gorgeous landscapes and nice photography.

If there is 1 thing I really miss living where I do its hiking. It's just no fun walking around flat land. No challenge, no surprises, no views. Yeah, I can walk on a 9 mile long beach, but it's not the same.

Yeah, man, it's hard to go wrong with the national parks and forests anywhere, but Utah's are especially nuts. Just driving around some of these places is difficult to do without stopping every 10 minutes to take a picture. (And thanks for the photography compliment. I take way more pictures on hikes than I should. I figure that if I take 100, then 10 or 15 have got to be good ones. Plus, the camera on my phone makes me look like I know what I'm doing a lot more than I actually do.)

And speaking of driving, one of the highlights of the trip -- if not the highlight -- was driving State Highway 12 from Bryce Canyon to Capitol Reef. That route takes you through Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. That place is indescribably gorgeous. I'll post a couple of pictures, but they don't come close to doing the place justice. Massive expanses of multicolored desert canyons and mountains in every direction. My friend up in the Park City area told me that it's his favorite part of the entire state and that in his mind, it captures better than any other area the mystery of the southern Utah. I recommend seeing all the parks I visited -- and more; we didn't even get to Canyonlands, Arches, or Lake Powell -- but I highly, highly recommend exploring Route 12. (After the desert, it also takes you up into the Dixie National Forest, which has a very classic Rocky Mountain vibe to it. Stark contrast to the surreal Martian landscapes you see in Escalante.)

This is all just random, side-of-the-road stuff in Grand Staircase-Escalante:

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/7NCBO5qhHW-GX67MF_7bXsQeCJUAc-SJ0Lmb252_IDIJexaRMzKvFK-SVO5G__ytgpSnPemDeqTiStpji-8Vxxz7j3zDOfmxqduIF77TjiijW8KYefXJSOH20rqIL1VsXz0U EnekuIJK0nTpArPhaJOmiHUSVoEQUYE5kSZeAccPASjr_khtM5 SAkc12nBo7Hwu3jnoeDYKDGnAhj52ufD-pCBZV2YgW5o6u-06IrhjpPjLj2WWSalXIwoUCMNudiW6BciM0CGIYR9Xi88xWmOf 9zYdR4cFgr5NNtEEsiZ0rRbAGDN1ZnO1m1X9U2IPBsVZLp1EsP qisj5AbXBWkzv4W5d92DphZohRzzyWOWvO8mevJMI_zU-qxBcGcsIfA-7yHTk5xKmr4Q8Siy1Of4kqnUWtlT5HfqKc5jVfaDWF7fEkWxcS y3AWGf9Fe3PZ1usB5UYOJIyReGnULRB2J2M1A1GhaNhoq0FkpX tuMEFnK3rMrBwix8mnDgSsC8cYjn0oes1yxBxVCAajYhin4ZJZ SKuf7vR_XJg9F7ALu2aUfO44c-PkErtSc7EwXkeXWwwJghZfoMsJ0UYoIPyZfDvRhUDxg8NT_c07 rj56C8368gBlmz2Fpc4ADMB0Ayduo=w1920-h895-no

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/_LCRnE6wv5Ml6wJZesHUV7Z6kAxzJE-KGePsekOAh3ZbwDkXo5igebgObE_ta9ZYBP6bpG2VdgHHByn5X-pq-ZzVPSWeoVoqExsbcAmQSK2EtG4PJrA4-wwjxZ-m2iMXwlUp_8HdHt74Q7LEVZsokHjx0tm2HD7kfomAUTG1w8SFg V_ZUb1jUTdXXkxgA5zGwlf9yjmyxkrX7whuhInVX0AV_unYOR-L6LdsH_yBs0G8Fy2pVExNQpQdCyvntsyet9aamHKNbnh1T8GXF TWntd6NJaYyE4_D1iGc6Dmy-hTH0MYvlmaDMANrT51Zt_hc5sChkav5ymzHe1SYfvbmwYqJbE2 HGBrxFCcalnje-Ka5oBm6z9AjdCaRbn8ow9w_RUE8YtB1akR5C77jMHInGrPLV8X LstUtMkUvc70fPg4Fwryc68x2oFQhKaFtezcRaNWOdl4JMtkAi 93BvSrd13X4OrRqB0T-qfUOpRi-WJUXPkY-nrGD0zGmQO6iwhTKzBFMKw0MO_Q6GCskQD7zzBWESK5ueJMsVC zzjkUnN2_7_jGxhkKPpSK9yF4N4FCA9R0G1JCv5FfqWS1Yx6Gs VGOfXzjnB7cqBVBD-UmvPiXIiWpvz4ojy9kGZGeK5swZ=w1251-h938-no

