Hiking and Splashing in Negro Bill Canyon, Moab, Utah

We went to Moab to celebrate a wedding of two friends. While we were there, we went on a fun hike up Negro Bill Canyon. The trailhead is located on Utah Scenic Byway 128, three miles north of the junction with U.S. Highway 191. This hike was listed as a great family activity, and they were right! The main large parking lot was full at 11 am on Sunday (we went to church first, so got a little later start). However, there was plenty of room across the highway to park.

I had the kids put on their new neoprene socks (something I decided we needed after our hike up Kanarra Creek). We tried to make good time up the trail, telling the kids we would hike in the creek on the way back down. But soon I got hot, so we started hiking sections in the creek, and the new game became to find the deepest holes. We saw some small fish in the creek.

The water was chilly, so when we got cold we hiked on the trail and soon warmed up.

The trail crosses the creek several times, sometimes with slippery crossings.

About 1.5 miles up we veered right into the second canyon and in 0.7 miles reached Morning Glory Bridge, the sixth largest natural bridge in the U.S., at 234 feet across. A group was rappelling down the wall next to the bridge. I had read about this trip, where canyoneers start out above this area and do two rappels and hike out. It sounded great, except the group had over 15 people in it and it took each person ten to fifteen minutes to rappel down and they were getting bored and rowdy and started teaching the kids new words that we preferred that they didn't know.

We had brought our lunch, so we tried to get away from that group and enjoy the view.

Water comes out of a crack and flows into a small pool under the bridge.

We knew we had a long drive ahead of us, so we didn't stay too long under the bridge. We started back, with more forays into the creek. This was definitely a hike where the trip to and from was even more fun than the destination!

We did have to watch out for poison ivy, but the kids are pretty good at spotting it. They even learned to tell the difference between the very similar-looking box elder leaves and poison ivy. It helped that the poison ivy was starting to turn a little red.

The rocks along the creek kept changing, and we alternated from shady to sunny sections.

While my husband preferred the drier route, the kids and I were happy to get wet.

We tried a selfie.

Then I gave the camera to my husband.

We hiked in the creek a lot, finding it nearly as easy as the trail and much more fun.

We still got out to warm up from time to time.

This is a great trail and lots of fun with the water. It's free so it can be crowded.

There is so much to see and do in Moab--we'll be back!

Hike to Kanarra Creek Falls near Cedar City, Utah

Since we have to take an entire day off to go to the dentist in Cedar City, I figured we should try to do something fun so we didn't just drive all day. The aquatic center didn't open until 4 pm, the bowling alley was a little pricey, no good movies at the cheap movie theater, no plays showing at the Shakespeare Festival, so I decided we would go for a little hike. I had heard that Kanarra Creek was a wonderful place to hike and wasn't far away. So after doing some errands, we drove there (directions and maps here). We could have parked at city hall for free and walked a few blocks, but it was already getting a little late in the day, so we paid $10 to park in the private parking lot. About five cars were in the parking lot. No one in the handicapped spaces next to the stairs.

The information kiosk that begins, "This is a difficult hike." The kiosk also said "Plan on spending at least four hours up and back." I was hoping we could make it a little faster, as we still had to do grocery shopping and had a long drive when we finished.

The hike starts on a steep gravel road and passes the water tanks for the town of Kanarraville.

Then we went down hill towards the creek. It was late September, so I was a little surprised by how warm it was and how green the trees still were. I was kind of hoping for lots of fall colors, but I guess that will happen in October.

The kids were definitely a bit grumbly. However, once the trail got harder and we started walking in the water more, their attitude definitely improved.

We got more and more excited as the canyon walls got higher.

In a bit over an hour, we reached the first narrows section. I had checked the forecast and there was a 0% chance of rain. Perfect, because if you were in the narrows during a flash flood, it would be a bad situation.

When Desert Boy saw the narrows, he couldn't quite believe that was our trail. I think his exact words were, "We have to hike in that?"

"Yep," I replied.

"But there's no trail."

I smiled. "That's the point."

Although I had them hiking in swim suits and some technical clothes, their feet got cold. And there was a little more whining.

But soon we reached the first waterfall, and suddenly they forgot about their cold feet and started thinking about the challenge in front of them. Desert Girl scampered up the ladder before I even had a chance to ask her if she would be comfortable doing it.

The canyon opened up a bit and we saw some smaller waterfalls. On hot summer days, I would hang out here for awhile. But it felt cooler now, so we kept going.

As we entered a second section of narrows, the water got a little deeper.

The beta I had read about the hike said the second waterfall could be harder to climb around, but on our trip the ladder there was in good shape.

We were a team now, overcoming obstacles in the canyon.

