Atop some rocks near Bearthooth Pass

A while ago, I posted about a garden known as Pathway through the Bible.  When we visited this attraction, we were actually on our way to Yellowstone National Park via Beartooth Pass.  However, before we made it to Yellowstone, the charms of the pass were too much, and we stopped to enjoy its almost tundra-like beauty.  You are really on the top of the world here, with only grass and rocks, and the clouds floating above you head.  It was so lovely that, even though there’s no official trail, I thought I’d write about it for others to try.  Another nice feature was the snow that we found there…in early August!

To get to Beartooth Pass, from Billings, MT take I-90 west.  You will want to take Exit 434 (approximately 13 miles from Billings) and head south on Hwy 212 for approximately 67 miles.  Actually, at 64 miles, there is a very nice parking area with great views.  We stopped here for lunch before heading up to the pass itself.  Anyway, around 67 miles there is a short dirt road on the left leading down to a dirt parking area.  I’m not sure what this parking area is for, although I think a trail may start there.  Park in the parking area, and then walk back up to the paved road.  This parking area is about ½ mile northeast of the Montana/Wyoming border, and about 43 miles from the northeast entrance to Yellowstone National Park.

Snow!

Please note: Beartooth Pass is closed from mid-October to mid-May each year, although it may not open until June or early July if there is more snow than normal, and may close early if there is an early snowfall.  Check current weather conditions on the internet before you try to go through the pass…I’ve known people who’ve tried to do it, only to find that the pass was closed.  It is a long way out of your way if you drive all the way up there and then find it closed!

Cross the road and head up the hill on the other side.  As I said before, there is no trail, so just stroll up the hill however seems best to you.  You are walking in a field of short grass (and maybe wildflowers at some times of the year), with wonderful views of the surrounding mountains.  You really don’t have to go far for nice views, although I’d recommend going to the top of the hill or towards the far side of the hill if you want nice views of the valley (there are no guard rails, however, so use caution).  If you veer a bit to your left on the road side of the hill, you will probably see a small pond at the bottom of a snowfield.  We saw this on our way back, and had a grand time throwing snowballs.  It’s not every destination that allows you to have a snowball fight in August!

Climbing up above Bearthooth Pass

One good reason to stop and admire the scenery around you is because of the elevation.  You’re at nearly 11,000 ft. here (Beartooth Pass, right on the road below you, is 10,947 ft.), so those of us from the lowlands will probably be puffing and panting while exerting very little effort!  Use your rest breaks to look around you and enjoy the views.  Unfortunately, our pictures didn’t turn out very well…so don’t rely on them to show you just how pretty it really was.

We headed around the hill, and eventually found ourselves on a large pile of rocks at the top.  These are quite unique, as there aren’t many rocks like this in the area and the rocks are interestingly shaped.  We sat on the rocks and studied the landscape, took pictures, and generally enjoyed the views.  You’re so much higher than so much of the landscape that it really gives you a top-of-the-world feeling.

Two lakes from a pullout on the Yellowstone side of Beartooth Pass

After we had enjoyed the view for a while, we walked back to our vehicle, past the snowfield and small pond.  There may be tiny ice caves under the snowfield, but we didn’t want to explore them—I’d imagine they’d be rather wet, especially on a sunny day.  Anyhow, it’s an interesting feature, as is the little stream that flows out of the pond.  Return to your car by crossing the road and walking back down the dirt road to the parking area.

If you continue on into Wyoming for a short ways, there is an awesome viewpoint of two lakes in the valley below.  This is probably one of the prettiest pull-outs along the highway, so I highly recommend that you stop at it, if only to snap a few pictures.

Round Trip Trail Length: Varies; we did it in less than a mile

Facilities: None at the parking area; the viewpoint at 64 miles has restrooms

Fees: None

Trail 2 out of 5 stars

Road 4 out of 5 stars

Signs 1 out of 5 stars

Scenery 5 out of 5 stars

Would I go 100 miles out of my way for this? 5 out of 5 stars

Overall Rating: 3.4 out of 5 stars

Weather for Beartooth Pass

Today	Sat May 19	Sun May 20	Mon May 21	Tue May 22
Thunderstorm 46°/27°	Rain 50°/28°	Clear 57°/36°	Clear 66°/39°	Chance of Rain 46°/32°

Originally posted on Anne's Travels

The Lighthouse

I have to admit that most of my Texas adventures have been south of the state’s panhandle.  However, one park that I’ve enjoyed more than once was Palo Duro Canyon State Park, located only 30 miles from Amarillo near I-27.  Known as “The Grand Canyon of Texas” (although they don’t have much in common in my mind), the highlight of the park is The Lighthouse, a 300-foot rock formation that resembles a lighthouse on a cliff overlooking the canyon.  This is truly an awesome formation, and well worth visiting if you’re in the area and looking for a nice hike.  In fact, it’s the only hike I’ve done there that I would recommend, although it was so awesome that I’ve done it twice, once in November and once in April a few years later.  The trail is open to horses and bike riders as well as hikers, so there’s something for just about everyone who’s up to a 5.75 (RT) trail!

To get to the parking area for the Lighthouse, from I-27, take Exit 106 (south of Amarillo) to the frontage road.  The first crossroad you should come to is 4^th Ave (TX-271).  If you’re coming from the North (Amarillo) turn left.  If you’re coming from the south, turn right.  Drive for 10.5 miles on this road.  You will pass St. Paul Cemetery and the Palo Duro Riding Stables.  At this point, the road will change names to State Hwy Park Rd 5.  Follow this road through the entrance station, and past the visitor center and two campgrounds.  Just after the second river crossing, you should find the parking area for the Lighthouse trail.  A map of the park can be found at http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/publications/pwdpubs/media/park_maps/pwd_mp_p4506_007g.pdf

Badlands along the trail

Two trails begin from the parking area; both connect to the Lighthouse Trail, so you can take either—follow the signs.  As I said before, the Lighthouse Trail is multi-use; I’ve seen both horses and mountain bikes on the trail (one time we visited, there was a bike race on the trail!).  The trail can be crowded at times, although it’s never been overrun when we’ve hiked it.  Also, this trail can be very, very hot—there is little shade most of the way, and the Texas sun is merciless.  Bring plenty of water and sunscreen!  The trail is rated as “easy”, but I wouldn’t consider it a very easy trail.  At times it is quite sandy, making it seem more difficult than other 6-mile trails.  Still, it isn’t difficult, as the trail is mostly flat, especially in the beginning.  Something you’ll notice is that the trail gets progressively narrower as it gets closer to the Lighthouse; an indication that many people start the hike but don’t go all the way to the end.

Hiking through the juniper trees

At the beginning, the trail is fairly sandy and flat.  It winds through scrub and bushes that block any kind of a breeze that might otherwise be blowing down the canyon.  The most noticeable thing about this section of trail is the quietness.  The sand and bushes seem to block any noise, so you feel very alone in the silence.  After a while of hiking, the trail begins to roll with the terrain.  You will be required to cross several creek beds, but I don’t recall any of them having water in them.  As you get further into the canyon, you will begin walking among juniper trees that offer some shade from the relentless sun.  At 1.5 miles you will get your first view of the lighthouse, far off on your left.  Many people turn around here, but others keep going.  Continue following the trail up Palo Duro Canyon as the trail continues to roll up and down with the terrain.  You will pass a few other trails along the way, but keep following the one towards the Lighthouse.

Cool formations in Palo Duro Canyon

After about 2.5 miles, you will come to the bass of the plateau that the Lighthouse is perched on.  Don’t stop here!  The best views can be had by climbing up the steep trail to the base of the Lighthouse itself.  The trail here is more difficult than the trail prior to this; logs have been placed to keep the soil from eroding, but this effort hasn’t worked as well as was hoped, so there are now logs in the trail with gaping holes around them.  Pick your way up the trail, which is also steeper than the trail before this, until, at 2.88 miles from the trailhead, you arrive at the plateau that is the base of the Lighthouse.  From here, the views are stunning.  Not only can you get a close-up view of the Lighthouse, but you can also see parts of Palo Duro Canyon which are very nice—colored badlands, cliffs, etc.  You can also see some of this from the trail, but here you get a really good view of it.

