Charlie Stein's Photoblog

Tuesday afternoon: I had mentioned that on the previous day’s three mile hike into the Bryce Amphitheater, I had developed a slight sunburn. At the camp store, I found a choice of two sunblocks and selected the Bull Frog SPF 50 Super Block Lotion Sunblock with Titanium Dioxide. Try saying that real fast. After applying this, I remembered that titanium dioxide is a white pigment, and I guess that’s what elderly people use when you see people on the beach with their noses painted white. This was only 7% titanium dioxide, so it wasn’t quite that bad, but it still left my skin looking much whiter than it should, so I wasn’t that fond of it. It was also so waterproof that a shower didn’t entirely remove it. This led me to buy a different brand of sunscreen, which was more pleasing.

After lunch on Tuesday, I drove south on the park road, past the Amphitheater and toward the overlooks I had seen in the morning. I stopped at Swamp Canyon, the trailhead for what was supposed to be a 4.3 mile hike, with a change in elevation of 800 feet.

I had printed out a little map and description from the park’s website, which I had with me, but for some reason I didn’t have the park brochure and map, which would have been very useful. I believe that I accidentally left it in the car. I had a description that read, “From the Swamp Canyon overlook, hikers can descend to either side of the prominence on a trail that will connect with the Under-the-Rim Trail and then return on the other side, making a loop.”

So I descended from the overlook, reaching a branch in the trail. To the left was a field with pronghorn in it. Unlike the deer I encountered, the pronghorn seemed more skittish, and even though they were quite far from me, seemed intent on keeping that great distance.

Pronghorn

To the left was the Sheep Creek Connecting Trail, and to the right was the Swamp Canyon Connecting Trail. This is all clear looking at the park brochure and map (which I didn’t have with me). Apparently the 4.3 mile hike was to go left on the Sheep Creek Connecting Trail, turn right when that trail ended at the Under-the-Rim Trail, and then turn right when the Under-the-Rim Trail intersected the Swamp Canyon Connecting Trail. (Or conversely, one could have gone right on the Swamp Canyon Connecting Trail, gone left when that trail ended at the Under-the-Rim Trail, and then gone left when that trail intersected the Sheep Creek Connecting Trail.)

Not realizing this, and with my printout not saying anything about a Sheep Creek Connecting Trail, and instead describing this as a Swamp Canyon hike, I turned right on the Swamp Canyon Connecting Trail. Then, when that trail ended at the Under-the-Rim Trail, I did not turn left on that trail, as the website had apparently intended, but instead I turned right . . .

But I’m getting ahead of myself.

About eight minutes later, the trail began descending to the bottom of the canyon floor. This was an interesting rock formation beside the trail. Note the hard cap rock on top.

Swamp Canyon Connecting Trail

This cap rock is apparently a different formulation of minerals that was deposited in some areas, so that while erosion allowed rain water to erode the surrounding rock, the cap protected this particular spot and prevented the rain from eroding the softer sandstone underneath. This is how the hoodoos and other formations in the park were created. It appeared that the trail continued straight ahead, and I stepped over a log and continued on, but a few feet later the trail appeared to vanish, and there was a very steep slope downward. I turned my attention back to formation in the photo above, and noticed a small hole with what appeared to be a nest of twigs and leaves. It was above my head level, but I used my camera to shoot a photo into the hole. There was nothing interesting there, though, so I don’t know if it was an old nest of birds or a squirrel or chipmunk.

I again considered the fact that the trail had appeared to vanish, and turned back toward the trail I had come from, thinking that I would abandon this hike. I then saw the continuation of the trail, as a switchback that I had not noticed as I descended the trail to this rock formation.

I continued on the trail, descending lower into the canyon. I quickly came to an area where there had been a forest fire.

Burned trees

Burned trees

One good thing about hiking on trails is that one avoids hazards that he might face walking in an area without a trail. One such hazard are tree stumps, which may eventually decompose to leave a deep hole in the ground. As I hiked through this burned area, I saw a few holes, close to the trail, where fire had consumed tree stumps, leaving deep pits in the ground.

