On our final day in Pennsylvania we hiked in the Hickory Creek Wilderness Area within the Allegheny NF. 0004
Today we biked a portion of the 65 mile Pine Creek bike trail. The bike trail was formerly a rail line intially operated by the Jersey Shore Railway then a succession of failed endeavors until eventually taken over by Conrail. Conrail abandoned the route in 1988. 0003
First Hike of our current road trip. East rim of gorge down and back. 0002
Sportsmobile Huntington Indiana
Allegheny River
Final Fuel Stop in Corning NYFiona and I braved the 7F temperature today to take our first snowshoe adventure of the trip. We enjoyed great pow with all the recent snow and another seven inches arriving last evening. We spent several hours looping through a number of trails on the south side of Strawberry Pass (5300 El). A peaceful setting as we enjoyed solitude and a forest covered with freshly fallen snow.
After flying to Spokane we made the drive to Rossland via the very scenic State Route 25. Route 25 originates in Davenport and ends just before the border with Canada so we were able to travel the entire route from start to finish. Lots of great scenery as much of the route hugs the river following the many bends and also rises above for spectacular vistas. The ferry is the Gifford-Inchellium Ferry. The church is located in the “town” of Hunters, WA.
We stayed four nights at the Slot Canyons Inn while exploring the EGSNM. The inn is located on a 160 acre property about five miles west of the town of Escalante, and is perfectly situated to watch both sunrise and sunset. While in residence at the inn we had the opportunity to hike on the property (what else!). There are four hiking cats that live on the property and three of them accompanied us on our hike as we looped the property. Joette-Marie Rex owns the inn and is an incredibly gracious host. Joette-Marie invited her friend Mary Kaye, a singer-songwriter in the western cowboy genre, to perform at the inn during our stay. She has a beautiful voice and provided a lot of history about the cowboy history of the local area.
We also had the opportunity to visit David Delthony’s studio while in Escalante. David is a custom furniture artist and built the two chairs in the Slot Canyons Inn (pictured below).
The Slot Canyons Inn was a great base for our stay in Escalante.
On Thursday morning we made an early drive into Zion NP for our final hiking of the trip. We started with a walk along the Virgin River following its winding path until we reached the narrows where the flow of water due to winter snow melt makes continuing further too dangerous. We then hiked the steep climb up to Hidden Canyon. This is a fairly strenuous hike with a 1000 vertical climb along steep narrow switchbacks and exposed cliffs. Well worth the climb with outstanding views and exhilarating moments holding tight to the chains bolted to the rock.
On Wednesday afternoon we drove the Kolob Terrace Road to take in the views of the terrace and Zion NP to our east. The road ends at the Kolob Resevoir after 24 miles and an elevation gain of over 1000 ft. We traveled to mile 18 where the road is still closed due to remaining snow making the road impassable. Great views and a refreshing drop of about 10 degrees in temperature from the desert floor below.
Kolob Terrace
On Tuesday we hiked the Middle Fork of the Taylor Creek in the Kolob Canyons district of Zion NP. We accessed the hike from the trailhead on Kolob Canyons Road. We followed the middle fork crisscrossing the creek multiple times. The canyon narrows and deepens until ending at a double arch alcove. Along the way we stopped to see two long abandoned cabins built by homesteaders around 1930.
On Tuesday we drove north 40 miles to access the much less visited Kolob Canyons area in the northwestern section of Zion NP. The road is paved and winds up along the western side of the canyon providing spectacular views of Nagunt Mesa, Gregory Butte and Burnt Mountain.
On Wednesday we hiked in the Box Canyon within the Box – Death Hollows Wilderness Area which is located in the Dixie National Forest. The Spring Creek flows through the canyon and requires numerous crossings of the creek to proceed up the canyon. This area is very different from the nearby Escalante desert with a mix of red rock canyon walls and towering Ponderosa Pines. The creek was running high from late winter snow melt so we eventually had to get our feet wet on several of the creek crossings. Our hike took about 4.5 hours in which time Maria and I had the canyon completely to ourselves.
ON THE ROAD with Maria + Stephen 