Today we hiked from the Wire Pass Trailhead through the Wire Pass Narrows to the intersection with The Buckskin Gulch and then east in the Gulch until the water made progress impossible without hiking through the pools. These slots are located in the Paria Canyon-Vermilion Cliffs Wilderness Area managed by the BLM. There are a number of petroglyphs where the Wire Pass meets Buckskin Gulch. The Buckskin Gulch is where the famous “Wave” slot is located but access is limited to 20 permits a day! The Wave became famous when Microsoft 7 added a photo as an option for their desktop wallpaper. I have included a photo of the Wave directly below.
We were hoping to head to Arizona via the Cottonwood Canyon Scenic Backway, unfortunately, heavy rains have made the road impassable. We have extended our stay in Kodachrome Basin for a couple of days. Kodachrome Basin is the first “step” of the Grand Staircase and has a bounty of impressive spires and great hikes. If Cottonwood remains impassable tomorrow we will travel east towards Lake Powell before turning south and working our way to Sedona, Arizona. 0076,0077
We have been taking full advantage of the great weather to boondock and hike in the Hurricane area and Zion NP. We also had an great afternoon on the dunes in Sand Hollow. We have arived in Kanab after about a four hour wait as a section of the Smithsonian Butte was impassable due to a strom that passed through early this morning. Fortunately the Sun appeared with a light breeze to help the road dry out enough for us to make it through the clay section. If the weather remains dry over the next several days we will be able to hike in several exciting slot canyons in the nearby Vermillion Cliffs area.
Pizza NightBoondocking on Grafton Mesa
Zion NP from Rockville Mesa Boondocking on Rockville Mesa
We have journeyed to Southern Utah near the Arizona border and we are enjoying the beautiful weather. Enjoying Fika with our old friends at River Rock Roasting in La Verkin. Camping in the Dixie NF under breathtaking night sky. Phenomenal scenery, hiking and scrambling! Not sure what else to say…..life is good. 0065,0066,0067,0068,0069
Unlike rural Utah, SLC boasts a number of very fine coffee roasters and shops. On this visit we visited the following shops: Blue Copper Coffee Room, Publick Coffee Roasters, Wasatch Coffee Roasters, Millcreek Coffee Roasters. Publick is an old favorite but the remaining shops were first time visits for us. All of the shops provided first rate coffee and tea products in nice Fika settings.
We were able to meet and chat with Darren Blackford who co-owns Wasatch with his wife. They are coffee lovers who started roasting in their garage and about two years ago moved into their current location. He and his wife are currently building a production roastery nearby but will maintain the roastery at the cafe in order to provide local customers with freshly roasted small batch beans. A nice story and really good beans.
Hill Aerospace Museum, Hill Air Force Base
As one of us continues to be an aviation geek we spent an afternoon at the air museum at Hill AFB outside of Ogden, Utah. A terrific collection of over 70 aircraft from WW2 vintage right up to aircraft currently in service today.
C124 Globemaster
Utah Museum of Fine Arts
The museum is affiliated with the University of Utah and the located on the campus in SLC. Although the museum is relatively small it is comprehensive in scope and worth a visit. The two paintings below dated 2016 are by staff at UU.
The featured image above at the top of this post and the three directly below are part of a series of 14 surviving linoleum prints done by Elizabeth Catlett in 1946-1947 depiciting the oppression of African-American women. The works were produced in Mexico and were intended to support political agitation for civil rights. The artist orignally named the collection The Negro Woman but renamed the collection The Black Woman in 1989 to reflect more contemporary terminology.
Crucifixion with Saints, ca 1480 by BartolomeoSister Perkins, 2016 by John EricksonTantalus, 2016 by Kim MartinezPrivate Car, 1937 by LeConte Steward Bingham Mine, 1917 by Jonas Lie
We did an overnight at CMNM which is in Eastern Idaho about 20 miles west of Arco. This is a 752,000 acre monument and wilderness area. This massive tract was once an area of significant volcanic activity and features huge lava fields, spatter cones and the remnants of a number of smaller volcanoes. This monument is so otherworldly that NASA sends astronauts to train here for Moon and Mars walks. We also did some caving in several lava tube caves which were formed by underground molten lava flows. 0058,0059
GTNP is a small NP compared to YNP. The dozen or so peaks that exceed 12,000 feet are a spectacular sight rising straight up from the floor of the Jackson Hole with no foothills. The park is abundant with Elk and Moose feeding along the Snake River.