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/ys5XC7R-x3YCOxnfjssrvh6b4tm2ZnaYKdVCdbWb81DMZwZD3ctmC0KdWY ViXgLtfwhys28MQK5qwowyKpx5kJYJTe0JXEvo9nD8Bv2tfN5S Gx05sDrTp1S-sghMRT9Bmp5l9Br_Q3-40lji414HAEXZd_lZEWofgCE6AZcYqr9Y-wS-8jjwPxhyqmhm7SRmkgcOBwk_7xgn41Gc22WtEe2aLUGBH1y34d bOmRU7O19ysaWdpHUDWka0bECd92Dp03WwiEC-Te7v1-eSRVBHfPaxhnS5r4MrFENsg7Tjv4odHnN55OeDYJ3BwuptBVUK irb0qiY5aNzlBYvxp_iTniUyE4FU3LClajceyjoGMbEo-lAXnhnPTJ2ed-z0jypv6eq5FXYdU3BQNpxA2ftCPMN9ERoDAV37AAojDv9yW6C3 5B4_4oFh7c_k_DTK2e2IL5Mi_-EBaOb83iIqhN-_jzX9TjFwuDPtLDs7Gycw9AUOawldErNTyz8C-z9ikapwrbyKyGDFTn7eRGDh3tTqW_lNekw8RwygMhpvZCzQXE8 O7eRTbL4AppV4jZsaI0T0XZsY0921D7Ck1z53sTd3j4bMPSCDc HyHn6jdYdrZPQas0DXQDaXr37ghef7zGtlA=w1251-h938-no

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/5EzkuFab6WlPh0qZcXmBtVfYkJHx50HoUgcLwSbTM5dYRrKA_c LbWF-bMKBsJLkj5qnU37fKWF3DGQ9SHUOFy6Q48KA0udoleIAd9Cfuh zXeKLb45BqZNDnBF6uzJRGnCbqWDvPKZZRz4nOGG_VhI0dR_Ix 2ZkJOFZg5AKUTCKxdSMxi6RZWfubn67N-HaGv069ZVR8l44h5fxKJR_T8WKe3LFfEqfhRQnkcwtsFHyGOKm BBNjQsiOSUlYzWyEHKy7fudC4ayEHy1Nbh2OTCxc9S70pexJYt 7NlZtGvFfwRDZVau1TFu8CohK4ljfatEYt6z2LhUSjoIYLwMtZ ogPLB_HIQGQYarpvX4E4WBhUkfyBklIv8oOmEYBqGWpzKZ8xW_ Kpwa5Ac0_H7JCV-bRM4xYlFhQdaewLj7WR0r2FJO9X4LXumfTUKKHYB2UK3cJsJ6c c-WtSkgMz2Xpm5ZslMbfpeYdpA2_aBYbk1u-6Bu8POeWyn08QWdldjIjCCJLG3oTr9z2UDpHV72OBppJNbErAd xMAz03WoTO7gG3rHMMFMO05fi-Z9xiGKvQPQk0MPlRRMBG-yRRDecTe7sasvSDBPBgyITLYw7ri6Xz-BDAYbGrcGWIERXeesKEhpB=w1251-h938-no

Prediction? Pain.

10-16-2018, 09:19 AM

Thanks for sharing this. Lived in Salt Lake for about 3.5 years and really enjoyed being out there. You hit some fun stuff.

We only spent a little time in SLC, but our impression of the city was good. Massive mountains in the background and seemingly a nice variety of things to do beyond just hiking and skiing. We hit up the Natural History Museum at the University of Utah one morning and had a great time. It's a helluva museum for adults and kids alike. And the dinosaur offerings rivaled those that I saw in the UK at the Natural History Museum of London. My kids loved it.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/YjZMsxolV8Bc-TnUc-Dj--gvc_Bwr9nr6ogL023T6q61LElcmtSZd2DE6m-1ooF0RBIesphEgzyLY0ADZVro8ANv_aW5aTGn9f27q8qq8LDCi 5MjZwjWwzFCY8volzYdJgSIB7gbcukZthLoLawZ1iQwkIs3JVy Y675V6StoIjc9wRCS0sB1a-rXl4s146SvVhwkkJCQqfTSu1maHte39D35Zt8sHcrb5ot1vm6s h5dM9zQYKPzqTcJX6KQBLcpWgggJIueRqAwSiaWBCe5i5a-Jru1nMhKMNjKfuGkRyyzVwjBMojD-GC3bVqKdbtze2nMEVCVC2-q1H3z6g7C4oL6Req7w-OeRnpORVAeycBzQuRqyr_ZPyIIhIFuvY2fWuqYszGWgu-Po-MMdvpxFvGs1iVij20uv28Z4JtrddCTHS4ZnW2U-hD_qzI2Vc5WXTU5Q1C1ERsV4HLxcvv_i63C9DfhyW-w7C4CaMijUa8wQ4GM_jxWsQtygKX0j_klYcId74b9Z3YqMwDgu KPoFnFcLn5fC11vgp2gIyzzFQ-lLYZfmRdywfAuCp0EX9bMzHnutbakKuQbSgypgj9iVSWt0oVkz JzV1yLHb-LEEQUyxh_jDLJ7axFijFXvWu7zK=w1251-h938-no

