Padre Canyon Hike, near St. George, Utah

Near the beginning of October I went to St. George. I had part of the afternoon free and decided to try out the Padre Canyon hike, which I learned about from Eric Hansen's On and Off the Beaten Path: Hiking Routes near St. George, Utah. The book is available locally from various stores.  I stashed my bike at the Hidden Pinyon trailhead and then drove up to Tuacahn.

I had never seen Tuacahn. It's an outdoor theater and also an alternative high school.  

After skirting the edge of the property, I finally reached the only trail sign I saw on this end for the hike. The hike up from Tuacahn was a very faint trail, but I knew that I needed to get to the saddle. On the other side, the trail was much easier to follow.

I saw several of these beautiful butterflies.

The trail led down a wash, and I found Padre Arch.

A bit further on were some fun sandstone formations.

And tiny frogs!

I couldn't resist a selfie. I was really there. Ha, ha.

Eventually all the fun obstacles ended and I came out to a big, sandy wash.

The flood debris reminded me that slot canyons aren't good places during rainstorms.

It was interesting to see how lava intruded in the sand.

Back to my bike and a great multi-use trail. It took me about two hours for the hike, and another hour to set up and complete the shuttle.

The hike was so much fun that I returned there the end of the month with my brother and kids. The kids enjoyed the secret pool next to a giant fin.

Some serious uncle-nephew conversation.

I knew the kids would love the hike because of all the obstacles. And I was right. They had to problem solve and stretch their minds and bodies in new ways. None of it was too technical--although at first it might have looked that way.

The numerous drop offs always had options to get around them.

The recent rain had left the pools a little higher, making it more challenging to stay dry.

Desert Boy tried to get his shoes across the pool, but didn't throw them far enough. Fortunately they floated!

Taller people had more options.

Desert Girl loves to jump!

The reflections were fun.

We all had a good time, and I highly recommend this hike to people looking for a little more of a challenge and not afraid of route-finding and a little backcountry. We didn't see other people on this hike on either of the trips, so you really feel like you're way out there. To learn more about this hike, check out the Red Cliffs Desert Reserve website.

Afternoon Adventure Hike with Friends

 How far from home to you have to go for a fun adventure? Not far, especially if you're with friends willing to think outside the box! The kids had a somewhat random day off school last Thursday, so we had some friends join us for a little hike in Great Basin National Park. I told my friend Chayo that it would be an easy walk, tranquil. Not quite!

It started out like most hikes, on the trail, with kids hiking in whatever order they wanted.

We stopped to pick up some pine nuts. It's so fun finding edible treats while hiking!

Then one boy asked if we could go off trail. Sure, why not?  What could happen? This little spur trail happened to lead to the creek. And we decided why not cross it?

The crossing was challenging, with slippery rocks.

And ice! The water was cold.

Nevertheless, we all made it across, about half with wet feet. Then it was time to head upstream and eventually find another way back across, which left the other half of the feet wet. Fortunately it was a warm, sunny day, and we just laughed about it.

The kids were delighted to climb up fallen trees and pose.

And once we reached the trail and started heading back towards the vehicle, we had had so much fun going off trail on one direction that we went off trail on the other side. The kids ran to make their discoveries and share them with their friends.

They loved being in charge and leading us.

This little guy, the youngest of our group, was kind of grumpy when we started the hike. But once he got wet, it all became fun. He asked his mom if he could get on the bridge. Then he asked if he could jump off, and was delighted to hear yes. He jumped right into the little water channel.

Then he climbed a tree that he had refused to climb when we were starting the trek.

Meanwhile, Desert Boy was doing his best imitation of a monkey.

The kids found creative ways to perch on rocks surrounded by water.

And then our little guy found something he couldn't resist:

A mud puddle! He totally embraced the mud.

Our last sight was some wild turkeys. The kids wanted to catch one. (They weren't successful.)

Letting the kids lead and find their own adventures made this a most successful outing.

Calaveras Big Trees State Park and Highway 4

After a day of seeing beautiful sites in eastern California and the Sierra, and two days caving, we woke up bright and early and were on the road by 7 am from Murphy, California, with our first stop not far away: Calaveras Big Trees State Park. We went for a hike through the North Grove and had it all to ourselves due to the early hour. This is the place that the giant sequoias were discovered in California, the largest trees in the world.

We were immediately impressed. Desert Girl tried to hug a tree and couldn't get very far around it.

We enjoyed the interpretive booklet pointing out sights along the trail.

And we kept craning our necks to take in the very tall trees overhead. Coastal redwoods are the tallest trees in the world, but their cousins, the sequoias (sometimes called Sierra redwoods), get pretty tall too.

Some of the branches so high up are bigger than most tree trunks. This wouldn't be a good place to go in an extreme wind storm.

Most of the trees grow with a spiral. This one was especially obvious.

The trees were often spaced out, so we could see way up high. I was glad I had my wide-angle lens!

The kids had so much fun walking through this old tree.

And they were happy to check out the inclined bench, made to make tree viewing easier.

This fallen sequoia gives some good scale of how big the trunks are.

We managed a photo of the three of us.

This part with the meandering boardwalk was magical!

So what do the leaves on a sequoia look like? We found some younger trees where we could actually see the needles. They are kind of feathery and reminiscent of some junipers.

Desert Girl could actually hug a young sequoia and get her arms all the way around!

It would be fun to return in 100 or 200 years to see what these young trees look like.

Several plants were in the understory, including dogwood.

What does a sequoia cone look like? It's not super photogenic or impressive. The tiny seeds sure can produce big trees, though!

Some trees (not just sequoias) also had amazing lichens on them.

The kids were eager to spend their money, but the visitor center was closed. So we had to make do with a photo next to this neat sign. There are two campgrounds in the park, and maybe one day we'll get to hang out more with these amazing trees.

On this day, though, we needed to get home, so we continued on Highway 4 over the Sierra Nevada. I was quite surprised when the middle line disappeared and a one-and-a-half lane road appeared, weaving around hairpin turns, with steep dropoffs and no guardrails, next to scenic lakes studded with granite boulders. And there was more traffic than I thought there should be for this type of road on a Monday morning!

We made a quick stop at Ebbetts Pass, elevation 8,730 ft.

Although some thought this pass would become a major one, in reality it's a minor one, closed in the winter.

Nearby is the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT). We hiked on it for about a minute. Some day I'd like to come back and spend lots more time on it.

The kids were great travelers and we made it home by dinner time, with a couple stops in Carson City and a stop at the amazing park in Austin (check out the obstacle course on the far side of the softball field!). It was a terrific trip and so nice to connect with friends and see some beautiful sights. I love traveling and learning about new places, it feeds my soul.