Over the last several years hundreds of miles of mountain bike trails and paved trails have been added all around the Jackson Hole. You can ride your bike from Jackson all the way to and through way the park. This area is really becoming a biking meca. Aditionally, there are a number of excellent hiking trails of which we were able to take advantage of with the mild day time temperatures and dry conditions.
The town of Jackson has become very touristy and pricey. There has been a considerable influx of foreign tourists coming in large bus convoys. The good news is that despite all the crowds you can still find relative solitude on the trails since most of these groups hop on and off the buses to take photos and then move to the next scenic look out. Can’t help but feel sometimes that the more popular parks feel Disney like in the way they now have to manage transportation and crowds to accommodate up to four million visitors a year. Some of the parks are way to small to handle these numbers and now have waits of hours to get a shuttle into the park.
Excited to be heading west into Idaho to spend some time at several unique national monuments that require backcounty travel capability.
We traveled through Big Horn NF on our way to Yellowstone NP. The weather in Big Horn was cold and windy but we managed to hike out to the Medicine Wheel. The Medicine Wheel is a sacred site for Native Americans, constructed by Plains Indians between 300 and 800 years ago. The various spokes of the circle align to astronomical events.
The weather at Yellowstone NP was cool but mostly dry, so we were able to complete a number of hikes and drive the park loop roads.
We made the obligatory visit to Old Faithful Geyser to see the eruption which we have to say is pretty cool. The thermal activity throughout the park is spectacular, especially in the morning when the air is cool.
Grizzly Bears were out and about while we were in the park. Many folks seem disappointed not to have seen a Grizzly up close however, they clearly do not understand the danger of an encounter with a Grizzly. We did have a terrific view from a safe distance of a female Grizzly by the lake. We also had to wait on one trail while park law enforcement drove off a Grizzly by firing blank shotgun rounds – a little too close for comfort.
The night time temperatures are dipping consistently under freezing so we are heading south towards warmer weather.
Enjoying great weather as we journey west towards Yellowstone National Park. We spent a couple of days in Sheridan. This is truely cowboy country. Saloons abound along Main Street along with sellers and manufacturers of everything related to horses – saddles, bridles, bits, blankets, etc. This is ranch, horse and rodeo country.
We were fortunate to be able to stay at the Sheridan Inn while in Sheridan. The Inn first opened in 1893 and was home to Buffalo Bill Cody for a number of years. Cody would audition potential new acts for his wild west show on the large expanse of front lawn at the inn.
Western towns typically have alleys and narrow lanes running behind store fronts. We have learned to wander around in these spaces as they often are art spaces and living spaces. Sheridan proved productive in that regard. 0050,0051
The Brinton Museum in Big Horn, Wyoming is located on the Quarter Circle A Ranch. Bradford Brinton purchased the ranch in 1923. He came from a prosperous family, graduated from Yale and was general manager of the family business, Peru Plow and Wheel Co. Brinton renovated and expanded the ranch house, which became the museum in 1960 upon his sister Helen’s death. He and Helen agreed that the ranch property would be open to the public upon the death of the last surviving sibling.
The newer museum building, pictured below, built in 2013 with money donated by Forrest Mars, Jr. (think Mars Candy Bars) is beautifully embedded into the ranch landscape, providing spectacular views of the Big Horn Mountains.
The museum collection is dedicated completely to Western and American Indian art and is quite impressive. There is an entire gallery filled with Plains Nations clothing, some of which dates back to the 1850s. 0050
Remington Pembina Half-Breeds with Red River Carts ca 1901Brinton Museum (museum photo)Remington Trappers Going to the Pierre’s Fight ca 1904
ON THE ROAD with Maria + Stephen 