And, dude, what's with the cheap groceries out there? Our first stop in town after getting off the plane was to a Sprouts grocery store (a chain like Whole Foods) and my wife's comment after 2 minutes of looking of groceries was this: "Did the plane take us back in time? When did it become 1992?" It wasn't across-the-board insanity or anything, but many, many products, from produce to cereal to milk to yogurt were just flat out cheaper by a solid 10 - 15%. And it wasn't just SLC -- the Wal-Mart that services Park City, Utah, a fancy-as-hell ski resort town loaded with wealth had cheaper prices than the one I shop at in Chattanooga, Tennessee. WTF?

Political Hack

10-21-2018, 07:43 PM

Hiked back country in canyon lands about 15 years ago. Also did some short walks in Arches. It was amazing. Did a little 4-wheel driving outside of Moab too. It was unreal.

Those pics are unreal.

SpaceWranglerDawg

10-25-2018, 01:37 PM

We only spent a little time in SLC, but our impression of the city was good. Massive mountains in the background and seemingly a nice variety of things to do beyond just hiking and skiing. We hit up the Natural History Museum at the University of Utah one morning and had a great time. It's a helluva museum for adults and kids alike. And the dinosaur offerings rivaled those that I saw in the UK at the Natural History Museum of London. My kids loved it.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/YjZMsxolV8Bc-TnUc-Dj--gvc_Bwr9nr6ogL023T6q61LElcmtSZd2DE6m-1ooF0RBIesphEgzyLY0ADZVro8ANv_aW5aTGn9f27q8qq8LDCi 5MjZwjWwzFCY8volzYdJgSIB7gbcukZthLoLawZ1iQwkIs3JVy Y675V6StoIjc9wRCS0sB1a-rXl4s146SvVhwkkJCQqfTSu1maHte39D35Zt8sHcrb5ot1vm6s h5dM9zQYKPzqTcJX6KQBLcpWgggJIueRqAwSiaWBCe5i5a-Jru1nMhKMNjKfuGkRyyzVwjBMojD-GC3bVqKdbtze2nMEVCVC2-q1H3z6g7C4oL6Req7w-OeRnpORVAeycBzQuRqyr_ZPyIIhIFuvY2fWuqYszGWgu-Po-MMdvpxFvGs1iVij20uv28Z4JtrddCTHS4ZnW2U-hD_qzI2Vc5WXTU5Q1C1ERsV4HLxcvv_i63C9DfhyW-w7C4CaMijUa8wQ4GM_jxWsQtygKX0j_klYcId74b9Z3YqMwDgu KPoFnFcLn5fC11vgp2gIyzzFQ-lLYZfmRdywfAuCp0EX9bMzHnutbakKuQbSgypgj9iVSWt0oVkz JzV1yLHb-LEEQUyxh_jDLJ7axFijFXvWu7zK=w1251-h938-no

And, dude, what's with the cheap groceries out there? Our first stop in town after getting off the plane was to a Sprouts grocery store (a chain like Whole Foods) and my wife's comment after 2 minutes of looking of groceries was this: "Did the plane take us back in time? When did it become 1992?" It wasn't across-the-board insanity or anything, but many, many products, from produce to cereal to milk to yogurt were just flat out cheaper by a solid 10 - 15%. And it wasn't just SLC -- the Wal-Mart that services Park City, Utah, a fancy-as-hell ski resort town loaded with wealth had cheaper prices than the one I shop at in Chattanooga, Tennessee. WTF?

Haha, oh yeah, Sprouts is super affordable. They have their run of the mill stuff like Whole Foods and other organic type groceries, but we generally stayed at Sprouts and Trader Joe's.

We enjoyed SLC, but most of the time it was just because it was the hub to everything around it. 15 minutes to go skiing at Snowbird, few hours down the road to southern Utah, tons of great golf courses, but overall, the most fun is definitely outside the city.