back home...for a short time

Once again, the canyons of Utah provided a welcome rest at the end of another school year. We camped for 12 nights, visited 3 National parks, 2 wilderness areas and one fantastic national monument. We hiked about 80 miles and rode bikes for an additional 130 miles using some single track and lots of remote desert jeep tracks. We were also able to enjoy the melt water from an above average snow pack in Central Utah. A few of the canyons we visited sported full on rivers that felt so good in the usual desert heat.

Riding the trails in Kodachrome SP

Riding in Grand Staircase Escalante NM
Sunrise at Sunrise Point, Bryce Canyon NP
Crossing the Escalante River, one of 30 crossings.
Resting in Deer Creek, Grand Staircase NM
Riding towards Capitol Reef NP in the Circle Cliffs, GSENM
The back door

end of school trip

RES version 2009-2010 ended today. This means we will take off tomorrow for our annual right-out-of-school trip. As usual we are heading to the deserts and canyons of Southern Utah. The weather has dramatically turned warm however, with temperature forecasts in the mid 90's for the next few days. I am unsure how that will impact our plans. One thing for sure...right now, I am not sad we didn't score the Grand Canyon hiking permits. Canyon bottom temps are hovering around 106 F.

One thing is certain, we will enjoy the red rock desert, but probably from a shady spot, and near water. Stories and pictures will follow. Here are some old images, just to whet the appetite.

Calf Creek Falls

Thinking deep thoughts on a previous expedition.
Geology as art, sandstone, desert varnish and water falls

a weekend climb

We had a beautiful Memorial Day weekend. Monday dawned bright and clear so we did our almost-a-tradition climb of baldy Mountain. Not many flowers yet, we saw a few deer at lower elevations and the occasional lion scat on up the trail. No pictures of the lion scat.

The official USGS summit benchmark.

Pasque flowers! Yes, these are supposed to bloom closer to Easter, but at 10,000 feet, spring is just starting.
A great summit lunch spot.
A yellow bird high above the valley floor.
A male grouse doing the strutting thing.