The Lighthouse, as seen from above (we followed a social trail, which I don't recommend)

If you’re looking for more views, follow the social trail at the end of the plateau away from the Lighthouse formation.  This is a flat, narrow trail that will take you along the edge of the cliff to another area where you can view the Lighthouse.  This trail gets you far enough away from the formation so that you can actually get good pictures of it.  You can also get great views of the canyon from this vantage point.

Return by the way you came.  The Lighthouse is an awesome formation, so if you’re anywhere in the area, and up to the hike, I highly recommend you go see it.  You won’t be disappointed.

Palo Duro Canyon

Round Trip Trail Length: 5.75 miles

Facilities: On the trail, none.  Near the trailhead is just about every conceivable amenity, including a visitor center, picnic areas, historical sights, restrooms, showers, camping, etc.

Fees: $5 per person per day for those 13 or older to enter the park (children 12 and under are free).  Texas State Parks Passes, Youth Group Annual Entrance Permits, and Texas Parklands Passports (Bluebonnet Passes) also accepted.

Trail 3 out of 5 stars

Road 4 out of 5 stars

Signs 4 out of 5 stars

Scenery 5 out of 5 stars

Would I go 100 miles out of my way for this? 3 out of 5 stars

Overall Rating: 3.8 out of 5 stars

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Weather for Palo Duro Canyon

Today	Sat May 19	Sun May 20	Mon May 21	Tue May 22
Clear 95°/63°	Clear 93°/54°	Partly Cloudy 82°/55°	Partly Cloudy 81°/61°	Chance of a Thunderstorm 84°/64°

Originally posted on Anne's Travels

Anne

Originally posted on Anne's Travels

Part of the view from Chapin Peak

From most of what you’d see of Rocky Mountain National Park in the summer, you would think that everywhere you turned you would see crowds of people milling here and there looking at the same scenery you are.  However, if you work at it, you can get off the beaten path and still see some nice things.  I accidently found one of these lesser-visited places on my last visit to Rocky Mountain.  We came in from the west side (which is unusual; usually we come in on the east side), and didn’t know quite what hike to take.  However, we saw a trail up Chapin Peak on the park map, and thought we’d give it a try.  I’m so glad we did: beyond the fewer number of people on the mountain, the views were absolutely awesome.  We could see across the Mummy Range into the Never Summer Range, as well as across the valley towards Longs Peak, and so many other ranges and so many other ranges and peaks that I couldn’t name them all.  It was beautiful!

Chapin Peak from near the Alpine Visitor Center on the Fall River Road

The trail up Chapin Peak begins from the Old Fall River Road, between mile markers 6 and 7.  That’s about 6.75 miles from the east end of the road.  Because we were coming in from the west, we decided to park at the Alpine Visitor Center and walk the 2.25 miles down the Old Fall River Road (which ends at the visitor center) to the trailhead.  You can read about walking down the road in this post.  You will want to walk down the road for 2.25 miles; the kiosk is located not very far after mile marker “7”.  However, before you hike, be sure to check at the visitor center and see if the road is open: it is usually closed until mid-summer at the earliest.  Of the five times I’ve visited Rocky Mountain (twice in June, once each in May, August, and September), the only time the road was open to traffic was when I climbed Chapin Peak (August).  Whether or not hikers are allowed when the road is closed to cars will depend on the season; as I said before, check at the visitor center.  You can also drive up from the eastern end of the road if you want a shorter hike.  A small parking area (really a wide spot in the road) is located across from a kiosk with information about the area.  The trail begins to the right of this kiosk.  There is more space for parking further up the road; just find a nice wide place to pull over.  The trail is 5 miles RT if you hike from the trailhead, and closer to 9 miles RT if you start from the Alpine Visitor Center.

Low on the trail up Chapin Peak

At the beginning, the trail isn’t very interesting.  It goes uphill for a while through the trees.  It is fairly wide at this point, although you need to watch your step, as the path is laced with tree roots that would be easy to trip over.  After 0.25 miles or so you will come to a sign on your right.  The wide trail continues straight, towards Chapin Creek, while the other trail begins to climb towards the summits of Chapin, Chiquita (sp?), and Ypsilon Peaks.  Turn right.  This trail is also fairly wide for a while, until the real climb begins.

The trail rolls over hills for a while (including over a wooden log bridge across a dry creek, where 10 of us could easily have sat down and hung our legs over the edge to eat a snack), and then begins to climb some stone stairs up a hillside.  This is where many people turn around, I think, because after this the trail is much narrower.  That’s not a problem, as it is still easy to follow, and people turning around means that there will be fewer on the peak .  Anyway, this is where the climb begins.

Heading up the switchbacks

The trail will ascend the mountainside for the next half mile or so to a sign that says that the trail isn’t maintained beyond this point.  From having walked it, the trail is awfully nice for having not been maintained!  Here the trail splits; one trail going right up the side of the mountain, and the other going left into what appears to be a meadow.  The sign says that all summits are to the right.  Actually, both trails will lead you to a saddle between Chapin and Chiquita Peaks.  The right trail makes you ascend sooner, and then levels off a bit to cross many small patches of rocks.  I didn’t find this very difficult, as the trail is quite good over these sections, but you do have to watch your step.  The left trail is fairly level for a while, and then begins to ascend somewhat steeply.  The last short section up to the saddle, however, is extremely steep.  As the last part of the trail from the saddle to the top of Chapin Peak is also very steep, take this into consideration before you decide which trail to take.  We decided to go right (the way the sign says to go), but opted to take the lower (left) trail on the way back down because we could hear thunder rumbling in the distance, and the lower trail would get us off of the high slopes of the mountain faster.  Actually, the whole day was cloudy, which occasional sprinkles of rain, which is why my pictures aren’t as good as they might be.  Thankfully, the real rain held off until we were back at the visitor center.

A marmot along the trail

The right trail almost immediately begins to switchback its way somewhat steeply up the side of the mountain.  The steepness and elevation—probably around 11,000 feet—was enough to make us stop and catch our breath fairly often.  When you stop, look out across the valley—the views are really nice.  You can only see part of the Never Summer Range from here, but you can see the visitor center and the ridge that the Trail Ridge Road follows.  Also, other mountain peaks are beginning to poke their heads above this ridge.  The higher you go, the more you can see.

After a while of switchbacking, the trail levels off a little.  From here to the saddle, the trail works its way gently upward, crossing patches of rocks between sections of tundra-type grass and other plants.  Some of the wildflowers, both up here and down the mountain a ways, where quite nice.  I don’t think the wildflowers are usually still out in mid-August, but there had been late snowstorms and later-than-normal slow melt the year we were there, so the wildflowers were later than usual.

Scrambling up Chapin Peak

Eventually, you will get to the saddle between Chapin and Chiquita Peaks.  Actually, just before the saddle, a trail will go off on the right, just about the same place that the lower trail connects to the upper trail.  Take this right trail upward.  This is very, very steep; much steeper than anything else you’ve climbed today (unless you took the lower trail, at which point it would probably be about the same).  It could almost be called a scramble, except that there is too much of a trail and too few large rocks for it to be called that.  Cairns occasionally mark the trail, but I lost it in one place because it is a little vague at times.  In general, keep heading up towards the peak, and you’ll be fine.

Once you get to the top, a pile of rocks marks the summit.  However, if you really want a nice view, go a bit to the right (back towards the visitor center, which you can easily see on the ridge across the valley).  Here you have a breath-taking view of the Never Summer Range, the ridge where the Trail Ridge Road runs, Longs Peak, and other peaks and ranges I don’t know the names of.  I could even see Flattop and Hallet Peaks, which I had climbed the summer before.  You are currently in the Mummy Range, so if you turn around you can see other parts of this range.  Take your time to look at the view, but get off the mountain well before the summer afternoon thunderstorms arrive.  These usually begin to form between 1 and 3 in the afternoon, and then actually break forth after that.  It is recommended that you are off of the peaks by noon.

