Dayhiker
04-25-2011, 07:44 PM
In early April I went on an eight day trip into Utah with most of the time spent out on Cedar Mesa. The first day was spent driving from Las Vegas where i live to Page. The plan for that day was to stop and do a couple of hikes and then camp out at Alstrom Point but the weather forced me to make the first change on the trip. The first stop was to hike out to Brown Pockets just off of Buckskin Gulch. It was a nice hike to start the trip
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House Rock Valley Road
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Buckskin Gulch
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Brown Pocket Area
From there I went down to Wirepass Trail and hiked to Double Arch.
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I continued down HRV Rd and hike over to Double Barrel Arch
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After Double Barrel Arch I headed back up to Highway 89 and Birthday Arch but I missed the pull out and couldn't find anywhere close to turn around so I headed to Blue Pools Arch. Just as I got back there it started to rain. So I headed back to the Highway and toward Page
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The Road back from Blue Pools.
I had also planned on going out to Thousand Pockets but the rain was getting harder as I got closer to Page and by the time I was at stateline it was pouring. I decided at this point it wasn't a good idea to try and go out to Alstrom Point. So got a room in Page and had dinner at Slackers.
Day 2: The next morning was clear and warm so I went back to Blue Pools Arch.
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Blue Pools Arch
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Blue Pools Hoodoo
From there I did a quick stop at Horseshoe Bend and headed down 89 to Highway 160. Normally I take Highway 98 across but I hadn't been to Elephants Feet in years.
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By the time I got to Kayenta the winds were blowing pretty strong and blowing dust everywhere. On the way to Cedar Mesa I stopped at Gooseneck State Park but the winds were also strong there. This night I camped at Natural Bridges NM because of the forcast of rain.
Day 3:The day started cold and windy and did not improve. The plan was to hike down Road Canyon all the way to 7 Kivas Ruins, I'd been down the canyon a couple of years ago but only as far as Fallen Roof Ruins. When I got to the trailhead there was a family of three camped there who were looking for the ruins you see on the postcard (?) I shared what info I had for Road Canyon, Citadel Ruins and the shortcut to 7 Kivas with them.
The hike down the canyon was good until about the 5 mile mark where you are ledge walking.
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Across from this ruins is where I stopped because the winds where knocking me around.
After that I drove over to checkout the Citadel trailhead. I'd hike out there in 2009 but I was curious how bad the winds were.
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I have always been interested in Lime Creek so I headed over there and only went as far as the Y in the road since I could seem to find any place to park or turn around, I backed up to the Y to turn around. So I just parked in the road and hiked over to Lime Creek Towers.
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That's not fog or mist in the air but dust. And I was tired of the wind and dust so instead of camping I headed into Blanding and got a room. Plus I got to eat at the Patio.
Day 4: It was still cold, windy and cloudy. I hiked up South Mule Cayon to the 4.8 mile mark just past the 4th ruins. I had snow off and on all morning and by the time I got to this point it was snowing pretty good. Plus I pulled something in my right shin/ankle on the hike and it was starting to bother me so I turned around at this point.
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It snowed all the way back down the canyon to about House on Fire Ruins.
Too be continued.
43642
House Rock Valley Road
43643
Buckskin Gulch
43644
Brown Pocket Area
From there I went down to Wirepass Trail and hiked to Double Arch.
43645
I continued down HRV Rd and hike over to Double Barrel Arch
43646
43647
After Double Barrel Arch I headed back up to Highway 89 and Birthday Arch but I missed the pull out and couldn't find anywhere close to turn around so I headed to Blue Pools Arch. Just as I got back there it started to rain. So I headed back to the Highway and toward Page
43648
The Road back from Blue Pools.
I had also planned on going out to Thousand Pockets but the rain was getting harder as I got closer to Page and by the time I was at stateline it was pouring. I decided at this point it wasn't a good idea to try and go out to Alstrom Point. So got a room in Page and had dinner at Slackers.
Day 2: The next morning was clear and warm so I went back to Blue Pools Arch.
43649
Blue Pools Arch
43650
Blue Pools Hoodoo
From there I did a quick stop at Horseshoe Bend and headed down 89 to Highway 160. Normally I take Highway 98 across but I hadn't been to Elephants Feet in years.
43651
By the time I got to Kayenta the winds were blowing pretty strong and blowing dust everywhere. On the way to Cedar Mesa I stopped at Gooseneck State Park but the winds were also strong there. This night I camped at Natural Bridges NM because of the forcast of rain.
Day 3:The day started cold and windy and did not improve. The plan was to hike down Road Canyon all the way to 7 Kivas Ruins, I'd been down the canyon a couple of years ago but only as far as Fallen Roof Ruins. When I got to the trailhead there was a family of three camped there who were looking for the ruins you see on the postcard (?) I shared what info I had for Road Canyon, Citadel Ruins and the shortcut to 7 Kivas with them.
The hike down the canyon was good until about the 5 mile mark where you are ledge walking.
43652
43653
43654
43655
Across from this ruins is where I stopped because the winds where knocking me around.
After that I drove over to checkout the Citadel trailhead. I'd hike out there in 2009 but I was curious how bad the winds were.
43656
I have always been interested in Lime Creek so I headed over there and only went as far as the Y in the road since I could seem to find any place to park or turn around, I backed up to the Y to turn around. So I just parked in the road and hiked over to Lime Creek Towers.
43657
That's not fog or mist in the air but dust. And I was tired of the wind and dust so instead of camping I headed into Blanding and got a room. Plus I got to eat at the Patio.
Day 4: It was still cold, windy and cloudy. I hiked up South Mule Cayon to the 4.8 mile mark just past the 4th ruins. I had snow off and on all morning and by the time I got to this point it was snowing pretty good. Plus I pulled something in my right shin/ankle on the hike and it was starting to bother me so I turned around at this point.
43658
43659
43660
It snowed all the way back down the canyon to about House on Fire Ruins.
Too be continued.