Swamp Canyon Connecting Trail

Around this point, I reached the end of the Swamp Canyon Connecting Trail, and as discussed above, turned right onto the Under-the-Rim Trail. I should note that this entire time, I did not see a single person. This was a very different experience than on my other hikes on the trails in the park.

Burned trees

The damage from the forest fire continued. In some cases, trees still had pine needles, but they were a brownish color, and I wondered if the tree could survive or if it was already dead. I wondered how long ago this fire had occurred. I knew that I was not the first one to have entered the area since then, as there were other boot prints in the ashes.

The Under-the-Rim Trail then intersected the Whiteman Connecting Trail, which was not on my printout from the website, but which I realized was in the correct direction to lead to the top of the canyon and the road. I also knew that the Under-the-Rim Trail continued on for miles, to the southern end of the park. So I decided that the Whiteman Connecting Trail was the way to go.

The burned trees continued, and once or twice I thought I saw some smoke arising from the ashes, or felt some heat from it, and again wondered how recent the fire had been. I thought that the ashes were just being blown in the breeze. However, at one point I passed a hole in the ground, where a tree or at least its stump had formerly stood, and it was still smoking!

Smoking hole

The Whiteman Connecting Trail began moving upward, toward the canyon rim, and the scenery improved.

Whiteman Connecting Trail

Loud grasshoppers were flying around. I heard one and spotted him flying through the air near me, and then he landed. Can you spot him toward the bottom center of this photo? He blends in very well with the rocks and twigs. Even having watched him land, I had a hard time seeing him on the ground. I think it’s a band-winged grasshopper (Dissosteira spurcata Saussure).

Grasshopper

Climbing uphill is even better exercise than climbing downhill, but I finally made it to the top of the Whiteman Connecting Trail:

Whiteman Connecting Trail

I was becoming a little concerned about the length of the hike, especially as I didn’t have the park brochure and map that would have clearly showed me where I was going. I began wondering if I should turn back, but thought that I must be nearing the roadway, and so I continued on a few more minutes and the trail did indeed end at the road.

I knew that I was south of the Swamp Canyon overlook and where I had left my car, and a map at the head of the Whiteman Connecting Trail confirmed that I was 3.6 miles away from Swamp Canyon overlook. I knew that walking 3.6 miles on a paved (and relatively level) road would only take an hour and would not be too exerting, so that didn’t concern me.

Along the way, I stopped to photograph a bee enjoying some nectar.

Bee

Right around an hour later, I hiked to the Swamp Canyon overlook, the beginning of my hike. So instead of the 4.3 mile hike I had expected, I had about a 5.5 or 6 mile hike. At the overlook, I saw a posted notice about the forest fire, which I had not seen at the start of my hike. It had apparently begun five or six weeks earlier. It is amazing to me that a tree trunk was still burning weeks later. I did not report it, and don’t know if I was supposed to. It didn’t look like there was much fuel remaining to burn, so it was probably not much  risk.

Bridge Fire news release

Bridge Fire facts

That evening, I went to a program at the visitor center at 8:00 pm, on the Night Sky at Bryce. I have previously mentioned that the air quality is usually excellent (when there aren’t forest fires at New Harmony), and as there aren’t many big cities around, there also isn’t much light pollution. Thus, there are usually grand views of the night sky at Bryce Canyon. The program was to discuss this, and afterwards to allow people to view the sky through telescopes.

I arrived at the visitor center a few minutes early. I heard one young woman talking to an older woman in Hebrew, and we made eye contact. During the day, when I was out on hikes, I wore a “boonie hat” to protect myself from the sun, but at night I was just wearing my yarmulke, so she no doubt realized that I identified her speech as Hebrew.

I fell asleep during the lecture, but can’t say whether that was due to having been hiking most of the day or whether the lecture wasn’t that interesting. After the lecture, I saw that the sky was still cloudy, whether with rain clouds or smoke clouds. I still felt tired, as well, so I decided to pass on the telescope viewing party and return to my campsite. I watched another Warehouse 13 video and then went to sleep.

The next morning, I packed up my tent and sleeping bag (well, I didn’t need to pack that well, since I wasn’t backpacking but rather “car camping.” So I threw the gear into the trunk of my car, without having to fold it and pack it too much.