View from Chapin Peak

Return by the way you came, or, as I recommend, go back by the lower trail.  This is an easier walk (once you get past the first steep, slippery section), and will get you lower faster if a thunderstorm is brewing.

This trail is not as frequented as many of the other trails in Rocky Mountain.  I met about a dozen other people on the entire hike, but the marmots, picas, and other wildlife I saw were obviously not used to people, and kept their distance.  This, to me, is the proof that very few people actually use this trail!

Heading down the steep trail

Round Trip Trail Length: About 5 miles from the trailhead; 9 miles if you hike from the visitor center.

Facilities: Information Kiosk at the trailhead; otherwise, none.

Fees: $20 per vehicle, valid 7 days.  Interagency (America the Beautiful), Senior (Golden Age), Access (Golden Access), Rocky Mountain National Park, and Rocky Mountain National Park/Arapaho National Recreation Area also accepted.

Trail 3 out of 5 stars

Road 3 out of 5 stars

Signs 3 out of 5 stars

Scenery 5 out of 5 stars

Would I go 100 miles out of my way for this? 4 out of 5 stars

Overall Rating: 3.6 out of 5 stars

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Weather for Chapin Peak

Today	Sat May 19	Sun May 20	Mon May 21	Tue May 22
Clear 81°/50°	Chance of a Thunderstorm 66°/43°	Chance of a Thunderstorm 72°/46°	Clear 81°/52°	Partly Cloudy 86°/52°

Originally posted on Anne's Travels

A sulky rake and a wooden silo in Carrizo

A few weeks ago, I posted about how you could stand on the San Andreas Earthquake Fault Line in Carrizo Plain National Monument.  This week, I’d like to tell you about another of the cool features of this unknown national monument: it hosts two exhibits of farming equipment used within the last two centuries.  These exhibits aren’t what you’d normally find in a museum display, with fences around the equipment and interpretive signs that tell you what you’re seeing.  Instead, you can walk right up to these exhibits (you’re even encouraged to climb on one), and you can read about each one with the signs (visitor center) or informational pamphlet (Traver Ranch) provided.  There are old discs and ploughs, sulky rakes and chisels, threshers and tractors, an old wooden grain elevator, and even (my favorite) an old yellow crawler tractor!  It’s quite something to see these farm machines and implements in their natural environment (a dry field) instead of in a carefully manicured museum lawn.

The first of the farm exhibits is Traver Ranch, located in the southern part of Carrizo Plain National Monument on Soda Lake Road.  To get there, from I-5 take Exit 244.  Turn west onto Taft Hwy (CA-119W) at the bottom of the exit ramp; this will be turning left if you’re coming from the south and right if you’re coming from the north.  Take CA-119W for 18.3 miles through the town of Taft to where the road becomes CA-33S.  Drive this road for another 6.2 miles to the town of Maricopa.  In the town, you will need to turn right onto Poso Street for about 300ft., and then continue on CA-33S/CA-166W for another 9 miles.  At this point, turn right onto Soda Lake Road and drive 11.7 miles to Traver Ranch.  A sign should mark the parking area on the left side of the road.

A sign about dryland farming; click for a larger image

If you’re coming from the main part of the park, take the Soda Lake Road south for about 18 miles from the Goodwin Education Center (Visitor Center).  The parking area will be on your right.

Alternatively, from US 101 (Santa Maria), take Exit 175.  Go east on CA-166E for 66.7 miles.  Turn left onto Soda Lake Road, and drive 11.7 miles to the Traver Ranch, on your left.

***Important Note*** Google Maps and GPSs are notorious for getting these directions wrong, so be forewarned that there may be errors in their directions!

Minnesota Moline Off-set Disk

The L.E. Traver Ranch was created in the Traver Family bought 800 acres of land to farm.  The family grew mostly dryland farming crops of wheat and barley, although this could be a risky venture in an area that receives only 8-10 inches of rain each year.  They also built a large block house for themselves and several outbuildings.  Today, the house and the outbuildings are home to bats and other wild animals.  The park service is trying to encourage the animals’ survival, so they request that visitors stay out of the buildings, which are fenced in.  It is also dangerous to enter the fenced-off enclosure.  That’s ok with me: there is quite a bit to see without going anywhere near the buildings!  A small information kiosk is located near the parking area; here you can read about the family, the farm, and the equipment that was used.  When you’re done, head over to your left (if your back is to Soda Lake Road) towards the field full of old tractors and other farm equipment.

Wheatland Disk

Some of the equipment that is in the field is the type that would have been used during the 1940s, while others date from an earlier in history (you’ll find dates ranging from the 1800s to mid-1900s).  As I mentioned above, my favorite was the International TD-35 Crawler Tractor, still painted yellow and in good condition.  I doubt it still runs, but it looks good!  I’d like to take you on a tour of the equipment, starting on the end nearest the parking lot and nearest Soda Lake Road.  You should be facing the road when you’re looking at the first exhibit, and it should read “#1”, although not all the equipment has numbers visible.

Stop #1: Atlas Rotary Scraper.  This was used for clearing land and leveling fields before they were plowed.

A Chisel

Stop #2 (step slightly to the right): Fresno Scraper.  The scraper was used to prepare the ground for plowing.  It was dragged behind horses or tractors to level the field and pick up any large rocks that could damage a plow and keep the crops from growing properly.

Stop #3 (step right): International TD-35 Tractor.  The caterpillar-style wheels of this crawler tractor made it very useful for many different farming uses.  It could pull plows, harrows, seeders, and rakes, as well as other farm equipment.  This tractor started using gasoline, and then the operator would push a lever to run it on diesel fuel.

Stop #4 (step right and a little closer to Soda Lake Road): Minnesota Moline Off-set Disk.  This piece of equipment was used to chunk up the dirt after a field had been plowed.  These discs were ganged in tandem.

Stop #7 (step right; we’ll get back to #5, #6, and #9 later): Wheatland Disk.  This harrow is similar to the Minnesota Moline, and broke up a larger swath of soil than many other disk harrows.  The rear gang could also be detached.

Stop #8 (step right): Stockton Plow.  The Stockton plow was invented in California, and was often used on large grain farms around 1900.  The curved plate that was mounted on the plowshare and rotated the soil gave the plow a secondary name of Moldboard Plow.

Stop #10 (step right and a little back from the road): Chisel.  Chisels were used to deeply till the soil.  The piece of equipment was only used occasionally.

A Sulky Rake

Stop #11 (step right): Seeder.  This was used to spread grain seeds over the soil that had been tilled.  Seeders can be pulled by horses or pulled by a tractor.

Stop #12 (step right and a little away from the road): Another Seeder.

Stop #13 (step right and a little away from the road): Yet another Seeder.

Stop #14 (walk towards the road): Sulky Rake.  A Sulky Rake was usually drawn by one or two horses and was used to gather grain or hay when harvesting.  This was especially interesting to my group because my grandmother used to drive one on her family farm.

Stop #15 (walk back over toward #13): Hay Bale Loader.  After the hay had been cut and bound, it was left in the field.  A bale loader like this one would be attached to a truck or tractor and driven through the field so the bales of hay could be tossed in and easily transported to the barn.

Stop #16 (step right): Another Hay Bale Loader.

DYRR Off-set Disk

Stop #17 (walk towards the road): Grain Auger.  A grain auger took the grain from a truck and deposited it into tanks for storage.  This saved the farmers from needing to toss the grain into the tanks by hand.

Stop #18 (turn around and walk away from the road to the far corner of the field away from the road and parking area): Water Wagon.  This piece of machinery was used by Basque sheepherders on Carrizo Plain to carry water with them.  In an area that only receives 8-10 inches of rain a year, water is a precious necessity.

Stop #9 (walk back towards the parking area): Tool Cart.  This was used to take tools from the barns or outbuildings to other parts of the farm.

Stop #6 (step right): DYRR Off-set Disk.  The DYRR is one of the earliest models of off-set disk harrows.  This one was made in Oxnard, California by DYRR Products.