The canyon was absolutely gorgeous.

After the second waterfall the canyon opened up again and we found a geocache, had a snack, warmed up in the sun a little, then headed back downstream.

Desert Boy was ready to tackle the ladders on his own. (By the way, some of the ropes and webbing tying the ladder in place and for handlines are really worn--inspect them before you commit all your weight to them.)

Desert Girl wanted a belay, so I tied a full-body webbing harness for her and attached some accessory cord.

The belay gave her a little more confidence, and she did great going down.

The trickiest spot turned out to be this log, where Desert Girl slipped off and landed in a puddle, getting quite wet. I had a rain jacket that I put on her and that helped warm her up.

Going down the ladder by the first waterfall was a piece of cake.

Then it was time for more hiking. I've already ordered neoprene socks for the kids so they can do this again and enjoy it a little more.

They dried out quickly once we reached the road and headed back. It took us 3.5 hours to go up above the second waterfall and back. We saw about 20 people in the canyon on a weekday afternoon. According to reports I've read and the size of the parking lot, I imagine it can get super busy on weekends, with probably ten times that amount of people. But I have to say, the canyon is worth visiting, it's a beauty.

Our First Family Backpack

My husband and I agreed that the kids were ready to go for their first backpacking trip. We selected a short trail, about 5.5 miles round trip, up South Fork Baker and back the Timber Creek trail in Great Basin National Park. The trail gained about 1,700 feet elevation, but it was short, so easy, right? Well, we knew we had some work cut out for us, especially when we laid out all the gear we would need for a night out. We really had to carry that much stuff for just one night??

The weather forecast wasn't so favorable, with rain expected, but my husband and I decided to go anyway. I might not be able to take the night sky photos I was hoping to, but we could deal with a little rain.

We started out with a pre-trip photo at the trailhead. A few smiles, anyway!


We chose this hike because it has a lot of habitat diversity and spends a lot of time along water. We sure appreciate that in this dry country! The water means bridges, which are pretty exciting to us, even if they are only ten feet long.


We progressed up to a huge meadow. Desert Girl started with her backpack, but she didn't carry it the whole way.


We knew a large part of the backpacking trip would be just enjoying the trail, so I tried to do just that and not rush to our destination. I found the trail really beautiful and relaxing, especially as it wove through the aspen groves.


We took some time to smell the flowers. There were flowers all over, and one of the games we played on the trail was to spot flowers of different colors.


One thing that was new to the kids was filtering water. Before we left the stream, we refilled our water bottles. They were so surprised that you could use a little gizmo to make your water potable. It was also really close to this spot that I saw a marmot--a marmot in an out-of-the-way spot where marmots haven't been seen before. It's cool how they are spreading.


We kept hiking and got to the big meadow where we wanted to spend the night. It was time to go off trail and find our camping spot. This was also something entirely new for the kids, they were used to camping in established camping sites. We told them the criteria: flat, relatively smooth, and not out in the middle of the meadow or under the largest trees (thunderstorms were expected that night).

We found a spot and the kids abandoned us to go play on the huge granite boulders. They were delighted to make forts and slides and all sorts of other things. My husband and I put up the tent (a four-person backpacking one that I had purchased from Sierra Trading Post last fall with the idea of a family backpacking trip and weighing 6.7 pounds). It was only about 5 pm, but we were hungry so we decided to eat. We had brought convenience food, Tasty Bites, which weigh a bit more than backpacking food but we had them at home and they were easy to prepare.

Here's what Desert Boy thought about dinner:

Then it was pajama time and more play time.

It was so nice to be away from electronics!

It started raining, so we went in the tent and read. Then it stopped so we went out for an adventure hike.

As the sun set, the clouds turned gorgeous colors. We could hear a poorwill and saw nighthawks. Otherwise, we were all alone in our meadow. It felt wonderful.

The next morning I woke up (the tent stayed dry despite rain throughout the night) and wandered around taking photos. When I came back, everyone else was up and dressed warmly. We ate breakfast and played a bit, then decided it was time to go. There weren't any clouds in the sky, but more storms were forecast for the afternoon.

The wildflowers were exquisite. Here is some sedum with Pyramid Peak in the background.

The hike down Timber Creek was very steep but scenic. We quickly warmed up and started shedding layers. My husband was very glad for the hiking poles to help his knees.

We made it back with just one skinned knee. It was a really nice trip, and we think we'll try backpacking again soon!

A few tips for backpacking kids: pick an easy trail with little mileage; take lots of breaks; leave all the electronics behind; have lots of snacks; don't pack too much; but do pack enough to stay warm; be ready to explore!

The yellow-bellied marmot that greeted us on the Baker Creek Road.