On the way out of the park, I stopped at one last overlook that I had not yet visited, Fairyland Point:

Fairyland Point

I then bid farewell to Bryce Canyon, and drove to Zion National Park, about 75 miles away.

Next: Zion Canyon!

Tuesday morning: In the morning, I drove down the park road to the southern terminus, Rainbow Point. This is the trailhead for the Bristlecone Loop trail.

Here’s the view from Inspiration Point, about ½ mile to the south of Sunset Point.

Inspiration Point

I began walking down the Bristlecone Loop trail, a short trail that’s only about a mile long. As you can see, it’s very different from “The Amphitheater,” in that the visitor is surrounded by green trees instead of red hoodoos and cliffs. I saw deer along the path and was able to walk pretty close to them, but didn’t get any good shots. I have two other good shots of deer taken along the road, which I’ll post later. I also saw Pronghorn in the park, an animal referred to as an “antelope,” though it’s not a true antelope. Wikipedia notes that, “true antelope have horns which are unbranched and never shed, while Pronghorns have branching horns, shed annually.”

Bristlecone Loop Trail

There’s an overlook a short distance off the Bristlecone Loop trail called Yovimpa Point, so I detoured there. During most days, visitors can see Navajo Mountain, the mountain that is sacred to the Navajo tribe, about 80 miles distance. However, it was a hazy morning, probably due in part to the forest fire near New Harmony, Utah, as you can see in the photo below. In the center of the shot one can see No Man’s Mesa and Molly’s Nipple, an eroded sandstone cone, about 25 miles away.

Yovimpa Point

Returning to the Bristlecone Loop trail, the trees soon gave way to additional vistas:

Bristlecone Loop Trail

Bristlecone Loop Trail

Bristlecone Loop Trail

Bristlecone Loop Trail

Bristlecone Loop Trail

Bristlecone Loop Trail

A sign indicated that this bristlecone pine tree is 1,600 years old:

Bristlecone pine tree

Bristlecone Loop Trail

Bristlecone Loop Trail

A close-up of the needles of a bristlecone pine:

Bristlecone pine needles

Bristlecone Loop Trail

A friend of a friend suggested that this flower is a bloom of the
genus Castilleja, commonly known as Indian paintbrush. Looking
through Wikipedia’s listings of that genus, it looks most like Catilleja linariifolia:

Indian Paint Brush

Bristlecone Loop Trail

Next: Mid-day in Bryce Canyon.

Years ago, I had enjoyed a vacation to the Four Corners states, especially enjoying Arches and Canyonlands National Parks. Other tourists had told me that I should visit Bryce and Zion, and I always hoped to return. I finally decided that this would be the year.

Unfortunately, my friends were busy with work or school and thus I had to go by myself. I hadn’t been camping in a while, and about the only equipment that I still had was a sleeping bag. I also had an old “closed cell” sleeping pad, which is useful for providing padding under the sleeping bag, though I had doubts that it would fit into the duffel bag I planned to use.

I bought a Eureka Backcountry 1 Tent. It’s a one-man tent, but unlike some one-man tents, which are sized for a child or small woman, this one has a generous 3′ x 8′ of floor space. Many people buy a “footprint” to put under the tent. The idea is that a camper puts an additional layer of material under the tent, to protect the floor of it from being punctured by any sharp stones or pine needles that may be present. If the footprint is punctured, it’s easy to replace. However, for some reason, Eureka only makes a few sizes of footprints, and the one they advertise as being appropriate for my tent is 4′-9″ x 6′-8″. That makes absolutely no sense for a tent that is 3′ x 8′. The 6′-8″ dimension would mean that there’s 1′-4″ of the length of the tent that’s not protected. And the 4′-9″ dimension means that there’s 1′-9″ of footprint sticking out from the sides of the tent, ideal for collecting water in the event of rain and allowing the tent to then sit in a puddle of water. A footprint is supposed to be sized for the exact size of the floor of the tent, or perhaps an inch smaller. I considered buying a plastic paint tarp and cutting it to fit, but didn’t have enough time to go to a hardware store before my trip.

I bought a tiny little LED flashlight, a Gerber Infiinity. I bought some camping cutlery from E-Bay. From Lands End, I ordered a rain jacket and a couple of pairs of very lightweight pants, made from a cotton/poly blend. They are lightweight to carry, to wear, and they dry very quickly.