Stop #5 (step right): Light Disk.  Like the other harrows, this one is off-set.  It is called “light” because it has smaller disks, and therefore it did not dig as deeply into the soil.

From here you can walk back to your vehicle, or continue to enjoy the old farm equipment more thoroughly.  Some of the equipment has signs specifically requesting visitors not to climb on or handle the equipment; please respect these requests.

One of the threshers near the visitor center

If you’re in the mood to see some more farm equipment, but some that is very different from what you’ve already seen, turn left out of the parking area onto Soda Lake Road and drive 18 miles to the Goodwin Educational Center (the visitor center).  A sign before you get to Soda Lake will point left down another road to get to the center—follow the signs; it is well-marked.  Park in the parking area next to the visitor center (which was closed the entire time we were there, likely due to the fact that it was New Year’s Eve).  Then walk down the dirt road to the right of the visitor center (when you’re in the parking lot facing the visitor center).  It’s a little bit of a walk, but not too bad, to get to the farm machinery.  When we were there, it was a very misty morning in late December.  All the equipment, and especially the wooden grain elevator, looked surreal and mystical with the mist obscuring the sky and nearby farmland and swirling gently around the equipment from long-gone days.  I highly recommend that you visit on a misty morning!

A short ways down the road you will come to a row of old tractors and threshers.  There is also an old Sulky Rake, and some other pieces of old equipment.  The threshers were the most fascinating part to me.  These were once used to thresh grain, taking the threshing time needed to do the job by hand and cutting it dramatically.  However, threshers could be very difficult and cumbersome to operate, as well as dangerous.  It took several full-grown men to run a thresher, so neighbors often helped each other out during threshing time.  The tractors in the area are also very interesting.  Interpretive signs offer information about threshing and farming in the area.

Threshers near the visitor center

Over beyond the farm equipment are some old buildings, including a wooden grain elevator.  At one time there were tanks beneath each of the pipes that now hang off of it.  Grain was dumped at the bottom of the structure, and the elevator took it up and dropped it into the tanks.  There are some other outbuildings in that area; I don’t recall looking at them while I was visiting, although I don’t believe there was anything stopping us, either.

Neither walk to see the farm equipment is exactly a hike, but it’s a really interesting way to spend part of a day.  I love history, so to be able to see the remnants of the past, up close and personal, was a lot of fun.  Between this and the Wallace Creek Trail, you could spend a good part of a day enjoying Carrizo National Monument…you should see Soda Lake, too, but I’ll save that for another post.

Trail 4 out of 5 stars

Road 5 out of 5 stars

Signs 4 out of 5 stars

Scenery 3 out of 5 stars

Would I go 100 miles out of my way for this? 3 out of 5 stars

Overall Rating: 3.8 out of 5 stars

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Weather for Carrizo National Monument

Today	Sat May 19	Sun May 20	Mon May 21	Tue May 22
Clear 81°/57°	Clear 88°/59°	Clear 91°/63°	Clear 88°/59°	Clear 86°/57°

Originally posted on Anne's Travels

Irondequoit Bay from the Green Trail

Last weekend we needed an Event.  Something beyond the everyday routine that would get us out of the house and doing something together.  In other words, it was time to find a new trail to hike that was nearby.  While driving around town, we’d seen signs for Abraham Lincoln Park (formally Irondequoit Bay Park East).  “Let’s check it out,” we said.  It turned out to be a lovely stretch of forest along Irondequoit Bay (this bay stretches out to Lake Ontario east of Rochester, NY for those of you who aren’t familiar with the area).  The leaves weren’t out yet, but even once they come out you should be able to get some nice views of the bay, the south end of the Bay (to the left), and the Irondequoit Bay Bridge (to the right).  There are also several miles of trails, and we only scratched the surface of the trail system by taking a 3-4 mile (RT) hike along the White, Green, and Red trails.  It was a beautiful way to spend a Saturday afternoon in the early spring, and we even got to see some scenery that isn’t reminiscent of the Lake Plain: I climbed more hills along those trails than I’ve climbed in a long time around where I live!

To get to the Abraham Lincoln Park, from NY-590 take Exit 8 to Empire Blvd.  This is the same exit as for Empire State College, so you will see college signs with the name “Empire”.  If you’re coming from NY-590 N, get in either of the two right lanes on the exit ramp and turn right.  If you’re coming from NY-590 S, get in either of the two left lanes on the exit ramp and turn left.  Either way, you will quickly pass under a stoplight and begin to descend a hill steeply.  Warning: this hill often has police watching the speech of traffic!  Go down the hill and then up the other side.  You have just crossed over the south end of Irondequoit Bay.  Two miles from the exit, Abraham Lincoln Park will be on your left.  If you come to a stoplight at the top of the hill, you’ve gone too far.  The park has a small, paved parking area, a couple of picnic shelters, and some playground equipment.  There is a nice sign marking the park, but very little prior warning that the park is coming.  If you’re coming from Ridge Road rather than NY-590, take Empire Blvd. when it splits off from Ridge Road near Empire Lanes Bowling Alley, or turn down Gravel Road to go past the West Webster Fire Station and then merge onto Empire Blvd.  Either way, drive past Wegmans and Walmart and through the two stoplights after these two stores.  You will begin to go downhill.  The destination will be on your right not long after Plank Road.  If you reach the bottom of the hill, you’ve gone too far.

The playground

To the right of the playground equipment is a very nice kiosk with a nice map of the trails in the area.  I took a picture of the map, and it came in useful later when we were trying to figure out where we were!  I’ve included this picture in this post, but you might want a print-out of the map or to take a picture yourself for future reference.  For now, head right around the sign and down a gravel path, skirting the edge of the Natural Play Area (in other words, logs and large rocks to climb on, jump on, and generally have fun with—it looked like a really cool area, although we didn’t check it out too closely).  Before long, you will come to a sign that tells you that this is the beginning of the White Trail.  I’m not sure whether this is really the beginning of the White Trail or not, but turn down this dirt path anyway.  The trail will almost immediately begin to go downhill.  As I said above, there are a lot of hills in this park.  You are descending to nearly the Bay level, although you’ll hike back up some hills later on.

The "natural play area"

Continue to descend this trail until it intersects with another white trail—there will be white blazes going all three directions at this intersection.  Turn right and continue to descend towards the Bay level.  You will cross a little creek quite soon after this and then follow the creek down to a marshy area.  Actually, the creek falls much faster than the trail, so you’re a good ways above the creek for a while.  This is a nice section of trail, with trees all around but open enough to see the stream below you and the trail ahead of you (when it doesn’t go around corners, following the terrain of the hill!).  After not too long, you will come down to a marshy section and will walk through some cattails.  Keep following the trail.  This wasn’t muddy at all when I visited, but I suspect it would be wet and/or buggy at other times of year.

Looking across the bay from the Green Trail

Keep following the trail as it leaves this section and rolls up and over a few hills.  You will pass a sign for the Yellow Trail; continue to follow the White Trail.  There are many, many social trails in this park, but the colored trails have signs, in general, showing you where they begin.  Some of the social trails are marked on the map as black lines.  Eventually, you will begin walking up what appears to be a streambed, although I didn’t see much evidence of water.  You will pass under a huge tree over your head (we climbed out on it; I gather that many people do this) and then the trail will turn and begin to go steeply uphill.  Just before this, the Yellow Trail should reconnect with the White Trail.  Keep following the White Trail.  There is actually a trail to the left of the White Trail that follows the terrain a little better and is not quite so steep.  From the top, continue to hike the rolling trail as it makes its way closer to the Bay.

The Irondequoit Bay Bridge from the Red Trail

Not long after the big hill you will come to the Green Trail.  If you’re looking for a nice hike and great views of the Bay, turn left down this trail, then right when the Green Trail splits.  This trail is a loop, and 0.37 miles in length.  Follow it as it descends to the water of Irondequoit Bay, a little over half way around the loop.  You’ll know when you’re there; it’s the only place along this trail where you can actually approach the water’s edge.  Some of my group members opted to climb out on a tree trunk over the Bay where the trail first comes close to the water, while others of us went down a little side trail for 5-10 feet to the water’s edge.  It’s a nice place; don’t forget your camera.  You can see the Irondequoit Bay Bridge, as well as the south end of the Bay and the houses across the Bay.  This would be a great place to watch the boats on the Bay.  We also saw some swans in this area.

