Day 7 - Bryce Canyon

Page and Roman requested a light final hiking day so we planned a 2.5 mile hike into the hoodoos of Bryce Canyon. We arrived midday, had a light lunch, checked in to the lodge and then went out on our light hike.

At Zion you stay at the valley and hike up the canyon but on Bryce you stay the the top of the canyon and hike down into the valley. We hiked down winding switchbacks into Bryce about 500 feet in elevation down and then at the bottom decided to add on "about 30 minutes" to the original hike to the Peekaboo trail. Peekaboo is so named because it weaves in and out of the hoodoos to reveal sweeping views in every direction-- making for a sensational trail. See video example:

http://youtu.be/gRbU8cKe-vg

Halfway through Peekaboo we decided to take a one mile trail up out of the canyon. This trail ended up climbing 500 feet through a snowy narrow trail but we all made it out and decided to celebrate at the top. Pic 2 and 3. The trail back from our ending location was closed so we ended up walking three miles along the road. Twenty cars passed us before a nice couple from Chicago stopped and let us hitchhike back.

We went to a local hotel to watch the ncaa basketball tournament and then arose for a sunrise at inspiration point this morning. Pic 4. With the four hour drive to Las Vegas behind us now, we have completed four days of 12, 8, 10 and 7 mile hikes and are relaxing at the luxurious Delano hotel before our sushi dinner and Cirque de Soleil O show at 10. Life is good.

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Day 161 - JMT Purple Lake and Tully Hole

We got our first glimpse of smoke far across the valley as we climbed higher. Up on a ridge after a morning climb, we followed a side trail to an open viewpoint beyond the trees. Selfie:) The smoke, while visible, seemed to give the mountains a blue glow-- like a highlighter to a sketch. You could still see the edges of the mountain ridges, the story of their creation. We could hike in this. But the smoke looked worse farther south. Or it was getting worse as time rolled incessantly forward. On day two we had ran into a northbound hiker we nicknamed Speedy Steve. Speedy Steve had hiked 18 miles a day through eight consecutive smoke-filled days, including atleast three "very bad days" when he couldn't see the surrounding mountains, the sun glowed a haunting orange and ash accumulated overnight. On the way to Purple Lake we ran into three dirty, beat up, tired north-bound hikers with a similar story. They had to spend one night in an emergency hut at Muir Pass to avoid the...

Day 41 - Escalante Coyote Gulch

This one or two night Coyote Gulch hike was an easy test of my newly learned navigation skills. Anxious to get started I awoke at 545 just as the sun was rising. I followed an obvious landmark, a tall thin spire called Chimney Rock, northwest to Hurricane Wash (a drainage running into Coyote Gulch). After a couple of hours of walking up over and around slick rock, I entered the famous Coyote Gulch. The walls around me raised up, darkened and th water flow increased--like nature hinting at the scenic beauty ahead. The normally crowded Coyote Gulch was fairly empty on this early Thursday morning, giving the canyon a very peaceful and quiet feeling-- fragile almost. Down steam, I ran into the famous Jacob Hamilton Arch and then thirty minutes further-- the Coyote Natural Birdge. Both were beautiful due to their see through the wall character, but both would be overshadowed in my memory by the Stevens Arch tomorrow. Pics. By 1pm, I had hiked for six hours...

Day 42 - Escalante Stevens Arch

The Stevens Arch is so massive that legend says daredevil pilots would fly through it. I was excited to see it! Having napped most of the afternoon, I awoke promptly at 545, packed up my things and hiked down to the Escalante River as the first morning light was pouring into the canyon. Hiking around more waterfalls and ledges and along the stream before anyone else was up was nice. My written directions said to look for sandy hill to my right which led up to my only exit from the canyon-- the Crack-in-the-Wall. I ran into the confluence of the Escalante River, a point which my guidebook noted was passed my exit route, requiring a ten minute backtrack. This was fine though because I had tons of time and wanted to see the Stevens Arch. I crossed the knee-deep Escalante River several times before the Arch came into view. Like a window in the Roman Colloseum, the Arch seemed almost engineered by man in this tall curving canyon wall. I hiked under the arch and couldn't eve...

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