I still had an olive cotton bucket hat from long ago, and sometimes I wear it, but in a heavy rain it will become soaked. So I instead bought a Teva Goretex boonie hat.

I went to Sports Authority to try on boots, selecting a pair of Columbia boots. I had previously worn cotton socks when hiking, but have read that cotton is horrible because it retains moisture. I decided to mail order some mid-weight Merino wool socks, Columbia Falmouth II. A few weeks before my trip to Utah, I went hiking on a Sunday in New Jersey, and I was very happy with both the socks and boots. The socks didn’t itch, and while some people think that wool socks are too warm, I didn’t have any complaints.

Sunday, August 30:

As I had suspected, my sleeping pad wouldn’t fit in the duffel bag, so I left it. I took the bus and AirTrain to JFK, where I checked in my duffel bag. I was nervous that Delta would lose it, or that the zipper would fail because I had stuffed it so full, which would seriously affect my vacation. After all, it’s hard to camp without any gear. My carry-on only held a few items, such as my lunch for the flight and electronics: GPS, digital camera, portable video player, cell phone.

My flight left JFK at 9:30 a.m. and took over 5 hours, flying into a headwind. However, Utah is on Mountain Time, so I gained two hours flying there, arriving around 12:40 p.m.

The Salt Lake City Airport is surrounded by mountains, and the view from the terminal is prettier than most airports can offer.

Airport in Salt Lake City

By the time I walked to the baggage claim, my duffel bag was waiting for me, which was a big relief. I walked to the Hertz counter. I had reserved a midsized car, and their website had indicated that a typical car in that class was a Mazda 6. However, they instead give me a white Toyota Corolla. I wouldn’t have thought of the Corolla as a midsized car, but maybe it’s not any smaller than a Mazda 6.

My first stop in Salt Lake City was to REI, where I purchased a sleeping pad, a Therm-a-Rest ProLite 4. You open the nozzle, and it is supposed to self-inflate, though you can blow more air into it if you wish. Then close the nozzle and put your sleeping bag on top of it and go to sleep. To put it away, open the nozzle, fold it and sit on it, continuing to roll it as you squeeze out the air. I also bought a Rubbermaid cooler at REI.

I then drove across the street to a Smith’s grocery store, a division of the larger Kroger chain, and bought food, four gallons of water (and also a 1 liter and 700 ml bottle) and two bags of ice.

By the time I got out of there, it was 2:30 p.m. I had estimated the drive to Bryce Canyon would take about 4 hours, though the GPS estimated it would take 5-1/2 or 6 hours. I wanted to find my campsite and set up my tent before dark.

I left Salt Lake City, driving south. I stopped at a WalMart about a half hour away, where I bought a few additional food items and toiletry samples in tiny containers.

I then resumed driving southwest on I-15. Signs marked the speed limit at 65 mph, then 75 mph, and then finally there are at least two “test areas” which were marked at 80 mph.

I arrived at Bryce Canyon National Park at 7:15 p.m. and for $80 bought an annual pass good for all National Parks and Monuments. I found my campsite and set up my tent, which only took a few minutes. I unrolled my brand new sleeping pad, which didn’t do a great job of self-inflation. (They supposedly don’t when they are brand new, but do a better job later—we’ll see.) So I blew air into it and tried to move the air around to inflate the edges of the pad. I put that in my tent and then my sleeping bag.

Here’s my campsite. My tent is tiny compared to the space available.

Campsite at Bryce Canyon

I turned on my cell phone and got a signal, roaming. I called my mother and reported that I arrived in one piece. I ate dinner, got in my tent, and using my Cowon S9 video player, watched 20 minutes of Warehouse 13. I then went to sleep. I had expected temperatures as low as the upper 40s at Bryce Canyon, which is about 7,900 feet above sea level at the campsites and top of the canyon. However, it was even colder than that, around 42. My sleeping bag is supposedly rated down to 30, I believe, but I don’t find it to be adequate for that. Also, the design of my tent is such that I don’t think it’s great for keeping in heat. So I had to add a couple of layers of clothing, and even then I found it a bit cold.

Next: The best three mile hike in the world!