A tree in bloom overlooking the bay

When you’re done enjoying the view, continue around the loop and back to the White Trail.  Turn left to continue to hike; otherwise turn right to go back to your vehicle.  Continuing down the White Trail, the trail itself will continue to roll up and down; I don’t think I’ve seen such a hilly trail near where I live, ever!  It’s great, but not what I’m used to.  You will come to a place where the trail splits to go down a hill.  It doesn’t matter which you take, as both will take you to the creek bed below.  We chose the left trail because it had white blazes on the trees: each trail has trees marked with blazes of the color of the trail.  At the bottom of this hill you will need to cross a little stream (there is a wooden bridge) and then begin to climb up the trail on the other side of the ravine.  Both of these hills are fairly steep.

The dock along the White Trail

After a little while, you will come to the junction with the Red Trail.  I recommend this trail, because, again, it gets you close to the Bay.  Turn left down this trail.  Actually just before this you will see orang blazes on a trail on your right.  You’ll hike on this trail later, but for now keep following the white blazes.  Anyway, after turning down the Red Trail, the trail continues to roll and then descend steeply to the Bay.  You can’t actually touch the water here, but you can get another view across the Bay of the houses on the other side and the Irondequoit Bay Bridge.  It’s a similar view to what you can see on the Green Trail, so if you’re not feeling like both of them, the Green is probably better (the Red Trail is 0.32 miles in length, but cuts off some of the White Trail).  You’re higher on the Red Trail, so you do get a slightly different vantage point.  Keep walking along the Red Trail and eventually it will drop you back on the White Trail.  Turn left.

Looking south from the end of the dock

After a fairly short distance, you will come to an old metal barn.  Keep walking around the barn (to its right) and to the boat ramp at the other end.  I recommend walking out on the dock that is attached to the boat ramp.  If it’s windy at all, the dock will rock quite a bit, but that’s a lot of fun!  There is a pretty good view of the Bay from the dock; all you could see from the Green Trail and the Red Trail and more.  When you’re done looking, you can either take the White Trail back, or you can go on a little adventure.  Of course, I did the adventure…and we didn’t even get too badly lost!  (Ok, we took one wrong turn, but we figured it out pretty quickly).

Map of Abraham Lincoln Park Trails

Keep following the trail/road that runs away from the metal barn.  Pretty quickly you will intersect a road on your right; there will be electric poles along this road.  Follow the road uphill past an old sewage treatment plant and over a little gate.  About halfway up the hill beyond the little gate, near a grating in the road, on your right, will be a trail with orange blazes.  You want this trail.  If you get to the top of the hill, a house, a parking lot, and a huge gate made out of a light pole, you’ve gone too far.  Follow the Orange Trail as it rolls over some hills, then comes to an intersection with orange blazes in both directions…these blazes will not be quickly apparent.  Turn left here to go steeply downhill.  Before too long, you will come out on the White Trail; turn left.  Follow the White Trail back to your vehicle.

In all, I’m guessing we hiked between 3.5 and 4 miles.  It’s not a hike I’d travel very far to get to, but, being on the other side of town, it’s a very nice place to spend an afternoon…or a few afternoons in the near future!

Round Trip Trail Length: As long as you want to make it; we hiked about 4 miles.

Facilities: Port-a-Potties at the parking area, picnic tables, information kiosk, two play areas

Fees: None

Trail 3 out of 5 stars

Road 5 out of 5 stars

Signs 4 out of 5 stars

Scenery 3 out of 5 stars

Would I go 100 miles out of my way for this? 2 out of 5 stars

Overall Rating: 3.4 out of 5 stars

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Weather for Abraham Lincoln Park

Today	Sat May 19	Sun May 20	Mon May 21	Tue May 22
Clear 73°/54°	Clear 79°/54°	Clear 82°/61°	Partly Cloudy 82°/57°	Chance of a Thunderstorm 75°/55°

Originally posted on Anne's Travels

The tower at the top of Mount Greylock

Think beautiful views…think green mountains all around you…think historic structures…think memorial towers…think J. R. R. Tolkien…  Wait…Tolkien, in the middle of mountains and historic structures?  Yes, think Tolkien!  On top of Mount Greylock in the Berkshires of Massachusetts (you knew that if it was like Tolkien there had to be a “shire” in the name!) a tower was constructed to commemorate all who have fallen in war.  However, the tower, in my opinion, looks like it came out of the Lord of the Rings, or another of Tolkien’s books about Middle Earth.  One of my group members even took a picture of the tower and then put runes (Middle Earth writing) around the outside of it.  As an added bonus, Mount Greylock also offers nice views of the surrounding area and is the highest mountain in Massachusetts.  You can either drive to the top of the mountain or take a 3.2 mile (RT) trail to the summit.  I’ve never driven the road, as it was closed when I visited, but I’ll tell you about the Thunderbolt Trail that zigzags its way up to the Appalachian Trail, and from there to the top of the mountain.  It’s a steepish hike, but worth it to see the tower and the views from the top.

To get to the trailhead, from the town of Adams, go north on Highway 8 and take a right onto Friend Street.  This will be just before the Adams Wastewater Treatment Plant (if you’re coming from the north rather than from the town of Adams, Friend Street should be your first left after the plant).  At this intersection, there should be a park on one side of the road, a 7-Eleven on another side of the road, a garage of some sort on the third corner, and a car dealership on the fourth corner.  Drive on Friend Street for 1.5 miles—the name will change to W (or West) Road after 1.1 miles.  Turn right onto Gould Road; you will have just passed another road on your left and a light blue/grey house will be across the street from the intersection.  Drive on this road for approximately 1 mile to the end of the road.  After 0.5 miles, the road will change names to Thiel Road—some say that you will have been on Thiel Road since you turned onto what I called Gould Road.  However the road signs work, you want to take Thiel Road all the way to the end, where you’ll find a small parking area.  Actually, there are several parking lots in this area, and the road may look like it continues.  You want to park near Hoxie Brook, a pretty little stream that tumbles down rocks towards the valley below.  The children in our group had a lovely time wading in the water after we came back from our hike, but more on that later.

The trail through the open space in the woods

The trail begins by climbing upward, paralleling Hoxie Brook.  After a short while, you will intersect an old ski trail, better known as the Thunderbolt Ski Trail.  The trail is popular with cross-country skiers and snowshoers in the winter (black diamond ski rating).  The trail at first, although climbing steadily, isn’t too steep.  Then, suddenly, you will come out into a patch of open forest where the trail really begins to climb.  What I mean by open forest is that the hillside is surrounded by trees (so you don’t get a view) but there aren’t any trees around the trail—it’s an open space full of low bushes within the forest.  Keep climbing up this hill (I certainly wouldn’t want to ski down this!) and then upwards as the trail continues to ascend towards the Appalachian Trail.  Before you reach the ridgeline and the Appalachian Trail, you may be directed up a different trail (the Bellows Pipe Trail) due to erosion on the Thunderbolt Trail.  This is ok, just follow the signs for the Mount Greylock Summit.

Wildflowers along the trail

After about 1.5 miles, you will reach the Appalachian Trail.  Turn left, following the signs for Mount Greylock.  In this area of the trail, you will have some nice views of the town of Adams to your left as you hike, somewhat upward, along the ridge towards the top of the mountain.  You will cross the road to the top of the mountain once; you are now very close to the summit.  The trail will take you near the parking area at the top; go up to the parking area and across it to reach the war memorial (Tolkien-like tower).  To the right of the parking area is a historic lodge where visitors can spend the night (I didn’t go inside).  I’ve heard that you can climb to the top of the tower, but it wasn’t open the day that I visited, so we simply admired it from a distance.

