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.

Return to Kanarraville Falls

The kids had a dentist appointment in Cedar City, which meant that I had to take the day off work and they got out of school for the day. With beautiful weather and 0% chance of rain, I thought it might be a good time to go back to Kanarraville Falls, a lovely slot canyon hike south of Cedar City. I asked the kids, and after thinking about it a little, they agreed. Last year we did this hike and all had cold feet, so this year we had neoprene socks. I also packed some extra layers in case they got cold.

Then we set off down the trail. We quickly got hot and were looking forward to the cold water in the creek.

In fact, the kids couldn't resist going down the water slide.

We continued on, finding more small waterfalls and having fun climbing over obstacles.

It didn't take too long until the creek turned and we entered the high canyon walls.

We reached the first waterfall. Some other people were climbing up the ladder next to it. Desert Boy said, "Can we go into the cave?"

"What cave?" I asked.

"The one behind the waterfall."

I shrugged. I didn't know there was one. "Sure."

The kids scampered behind the water.

Sure enough, there was a little alcove. And they were so proud  of themselves for finding it.

We climbed up and continued to another little waterfall. Guess where Desert Boy wanted to go!

A bit further on are more waterfalls that seem like they would be super fun with full sun. I convinced Desert Boy to slide down one.

Can you see his blur?

It was fun, but it was also cold, and we weren't finding much sun in the canyon now. So out came the jackets, balaclavas, and gloves. The kids started finding the drier passages through the creek.

We took a group shot before the second ladder, which has deteriorated a lot. We decided this was a good place to turn around, especially since the kids were so cold.

I did get in a few more photos.

At the top of the first ladder I saw the crazy amount of bolts everywhere. It was seriously out of control. Right above the drop I saw a yellow rope. I went and took a closer look and saw that it was the cheap rope you buy at the store that might hold 200 pounds. Except someone had girth-hitched it to each of the hangars. Girth hitching is one of the ways to reduce your strength the fastest, by \about half! Plus there were knots in the lower part of the rope as hand holds and the rope was seriously frayed. It very well could have broken with just 50 pounds on it. I didn't have a knife, but I pulled it up so at least anyone who put it down would see just how awful condition it was in. The old webbing that was being used as a handhold on the ladder side wasn't in much better shape.

I felt good about the ladder though, it seemed solid.

We warmed up as we hiked downstream and got into more sun. We started running into a few more people, as it was after school. I've seen photos from people who go on weekends, and it's a constant stream of people through the canyon, so I highly recommend trying to go at a non-peak time.

We got back to the first water slide and guess who had to give it a go! It was fun enough I went several times.

Desert Girl says she would write about this photo: "We went to a hike near Cedar City. We found a water slide. A rock water slide. It was very fun. But a bit cold."

Here's a link with directions on how to get to this hike. Make sure to check the forecast before you go to avoid flash floods, and have fun!

Wildlife at the Watering Hole

 The days are getting warmer, so the kids asked the other day if they could go to the swimming hole with their friends. Sure, why not?

A little garter snake was hanging out there.

Desert Boy asked if he could catch it, and I said yes. He quickly captured it.

 It wasn't very big.

Desert Girl came over to check it out. Do you notice what she's wearing? It looks like she wants to go swimming.

Ava gave it a try, but it was cold!

Desert Girl's expression is what mine would be if I got in the water! Needless to say, there was a lot more time on the beach than in the water. We're approaching high water now, so the streams are up and dirty. That should give us a nice sandy bottom in part of our swimming hole. We like the sand a lot better than the silt when we're walking in the pond!

An Early Winter Visit to Pruess Lake

 My friend Jenny and I had the same idea one Saturday morning: We need to get the kids out of the house! So we made plans to meet at Pruess Lake after lunch. We brought some digging equipment and a spirit of adventure.

Our dog Henry was so happy to go too.

The water level is always low this time of year, which exposes thousands of California floaters (Anodata califoriensis), a large mussel found in several states in the western U.S. They rely on fish to help distribute their glochidia (part of their life cycle).

Pruess Lake is historically a lake, named for cartographer Charles Preuss (not that the vowels got switched somewhere along the way); Preuss accompanied Fremont in his explorations and made many important early maps. In the late 1800s, a land development company wanted to make the desert green so came up with a plan to dam the lake to enlarge it. The first dam blew out in a few years, but a second one was constructed, using bricks made in a kiln up Snake Creek. That dam still stands today, and a tunnel through the rock allows water to leave the reservoir for fields in Garrison, Utah. However, the reservoir never got as large as the developers wanted because the surrounding rock is limestone, which is rather porous. The miles and miles of ditches they built were never filled with water, but you can still see them today (one spot is near the stateline on NV Hwy 487/UT Hwy 21 and another is south of Garrison next to some of the road cuts). Thus it was another water speculation that was ill-thought out and poorly researched and did not work. (Read more about it in my book.)

A small outlet stream leads from the lake to the tunnel, and Desert Boy wanted to see if he could jump over it.

Success! (Well, mostly, just one muddy foot.)

We picked up some broken glass bottles and sharp aluminum cans from the exposed mudflats and then started on our hike.

The kids were delighted to be outside. We found all sorts of interesting things to look at.

We lucked out with a nearly windless day, making for great reflections in the lake.

Although the lake water was too cold for humans, the dogs were willing to venture in.

One of the exciting finds was a catfish head. Two species of catfish live in the lake, along with Utah chub, carp, Sacramento perch, and one other species that is escaping me at the moment.

Did I mention the kids were having a good time? (The moms, too!)

The amount of California floaters in some areas was amazing. When the mussel dies, the gases cause it to float, thus the shells are distributed along the shorelines.

Eventually the kids tired of walking, so we turned around and headed back. We got in nearly a two-mile beach walk. They still had energy, but they wanted to channel it in a different way.

It was sandcastle building time!

Finally, with turrets, a moat, and a few other accessories, they declared it done (aka the moms said it was time to go).  What a great afternoon!

p.s. With the recent cold weather, quite a bit of the lake is now frozen over. Maybe it will get cold enough this winter we can go ice skating on it!