View from the Appalachian Trail

One of the unique things about Mount Greylock is, unlike other mountains in the area, this mountain goes straight up and straight down—it’s not really the highest point in a strip of mountains.  It is also the highest mountain in the state.  Because of these two features, it offers fairly good views in many different directions.  Trails go off in various directions around the summit, so that you can take in these various views.  We opted to go to the left of the parking area (when you’re facing the tower) down a little trail to a hut on the side of the mountain.  The view from here wasn’t great (it’s in the middle of some trees) but there were picnic tables and a woodstove inside, so it was a nice place to eat a picnic lunch.

Return by the way you came.  By the time we got back to the parking area, we were all pretty hot and tired, so we took off our shoes and waded in Hoxie Brook.  We had the parking area virtually to ourselves on a weekday in late June, so this was a nice, quiet way to end the hike (if you can call making dams in the creek and then letting all the water loose quite!).  The road to the top was closed, but even so there were many people on the top.  I’d hate to think of how crowded the top of the mountain would be on a weekend when the road was open to the public!

Round Trip Trail Distance: 3.2 miles via the Thunderbolt Trail; just about 0 miles if you take the road

Facilities: None at the trailhead; restrooms at the top

Fees: None if you hike; $2 to park at the top of the mountain

Trail 3 out of 5 stars

Road 4 out of 5 stars

Signs 3 out of 5 stars

Scenery 4 out of 5 stars

Would I go 100 miles out of my way for this? 3 out of 5 stars

Overall Rating: 3.4 out of 5 stars

This Week’s Featured Product!

When climbing hills, it can be nice to have a hiking stick to help you keep your balance or help you climb.  This hickory stick is cute, and comes in four different sizes to fit different sized hikers, from older children to adults.

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Weather for Mount Greylock

Today	Sat May 19	Sun May 20	Mon May 21	Tue May 22
Clear 72°/37°	Clear 79°/43°	Clear 82°/52°	Partly Cloudy 77°/54°	Fog 70°/54°

Originally posted on Anne's Travels

Maidenhair Falls

Have you ever dreamed of walking through a desert canyon, discovering a stream, and then palm groves, and finally ending at a lovely waterfall?  Well, maybe not that exactly, but have you ever dreamed of a hike somewhat similar to this?  I can’t say I ever have, but I was able to discover a hike just like that on a trip to Anza-Borrego Desert State Park.  To me, this park is best known for its groves of palm trees in an otherwise desert environment (I don’t think even Death Valley looks quite as desolate as some areas of Anza-Borrego!).  However, where there are palms, there is often water, and the trail to Maidenhair Falls has more water than many hikes in Anza-Borrego, at least when we were there in December.  The trail (route) to the falls is only 6 miles round trip and will introduce you to the environment of canyons in the state park.

To get to the parking area, from the Anza-Borrego Desert State Park Visitor Center, drive towards the town of Borrego Springs.  In other words, drive out of the parking area of the visitor center.  After about 0.5 miles, before you reach the town, you will come to a crossroads.  Turn right on County Hwy S22 (County Road S22) and drive 0.8 miles to the parking area, on your right.  The parking area is just before the road begins to climb a large hill.  Alternatively, from the town of Borrego Springs, drive 1.3 miles towards the visitor center on Palm Canyon Road (mileage from the traffic circle in the middle of the town).  If you’re coming from the west, the trailhead is about 12 miles along S22 from the town of Ranchita; parking area will be on the left.  There is a primitive restroom in the parking area as well as a sign showing you where the trail starts.

Cacti Flower in the canyon

Before I begin to tell you about the trail, let me warn you that the trail is pretty vague in places.  It begins as an easily-followed track, but then becomes more and more faint until there are just a lot of cow trails, and you can follow almost any of them.  It would be difficult to get lost, though, because you’re hiking up Hellhole Canyon, so there’s nowhere to go but “further up and further in”!  Keep following the stream or streambed and you should be fine.  Depending on the time of year and the amount of rain recently, there will be more or less water in the streambed.  In fact, the waterfall is seasonal and may not be there at some times of the year; check with the visitor center before you do the hike.  At some point along the trail—if there is water going over the falls—the stream will suddenly appear in the streambed.  As you must cross the stream numerous times along the trail, the farther up you can go before you meet up with the stream the better (but probably the less water will be going over the falls).  When we hiked the trail in December, we found that there was more water in the afternoon than in the morning, likely due to snowmelt higher in the mountains.  There is also some scrambling over rocks required farther up the canyon.

Hiking up the lower reaches of the canyon

The beginning of the trail isn’t very impressive.  It looks like you are heading up a desolate canyon between two hills.  Don’t let this fool you; the canyon is desolate, but you’ll find life along the way.  After about ¼ mile, you will come to a trail junction with the California Desert Hiking and Riding Trail; go straight.  Going left will take you up a mountain, going right would take you to the visitor center (starting from the visitor center makes for a longer hike, though).  For the first mile or two, the trail is fairly easy to follow.  It’s somewhat sandy, but not too bad.  Once you get into the canyon itself, you will begin to see social trails/cow trails (they aren’t made by cows, I think ), especially on both sides of the streambed.  Keep following the more obvious trail as it follows the stream and crosses it several times.

The stream in the canyon

After two miles there will be a couple of palm groves.  Many people stop here instead of going on to the falls, so the trail, which has been becoming fainter, almost disappears.  I don’t blame them for not wanting to hike any further: during this last mile to the falls, you will be forced to scramble over rocks and through some underbrush.  It’s perfectly doable, but not a stroll in the park.  Keep walking up the canyon, following whatever trails you can find that will take you parallel to the stream.  Not long after the two palm groves, you will come to a 10-foot waterfall cascading over a boulder-lined ledge.  Don’t be fooled!  This is not Maidenhair Falls!  Scramble up around these falls (which had a lot more water in the afternoon than in the morning).  This smaller waterfall is in or around some palm trees.  If you simply can’t go any further, this would be a good stopping place, but I highly recommend that you scramble on for another hundred feet or so to Maidenhair Falls.

Looking back down the canyon from near the falls

Keep walking/scrambling/ducking brush for another few hundred feet to Maidenhair Falls itself.  This waterfall is set back in the rocks and is surrounded by maidenhair ferns (thus its name, although the falls itself look a bit like a maiden’s hair!).  There are no palm trees in this area, although there are a few cottonwoods and other brush.  We had a lovely time dunking under the waterfall, even though the water was icy cold (it got colder as the day got hotter, which made us think that it was snowmelt higher in the mountains).  We had the falls basically to ourselves on a weekday in December, but met some other hikers going up the canyon on our way back to the parking lot.  The falls is a very nice place to eat lunch, since you can sit in the shade of the cottonwoods/brush.  Except for the brush in this area and the palm groves, the trail is not shaded.

One of the palm groves

Return by the way you came.  This can be a hot hike, but the reward at the end is both worth the hike and refreshing if you decide to wade out into the pool at the bottom of the falls and let the waterfall cascade over you.  I liked to back up to it and then lean back into the falls, but it was so cold that I never stayed there very long.  At any rate, the falls are lovely and the hike is interesting: you are walking through ocotillo and sage brush one minute, only to come out into a grove of palm trees the next minute.  Cool?

Round Trip Trail Length: About 6 miles; depends on what trail you take up the canyon

Facilities: Primitive toilet in parking area

Fees: None

Trail 2 out of 5 stars

Road 5 out of 5 stars

Signs 3 out of 5 stars

Scenery 4 out of 5 stars

Would I go 100 miles out of my way for this? 3 out of 5 stars

Overall Rating: 3.4 out of 5 stars

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Weather for Maidenhair Falls

Today	Sat May 19	Sun May 20	Mon May 21	Tue May 22
Clear 91°/64°	Clear 97°/66°	Clear 100°/75°	Clear 100°/70°	Partly Cloudy 100°/68°

Originally posted on Anne's Travels

Easter Island-type formations in Devil's Garden

I love hiking.  It’s great to get out and stretch your legs, and it’s so rewarding to see a beautiful vista or interesting sight at the end of the trail.  However, there are times when it’s nice not to hike, as well.  To be able to just walk on the trail or off the trail with no real destination in mind, just enjoying the scenery in the area.  That’s the way I feel about Devil’s Garden in Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument.  There is no established trail, so you can simply walk around the rock formations, enjoying them or even climbing on them (within reason—you don’t want to fall and break you neck!).  The area has become popular in recent years, but there is still room to just spend some time wondering instead of hiking with a destination in mind.  The formations themselves are quite interesting, from balanced rocks to monoliths to arches.  One arch is even named—Metate Arch.  Children really like this area, because they can run and climb and enjoy themselves instead of hiking to a destination.  It’s also a photographer’s paradise, especially at sunrise or sunset when the radiance of the sun sets off the deep red and yellow hues of the rock formations.

To get to the Garden’s parking area, from the town of Escalante take US 12 5 miles east to the Hole-in-the-Rock Road.  A sign will mark this junction pointing towards the Hole-in-the-Rock Road, but it can be easy to miss.  The road is dirt/gravel but is well-used and easily passible by low-clearance vehicles to the Garden, as long as it hasn’t rained recently.  Check at the visitor center on the opposite side of the town of Escalante for current road conditions.  Drive 12.7 miles down Hole-in-the-Rock Road to a marked road on your right that will take you to Devil’s Garden.  This access road is also dirt and is 0.3 miles in length.  On a side note, although dispersed camping is allowed throughout the national monument, there are signs requesting you not to camp in the Devil’s Garden parking lot.

A sentinel-like formation with the moon behind it

When we first visited the garden in 2001, there was nothing more here than a dirt parking area.  The parking area is still there, but now there’s also a primitive restroom, signboard, and picnic tables.  That’s right, picnic tables and grills.  It’s one of the few places in Escalante (and the only place on the Hole-in-the-Rock Road) that has picnic tables, so you might want to plan your trip here around a meal time.  We like to fix supper here because while we’re fixing, the younger children can play on and around the rocks (with supervision!)  The picnic tables are mostly isolated from each other and are shaded by scrub trees.  This is a very nice area to have a picnic lunch or supper.  Another change from 2001 is the number of people who visit.  Apparently, the Garden is a favorite place for the park service to send families and people who are new to Escalante, so the number of people who come here is amazing.  Most walk around the rocks and then leave, so it’s never been really “crowded” when I’ve been there, although there have been plenty of movement in the parking lot.  Keep a close eye on children when you’re in the parking area or picnic area.

An especially nice part of the picnic area

From the parking area there is any number of ways you could go.  On the side away from the road leading in, there is a huge orange and gold monolith.  I recall eating lunch on it before there was a picnic area, but it’s not great for climbing.  On this side of the parking area there is also the beginning of a trail.  Take this for the moment as it leads you around the monolith.  As soon as you get around, you will be in a maze of rock formations.  It’s really hard to know exactly where you are in the labyrinth, so I’ll let you trust your judgment of exactly where you want to go.  If you ever get lost and can’t find your way back, head west (towards the mountains) and you will fairly quickly walk out of the Garden.  You can then walk right (north) back around the Garden to the parking area.

A formation near the beginning of the trail

From the side of the monolith, the trail winds its way around the outside of the Garden, occasionally going in and around some of the formations.  I’ve never actually taken it all the way, but I’ve seen it on both sides of the Garden, so I know it will loop back to the parking area eventually.  I usually start wondering around the formations instead of following the trail, which gets more defined each time I visit, watching the younger children to make sure they don’t get lost, and climbing with them around formations.  This is definitely an area where going in twos is a good idea!  If you can get up on top of some of the rocks, you can get a bird’s eye view of the area, which is fun, too.

Metate Arch, a couple hours before sunset

There are four specific formations I’d like to point out.  The first two are arches.  One arch I’ve already mentioned; Metate Arch.  This is the coolest of the two arches; with a tiny little bridge of rock gracefully sweeping from one large boulder to a rock tower.  It’s really nice, and a very popular photography point for visitors.  It’s located in the middle of the garden.  You want your back to the west to photograph it (You can’t really see it if you’re facing west—it has some boulders behind it).  There is another arch close by.  This one is much bigger and has brush underneath it, but it’s definitely an arch.  It’s not as shapely as Metate, but if you can find it it’s still worth seeking out.  The third formation is two hoodoo-type rocks that stick up right next to each other, but with a graceful sweep of rock between them.  This sweep almost hits the ground, but not quite.  The fourth formation is similar to the two hoodoos but there are several rock spires right next to each other, looking almost like the statures on Easter Island.  Both of these formations are on the west side of the Garden; if you follow the trail, you’ll pass fairly close to these formations.  Actually, there are many such hoodoos and rock spires throughout the Garden; it seems like there’s another around almost every turn.  I especially like the ones that stand like sentinels, and those that have larger rocks seeming to balance on top of delicate spires.  It’s not like Bryce or Bisti, where the hoodoos of softer clay have rocks balanced on top of them; this is all rock.  It really makes for some neat formations and cool pictures.

Two formations with a sweep of rock between them

Speaking of photography, we visited one day in May a couple hours before sunset.  The sun was shining brightly on the formations, but not so strongly that the colors washed out.  Instead, the afternoon sun brought out the brilliant colors of the rocks.  I’d recommend to any photographer, armature or professional, that this would be a great hour of the day to visit and take pictures.

As I said above, this isn’t someplace to spend more than an hour or few, but it’s definitely worth a stop if you’re driving down the Hole-in-the-Rock Road or if you’re visiting Escalante.

Round Trip Trail Length: 0 miles to as long as you want to make it!

Facilities: Picnic tables, primitive restrooms

Fees: None

Trail 2 out of 5 stars

Road 3 out of 5 stars

Signs 3 out of 5 stars

Scenery 5 out of 5 stars

Would I go 100 miles out of my way for this? 3 out of 5 stars

Overall Rating: 3.2 out of 5 stars

This Week’s Featured Product!

A great hat for wearing in the desert!  The sun can get pretty intense while hiking in the southern US.  This hat has been made to protect not only your head and face, but also to shade your neck and the sides of your face.

See larger image Outdoor Research Sun Runner Sun Hat (Apparel) List Price: $33.95 USD Release date October 1, 2010.

Weather for Devil’s Garden

Today	Sat May 19	Sun May 20	Mon May 21	Tue May 22
Thunderstorm 64°/23°	Clear 68°/23°	Clear 72°/34°	Clear 77°/34°	Partly Cloudy 73°/32°

Originally posted on Anne's Travels

The Grizzly Giant in the Mariposa Grove

So you’ve seen Yosemite Valley and you’re looking for something new.  Or else you’re visiting the park during the summer or fall and the famous falls aren’t falling.  Whatever the reason, you’re looking for another trail that’s different from other hikes in Yosemite National Park.  Let me give you a suggestion: try hiking around the Mariposa Grove in the southern part of the park.  This grove is filled (literally) with hundreds of sequoia pine trees, but this isn’t your average stroll through the forest.  Sequoias can grow to be monster-sized—think over 20 feet in diameter and over 200 feet tall.  Not all the giant sequoia trees reach these proportions, but the vast size of the trees and the number of them that can be seen makes this trail a worth-while stop for any visitor to Yosemite.  Highlights of the trail include walking along a fallen tree, gazing upward at the Grizzly Giant, one of the largest trees in the grove, and walking underneath one of the standing trees.

To get to the Mariposa Grove, from Yosemite Valley, take CA-41/Wawona Road up through tunnel view 26 miles to the South Entrance.  However, instead of turning right to go out of the park, keep driving straight towards the Mariposa Grove (this road is closed seasonally; check at a visitor center for current road conditions).  Drive for another 2 miles to the parking area for the trailhead.  If you’re coming from the south, simply turn right after you pass through the South Entrance Station and drive the 2 miles up to the parking area.  The junction near the entrance station is well-marked, as is the way to get to the grove.  The parking area fills up very quickly; I recommend you get an early start, especially during the summer and on weekends.  If the parking lot is full, parking monitors will not allow you to drive up the road, but you can ride a free shuttle to the parking lot.  Check with the driver to find out when the last bus returns to the South Entrance Station.  You can also walk the two miles to the grove from the parking area near the South Entrance Station.

A sign about the Grizzly Giant

Once you’ve parked, head over to the side of the parking area that you first drove down—in other words, the side that’s near the beginning of the one-way loop.  There is also water and primitive restrooms available on the side of the loop just before you get back onto the drive; these are the last restrooms you are going to see for a while, so you might want to use them!  Anyhow, after you’ve gotten water and are ready, go over to the beginning of the trail.  Almost immediately, you should pass the Fallen Monarch—a sequoia tree that fell over a very long time ago.  Some say that it has been lying there for centuries.  The make-up of the wood resists decay, so it can take many hundreds of years for sequoias to deteriorate like normal trees.  The base of the tree is over 15 feet across.  Being right next to the parking lot, many visitors never go any further than this.  However, keep walking along this trail as you cross a blacktop road and the trail begins to go uphill.

The back side of the Grizzly Giant

After less than a quarter mile, you will cross the road again.  The road is used for trams, which give tours of the grove in the summer and fall.  These tours do cost, so don’t expect to catch a ride back to the parking lot!  You can ski the tram road in winter, and I don’t think they’d object to you walking it in the summer, provided you stay well out of the way of the trams.  However, the tram road is much longer than the trails that take you to the same places, so I recommend you stay on the trails.  At some points in the grove, you will end up walking on the road for a short ways to get to a connecting trail.  Always keep an eye out for trams while you’re on or near the road.

Soon after you cross the tram road for the second time, you will enter the Lower Grove.  Here you will see some trees known as “Bachelor & Three Graces”.  Here four giant sequoia trees stand close to each other.  The trail also splits in this area.  You want to turn right.  This will take you over to the Grizzly Giant, about ½ mile from the parking area.  (I’m very sorry about the lack of exact distances in this post.  The park service doesn’t publish the exact distances; but in general there is no more than ¼ to ½ mile (usually less) between trail splits, not including the Outer Loop Trail, which we’ll run into later).  Follow the trail up to the Grizzly Giant.  You can see it from part way down the trail, but make sure you also follow the little trail to the viewing area.  The tree itself is one of the largest in the Mariposa Grove, some 34 feet in diameter (96 feet in circumference) at its base and 209 feet tall!  Its bark is 2 feet thick on average, and the first limb is over 7 feet in diameter—larger than any non-sequoia in the grove!  Wow, that is some tree!  It’s really quite awe-inspiring to stand underneath it, even if the sheer size is dwarfed because you’re looking up at it instead of walking along it, like you did with the Fallen Monarch.

The California Tunnel Tree

When you’ve finished admiring the Grizzly Giant, continue along the trail to the left.  I believe you can walk all the way around the tree if you want; do this if it strikes your fancy.  Otherwise, keep walking about 50 feet farther to a trail split; trails will go four ways.  Turn left and you will almost immediately encounter the California Tunnel Tree.  This is one of the coolest parts of the Lower Grove, in my opinion.  Here, you get to walk underneath a tree that is still standing, and appears to be in good health!  We have a tradition of one member of our group standing on the shoulders of another group member just outside the tunnel opening.  It’s quite the picture to see her standing there taller than the opening in the tree, but not taller than the tree itself.  A word of caution: the sides of the tunnel are covered with black that will stain your clothes or hands if touched.

The bottom of the Faithful Couple

From here, you have a choice: you can either retrace your steps, or you can do a loop through the Lower Grove, or you can continue further into the Upper Grove.  Unless you’re turning around, continue walking straight after going through the California Tunnel Tree.  After less than a ¼ mile you will come to a trail junction.  If you want to go back to the parking area through the Lower Grove, turn left.  Otherwise, keep walking straight.  A bit further on you will come to another crossroads.  Again, here you can turn left to get back to the parking area (making for about a 2-mile RT hike).  However, I recommend that you turn right towards the Faithful Couple (and towards the Upper Grove).  These two trees, which grow so close to each other their bases touch, are located next to the tram road, about a ¼ mile from the trail junction.  Cross the tram road and keep walking about ½ mile to the Clothespin Tree, a giant sequoia whose inside has been burned out, but which is still living—creating an old-fashioned “clothespin” look.  You are now entering the Upper Grove.  It’s about 0.8 miles from the Grizzly Giant to the Faithful Couple; about 1 ½ miles from the Grizzly Giant to the Clothespin Tree.

The top of the Faithful Couple

Keep following the trail as it winds through the forest, mostly going uphill (most of the trails through the Mariposa Grove run uphill, it seems, and this trail is no exception!).  After another ¼ mile, you will come to a crossroad again.  Turn left and head towards the Mariposa Grove Museum.  Here there are primitive restrooms, water, and information about sequoia trees.  I actually didn’t go into the museum itself, but I hear you can buy postcards there and learn about the ecology of the area.  The reason I brought you here was so that you can cross the tram road (again!) and continue on a trail towards the Fallen Wawona Tunnel Tree (you may need to turn right when this trail connects to the Outer Loop Trail—follow the signs to the Wawona Tunnel Tree).  This tree was once a tunnel, like the California Tunnel Tree, but fell over in 1969 during a record snowfall.  You can still walk up to it and admire the fallen giant.  It may not be the most exciting part of the hike, but more is to come.

The Clothespin Tree

If you’re in the mood for a longer hike, you can go back up the trail (left from the trail junction) for about a ½ mile to Wawona Point.  I have never done this, but I hear it’s a great spot to eat lunch and enjoy views to the west and north, into the park.  Otherwise, keep walking and head somewhat downhill, paralleling the Tram Road.  Walk for about another ¼ mile to the Telescope Tree, another wonder along the trail.  Walk inside the tree (the park brochure actually suggests you do this), close your eyes, tip your head backwards, and then open your eyes.  Wow!  Pictures simply can’t capture this one!  It’s worth the hike just to experience this.  After you’ve had your fun inside the tree, keep walking along the Outer Loop Trail to the trail junction where you went up towards the museum last time.  This time, turn left and head downwards towards Fish Camp.  You’re not actually going to get there, but that’s the direction you want to go.

Walking along the tram road

After a ½ mile or a little more heading towards Fish Camp, turn right onto a short trail that will take you out to the tram road.  Cross the road and then walk back past the California Tunnel Tree, Grizzly Giant, etc. back to your vehicle (probably about 2 miles from the museum).  Going all this way is about 6 miles round trip.

All of this is fairly confusing; I highly recommend you look at the map at http://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/upload/wawonahikes.pdf (on the second page).  You can also learn more about the Mariposa Grove at http://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/upload/mgrove.pdf.  Trail junctions are quite well-marked, so this will help you get from one famous tree to the next.

Walking along the tram road

Round Trip Trail Length: Up to 6 miles

Facilities: Water, restrooms, interpretive signs

Fees: $20 per vehicle, valid 7 days.  Interagency, Senior (Golden Age), Access (Golden Access), and Yosemite Annual Passes also accepted.

Trail 4 out of 5 stars

Road 5 out of 5 stars

Signs 5 out of 5 stars

Scenery 3 out of 5 stars

Would I go 100 miles out of my way for this? 3 out of 5 stars

Overall Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

This Week’s Featured Product!

This water bottle and sling have been designed for the trail!  Not only do you get a reusable water bottle, but the product includes a sling for easy carrying while hiking.  See product description for full specifications.

See larger image Eco Vessel 25 oz Triple Insulated Water Bottle with ChicoBag Bottle Sling (Misc.)

Weather for the Mariposa Grove

Today	Sat May 19	Sun May 20	Mon May 21	Tue May 22
Clear 68°/36°	Partly Cloudy 75°/37°	Clear 77°/45°	Clear 77°/45°	Partly Cloudy 77°/39°

Originally posted on Anne's Travels